Justin Smith
has been a horse power junkie since his early years. As a kid he helped his
family build drag racing cars with blower motors. After high school he went
to USC to study physics, fluid dynamics and anything else that had to do
with horse power. Justin worked for a pro-stock team for 4 years them opened
his own engine shop. During this time he got a ride in a class 8 off-road
race truck and fell in love with the suspension and full time use of power
(rather than being on the throttle for a 1/4 mile ) aspect that off-road
racing had to offer. In 1999 he started Predator Sand Cars and in 2002
reformatted his business as Revenge Racing. He now builds some amazing
off-road cars for racing and sand use with names like: Silencer, Predator,
Sidewinder, Avenger, Punisher and even CORR racing trucks  |
Justin normally builds high end, larger 4 and 5 seat cars. These are large
cars that appear to be heavy when in fact they are the same weight as most
other brands. Since his larger cars appear to be heavy, most people seem to
think that they don't handle very well in the dunes. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. We have witnessed Justin driving one of his Predator
models in the dunes. The car handled just as well if not better than any
other brand and had the horse power to back it up! Justin has often heard
the complaint "your cars are too big and heavy" so he decided to design an
all new, 2-seat, slot car rocket called the Silencer. It's a Subaru powered
1500 pound car that has a better power to weight ratio than most V8 long
travel cars. Now no one can say they don't build a small affordable car!  |
We recently
got a close look at the Silencer which was designed to appease the masses
that begged for a smaller car that handled like no other. This particular
car is a pre-production car and is shorter than the production cars will be
and is not fully finished with powder coating etc etc. Justin went to work
designing a frame and suspension with a pencil and paper then converted it
to a Solid Works (CAD program) later.
He designed the front suspension with things in mind that most people
have never heard of such as: anti dive, negative camber curves, 0 track
width scrub, 0 bump steer, cumulative roll centers, etc etc. Most of these
characteristics are used on a road racing car and not on an off-road car.
Front and rear suspension has 20" of travel with 50% droop to compression
ratios at ride height. The Silencer has 6" of ground clearance at full
compression and CV angles are a conservative 23 degrees combined at droop.
Ultimately, the car turns very well possibly too well if that's possible.
Justin says it takes some getting used to at first since a small twitch of
the wheel will have the car reacting instantly instead of the normal
laziness associated with long travel cars.  |  |
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Justin decided to use FOX 2.5 gas shocks
instead of the normal coil and bypass shock combo. He did this to prove that
it could be done and work just as well as the normal combo. He wanted to
keep the cost and weight of the car at the bare minimum and to do this you
have to compromise something whether it be structure or parts. Justin didn't
want to compromise any of this, but still wanted to keep it affordable. Gas
shocks have a reputation of being a low end shock used on older beam cars.
Justin realized that the construction and theory behind them would work well
for the silencer. Coil shocks with springs are about $600 each and weigh 60
pounds while the FOX gas shocks are $300 each and weigh in at a mere 15
pounds! He builds each frame to accept the coil/bypass combo if the customer
chooses to use them.  |
The Silencer is a mid engine (can also be
built in a rear engine configuration) car with a 122" wheel base and comes
standard with a Subaru/Mendeola E box power plant, FOX gas shocks, disk
brakes, aluminum side panels, full floor, 25 gallon fuel cell, Ron Davis
radiator, rear anti-sway bar, and Douglas bead lock wheels and quite a few
other standard accessories. All of this in a turn key package for only $39K,
very affordable!! The car can be built with many different options depending
on customer needs such as: coil/bypass shocks, front sway bar, V8 motor and
Mendeola 2D transmission, light racks, and full aluminum bodies. Another
great feature about the Silencer is the ability to remove the transmission
for servicing without having to remove the motor.  |
Watching Justin drive this car makes us
want to whip out our check book and put a deposit on a new car. The car
handles like a slot car and is scary fast if you push the go pedal to the
floor. Justin is an amazing craftsman that takes a lot of pride in his
designs and is very customer service oriented. Justin also offers
maintenance on any car as well as upgrades. He does some amazing sheet metal
work as well! If you're looking for affordable sand car take a close look at
the Revenge Racing Silencer. Source: Revenge Racing
21622 N. 7th Ave #10
Phoenix, AZ 85027
623-869-9939
http://www.revenge-racing.com | 
