Serpent Spyder SRX-2 RM SC 1/10 Electric 2WD RTR Short Course Truck

I bought this truck for my 8 year old son for Christmas in 2022. I picked it over the other similar short course rtr trucks because it most closely resembled it’s team race truck counterpart…discontinued as that truck may be. I knew going in that for race duty, it would need some modifications, but as a christmas present, I wanted one he could open up and drive, so it had to be an rtr.

On our first attempt driving it (on an indoor dirt track) it broke a front bulkhead. No surprise there he smashed a pipe pretty hard. Serpent themselves had brass and aluminum options available so replacement was easy.

On the second attenpt, the esc shutoff after about a lap and a half and wouldnt turn back on. I saw another review on here that said theirs quit after 4 rubs so I assume that means this 40 amp esc isnt up to handling the demands the kit motor puts on it.

So I replaced the esc and motor with a sensored 17.5 system and it is so much smoother.

While replacing that I went ahead and replaced the steering servo with a Protek 160ss I think. Fast and smooth at a good price. The kit servo was very slow and didnt center itself.

Since I was doing electronic swaps anyway I switched the receiver out with an older Spektrum, which allowed use of a DX3C radio with more adjustments than stock.

An ongoing problem though, is the leaking shocks. All 4 of them leaked so bad out of the box they would lose half the oil in one run.
I had some Proline ProSpec shocks on hand. The fronts fit perfectly, the rears are shorter than the Serpent rears but long enough to work.
The kit shocks came with regular seals and plastic shock bottom caps. Serpent makes or made aluminum ones but you cant find them anywhere.

Another problem is tie-rods/camber links popping off. The kit balls and ball cups dont have much in the design to prevent them from popping off after hard hits. Serpent race cars however have a T shape top on the balls that should prevent the cup from popping off. These parts are still available and that will be the next mod to this truck.

I also added a Serpent Ball Differential and Slipper Clutch, neither of which are 100% necessary but both made the truck better. Just worth noting it doesnt come with a slipper but I think the AE does.

I’m now shopping for another truck for my 6 year old sons birthday but this time I think I’m going to go with a race truck to begin with because these rtr’s are way too watered down, when you can just get the race kit up front. I happen to already have electronics for another truck but I know if I buy an SC6 it wont need anything modified.

Will have to build and paint it in secret in advance of his birthday but probably worth the effort over having an rtr break a lot or just go slow to begin with.

This truck is super dial in only issue I had was loose steering bell crank and the esc and motor do run on the warm side plan on upgrading that soon enough it has really nice tires super sticky

Kit was packaged very nicely. Detailed manuals look great. However the Electronics are anything but smooth and consistent, but it will get you going. As you progress in racing or bashing all of these will be replaced at one point anyway.

Overall assembly was a 8/10, as the front right shock was leaking upon unboxing. But All screws fastened properly, diff operates smooth, mesh between pinion / spur was spot on.

No overheating issues, and all parts match as they should (tires, wheels, shocks, sprint rates, etc)

For a $267.00 price tag this truck is Definitely a competitive/solid platform for folks wanting to get into 2wd sct racing. I look at it as I received a prebuilt roller ready for the track. This truck is very fast when dialed in an built too class spec.

Awesome truck motor needs upgrade but everything else is flawless

Didn’t expect much for the price and not much is what I got. I bought this to get my feet wet at my local indoor track but I doubt it will last more than a laps at practice steering is very sloppy and showed up with all 4 shocks leaking oil. I would recommend spending a little more money for something better.

This was a disappointment. I bought this truck and the Team Associated 2wd SCT, both rtr, and this one had many faults while the Associated did not. First of all, this truck handles worse. It is too touchy in both acceleration and steering. After about 4 runs, the ESC burned out. 2 runs later, the motor went too. Replaced both, the spur gear stripped. Everything is fixed and the car still handles not nearly as smooth as the Associated truck, which nothing broke on yet. Highly recommend more well known brands, this brand Serpent is low quality regardless of how it looks.

UPDATE: Im going to give this car a 1 and not a 2 star now. After I fixed the stripped gear, the motor kept overheating after 5 mins of running. I tried using different gearing, and none of the gears I used (19t,18t,23t,25t) changed the fact the car could not run because the motor got WAY too hot WAY too quickly.