Back Into Racing
 

My name is Ben Stephenson and im getting back into racing as i have had a 10 year + break. I used to live in Telford in the midlands and i raced at Broseley club which i used to get alot of help from Phil Sleigh and Sooty(sorry cant remember his real name, it was a long time ago:o) i think he was linked with the model shop in bridgenorth.

I was only 13-14 years old when i was racing at the club and i knew Phil was a top driver and learnt quite alot from him at the time.(he probably wont remember:confused:).

Anyway.....

I now live near Exeter and have been going to the local club Tipton St John and i have a Losi XXXCR im looking to do the Nationals next year and in the process of getting all the kit:D.
I was thinking of getting the Atomic CR2 Conversion for the XXXCR but there seems to be alot for sale atm, i was wondering if there is a reason for this or not.

Basically im looking for advise on a 2WD and 4WD buggy to compete in the nationals next year as its dramatically moved on from 1999ish:woot:.

Go easy on me as its my first thread.

Thanks

Ben:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Ben, firstly welcome back. You will be pleased to know Phil is still racing at the very top level and still helping people out.

Right back on topic, everyman and his dog will be along in a moment to tell you why the car / motor / ESC radio etc. they run is the best, looks like I might be first.

So ... go and buy a Kyosho ZX5-FS2 (4wd) and an RB5-SP2 (2wd) and maybe a Scorpion covnersion to make the RB5 mid motored. The Kysoho guys are super friendly and helpful and will all poor help and information on you until you scream for us to stop!!!
The cars are genuinely open the box and build solutions, no options required sort of cars ... nothing worse than buying your car to find out your leaving half of it in the box and buying ££££s of "must have options".
Both cars are easy to setup and nice and neutral to drive, very strong and super reliable ... what more could you ask for? You want pretty .... hey, they do pretty just fine :)

Right now that is out of the way .....

Try all the different cars and see what suits you best (don't be suprised if it's the Kyoshos though ;) ) and then look at spares back up, trackside set up help and so on. Most people will be more than happy for you to try their favourite brand of car so long as you can be seen to get your own car around the track ok, just ask.
Another good tip is to look at the threads in the various sections here and see how many have titles contain the words "failure", "problem", "HELP NEEDED" etc. Don't bother looking for the ones that have titles like "Best car ever" as many more people start threads when they are fed up or need help than to shower praise on a car, just human nature. That will tell you which cars have the issues and which haven't.

The important thing there is SUITS YOU. RC is a very fasion led sport and although there aren't any "bad" competition cars out there some people will tell you that X is better than Y because its what So&So used to win the Xchampionship ... truth is that So&So would win with the box your car arrived in!

Back to your question about why so many CR2s are for sale well I guess it's for 3 reasons

1) a lot of people change cars this time of year because the fancy something new
2) many supported drivers have their new equipment and are selling on last years
3) because there is the new Tamiya TRF201 based Atomic Carbon car (201GTO I think) and the AC fans will want that so are selling their CR2s to make way much as they probably sold their S2s previously.

From what I have seen of the CR2 it looks a vey good car, not good enough to tempt me personally away from Kyosho but it's certainly still competative. Mid motored cars are very easy to drive when the grip is high, the really good ones are still great when the grip drops.


The other thing I would suggest is finding a decent shop and sticking with them. They will know what is hot and what is not, also they will be happy to help their regular customers. I always recomend the shops that take the time to come on the forums and offer their experience and knowledge freely.

JE Spares have proved to be amazing since I started using them, nothing is ever any trouble and I've had stuff arrive in impossible time scales.

Others to consider are MK Racing and DMS along with Concept Racing, all those guys can be found on here regularly.

Whatever you do have fun. See you trackside.

losi
 

i'm not going to harp on but just buy the cr2, if you like losi 2wheel drive cars you will love it.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the info and help RogerM it brings back the memories of how friendly racing was and obviously still is:thumbsup::thumbsup:.
I would love to look and buy locally but there is no local model shop near me so it would have to be mail order.
I have had a go with a B4 and X6 at my local club and the X6 feels more planted than my XXXCR but thats prob mid-motor Difference.

Everything seems to be lacking in the southwest i.e tracks, shops, clubs e.t.c:thumbdown: wish i was back in midlands for that.

Hi there,

I too suffer the lack of RC in the South west living in Weston-super-Mare, but slightly more fortunately live a little more north than you so I'm just about close to the welsh region for some racing.

After that there is Tiverton in the Summer, nice little outdoor club, and the entire South West region as far as the BRCA is concerned! And not too far from you at all. There are some whisperings of a track being built in Weston in the very near future, still hoping for more news of that to appear soon.

There is one very dedicated guy who actually travels up to our club at Caldicot from Exeter way (I think!) quite regularly...must take some commitment though I'd imagine as we're just on the Welsh side of the old Severn bridge!

Anyway, welcome back, their are many competitive cars out there right now in both classes...just find one that's supported at your club, your favourite model shop, (be it online or on the street), and pick one that suits you! Enjoy the simple world of lipo and brushless from the outset with whatever brand you like, the main names are all good performers really.

Enjoy :thumbsup:

Looks like the reason for all the Losi CR2's being for sale has just been announced! :woot:

Ive just seen:thumbsup:, looks like my XXXCR is going up for sale then:D

If you race at Tipton then have a word with Dan Harding, think he drives a Tamiya mini there but he drives all over racing and is a regular at Tiverton, WORM in Weston and Caldicot. Top bloke and will be more than happy to give you the benefit of his vast experiance :thumbsup: