Any R/C Off-Road Racers?

cmy330go

In case you haven't already seen it.....It appears that Traxxas has managed to make a race worthy vehicle. Now by race worthy I don't mean something that's capable of great lap times. I mean something that would be a total blast to race. The way these things move is so realistic looking, and they are so fun to drive. If you happen to be a club racer I would heavily recommend putting together a class for these. Plus they're a pretty good bargain at only $200 RTR.

Traxxas Slash Video.

ben62670

I have a savage 25;)

sucks2beme

I used to be many years ago. There were a lot of hard core guys up north.
That included a private club for 1/4 scale gas on a banked asphalt oval.
They raced for big bucks. Way out of my league.
I used to race in a private carpet track in upstate N.Y.
I much prefer club racing to open racing. I also did some dirt racing.
Waaaay too expensive to compete there. Club racing sets some very tight
rules to limit cost. Same guys every week. No kids. Just us old geezers.
1/12 scale on road was a great way to have fun.

Face

I did years ago too.

I had a Monster Beetle, Frog, Top Cat(?), and a Turbo Ultima. I should see if they're still in my parent's basement.

nikolas812

I've been thinking about getting back into RC Racing but haven't took the plunge yet.

I'm looking at the The Team Associated Factory Team RC8

http://www.teamassociated.com/ae/rc8/rc8_home.htm

cmy330go

nikolas812 wrote: »

I've been thinking about getting back into RC Racing but haven't took the plunge yet.

I'm looking at the The Team Associated Factory Team RC8

http://www.teamassociated.com/ae/rc8/rc8_home.htm

The RC8 is a great car. Another you might consider that is a little less well known is the Caster Racing ZX-1R. It's very similar to a Mugen. I've heard it's one of the best handling cars available. They are also the first company to offer an electric 1/8 scale buggy. It's due out the first of the month.

http://www.casterracingusa.com

cmy330go

ben62670 wrote: »

I have a savage 25;)

I've got one of those too. In fact that was my first step into R/C cars. I'd been strictly R/C planes before that.

polkie4life

I was.....

I've not long sold my Losi 8T. I was happy with the HT and got a little bored so got into 1/8th Nitro. It's a very time consuming hobby, with maintenance and cleaning etc.

I found some SRT's and decided the losi would pay for it, so now its all gone........ One day, maybe, i'll get back into it.

The RC8 is a highly competitive car, needs a few upgrades but nothing major. They've not been on our market for very long, so longevity wise, time will tell.

ben62670

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Jstas

I was in to it enough to be racing often. Before I started racing though, I had Tyco stuff. Two Bandits, an Outlaw, the Tiger Tank, two Turbo Blasters and a "Heads Up" Turbo Hopper. Those were hours upon hours of fun! When I got into the big boy stuff I had a Junior T to start out with. Now I have a JRxT and two Junior T's but parts are impossible to find anymore without buying somebody's pile of junk they are trying to unload.

I want to get something to play around with and I've been looking at a ton of different stuff but I keep going back to the Losi stuff. I had a ton of success with Losi electric stuff. I was thinking about getting into a fuel car but they are messy. Electric doesn't have the run and gun convenience of gas nor the speed but the cars and trucks behave much differently because weight is better balanced and the power doesn't over power the suspension.

I used to watch the gas guys run on the tracks and just destroy each other because the things were so fast and just didn't stop or turn well. The electric guys would have collisions but they were losing expensive parts when they happened. That and the races seemed much more controlled and competitive. If a guy was beating you in gas and you wanted to be a jerk, you just had to steer for him and hope he breaks more stuff than you do. Electric needed a bit more finesse and skill in coaxing everything you could out of the car. Gas was brute power. So for a "fun" car I think gas is a good way to go. For a competition car, I think electric is a better idea.

Maybe I'll get one of each?

cmy330go

Jstas wrote: »

I was in to it enough to be racing often. Before I started racing though, I had Tyco stuff. Two Bandits, an Outlaw, the Tiger Tank, two Turbo Blasters and a "Heads Up" Turbo Hopper. Those were hours upon hours of fun! When I got into the big boy stuff I had a Junior T to start out with. Now I have a JRxT and two Junior T's but parts are impossible to find anymore without buying somebody's pile of junk they are trying to unload.

I want to get something to play around with and I've been looking at a ton of different stuff but I keep going back to the Losi stuff. I had a ton of success with Losi electric stuff. I was thinking about getting into a fuel car but they are messy. Electric doesn't have the run and gun convenience of gas nor the speed but the cars and trucks behave much differently because weight is better balanced and the power doesn't over power the suspension.

I used to watch the gas guys run on the tracks and just destroy each other because the things were so fast and just didn't stop or turn well. The electric guys would have collisions but they were losing expensive parts when they happened. That and the races seemed much more controlled and competitive. If a guy was beating you in gas and you wanted to be a jerk, you just had to steer for him and hope he breaks more stuff than you do. Electric needed a bit more finesse and skill in coaxing everything you could out of the car. Gas was brute power. So for a "fun" car I think gas is a good way to go. For a competition car, I think electric is a better idea.

Maybe I'll get one of each?

Now in the day of Brushless motors, and Li-Po batteries I think Nitro is now at a disadvantage. A buddy of mine has been playing around with brushless/li-po setups for a few years now. He has a number of nitro cars that he has converted to electric. When properly setup they really whip their nitro counter part. They just have so much instant torque.

Here is a video of his converted Losi 8ight from over a year ago. Last I heard he could run for about 45mins before needing to recharge.
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cmy330go

ben62670 wrote: »

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Something doesn't sound right. Is the tranny not shifting? It also doesn't sound like the motor is fully winding up.

Nice jump though.

Jstas

The 8IGHTs are 4WD, aren't they?

polkie4life

Jstas wrote: »

The 8IGHTs are 4WD, aren't they?

Yep. All 1/8th gas cars are (if they're race spec). The speed they go they're hard enough to drive as a 4wd, and would be near impossible as 2wd.

A good site to check out is undergroundrc, they have a lot of videos of racing. They also do tests on new cars as they come out onto the market....

Jstas

Honestly, I've been watching videos all day and 4WD never really impressed me.

I'm thinkin' I might go with an ****-T CR and put the Xcelorin system in it. I'd rather do 2WD electric. I'm a better driver with it.

My Junior T's were very light and one was equipped with a Team Losi Super Insane motor. It qualified to run stock classes but was so fast I was routinely put in modified classes. I used Sanyo SCE cells for racing and SCR cells for **** around. Had a modified speed control that would let me run a 9 cell SCR pack. That truck could move! It was clocked at 35 on asphalt with a cop's radar gun and hit 42 on dirt. The one thing I keep seeing over and over again in the videos is the Losi stuff beating up on everybody but Team Associated. The more I look at it all, the more I think it's gonna be an ****-T CR. Just gotta find some place local that has a track.

sucks2beme

http://mikeshobbyshop.com/

Local joint. Use the new track cam to check the place out.
Kinda neat.

cmy330go

I do like the ****-T. That's what I race in the stock truck class. Though everyone else locally runs Associated T4's I've managed to win more than my fair share of races. However I do run an Associated B4 in the mod buggy class.

Unfortunatley Losi seems to be losing credibility among racers. Not too long ago Horizon Hobbies bought them out and have since introduced nothing but more toy-like products. The Losi 8ight buggies and truggies were really the last serious product they put out.

Jstas

Well, the website still lists the 8IGHT and ****-T and **** buggy as current products.

cmy330go

Jstas wrote: »

Well, the website still lists the 8IGHT and ****-T and **** buggy as current products.

Yea they still make those, but they have started to limit their offerings. For example the ****-T used to be offered in a couple different ready-to-run kits, but is now only available as a race kit. Also the **** buggy is really pretty dated just getting minor updates over the last several years.

From what I hear Gil Losi Jr. who was the lead R&D guy for Losi, left for an R&D position at Kyosho. From what I've heard he hasn't been replaced, and may not be. It seems as though Horizon is trying to turn Losi into a company more like Traxxas that tends to cater to the more casual R/C buyer.

audiobliss

Argh, I didn't need to see this thread. I have a TMaxx (one of the first ones with the Pro .15 engine). TONS of fun, but I just never had enough time to get it tuned to run right AND run it, so it's currently loaned out to a friend basically indefinitely. This really makes me wanna get back into it, though. I'd like a buggy or something smaller. The truck is awesome, and I've had a lot of fun with it, but I'd kinda like something different.

And dang, that green thing is FAST!! I guess electric IS pretty awesome now!! :eek:

SBrown712

I spent a ton of money on R/C cars. Started out with a TC3, then went electric with a Tamiya 415 and when indoor season started got a 1/10 scale. Bought the better radio, chargers, tons of batteries and even got into painting bodies. I spent WAY too much money and then the local shop closed. All my stuff is in the closet collecting dust.

leroyjr1

Check out some out my current and past vehicles

revo 3.3 trinity pipe



GS STORM BUGGY



Project tmaxx big block .28 picco



Revo .26 picco maxx THS racing pipe



original t maxx pro .15











racing t maxx 3.3

leroyjr1

Thats 6 vehicles out of 13
The dates are wrong on some of them .Didn't set camera date.



#7

leroyjr1

Also got a 57 inch magnum 57 gas boat 2 helicopters and 1 electric plane

Jstas

cmy330go wrote: »

Yea they still make those, but they have started to limit their offerings. For example the ****-T used to be offered in a couple different ready-to-run kits, but is now only available as a race kit. Also the **** buggy is really pretty dated just getting minor updates over the last several years.

From what I hear Gil Losi Jr. who was the lead R&D guy for Losi, left for an R&D position at Kyosho. From what I've heard he hasn't been replaced, and may not be. It seems as though Horizon is trying to turn Losi into a company more like Traxxas that tends to cater to the more casual R/C buyer.

I never saw RTR's as anything more than entry level racers and mostly casual user stuff. If Losi is still doing kits, the ****-T and buggy are right along the lines of what they have done before. Plus the parts list for those vehicles is miles long with tons of tuning options. If I'm going racing, I'd rather build the truck or buggy from a kit. Then, if something breaks, I know how to fix it.

ben62670

cmy330go wrote: »

Something doesn't sound right. Is the tranny not shifting? It also doesn't sound like the motor is fully winding up.

Nice jump though.

Nope it was shifting just fine. The gearing was a bit on the low side(track gears). The driveway was about 100 yards long, and the ramp was made out of 3 sheets of plywood. I wish I could have seen it landing. I would have tapped the brake to get it to land on all four. The flight was just over 28'.

capitan100

I had a Kyosho Hyper 7 and a GS Storm a few years ago. I also had a bunch of on-road nitro and electric cars. Never raced competitively, but raced with firiends in empty parking lots on the weekends.

Very fun and expensive hobby. Now I like to work on my 1/1 scale cars....

Blake

toddco

I had a frog first and went to 1/12 on road. My friend ran Hot Shot and RC10 we raced some it was good times. Kept us off the pipe.

greg2350

I have a Sportwerks Turmoil.

nikolas812

cmy330go wrote: »

In case you haven't already seen it.....It appears that Traxxas has managed to make a race worthy vehicle. Now by race worthy I don't mean something that's capable of great lap times. I mean something that would be a total blast to race. The way these things move is so realistic looking, and they are so fun to drive. If you happen to be a club racer I would heavily recommend putting together a class for these. Plus they're a pretty good bargain at only $200 RTR.

Traxxas Slash Video.

I just got my new copy of radio controlled car action in the mail today and noticed they did a peice on the Slash. And I have to say after reading the article, I'm pretty pumped up about it. They also had a article about the real CORR Trucks in there also. All of it was a pretty good read and got me thinking about buying one. For the price it doesn't seem like a bad truck. I don't know if it would be very competitive but looks like fun none the less. Now if I could just find a track in a reasonable driving difference.:(

audiobliss

nikolas812 wrote: »

I just got my new copy of radio controlled car action in the mail today and noticed they did a peice on the Slash. And I have to say after reading the article, I'm pretty pumped up about it. They also had a article about the real CORR Trucks in there also. All of it was a pretty good read and got me thinking about buying one. For the price it doesn't seem like a bad truck. I don't know if it would be very competitive but looks like fun none the less. Now if I could just find a track in a reasonable driving difference.:(

Just what IS the price on one? I looked briefly online, but couldn't find anything.