The Tank Rampage continues the old is new trend…

First Impressions
What can I say, the Tank Rampage is the latest urethane ball that is the rage. It is stronger than other urethane pieces we’ve thrown.

Our Testers:
Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
RPM: 375 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 75 x 2.5 x 35
Intent: Medium flaring, get into an earlier roll with a quick transition at the breakpoint (almost hook set to get control)

Greg Bickta (Righty)
Style: Cranker
RPM: 450 rpm
PAP: 5 & 1 up
Average Speed: 20 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: medium
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 75 x 5 x 45
Intent: medium flaring, get into a later roll with a medium transition at the breakpoint (more down lane motion)

Thanks to Greg Bickta and Perfect Aim Pro Shop for drilling our equipment.
Thanks to Limerick Bowl in Limerick, PA.

“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”

Test Pattern:
41ft THS, 22ml

Value
7/10
Value is relative to the bowler and condition so tried to average this out a bit. As a urethane ball, if you are a high rev or two-hander playing on low volume conditions, you might find a tremendous value. The rest of us mere mortals will rarely get into a situation where urethane is the necessary choice.

Specs
The Tank Rampage uses a modified version of the previous core now called Gear V2 to increase the RG and create less track flare for smooth motion. The new stronger cover is the Alchemy Urethane.

15 pound = 2.55 RG and .020 diff
14 pound = 2.56 RG and .020 diff

Overall
7.5/10
So Motiv continues the urethane trend which doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Basically, the Tank Rampage is the strongest urethane Motiv has released and the third in the Tank series. Ultimately, it’s still a urethane ball and the reaction demonstrates that. Urethane rolls early and quick which offers significantly more control than reactive resin but also much less overall reaction.
For me, I found a pretty strong urethane reaction, meaning that it was overall more board coverage than other urethane pieces, but the same controlled urethane shape. You can’t find too much early friction or it starts at your feet. In fact during warm up, I rolled it up the 7 board (left side) and I picked the 6-10 out of the deck. I can roll it about 11 to 8 with that heavy early urethane roll. Sometimes that roll clobbers the pins, sometimes it deflects. The Tank Rampage didn’t seem to deflect as much.

For Greg, he also had to point the ball, relatively speaking. Again, no surprises with the ball reaction. It had the urethane reaction you expect but a few boards stronger than previous urethane releases from Motiv.

Shots that didn’t make the cut
In terms of misses, if you’ve never thrown urethane, you quickly learn how different the reaction is from reactive resin. If I got the ball going away from the headpin too much it will not recover. The Tank Rampage reacts too early so it won’t store energy they way reactive does to make it back. Greg had the same. Ultimately, the higher your rev rate, the more forgiveness you will gain from this ball. There will be more miss room in than out with this ball.

Final Thoughts
With the Tank Rampage, you get a urethane reaction that isn’t so far down on board coverage from the weakest reactive resin balls. It is very smooth and predictable, good or bad. This ball is obviously coming more into play on low volume patterns or patterns that have broken down to a massive over/under that can’t be controlled by reactive resin. It also clearly becomes a must have tool for very high rev rate bowlers who now gain control on top of their innate hitting power. For the rest of us mere mortals, in the medium to high rev rate, the Motiv Tank Rampage will be a good condition specific ball.