I bought my CEN Matrix TR Arena back in January. It has proved to be a good solid truggy and a capable racer. I have not suffered any major problems other than the substandard engine which I have replaced, first with an OS 30VG and then with a XTM 457 Pro. I have made several upgrades to improve both reliability and performance. I wanted to post this info for those that may be considering a Matrix or already have one and are considering upgrades. First the stock motor had very bad quality control, but CEN has since changed to SH motors which are far better. I went with the OS because of there reputation, I was not happy with the new liner material on the 30VG and switched to the XTM Pro which is a 6 port ABC motor and it has been very strong. I have replaced the following with the CNC alloy pieces, the front spindles because the stock part is very soft and the screws will pull out. I also went with the CNC suspension parts because of the abuse they take, and lastly the servo saver/steering arm (which is weak in stock form). In my opinion that is all that needs to be upgraded to CNC alloy. I am running a Hitech (300oz) servo for steering, some say this is overkill but when those big tires start spinning there is a hugh amount of centrifical force generated that the servo must deal with. On the throttle I have a ACE 1313 which is fast and powerful. I switched to the 17mm hubs from the buggy because of wieght savings and a better selection of wheels. I have the CEN piggyback shock reservoirs and RMV progressive springs because for my track the stock springs were too soft. I added a JP-3 pipe/header and a brace to support the pipe, I found after some big air landings that the pipe would pull apart slightly in the middle causing a momentary air leak, with the brace it is rock solid. I added a NOVA cooling head and an OS air cleaner. You may have also noticed that my truggy has two fuel tanks, I added a second tank to give me more run time during practice sessions, it can be removed in 30 secs for racing. I have the Hickerson diff mod (replaced the LSD with open diffs) and I am running 10K-30K-5K. The steering gets sloppy after a while so I added flanged bearings to the steering plate and Kyosho bolts that are longer than the stock CEN screws and allow you to add a lock nut which really tightens up the steering. Spektrum rx with telemetry. Well I think that's it, if you have questions let me know.
