help with getting started racing

[StuartH]

Hi, me and my sone race 1/10 off road buggies and are having great fun doing this. my son is obsessed with touring cars and would like to get one.

we already have lots of electrics and enough lipos and nimh batteries to race with.

i am looking at an entry level car to get us both started.

can i have opinion on the schumacher mi1v2 and the sakura XI and any other cars that might be of use.

i'm primarily driven by parts support as we both have a habit of crashing.

we are looking at crystal palace as our closest track (london) and they seem to run this class.

[beale]

From experience I bought an Mi1 after a long break, last racing buggies in the 90's.
Mi1 is a good car but if you race anyway you would be better off with a 1 or 2 year old top line chassis, I moved up to a used Xray T2 009 like new but nearly 3 years old(£120) Raced it for a year before moving up to a used T3 12 (£180) parts interchanged between each chassis and stocked everywhere.
The Mi4cx/cxl's are also now in your price range, good support and still competitive, there are many more Yokomo BD5, AE TC6, TRF416 etc all coming in around your price range but probably a bit less support

[dicky14]

chassis type depends of the type of surface you race on. ashpalt or carpet? my advise would be an xray t3 12 or t4 13, i have both and they are a good all round car, the yokomo from seeing them race only appear to be suited to high grip like the xray t4 14, another good option would be the associated t3, very forgiving and can keep up with the modern cars.

[Danny]

Touring cars usually run spec classes, I think they run boosted 13.5s at Crystal Palace, but definately check what class they run exactly, because its probably not just a case of using the electrics from off road

[dale]

If you definitely want a new car then the Mi1 is a decent enough car. Parts support will be much better than the Sakura; any UK model shop will be able to get you parts for the Schumacher.

However as mentioned already you'd be much better off with a used Xray. You should be able to get a decent T3'12 for the same money as a new Mi1. That will be a much more competitive car, stronger, and cost you less in the long run as it will pretty much hold its value when you come to sell it on.

Setup help will also be easier to come by, as will getting spares at the track (although they rarely break).

The T3'12 is by far the best of the T3s as it came with a gear diff and vertical ball-studs, both making the car easier to work on and set up. But a T3'11 with those option parts would also be a good buy.

[dale]

As for tracks, I don't know much about Crystal Palace. I think they used to race large scale and nitros, but not heard much about this place in years.

WLRC will be a very good place to get started if it's not too far for you. They have a 17.5t blinky class which is what I'd recommend for all Touring Car newbies. Anything faster than that will be very difficult to handle and usually just results in frustration and breakages.

A 13.5t boosted TC will hit 60mph on an average size track, and gets there in just a couple of seconds. Modified do about a million MPH.

[Trueleeds69]

I currently have a Xray T2 009 for sale on Ebay atm, im also going to be listing a T3, I will also be listing a T3 11, all of these are great cars to race and are very strong.

Let me know if you interested and I can send pics and details with prices.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

My son has the Mi1 V1 and I have to say its a cracking beginners chassis.
Very forgiving and easy to setup.
He raced an entire season on polished wood with the only failure being a loose pinion (My fault not the cars). The poor car did take a beating and came back for more.
The only mod from the kit was the shocks (changed to schumacer race items) the reason for this was I cant be doing with the clip on plastic shock collars.
My son finished 3rd in the championship, not bad for his first season

So yes I do recommend the Mi1 for a beginner.