The Build
I have got the Serpent Cobra 1.0 with the 2.0 upgraded rear end, I tried the car for the first time 2 weeks ago and was amazed at the difference with just the rear end upgrade.
I got talking to Deniz Aksüt who is the Serpent driver for Aytemizhobi about the full Cobra 2.0 kit and he was saying that there are a few more changes in the v2 as well as recently announced new gearing which has been praised on a few forums.
So I decided as there was a break waiting for gardeners to finish the 1/10th track that I would go to Aytemizhobi and get the last remaining v2.0 buggy kit and see what all the fuss was about.
I had decided that as I knew the car very well from previous kits that I would get the upgrades at the same time and they included the following:
#600284 Shocktower alu 7075 T6 front 5.5mm
#600644 Shocktower 811 2.0 rear alu light
#600345 Brake set Pro steel (wanted to try it)
#600288 Chassis brace front alu
#600289 Chassis brace rear alu
#600292 Servo lever steering 25T alu
#600295 Servo lever throttle 25T alu
#600299 Engine monomount-set alu
#600297 Wheel-nut 17mm flanged/light (4)
Shopping List:
I will also be getting the following things that I had forgotten to buy
#600309 Antiroll bar shaft front buggy (plus anti rollbar wire)
#600310 Antiroll bar shaft rear buggy (plus anti rollbar wire)
#600287 Shock spring support alu (4)
#600347 Shock top alu 7075-T6 hard anodised (2) x2
#600658 Spring set FR V2 (6×2)
#600659 Spring set RR V2 (6×2)
So Friday night I started the build, and straight away the diffs were different to mine with the way the oil ‘O’ rings are placed and also being slightly smaller than my other kit, and of course there was the different gearing for them also, most notably the 48T/13T center diff (can be seen in picture below)
So with that I started building
The kit and instructions were very clear indeed, one major thing I noticed was the use of the nyloc nuts instead of plastic nuts and the alloy countersunk washers instead of plastic ones, this was a nice thing to see as although the plastic ones never gave too much trouble I always prefer solid proper nuts etc, in fact I had replaced all mine in my old kit so nice surprise there from Serpent.
Problems encountered:
I only had two problems whilst building the kit, there were 2 x LH rear suspension arms instead of one of RH and one of LH, hence why there is a picture showing the rear wrong as I put together without assembling the RH side properly. Serdar of Aytemizhobi sent the arms and a few other bits to me via Deniz as he was coming to the track the next day so problem solved… Thanks to Serdar of Aytemizhobi and Deniz.
The second problem was my tired eyes and brain, I assembled the front end with the top track rod assemblies to the wrong side of the shock tower so no biggy and my stupidity.
The first day of my build was done at home in the evening, but for the second day I wanted to finish the build at Snappy track and immediately test the car, this is something I have never done before and I am so glad I did.
I finished the front end at home and half of the rear end, on the 2nd day at the track it was a fantastic sunny day around 29 degrees, I hogged two pit areas/tables and started a nice relaxing part 2 build.
Some things I found during the build.
I decided to buy some reciever batteries from Hobbyking
Due to the size I wanted to protect the battery from too much heat so I used alloy sticky sheeting on the outside of the battery compartment and underneath it also, I applied this to the fuel tank also to protect against the heat coming from the exhaust.
The build went great and I really enjoyed doing it at the track.
Testing the car
The car was now built and ready for testing on the track
Our track is not smooth and very dusty, so to say this would be a good test is an understatement, it will help shake the screws loose and test everything on the car.
First test I had a few screws loose that I had forgotten to use Loctite on, so re did those screws, and now Test 2.
I used the default set-up from Serpent to see how it handled and I was very very surprised, it gave me great hook up going in and coming out of the corners which made driving the car an absolute dream for me. Overall I would say the car is much easier to drive and as far as I am concerned well worth the money.
The changes I will make for the track will be to the shock oil, I will put 35 in the rear and 40 in the front as the front was a little soft. I will also try some different springs on the rear and test the car.
In summary I LOVE THE CAR as I have done with all my Serpent cars, I know everyone says that I always say good things about Serpent but I do not care I love their cars and I get the best service and support from Serdar at Aytemizhobi he stocks all the spares and is always very helpful.
