[RobW]

Hi

The very best advice I can give is to pop down and see the cars in action and have a chat with a few drivers as you’ll get an idea of what is popular at the club and therefore be easiest to run in terms of borrowing bits when you break something and getting set up advice.

Having said that of the cars you have mentioned the Associated B4.2 would make an excellent first car. They are strong, easy to set up and loads of people have run a B4 of some type at the club at some time. Spares are relatively cheap and easy to get hold of as well.

Only downside is that they are rear motor cars. This will have no impact on you for the first few months while you are learning to drive but once you have got the hang of it (which might not take very long if you can fly a heli – this will be easy for you!!) you will find a mid motor car will generally be quicker on our high grip astro track. It all depends on how competitive you want to be and how important budget is to you. There are several conversion kits available to convert the B4 to mid motor but they start around the £170-£200 mark so are not cheap.

There are alternatives to the B4 such as the Losi 22 and Durango 210 which are also available in RTR format that can be converted to mid motor with the purchase of a few cheap parts (£20-£30). The Losi 22 is an excellent car which is also very strong but I think a little more expensive. I have never run a Durnago 210 so cannot really comment but they are currently available from some of the sponsors of this site (MB Models for example – I have no connection to them!!) at very competitive prices - £155ish for a RTR car, you would just need a couple of batteries, a charger and some suitable tyres.

We unfortunately struggle to get enough Trucks of any description to run a regular heat of them so I could not really recommend you get one to race at the moment. Most of our members who have trucks also have buggies so they are guaranteed a race.

We have an all day meeting this Sunday – if you do come down (we race almost every Sunday weather permitting), please pop into race control and let us know you are there so we can have a chat and answer any questions you might have.

Cheers

Rob