K1 or B44.2 or XB4

[AdrianJones]

Moving from 2WD Short Course to 4WD buggy and have so much choice when it comes to 4WD buggy's.

So what are people's thoughs over these 3 cars? OR is their another car which I should consider?

K1 or B44.2 or XB4???????

My (now local) hobby shop 'Steve Webbs' in Frodsham recommends the K1 but he is a Schumacher team driver so maybe a little biased.

But my thoughts are leaning towards the K1 as spares would be easy to get from the my local shop and also advice would be readily available.

What does everyone think is my best option?

[AfroP]

the K1 seems to be a fantastic car and is really quick.
I have built an sx3 and if the build quality of the K1 is anything like that it would be an absolute pleasure to build.

I have an XB4 and can honestly say its even better than the SX3 in terms of build. and the car itself is superb. it has everything in the box that you need and the upgrade kit that comes with the car makes it fairly bullet proof. The carbon on the shock towers isnt as thick as that on the K1 but when racing a few weeks back both myself and a K1 driver had an crash in the same part of the track, he smashed the front top diff housing and my xb4 appeared to be fine. after several more crashes in the same spot i thought my car was bomb proof, after getting home i realised the front shock tower was cracked, but thanks to the alloy plate that comes free with the kit my tower held together, and is still going strong despite several more crashes. the xb4 also has everything you need out the box.

The biggest thing though is price of parts. the XB4 is fairly pricey for parts and can be a bit more "twitchy" in terms of setup. if you over tighten the slipper you can strip the diff gears as its a geared diff with composite gears.

Both are very good cars though and as much as I'd like to say get the XB4, if nobody else is running one at your local, then go with the K1.
the help and advise from others is invaluable

[AdrianJones]

Originally Posted by AfroP

the K1 seems to be a fantastic car and is really quick.
I have built an sx3 and if the build quality of the K1 is anything like that it would be an absolute pleasure to build.

I have an XB4 and can honestly say its even better than the SX3 in terms of build. and the car itself is superb. it has everything in the box that you need and the upgrade kit that comes with the car makes it fairly bullet proof. The carbon on the shock towers isnt as thick as that on the K1 but when racing a few weeks back both myself and a K1 driver had an crash in the same part of the track, he smashed the front top diff housing and my xb4 appeared to be fine. after several more crashes in the same spot i thought my car was bomb proof, after getting home i realised the front shock tower was cracked, but thanks to the alloy plate that comes free with the kit my tower held together, and is still going strong despite several more crashes. the xb4 also has everything you need out the box.

The biggest thing though is price of parts. the XB4 is fairly pricey for parts and can be a bit more "twitchy" in terms of setup. if you over tighten the slipper you can strip the diff gears as its a geared diff with composite gears.

Both are very good cars though and as much as I'd like to say get the XB4, if nobody else is running one at your local, then go with the K1.
the help and advise from others is invaluable

I think these days most cars are very competitive on the track, I think like you said it comes down to what others are running locally for help and advice. The XB4 does look like a good option, I used to have a Xray T1 touring car which I loved but when Schumacher released the MI2 and then 3 the old Xray just could not compete.

[AfroP]

The k1 would benfit from some upgradesout the box to improve it.
Bando belts. Alloy gear box uppers front and rear. Alloy yokes and pivot blocks.
All of which will be old sx parts so will add purple to the car which puts some people off

[AdrianJones]

Originally Posted by AfroP

The k1 would benfit from some upgradesout the box to improve it.
Bando belts. Alloy gear box uppers front and rear. Alloy yokes and pivot blocks.
All of which will be old sx parts so will add purple to the car which puts some people off

I personally love the Schumacher purple bling, but will these added upgrades actually improve the cars handling in any way noticeable to a intermediate (at best) level driver?

[AfroP]

The alloy gearbox uppers will strengthen the car quite a bit.
The yokes and pivot blocks also add strength and performance options. Not sure how much difference you'll notice