RTR competitiveness?

[sefton]

thinking about coming back to RC racing (after around 10 years out)

however I don't want to pump something like 1k into it again.

before I sold up brushless and lipo had just come on the scene. I guess lots have improved and changed since this time. (hopefully less faffing around with cells etc)

I was just wondering how competitive a rtr (like a RB6) would be these days? against a custom build with medium/good electronics.

I guess the servo would be slow?

I used to love building the cars - is it possible to build a similar spec as an RTR for the same money?

thanks
Craig

[iank55]

Personally I wouldn't recommend an RTR for someone coming back to RC.

For a young kid who's never raced before then yes, it will get you going and probably do for a season.

If I was in your position (I was a couple of years ago...) I'd pick up a second hand chassis and cheapish electrics. Probably looking at £300 - £350 going down that route so long as you don't get over excited!

[tonydevon]

yeah used is best route, let someone else take the hit and loss of all the tuning bits and spares that you likely get with it, plenty of B6 etc about and cheap

[mattr]

Might also be worth seeing whats available second hand from people at the club you are likely to drive at. The cars will *probably* have the required set up for that venue, and any hop ups needed to be set up in this way. If you see what i mean.
It's also more likely to be a common car at the club, so you'll have access to spares from other drivers/local shops.

[andrewc]

All prices from a very quick search on MB Models...if you don't mind going with hobbyking etc you could get even cheaper...and of course could get more second hand stuff?

New 2 midrange lipos £70 (for both)
New Core RC charger £62
New savox 1257 servo £44
Second hand Sanwa Gemini X (2.4ghz) with 451 receiver £100
New Speed passion Revention R with programme card and 7.5 motor £107
New Team associated B6 £270

Plus tyres and tools probably £700. Nearly a grand I know but a full on race setup...and with the RTR you'd need tools, tyres, charger, Lipos etc anyway.

Get searching on here and eBay for bargains, when I returned a couple of years back I bought everything second hand, loving it again and have spent a fair bit now, but I enjoy it so why not?

If you buy a car second hand just rebuild it, I did that with my current 4WD, refreshed all the worn parts and had almost as much fun as i do building a new one.

Worst case scenario you hate it, (unlikely), flog it all on here and get 2/3rds of your money back. Keep boxes/instruction etc for best price.

Go for it! : )

[Ashlandchris]

I agree with comments about going 2nd hand, but if I read your post you are actually asking whether you can build a low cost car for similar money to a rtr and be competitive?
I can confirm that it is possible to spend lots and be uncompetitive so presume opposite is possible.
Joking aside, when I race at cullingworth there is (or certainly "was") a chap who raced a hobbyking bz222 (or whatever it is called - their 2wd that looks like a Durango). The car is cheaper to buy than my rear hubs on my yz2. Every week he thrashed me.
A cheap car with cheap electrics in the hands of a decent driver will beat most people most of the time, but then you have the dilemma of wondering whether you could go faster with a better car (which is what manufacturers have relied on since time began...)
I'd still suggest a decent car 2nd hand, but if you want to go new and low cost then hobbyking is your friend. Even if postage costs aren't.

Just as a final point, when I can back 3 years ago, I bought all team c for my son and I - 1 rtr and 1 2nd hand. Both were great but not very resilient - I would budget for 2 front wishbones per race meeting
We now run yokes - yz2 and bmax2 and simply NEVER break anything. Parts resilience is a world apart.
A bad car set up well and with good tyres will almost always beat a great car with bad set up and "wrong" tyres

[HzR]

I just bought a 2nd hand car off eBay after a 10 year break and didn't want to spend too much. I'm in the process of getting it up and running. It came with loads of spare parts and tuning options. I had budgeted for the electronics, charger, batteries etc, but found I had to spend quite a bit more on small items. They were cheap in itself, but if you add them up, quite a bit comes together. This will be similar for a RTR I suspect. You'll probably want some different springs and oils, some tires. Just something to keep in mind.

Even though I still had a lot of rc gear, I found all the fixings had changed to metric: bunch of new tools. The car had a gear diff: needed different diff oils. I wanted a new body with my own colours on it: body + paint. The servo I had didn't fit: new servo. Replaced the ball cups and the spur. Needed a set of shims and some fixings were missing. All in all I spent 150-200 Pounds more than I had calculated up front on small items.

You can buy some good equipment from the sales section of forums here which will save you quite a bit.

I also did consider a RTR at first, but knowing myself I'd probably start upgrading it soon and end up spending more overall in the end.
Now I spent a bit more up front, but have the car I wanted sitting here and I don't think I'll feel the need to buy any further options, except the bits you wear out (tires, gears, some oils etc.) But we'll see how that goes