Review. Atomic MR-03 Front upper brace

I received an envelope today with a couple of Atomic parts for the MR-03 that someone wanted me to do a review on. Thank you!

First up is the MR-03 Front upper brace.

The parts came in the usual Atomic clear plastic bag.
Included in the package was the aluminum brace, and a new servo gear cover.
Also, it included a user manual. Great!

The mounting is super easy. First you have to unscrew the four screws that holds the servo gear cover, and loosen the pins for the suspension arms. pull out the pin screws, and just turn the suspension arms aside.
Clip of the original servo gear cover, and get set for mounting the new one.

Now set the new cover in place. Tighten it down with two screws.
Then you can mount the new brace with two of the screws.

Now place the suspension arms again, and insert the pin screws and tighten them down.

Then you are set. Super easy.

The first impression is good.
The parts are a good fit. Virtually no space between the servo gear cover and alu brace.
All the slop in the front end are gone. This is with stock Arms!
The brace looks very good, and has a nice finish in the usual Atomic blue.
The plastic in the servo gear cover also seems to be of good quality.
Very easy to mount, with no modifications needed to anything.

The thing i did not like is that there will be a small opening where the original servo gear cover slips on to the top chassis plate (right side).
Tire dust and other debris will easily get in here and potentially jam up the servo gears.
It is an easy fix though. A dab of silicone or other sealant will keep all debris out.

Track test:
Track 1: (a tight technical layout)
The feeling of the car did not change much.

The geometry of the front end does not change at all, so it is not a part for set-up. More a part to make your front end more solid.
(You can change the roll center with shimming underneath the aluminum brace, but this is something you can do on the stock front end also)
As mentioned before, this part removes a bit of slop in the front, so the car may be a little more precise, but I did not notice any change in this on this track. I think it will be more noticeable on the other track.
Lap times were the same as before.

I will test it some more tomorrow on a fast flowing track and give more feedback.

Track 2: ( a fast, flowing layout)
The tighter front end really helped here.
The car is a little more precise in the fast sections. It could also be driven much more agressively.
Regarding the lap times they were lowered. Not by much, but the difference was there.

Overall I can recomend this upgrade.
- It is cheap.
- You remove a lot of slop in the front end., and take out some variables regarding wheel angles.
- Easy to install.

For the ultimate MR-03 front end. Try this together with Reflex Racing MR-03 kingpins, and PN Racing Adjustable caster Arms