which car!

[nova]

Hi guys,i've been collecting rc cars for a couple of years now mainly just to mess about with and a bit of bashing but now i'm gonna try some 1/10 buggy racing just need to sort out some batteries.
Having collected a few cars now i feel a bit spoilt for choice so my question is which car would you recommend for a newbie?
zx5
losi xxx4
losi xx4
501x
yok bc special
durga
df03
df02
cat 2k
cat3k
pred p8ish
x10(soon i hope) i know it's up to me but any input would be welcome.
cheers Peter.

[budgio]

Howdy Pete

Well you cant go far wrong with a Durga or a ZX-5 in my opinion or why not jump in at the deep end with your 501X ;)

Just do it :D

[Mike Hudson]

the choice given would have to be narrowed down to the following in order...
durga
501x
zx5
xx4

the durga is a good competitive car for starters being low cost and spare parts are available cheap for it and when you may have the need to upgrade to a more expensive car you have the 501x (daddy of the durga) although parts for the 501x are expensive and hard to obtain the car is neutral and easy to drive for most people

kyosho zx5 is also a good one for starters as spare parts are again cheap and also easy to get hold and the car again is just as competitive as any other car on the market

xx4 is fast but can be car known to be unreliable for stripping belts and plastic parts made out of cheese :lol: spare are easy to obtain for it though and at good prices
hope this helps abit,

[oracleone]

Racing always lends itself to going faster. If I was a betting man I'd buy the BJ4... as a matter of fact I'd buy two of them. You ask, why? I'd keep one as a club race car and one as an "event" race car. If you break at either one you'll have at least one spare. The B44 would work as well because it is the product of the BJ4.

Secondly, forget about brand loyalty. I'm gonna save you a lot of time and energy guessing on what to use in your car. Use the Sphere TC or Tekin ESC with the Orion, Tekin, or LRP brushless motor. If your driving skillz need work I would suggest something in the 7.5 to 10.5 range... this will give you a good balance of speed and torque.

Next, I would recommend the Futaba 4PK. Nothing else!!! They are the best plain and simple. Stick with a digital servo with 180-250 oz.in. such as the JR 9100S. Use the receiver that comes supplied with the radio, this allows you to use the digital servo in HRS mode. The JR 9100S has a .06 trasit time in HRS mode... none faster!

Finally, I would get the Trak-Power LiPo sadlles and a B44 LiPo brace or the one by diggitydesigns. The stock battery tray is for NiMh batterys. As far as the charger you would do fine with the Trak-Power charger. As far as balancing, you may want to consider buying the one for their charger. Personally I use the Triton2 because that was available at the time and it worked well with my Reedy batteries.

What does it all mean? Plan on spending $700-1,000 on the kits, another $500 on the radio, $150 on the servo, $300 on the motor/ESC, $400 on batteries, and $150 on the charger. So lets see, that is about $2,500 just for that and add about $500 for tires and incidentals. So about $3,000 in U.S. dollars has you covered if you are serious about racing.

[Cassp0nk]

lol you make it sound like anything apart from that list is wothless!

Futaba seem to have some probs for a start :

Futaba FASST

http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/images/futabaex6a.jpg The first problem with the Futaba FASST systems was the zero GUID issue which saw some sets losing a small but critical part of their memory which resulted in multiple systems interacting in a rather unpleasant way. In effect, two systems that suffered this problem could end up shooting each other down.
This problem, and the manufacturer's response was outlined in an earlier RCModelReviews story (http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/rcupdate.shtml).
A more recent, and potentially just as critical issue has been discovered by those using the FASST system in the heat of summer.
A growing number of crashes and near-misses have been attributed to the effect of high ambient temperatures on the FASST receivers.
Independent tests (conducted by FASST owners) indicate that once these receivers reach or exceed a temperature as low as 120 deg F, they simply shut down and stop working. When the temperature is lowered, normal operation is restored.
Once again, the US distributor for Futaba remains non-committal and apparently unwilling to even acknowledge the existence of the problem. There is therefore, no fix at this stage and commonsense suggests that anyone flying FASST in high temperatures should take great care to ensure their models are kept out of the sun when not being flown.
Some FASST users have even taken to fitting onboard fans to keep their receivers cool and thus reduce the chances of the heat problem affecting them.
JR/Spektrum have taken advantage of this problem with FASST by launching an advertising campaign that promotes the fact their receivers work quite happily at temperatures up to 300 degrees F. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!


http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/rcupdate.shtml

[oracleone]

Not many racers within the states use stick radios anymore. Not sure why everybody switched. Personally the pistol style radios (such as the 4PK or M11) tend to be easier to use and feel a bit more locked in. I would be hesitant to call anything else junk. Because I do this as a hobby and not as a profession I'd wager to say that the reason I have inserted those particular products is not because they endorse me... I have found through trial and error what works. When I say what "works" are products that I have found that perform the same task over and over again predictably and without failure. Go to any national event and I would guess that you would hear very similar recommendations. As far as one product being perfect... there is no such thing! Why? Because every race product ever invented was done so by man and judging by human behavior we are certainly not infallible.

P.S. As an item of interest the 4PK does not come with the 603 receiver, which has always been suspect in my mind. Futaba now comes with the 604. I've personally used both the specktrum and fasst equipment. In 65 hours of run time I have never had a glitch with the 604... this includes both electric and nitro racing. I have however had somebody ask me how many times I've had to rebind my Futaba. Can you guess the answer? Taking everything into account when you jam a receiver next to a NiMh that just came off a charge at 100+ deg. F and then stick it all next to an engine that can reach 300F and then launch it in upwards of 10' in the air traveling 30+ MPH I would sumbmit any product is subject to error.

[Cassp0nk]

Well to be fair I think you have a point on the ESCs at least :) I bought the losi excelorin as it was cheap and worth a punt despite being warned that they are nothing but trouble. Guess what? It won't bloody reverse, and nor will the same unit another guy on here bought from the same shop. I guess the QA problems with these units are real :(

Good to see they don't test their new firmware properly.

[Col]

With racing you don't want or need a reverse