I think the biggest thing is that you can have the lipo and brushless motor that are less hassle, more power and in the long run a lot cheaper than before. Also cars are a lot stronger now so it's quite rare to actually break something.

I've never been a fan of the smaller cars as they are quite twitchy and hard to drive in my experience.

I think it would be good if we can get a league going between the two clubs so we can actually pool our racers together and get a league going with 20-30 regular racers over the winter. Then when the summer comes the real fun can start outside :p

Yeah good old losi/associated rivalry between noreargrip and myself haha!! We both raced together for years and years indoors with touring cars and buggies,and offroad of course-nearly always with Associated cars-until last year when I joined the dark side...moaaahahahaaaaaa!!:woot::p

Despite living and doing offroad nationals here in England-i'd still love to be sliding around indoors-old skool stylee!!:thumbsup: I'm glad to see some interest finally back for 1/10 offroad in N. Ireland- (Mark's been telling me about it) great stuff keep it up!!:)

More competition by combining numbers (especially at the greenhorn end of the scale!) would be no bad thing :)

True about the brushless motors and LiPo - I've been researching cheaper ESCs and the safer and even more long-lived LiFePO4 chemistry batteries which will eventually succeed LiPo. The sensored 60A ESC and 11.5T motor I was using last Thursday (which was not shamed by the various Losi and other brushless kit there) cost me £52 (by auction - they've since been going for a bit more) off a HK eBay trader, and there are other higher-spec ESC models out there without suppliers in the UK/Ireland. Once brushed kit has been pushed out of the low-end of the market, brushless kit will take it's place.

It's cheaper than it used to be, but I still contend it's not a cheap hobby for a new starter, as I've found, despite my extensive bargain-hunting on eBay and the net in general. It was the reason I gave it up (bashing, not even racing) as a lad 20 years ago.

Atm, cost of entry using only new kit would be around £250-£300 (£150 for a decent buggy kit, £55 for a EZRun brushless kit off eBay, radio, LiPo and charger the rest at a push - still a princely sum!) - once a few decent brushless RTR buggy kits become available, that may come down a bit. Getting the radio and a roller 2nd hand is usually a good idea, knocking the best part of £100 off that. The only really raceable RTR 4wd buggy kit out there now is the Kyosho ZX-5 - we have one young member who regularly leaves pieces of his ZX-5 lying around the track. Ansmann are coming out with a 2wd race-standard buggy for around £100 (kit) - hopefully they'll release a 4wd too.

Consensus within the experienced club members is that it's the initial start up costs (including purchase mistakes due to inexperience and ignorance) rather than running costs that are high, though.

theres no simple way around it for beginners.i think we all at some point learn the hard way about what kit to buy first.i wasnt aware that there is a rtr zx-5.they are a great car.good competitive car that would hold its own against any 4wd buggy.as for bits falling off.im probably thinking he doesnt realise to regularly check over the car.i check mine every single race.but these things have to be learned by experience.ive already replaced both front driveshafts.one bent and one sheared off.all you can hope for is that newbies get decent advice from their local store which is where most of them see it first.then go to a local club and ask as many questions as they need to.

I learned very quickly - get a good car/chassis, then worry about the electricals later. I of course did that backwards (though the touring car would perform beautifully on almost any other surface - I haven't given up on it yet, either, though I won't risk it on jumps - it tends to snag on the ramps!) :)

It may also be due to him driving full pelt into the heavy blocks around the track :) - he's fast improving, and I'd imagine will be appearing regularly in A finals soon. Alas, the RTR Kyosho has rather plasticky parts holding the suspension together compared to the SP or FS - His dad is the mechanic, and seems to be quite competant.

There are an increasing range of 'value' buggy racers (Durga/Baldre, ZX-5 RTR, BMAX-4, Cyber 10B, Sparrowhawk XB RTR), and we can hope LiPos and their chargers will come down a bit in price in the UK/Ireland - they're cheap enough elsewhere, but you have to import them.

I did most of my research on the 'net. I only got to know Warren at the club - backwards again...:)

Research is the one think I'd advise anyone thinking of starting or returning to racing. Visit their "Club" first to see what everyone is running.

The "Cat" seems to be the "in" thing at the moment...I bought the 501x after finding out that the Top drivers had it as their car of choice when I first visited the CVMCC. I got to find out their settings and found my way into the "A" finals occasionally.

Now this 501x, 6 set of cells and a Muchmore balancer can be picked up for just under £200.00...less than the Lipo "Cat" I recently changed to!
On the other hand "Rob", my "team mate" from quite some years ago has been, once again, bitten by the "bug" and has returned to racing. He bought all new, car, esc, lipos, charger and radio but from previous experience will be up there at the top end of qualifying in a week or two.

It can be an expensive sport and it all depends on how deep your pockets are or your determination to succeed within the club.

The one thing you can't buy is the, natural ability to control an RC Car :p

My 501x needs a fair bit of TLC to keep bits from falling off it :D

The front bulkhead has a habit of loosening a bit from time as does the rear shock tower, Im not really a big fan of threadlock and would really prefer to just have to tighten a couple of screws 1/2 turn every few runs than ending up drilling out screws.

As for an expensive sport, it is in comparison to some but really once you have the main bits there is very little actual running costs now that lipo and brushless has came in. As long as you stay away from minipins indoors the tyres for ages as does batterys and motors. In recent years the RTR cars have been getting better and started being clones of the racing cars instead of being designed for bashing. They might not be as adjustable but thats probably not a bad thing for beginners as the default locked settings are generally pretty good and they usually have the main things adjustable.

It's new and shiny :p - I understand why Warren went for it - ease of maintenance and availability of parts were the primary criteria.

The Cat SX S1 is available for only a bit more than the value racer buggies I mentioned, and the composite material it's made of might actually perform better than it's carbon fibre siblings, giving more grip through flex.

I can also see why the 501X was such a success - it behaves in a very 'planted' manner, suitable for the low traction of the Wesleyan Hall. It's just a shame it and the forthcoming 511X are so mightily expensive!

Now that I have a BJ4, it's likely I'll stick with the JConcepts/Associated lineage - Mark has shown exactly what the relatively budget B44 is capable of! Diggity Designs also has a set of 'super flexy' top decks for it which might help with the low traction.

I happen to think I'm very quick between crashes :thumbsup:

Also, when the time comes, they can become donor cars for a rolling chassis of a better car. Speaking of which, the Losi RTR cars have some super kit thrown in - The Speed T has a good 2.4Ghz radio (I have this Rx/Tx combo), brushless kit (too fast for Fivemiletown, alas) and digital servo which would grace almost any buggy. If Losi came out with a plastic version of the XXX4 equipped so as a RTR kit, they'd have a winner, at least within the club!

Website updated with latest Championship Standings

An interesting night's racing - the notoriously slippery Wesleyan Hall was even worse than normal. It took even the A finalists a few heats to come to grips (no pun intended) with it.

I got all excited in the C final, when I heard I was 1st...this probably caused a crash or two; as it was, it was a lap-timing error...roll on the new automated lap-timing system!

Jim, do you have the number of laps and my fastest lap time in the C final? I didn't get a proper look at them.

18 Laps in 5m11.562...Fastest lap...13.91

(Aaron, Winner of the "A", had 26 laps and 10.62 fastest lap!!)

Cheers Jim. I think that's my best effort yet.If I can start chalking 20+ laps, I'll be very happy - I might have done if given a few more runs - the first two heats were wasted by setup problems and my shocks coming off!

Get front tyres on the beast and ease off that throttle finger......:p

What was my fastest lap in the final anyway jim, 11.5 ?

No!...11.547......:p

Aaron Vance the CVMCC Champion.....if you think you're good enough on Polisher Wooden Floors...come to Fivemiletown and see if you can beat him.....

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/...380acd.jpg?v=0

Congratulations to Aaron! (and everyone else who can drive on that stuff!)

All the best to the CVMCC crew at the start of the new Winter league tonight. :thumbsup:

There's hours to go yet, and I'm already itching for some slip-sliding action on the newly varnished floor!

Job done! It's amazing what a break can do - my car is finally properly setup, the new radio is working well, and that all translated to a personal best of 22 laps in the first heat. Heats 2 and 3 were worse, but I steadied the ship in the B final to chalk 2nd place with 21 laps, ahead of Roger and new lad Jack, both of whom didn't finish (poor Jack didn't even start) due to electrical problems.

My driving style has transformed - I used to barrel into the corners, and was in general much too trigger-happy. Last night, I was finally using the throttle properly.