What buggy to chose?

[sam-1210]

Hi
ive been out of buggy racing for over a year now but want to get back into it, i used to race 1/10th electric buggy off road but want to try some 1/8th rallycross.
just wondered what the best car would be to be to buy and run?

Any help would be appreciated
thanks

[eyeayen]

The trouble posting that on a forum is each person will chip in with what they drive and good their buggy is. Which is perfectly reasonably after all that's why they chose it ! However what they chose isn't necessarily right for you.

I would suggest getting along to your local club or the place you are most likely to race, see what the others are driving their, if you have a car that a few others at the club have it's going to be easier for you to set it up as you can get tips from them and also if you need parts they can probably help.

The Losi 8ight 2.0 is very popular, well priced, easy to get parts for. Similarly the AE 8.2 is easy to get parts for. I have an Agama which are hugely supported at a lot of meetings, always at Slough & Herts. The latest edition of JQ's THE car is meant to be brilliant. Mugen, Kyosho, Xray are all very good.

The final outcome will depend on your budget, if you're buying new, how serious you are but at the end of the day it should be what you want and feel comfortable getting on with.

[wrighty]

Dont forget ansmann x8 theres not many about but at herts we have had a car in a a ,b,c finals

[eyeayen]

Ansmann are fine, widely available so good supply of parts.

Hong Nor's Sabre X3 Pro has been getting some good results too !

[rondoolaa]

i'd say the losi 8ight 2.0 also,

although i'm going against what is said above because i dont have a losi 8ight although if i could afford another 1/8th car then that would be the one i would go for,

when they have the races in marldon in devon (near me) 90% to 95% of the guys there have the losi 8ight,
thats why i recommend it and why i would get one if i could,

plus the parts are easy to get and cheap and those are the 2 main things i look at when purchasing a car, although from what i've been told by the lads at the track that race them that its rare for a part on them to break,

i have yet to see a losi 8ight part break on a car when i goto watch them race and some of the jumps there would tear a car apart normally...

[Skye]

I have just been through the same selection process and personally went for the Xray XB9.

Thats not to say that I am going to tell you that it is the must have car though, its what suits you best.

What I found from my research was that the Mugen are generally considered to as strong and robust as anything else on the market, but tend to be at the higher end of the pricing scale.

I was told (dont shoot the messenger) that the quality of screws and bearing used in the AE 8.2 are poor, but parts availability is massive and cheap(ish).

The Xray XB9 is getting rave reviews from those that have run them, and I am very impressed with the build of it so far although it is only early days yet. Spares for Xray products are widely available, although those for the XB9 are only just filtering onto the market as it is so new. Price wise they tend to be 'mid division'.

The Agama A8evoFR is the latest revision of their successful buggy and I cant really fault it. This was an extremely close second for me behind the XB9. If you happen to live/race in the south of the country then the trackside support from Nemo Racing is second to none.

The Hong Nor X3 is also fairly new, but the team drivers have been putting in some good results with them. I have held one and had a close look at it, it was probably third in my final selections list.

The Losi 8 appears to have reputation for going very 'sloppy' very quickly (again, dont shoot the messenger!) so personally I sidestepped this one. Also the rumour mill is strongly suggesting a new Losi is imminent before too long.

JQ's THE car had teething problems when it was released (model number ending 377) with the qualitiy of some of the components. There is a new model though (ending 477) which has had these issues resolved and those that drive them seem very happy with their selection. Spares are also freely available and are some of the cheapest on the market.

There are literally dozens more cars available besides these few, but these were the ones I focused on.

Aside from the individual merits of each car you should also consider what people use where you are likely to be racing, what fits your budget best, what your local store stocks (if you have one), what your preferred online stockist sells etc etc.

As I was told though, anyone of those cars will be better than I am. So if I fail then it wont be down to a bad car!

Let us know what you choose.

[BleepyEvans]

As already mentioned on this thread, get the car thats popular at the club your going to race at.
That way im sure people will beable to help you out in terms of spares and setups.
There will also be a reason why that car is most popular, probably because it does well on the track.

Most Popular Cars in my opinion (in no particular order);
Losi, Xray, Mugen, Associated

I run a Losi 8ight EU. It suits my driving style and I handles just how I like it.

[Hpi_guy]

I heard that the hot bodies d8 was a great car