Newbie looking to play with RC Buggy's
 

Hi everyone - I am currently looking to get into RC Cars in the form, to start with, a Nitro Road Touring Car and a buggy of some sort.

My local track is in west vale Halifax and the local shop is elite racing, again in west vale nr Halifax - this is a road car circuit only I believe.

Now then I think Batley is my closest track(s) for racing a buggy, although I wont jump straight into racing, as my last RC car was the Lunchbox/Midnight pumpkin some 25yrs ago lol and the cars I want to get involved with now are considerably faster so I would need much practice me thinks :)

So can anyone point me in the right direction of a selection of good buggies to look at - but also whats the better option, electric or nitro/petrol, and what scale or does that not matter greatly?

No idea which the decent shops are or the erm....not so good lol, but I looked on the modelsport website and they look to have a few nice buggies, but tbh its a minefield with so much choice - so any pointers and info would be greatly appreciated?

regards
Phil

Hi Phil,

Welcome to oople and also back to rc. I returned approx 6months ago after a similar layoff. I am not far from you, so also attend Batley and thy are a friendly bunch who would welcome you.
Currently at Batley the cars tend to be mainly 2wd and the makes cover yokomo bmax2, associated b5m, durango 210, plus losi etc. not many team c or hobao that I've noticed.
I'd suggest coming down and talking to folks there as you will get different advice from every racer you ask.
Modelsport in otley are great as are mb models in leeds, but there are many on line shops who can also supply very quickly. Hobbyking website is crazy cheap and stuff seems pretty good.
Tomorrow is the supercup at batley so should be a good day to visit.
Hope to see you there
Chris

hey chris - thanks for that - I'm off to look at hobbyking now to see what there is ;) what time is the supercup tomorrow, I don't think I will make it as I do have to work tomorrow but you never know, but I will keep an eye on things here as I checked out a few youtube vids and the outdoor buggy track looks fun for sure :)

what kind of price am I looking to spend for a decent car, and what 'extra's' do I need to get apart from a spare battery or 2 :)
regards
Phil

any thoughts on this one - any good?

http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php...ssociated.html

Would be a good starter buggy, any of the rtr by losi durango etc would be a good place to start. Or alternatively buy a roller off here and get a hobbyking esc and motor and batteries. Use them in my 1/10 and 1/8 and I'm very impressed.

Be aware that associated use all imperial screws and Allen key heads Etc. My advice would be a rtr durango 210 as a starter and then you can upgrade, but usually a decent roller can be had for £100 ish (yokomo bmax2 or the like) and then add electrics from hobbyking, a metal,geared servo and a radio and you could probably do that for less than the rtr you listed above.

Supercup is on from 9am (setting up) with racing from approx 10 til 4 ish. If you do come down find me and you are welcome to try of my bmax as well as my sons basic rtr type and you can then start to get a feel.

Eg, something like this
http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156895

These come up,quite often

cheers guys - if I can get across I will for sure :)

just browsing and found this one, maybe a better one than the previous one I listed do you reckon?

http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php...dex210-v2.html

Not sure if I would still need to buy the receiver, and other equipment for it??

I have watched several race vids but THIS one is bloody awesome, sheer excitement and GREAT racing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgf7nvsrFb4

Yes you would. This is the rtr version
http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php...y-rtr-red.html

Just your average week at batley :thumbsup:

I clearly aint got to grips with the terminology I guess lol I was thinking 'rtr' meant ready to race as in take it outta the box and away you go - so I take it rtr is another word for fully assembled then?

Oh yeah, do you guys just race the 2WD models or 4wd too - not sure which way to go here?

And there's me thinking that the only place I could give a buggy a run out would be up on my local moor/park, I had no idea that buggy racing was alive n well here in the UK, I assumed it was all done across the pond in warmer climates lol until a couple of days ago :)

My next dilemma is which car do I buy first, a nitro road car or an electric buggy, hmm

PS - does Bately Buggy Club work like the Halifax track, whereby you pay an annual membership and you can use their track as much as you like apart from race days?

My son has the dex210 rtr and I have race kit version. Only differences are the rtr has a 2 gear gear diff and the kit has a ball diff (personal I prefer the gear diff)

The rtr has the dimec +8mm chassis which the same length as the new v2 and is considered an hot up part! Although its the old type A style which is slightly weaker at the front, ours lasted 3 months before it had to be replaced with the type B (he's only 5 and its hit he wall at the end of the straight a few times!)

Comes with speed passion sensored speedo and 12.5 brushless motor. By far the best value RTR in my opinion around £155 at mb models.

I wouldn't look any further than this http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php...-red-5392.html

having been stung before with used cars, I would only buy new from now on. I bought a Durango 4wd and spent more than a new kit buy the time I replaced all the worn drive parts!

I had about a 20 year break from the sport (last car was a Procat)
I returned to the sport and purchased a Durango 210 and loved it ! Albeit it wasn't rtr.
Very good starter car in my opinion.
Had a few cars in my return and now running a Kyosho RB6 and love the quality.

The price of the Durango rtr is unbelievable and can't be ignored.

thanks for all the info guys - really appreciate it - and big thanks to chris for letting a clown like me have a go on his two cars today at the track - really enjoyed watching the races and will be back for sure :)

The Durango 210 is def on my list, but I also spotted this koyosho as previously mentioned :

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.ph...FYzHtAodRkAA8Q

so would I get the Durango 210 rtr or the above koyosho? Are they pretty similar or totally different beasts?
cheers
Phil

I'd save the money and get the durango. You can convert the durango to mid motor as well, don't know if you can with the others.

Hi Phil,
I've never driven either, but from what I was told at a model shop:-

Both are good, but over time, both will probably want upgrades. With the kyosho you will have already spent £100 more to begin. From what I understand the durango is better straight out of box, the kyosho is better with all the kit added on, but you will have spent a lot getting there.
Kyosho is expensive at moment as yen has become stronger against pound

cheers pal - I was 99% sure on the duango tbh, guess I doubted meself lol

at least with the cheaper price I can also get the extras needed or most of them depending on the list when I get the car........which MIGHT be next week, I might e mail mb models to see if they have a few in stock as I can drive over to collect it as its only approx. 30mins drive away ish :)

So, what additional items will I need please, I was thinking:
2 batteries
A fast charger
Batteries and charger for receiver

Would I need to get a failsafe or are these only generaiily used on the high powered nitro cars?

Anything else do you reckon (better tyres or are stock ones fine)?
cheers
Phil

PS - thanks again chris for helping me out today :)

Lipos and charger - I'd go for hobbyking. Don't know if durango takes stick pack or saddle pack.

I'd suggest a set of schumacher minispikes yellow rear tyres and the cut stagger fronts. They are the standard tyre of choice for most outdoor tracks.

Receiver will take power from lipo. Transmitter will prob take either 4 or 8 aa batteries

thanks chris :)

when you buy tyres, do they just slip onto the existing wheel, or do you buy new wheels as well. Did I read somewhere that the tyres you actually have to glue them onto the wheels? are inserts also needed when getting new tyres?

PS - who was the seller on fleabay you mentioned for the bodyshells please pal?

Yes they have to be thoroughly glued on otherwise they'll come flying off, ha. And you can cut the old ones off or acetone them to remove the rubber.
The durango takes normal stick or shorty. Something like these http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking...APPROVED_.html

cheers daz - might get myself a couple of them batteries then and just look out for a decent charger too :)

with the tyres I might just get a new wheel set (price depending) and just do a straight swap rather than mess about getting tyres off.....yep I guess I am a lazy sod ;)

When buying on hobbyking make sure you choose uk warehouse and don't buy the stuff on eBay as people sell it on with marked up price. But hobbyking do have a official eBay.
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking...cessories.html

http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking...arehouse_.html

thanks again daz - which one of the above chargers would you go for pal? also any idea how long a charge would take - with a new toy like these I would be out for say an hour honing my skills or lack of but would be chomping at the bit if I had to wait say 8 hours for the batts to charge lol

Ones a charger and the other is the power supply. For plugging into the socket at home. Well to charge that battery I showed you it shouldn't take longer than an hour. You'd charge it at 5.2 amp as the battery is 5200mAh. If you have a few you can charge whilst running etc, off your car battery which you don't need the power supply for. Or you can buy multi chargers.

This one on eBay would be fine

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=111433007688

an hour - brill thanks pal - will prob get the 1st one you showed links for then, and them batteries are pretty darn cheap, so I might get 3 of them bad boys for longer run outs - my local shop has standard batteries at 24.99 and I don't thing they are powerful as the 5200 either, more like 3300 or similar I think

thanks again bud :)

Gluing tyres
 

Yes you will have to glue the tyres on with cyano acrylate otherwise known as superglue. I tried running a new buggy without gluing and ripped the tyres off the rims! Use a CA that's not too thin and you will need foam inserts on the rear tyres. Schumacher do good ones. There are plenty of tyre gluing guides on you tube.

cheers pal - I am compiling a shopping list of a few bits to get, everyone been very helpful, thanks a lot :)

Yeah plenty of cheap and good batteries etc on there, make sure you choose 2s and have a look. Definitely get you started and having fun :)

Typically tyres are approx £6 and a pair of rims similar. Inserts are £2-3 but usually only used at rear. Cut staggers don't really need them.
Lipos will typically give 20-30 mins life and a charger will take approx 1hr to balance charge them (advised as they are a bit more temperamental than old batteries)