Mid life crisis - looking to go race.

[Tezcat]

Hi all. I have a bit of a dilemma. I'd like to go racing. I've never raced before and only messed around with Tamiya electric cars in a field.

I've found 2 clubs near me that race 1/8th rallycross and also short course trucks (they have the 2wd/4wd classes as well but these 2 appeal more).

I don't have any old kit lying around apart from tools and have a budget of £400 to spend to by all I need. I've had a good look around and I'm looking for some advice. I'm technically minded (well, I think so ) so I'm happy building, repairing, tweaking stuff. I've noticed a lot of cars are available as RTR, which is great financially but they all seem to have steerwheel controllers and as a left hander I really don't get on with these, I prefer sticks. Would I have to by a complete new system or just a Tx?

These are the cars I've been looking at:

Hyper 7.5 RTR

Associated SC10 Brushless RTR Pro Comp

TEAM LOSI 1/10 XXX-SCT SHORT COURSE TRUCK - RTR

For the trucks I'd get a couple of lipos and a charger from HK as I've seen mentioned in other posts.

I'm trying to look at the pros and cons to running nitro or electric. Some alternative inputs would be a great help.

[Fast Eddie]

Just a quick thought, you can race electric indoor and outdoor at more places giving you more scope to practice, check out the Ansmann kits for value

[kaylon]

Cars and classes are a very personal choice so I'd not put any opinion into the mix

However as far as transmitters go it depends on the frequency..if an RTR comes with an older 40 or 27mhz rig you could just buy a crystal based transmitter and swap crystals to your new handset. If however you have a 2.4g system then it's usually 'bound' to the cars receiver. In this case you would need a transmitter and receiver set to replace the whole set up in the car.

You can get 2.4g stick systems from £30...

J

[paulc]

If you decide to race 8th take a look at the losi 2.0 rtr that is the one i was recommended awhile ago. I think most rtr kits now come with wheel and trigger but can soon be changed to sticks

[Tezcat]

Nitro does interest me but having never used one before I don't now how easy they are to race/set up and maintain.

Electric cars do seem simpler to operate and there is the bonus of using them indoors. The trucks do look to be a fun and interesting class.

Price difference between the 2 is minimal for the models that I'm looking at but I've no idea on long term costs. The lower the better

Found this as well which looks interesting:

Kyosho Ultima SCR

[kaylon]

Okay I will put my opinion in the pot...

If you are really wanting to race 2wd SC then I'd have to recommend the HPI Blitz ESE... I have the Truggy version the Firestorm..an amazing car and the upgrades available are almost endless, you could with the right amount of money almost have a 90% Alloy chassis if you wanted haha..

But really...it is a very good chassis and is race proven and very tough.

J

[neiloliver]

Overall I PERSONALLY believe that:

(1) Short course trucks are a flash in the plan thing in Europe and they do not teach you how to drive (in the same way as you dont learn to drive a real car by buying a wheelbarrow)
(2) Nitro will always be more expensive than electric.
(3) 1/10th Electric Off Road is for life.. other formats are just for Xmas.

[Tezcat]

Originally Posted by paulc

If you decide to race 8th take a look at the losi 2.0 rtr that is the one i was recommended awhile ago. I think most rtr kits now come with wheel and trigger but can soon be changed to sticks

This doesn't seem to be available any more and the price is a tad high for what I'm looking to spend.

[mattJT]

....indoor and outdoor sct