HOYT REDWRX Carbon RX-1 Ultra vs. Ultra Turbo - Set Up, Tuning, and Comparison

[Brendan]

Ok, been waiting to start this thread. I just picked up two new bows for this year. First is a Hoyt REDWRX Carbon RX-1 Ultra, and I'll be comparing that to the "Ultra Turbo" - a Hoyt Custom Shop Build that is the Ultra, but with the Turbo cams.

I hadn't really expected to end up with both of these, but ordered the Ultra Turbo, and then found myself without any bows after both of mine from last year sold for cash, so put some LL Bean gift cards to use and ordered up the Ultra as well. Pretty cool that I was able to fund both purchases with only $500 out of my checking account...

Both of the bows top out at 29" in the E slot of each cam, both are 70lb bows, so I should be able to do a pretty good comparison. I'll be setting them both up with the same rests, same arrow, will bare shaft / broadhead tune them both and chrono them both to do about as close a comparison between the turbo and standard cams as you'll be able to get.

Also managed to pick up a used Hoyt Prevail 40 X3 off of Ebay that I've been messing around with as my first target bow, so I may throw in some comparisons there. Here's the tuning summary for that one - install rest, set center shot, shoot bullet holes

Ok - I've been traveling for the last week and a half, have already missed a good bit of turkey season here, so am starting on the Turbo first. Need to get a bow shooting ASAP so am prioritizing that one. Hoping I don't need new arrows, but will see soon.

More to come...

 

[Brendan]

Ok, still haven't taken any pictures, but had a couple measurements I wanted to take ASAP as I was curious, and I know people will ask.

#2 Cam on the Ultra gives 25.5 to 29" draw length per spec

#2 Turbo Cam on the Turbo gives 26 to 28" per spec

#2 Turbo Cam on my Ultra Turbo in the E Slot puts me between 29" and 29.25" coming in right at 70 lbs. (Quick measurement). The timing was WAY off out of the box with the top cam significantly ahead, I think it was 3 twists of the control cable to get them close to dead on. Will re-check that later.

I do not know the string and cable lengths for the Ultra Turbo - I'll probably need to pull them at some point and measure or have my dealer call Hoyt for the Specs.

Also an interesting comparison - the riser length of the Ultra is longer than that of my Prevail 40 even though the Axle to Axle is 5" shorter.

Ok - Got that out of the way. Will come back and edit posts with more specs and post some pics shortly.

 

[Tony Trietch]

You had me at “Ultra-Turbo”.
Can’t wait to hear how it shoots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brendan]

Still owe some pictures, but had another piece of data I was pretty eager to see and I'm rushing to get the bow functional.

It is now set up with sight, rest, D Loop, timed, centershot set, bare shaft and fletched reasonably close at 15 feet, and sent a few arrows through the chrono.

DW = 70.75
DL = 29.25 (In the 29" / E Slot)
Arrow = 505.7 gr
Chrono Speed = 280.5 fps

Running everything through the same calculator, this bow is running an adjusted IBO rating about 5 FPS faster than my 2016 Carbon Defiant Turbo which I tested with the same arrows, same chrono, and I made sure I did the calculations the same. It's probably due to me being in the E slot of the smaller cam vs. the B slot of the larger, but I'm happy so far.

Range day tomorrow to sight it in and check tune where I have some room to work with, and hopefully get a better feel for the bow.

That's it for tonight.

 

[Brendan]

Setting up the Turbo and then bringing it to the range.

Tune pretty good right off, bare shaft and fletched at 20:

Left / Right still good at 30, but starting to show a miss high with the bare shaft.

Bump the rest down and 30 is looking better:

And, a group at 40. That's all I've got for reliable bare shaft shots for today. Pulled the entire group a little left.

 

[Brendan]

I also like to take video every so often to check form:

 

[225nontypical]

ultra turbo sounds awesome! If i could get one in 75# and 31" draw that would be awesome!

 

[Brendan]

Ok, that's probably it for a couple days with the new Ultra Turbo. Had a project come up that's going to keep me busy (paying the bills) through the weekend so no turkey hunting / shooting until Monday. Then I'm in Phoenix tail end of next week, so will see what type of time I get.

So far, the tune is done until I shoot it more and see if anything changes as everything settles in. Draw length was running about 1/4" long, or even a hair more before I removed the grip. Haven't measured afterwards. Rest is set so an arrow runs dead down the center of the limb bolts / center of the bow when viewed from above. Need to check to see where rest / nock height ended up after changes at the range. I have a little pre lean of the top cam so an arrow on the left side of the top cam crosses around the D-loop. That's the way it came, didn't need to change it. Did not have to adjust bottom cam spacers. Checked torque tune at 30 yards and torquing the bow left / right didn't result in a change in POI at that range so sight and rest are in a good place (Same as my other Hoyts). 20 and 30 yard pins are dead on. 40 is pretty close. 50 and 60 may be a couple inches off, but was getting tired so didn't want to make any changes yet. May be hitting a little left too, but want to make sure it isn't me first. Basically, bow is ready to throw on a mechanical and go shoot a turkey as soon as I get the chance.

Initial impressions. A little bit more of a "hump and dump" into the valley than I'm used to. Not bad, just a little different. Probably because I'm in the E slot of the cam as opposed to A or B as opposed to the new cam design, but don't know that for sure. Back wall is SOLID. Like it a lot. Valley is better than the Carbon Defiant Turbo. Does not want to roll over and go quite as easily. No vibration or noise or any of that, even without stabilizers. Granted it's one trip to the range, but before I started getting tired, I'd say I was shooting this bow as well or better than any other I've owned.

 

[Brendan]

ultra turbo sounds awesome! If i could get one in 75# and 31" draw that would be awesome!

You should be able to get the #3 Turbo cam to go to 31 on the Ultra Riser (My #2 cam runs to 29.25" with the grip on and on the turbo riser the spec for that cam is 28). Not sure you could get it all the way to 75, but I routinely adjust my 70 lb bows up to 72 or so.

 

[225nontypical]

I'm just wondering how it would feel compared to my 80# ultra. I really like being able to shoot a 585 grain arrow at 290

 

[Brendan]

Got out again. Bow is good enough to hunt - mechanicals are hitting with field points and adjusted the sight a little bit.

Going to do some exploring with the bow and see if I hear any gobbles tomorrow morning, then am off to Phoenix through Saturday.

Have a new rest on the way for the Ultra, so should be able to start setting that up next week.

 

[Brendan]

Been making progress. Made some tweaks to the cables on the turbo, changed my peep height slightly and served in my peep.

Next up, switched over to my double pin sight and have been working on sight marks so I can generate a sight tape. I really love the Hogg Father for this because of the micro-adjust elevation and windage...

Hands down I'm shooting better than I have before. Thats probably not all on the bow, but I am loving it so far.

 

[Brendan]

Got the Ultra set up. So, time for a side by side comparison at the range, on the draw board, and over the Chrono...


Choose your weapon:

Measurements & Specs:

Ultra Turbo:
E Slot of the #2 Cam (Very Top of the Cam)
DW: 71 lbs
HW: 15.5 lbs
Let Off: ~78%
Draw Length: 29-5/16" (Grip Removed)
Peep Height: 3-11/16"
A2A: 35-5/16"
Brace: 5-7/8:

Arrow #1 - Easton Axis 300, 504 grain - 282 fps
Arrow #2 - GT Pro Hunter 300, 432 grain - 302.5 fps

Ultra:
H Slot of the Cam (Very Top of the Cam)
DW: 70 5/8 lbs
HW: 11 5/8 lbs
Let Off: ~83.5%
Draw Length: 29-3/16" (Grip Removed)
Peep Height: 3-11/16"
A2A: 35"
Brace: 6-3/16"

Arrow #1 - Easton Axis 300, 504 grain - 274-275 fps (Had a little more spread than with the Turbo - not as broken in?)
Arrow #2 - GT Pro Hunter 300, 432 grain - 294 fps (Again, a little more ES than with the Turbo)

 

[Brendan]

Ok, some subjective commentary.

First, I set up and did the initial tune on the Ultra yesterday. Did my best to get specs as close as possible to the Ultra Turbo. Neither are "Perfect" but both are pretty good. Final tune won't be until I've shot them both for a while and have at least a couple hundred more arrows through each.

Feel - not surprising, but pretty much what you'd expect. The Ultra draws a little easier, has a much more forgiving valley, lower holding weight, higher letoff. (You can decrease letoff to 80% or even 75% on the ultra if you want...). This is really evident when you sit there at full draw and relax. You can do it on the Ultra, you cannot with the turbo cams. Pretty much a feel thing - if you've shot them before, this won't surprise you.

The Turbo does have more of a hump then dump into the valley. Not bad, but something that you need to be used to.

Accuracy / shooting - to early to tell. I love both of these bows though. I already like both of them better than the defiant series - they tuned up quicker and easier, and I'm shooting them better. No issues with noise, hand shock, any of the above.

What surprised me some was the speeds. Mainly how fast the Ultra was at the top of the cam. I'll have to do some more testing as the speeds weren't as consistent with the Ultra as they were with the Turbo, but I'm only gaining 7-8 fps with my current hunting weight arrow by moving to the Turbo. I have some black Eagle Rampages waiting to get fletched up that I'll test with too - more to come here once they're both settled in and tuned.

 

[Brendan]

Aimed at the top right dot - real world trajectory difference looks to be around 4" low at 60 yards moving from the turbo to the ultra and not changing any pins after moving the housing to sight in my 20... Ultra is shooting very, very sweet... If I can learn to duplicate this group, I'm never buying another bow

 

[225nontypical]

I love my ultra, it is just an awesome bow. you will find the higher in weight you go the more the ultra cam will like it, like a lot of cams these things love heavy weight, but these cams and bows seem to love it more!

 

[Brendan]

I don't play around with poundage much. Other than an 80lb Prime last year, I always just shoot 70-72lbs. I do see a big difference in efficiency depending on which slot of the cam you're in. Liking that both of these bows max out at 29", which is where I have them both set.

 

[ddenney]

Man great comparison. I've been toying with the idea of an ultra with the turbo cams to wring the most speed I can out of my short draw length. I'm only a 27.25" draw.

 

[225nontypical]

I don't play around with poundage much. Other than an 80lb Prime last year, I always just shoot 70-72lbs. I do see a big difference in efficiency depending on which slot of the cam you're in. Liking that both of these bows max out at 29", which is where I have them both set.

when I say weight I mean arrow weight, the heavier the arrow the better the bow performs. when I am reverse calculating what my IBO would be It just kept going up the heavier I got. so the speed drop off was not as much as I would have thought for as heavy as I test. I have video on here somewhere of me shooting a 600+ grain arrow out of mine and when I calculated what IBO it would take to make that arrow go as fast as it did It was over 350 if I remember correctly.

 

[Brendan]

Figured I'd bump this up as I've been shooting both a bunch. I think that the standard Ultra is going to win out for me. I shoot them both equally under well under ideal conditions, but:

Turbo: 8-10 FPS faster, 75% letoff, higher holding weight, more aggressive draw cycle, and smaller valley. Slightly shorter brace height.

Ultra: 85%, 80%, or 75% letoff, easier draw and more forgiving valley. Shoot this better with my hinge and tension releases with the extra valley and lower holding weight.

I might pick the Turbo if it was just western hunting, 3D, and the range. But I think that the Ultra is a better mix when I throw late season whitetail hunting from a stand into the mix, and even without the turbo cams I'm shooting a 506 grain arrow at 272-273 fps. Plus, I have the flexibility to set holding weight at 85%, 80%, or 75% as long as I order the parts.

So - now I have to decide if I want to keep the Turbo for my backup, or trade it / sell it for another Ultra or a Pro-Force.... Part of me says sell it and get most of my $$ back while I can