How Long Before theres a competitive 1/8th Electric Class...

[James]

Well the first of the main manufacturers has released a conversion kit for three makes of 1/8th buggy to lipo/brushless electric..
How long do you think before it becomes mainstream?
And where will drivers come from - nitro or electric background.....

[DCM]

I don't think it will be a 'main class', but I can see there being a few converts taking this up.

the appeal is the handling of an 8th car and it's robustness and the lack of mess/noise will attract some, plus I think it may well save some nitro tracks from closing down.

I would think it would start becoming more popular if a chassis manufacturer releases a car ready not needing conversion.

[frogger]

I for one want a 1/8 brushless buggy. I've never been into nitro because of the noise and mess so I hope it takes off. :)

[DCM]

I know Tekin are working on one and I have seen the video of it running, and is very good, but I would love to see the disk brakes retained.

[showtime]

i would guess that they will gradually start creeping into club racing but as soon as anyone starts getting results with one there will be a lot of heated debates for & against all over the net and i guess a rule change/creation, decreeing that they get their own class/heat to run in!
bit like truggys at Slough, Adrian has always said he'd let them race if they have enough for a heat but it very rarely happens! although i imagine an electric buyggy class would be a lot more popular :)

obviously brushless & Lipo technology has increased runtimes to a new level but at most clubs you run 20 minute finals & often a 30 minute A final! would you realistically see those kind of runtimes?
quick release battery pitstops maybe? :o

as for nitro, well for a lot of the people who race it - its all about the little engines :D quite a few of the 8th guys are old motocrossers like me who like doing a bit of racing on the weekends that lets them still walk on the monday! after all its still 2 strokes, dirt & jumps :D

[nitrokillah]

http://www.teamnovak.com/products/conversion_kit/index.html

this might help

[showtime]

its not got an ideal weight distribution with the cells right out there on both sides but it looks pretty cool still :D

anybody want to buy some extra thick sway bars :)

[DCM]

as for nitro, well for a lot of the people who race it - its all about the little engines :D quite a few of the 8th guys are old motocrossers like me who like doing a bit of racing on the weekends that lets them still walk on the monday! after all its still 2 strokes, dirt & jumps :D

But there are many clubs in all different countries losing facilities due to the noise, so it gives the option to still run your buggy/truggy at the same track but with no noise. But I know what you mean about the engine.

As for long finals, I would of though, on a big lipo pack, one battery change in a final over refuels every 7 mins would balance out.

[neiloliver]

As long as they dont make a nitro conversion for the B44 and B4.. nasty noisy things :(

[showtime]

As long as they dont make a nitro conversion for the B44 and B4.. nasty noisy things :(

sounds like a plan ;)

[frogger]

There is a guy rctec that converted his RC8 and he can do 25mins at full power with his 8000mah lipo packs :D

[sosidge]

I still haven't quite worked out the point of 1/8th conversions.

OK, so the cars are probably easier to drive than 1/10th due to the sluggish handling, heavy weight and bigger dimensions.

But apart from that all you are doing is investing SERIOUS money in high power electronics and monster battery packs to run a car that is realistically not going to be much faster around a track than a well sorted 1/10th buggy?

Can someone please tell me what is so great about running a 1/8th electric instead of a 1/10th one?

[James]

Check out DXR at Harper Adams if you haven't already..awesome
You just cant really do that sort of thing with a 10th they're just not strong enough

[frogger]

Can someone please tell me what is so great about running a 1/8th electric instead of a 1/10th one?

Why stop there then, why not get yourself a well sorted 1/18th or 1/36th buggy? :D

To me it's all about fun. Some people have the cash and just want to do it and why not?

1/8th buggies can also drive bigger and rougher tracks and they break less than 1/10th's but I thik the biggest issue is that we are losing tracks due to noise, pollution, etc. and people have invested in big buggies so it makjes sense to switch if it means saving a track and the sport.

[twisty]

Larger scale cars are easyer for us olds to see :p
There have been 1/6 and 1/5 brushless electric on/off road cars around for a good few years already,they just cost a small fortune.
For power to weight /performance/reliability and good old cost,1/18 brushless/lipo setups still cannot be beaten.
I still love stinkwheels though and i will keep on using them untill they get banned :)

[antnee]

I still haven't quite worked out the point of 1/8th conversions.

OK, so the cars are probably easier to drive than 1/10th due to the sluggish handling, heavy weight and bigger dimensions.

But apart from that all you are doing is investing SERIOUS money in high power electronics and monster battery packs to run a car that is realistically not going to be much faster around a track than a well sorted 1/10th buggy?

Can someone please tell me what is so great about running a 1/8th electric instead of a 1/10th one?
Do a search for 'Team Modellinc' on google watch the videos then come back and say what you think then

[twisty]

Do a search for 'Team Modellinc' on google watch the videos then come back and say what you think then

I did the search and got 2 pages of videos to watch.Are we supposed to be looking at one in particular (relating to this thread or sosidge`s reply)or is your post just spam for Team Modelinc? :confused:
:wtf:

[antnee]

You can watch any of them, most of them have 1/8th buggies being bashed hard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMlN5HjYc2c

theres some footage i would like to show from the 'comeback bash' this year, but its mostly being used for the DVD. These buggies can do 30/40ft high jumps and land them, then drive off!

[antnee]

http://lincit.myzen.co.uk/modellinchosting/mattymaxx/comeback2007/russ/pic031.jpg


http://lincit.myzen.co.uk/modellinchosting/mattymaxx/comeback2007/mattymaxx/46.JPG

[sosidge]

If bashing is your thing than fair enough. For me, it's a yawn, once you've seen one buggy get "really big air" you've seen 'em all.

However the title of the tread is about 1/8th electric racing, I still don't see what the cars can do apart from handle very rough tracks better while costing a hell of a lot more money.

[twisty]

Sosidge,you can`t stop progress and as new technology becomes more available at realistic prices it will appeal to other folks,they are all good,just different.
Look at the resistance to brushless and lipos in 1/10! as costs have come down,people are taking the new technology up,it`s got to be a good thing?
I like them all :) i have my preferences but there is room for eveyone to do what they want? no?
:cool:

[gramey]

I still haven't quite worked out the point of 1/8th conversions.

OK, so the cars are probably easier to drive than 1/10th due to the sluggish handling, heavy weight and bigger dimensions.

But apart from that all you are doing is investing SERIOUS money in high power electronics and monster battery packs to run a car that is realistically not going to be much faster around a track than a well sorted 1/10th buggy?

Can someone please tell me what is so great about running a 1/8th electric instead of a 1/10th one?

:)I for one got fed up of the constant breakages that you get from running a 1/10 with a brushless set up and I was only running a 6.5, first in a Ttech Predator and then a HB D4. The D4 was far more robust than the Predator but it still used to break.
Yes I'm sure if I was a better driver I wouldn't break as much but there were good racers there as well and whichever make/model you care to name they all have weaknesses.
I'm not saying 1/8 are indestructible but they take a hell of a lot more punishment than any 1/10 I've seen. The 1/8 may not be much quicker round a track designed for 1/10 but put a 1/10 round a track designed for 1/8 and then see the difference, if the 1/10 doesn't get killed by the jumps etc. before the finish.:D
The main attraction to me of an electric 1/8 would be that we could also race these at the track where my son & I race our 1/10 touring cars. They have a 1/10 off road track but for the above reasons we gave those up.
They're not allowed nitro's because of the noise as the track is close to some houses.:)

[antnee]

as gramey said, they dont break easily, the pics i showed they drove away! if that was a 1/10th car you would be looking at shocks, shock towers, pivot blocks, arms, maybe wheels etc etc,

they are stronger and easier to drive, also you could race it and bash it too with out worrying the brittle graphite wishbones are going to snap if you jump more than 6foot