I have been in and out of Micro/18th scale racing ever since the Mini-T first appeared.
and as has been said before, in the last few years, maybe even just the last month (LRP/SMD distribution) things have moved on SO much in terms of whats available to buy as a race car.
I remember back in the day of the Mini-T and the fact you had to carry 4 sets of diff gears because getting a 5 minute run without blowing the diff gears was close to impossible.
those cars are still around, but they are much more reliable versions of them.
and the LRP Shark ST and FTX Blaze on the scene are perfectly capable and tough cars.
the FTX blaze is made reliable with driveshafts and diffs, same for the stock LRP Shark
the LRP Shark 18 'Monster' Factory Team version is well over spec'ed - when I got mine they didn't have any FT ones in stock so they sent me the stock one with a few option parts, its ace!
back to the point... is possible to buy a car that comes out of the box ready to win national races.
the good thing about the LRP or FTX cars is the amount of options you have for servos, the thing that used to bug me about Micro racing was that my 10th scale cars had super-quick 0.07 second servos in them and would feel as sharp as a knife.... my micro car had a tiny HiTec thing in it that would barely reach full lock it... But now the same servo fits in the LRP or FTX car that my 10th and 8th scale cars use, if you really wanted you can run a 0.07 second 2123 KO FET servo in your micro, the same one you take out of your 10th scale or even your 8th scale Buggy or Snoring car.
the lack of control tire used to put me off or made me feel like I could go to a meeting and not have the best tire and therefore not have a chance, but there seems to be a now common standard foam tire that lasts for ever, much like in 10th scale you go to worksop indoors and know its schum yellow mini-pins.
as has been said before, electronics have come a long way in micro racing recently, sesored brushless speedo/motor... however, the Kit LRP or FTX motor can still be competitive, much like 10th off-road, its easy to over-power the cars.
and the LRP or FTX car is pretty damn strong, we always give them a good ramp around or bash at the end of a club night at Wycombe, but never need to fit it afterwards.
I do think that there still is a feeling about micro racing that it can't be someones 'Primary' racing class - not sure why but I do feel the same a bit, however, during the winter, I would certainly recomend picking one up and blasting it around your local track or the Micro National series.
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