Re-Try in 1/8 Scale
 

This I know will sound a lot like the other car vs. car threads, but I have a few more in depth questions about some of the major contenders in the 1/8th scale scene. I know parts avail. play in a huge role, and Ive taken taht into account but I still am looking for a buggy that is easy to drive/setup, durable, and will contend with the best out there. My questions are as follows.

MBX5- Is the prospec needed to be competitive? I had one of these previously but never got to run it due to serious nitro motor problems (will no longer be the same, no more cheapo motors).

TTR S3- Has anyone tried this car with the flat chassis. Ive heard probably like most of you that the delta box chassis was too stiff and made the car too sensative to drive and setup.

Jammin CR Pro- Durability over time? Rumor at our track is that the parts wear out VERY fast. Although I think this car is very fast from what Ive seen, replacing arms frequently due to anything but breakage could prove to be annoying.

Kyosho SP2- Worth the $$$? Parts are hard to come-by in my area, will it prove to be worth all that it costs?

Mayhem- Is this really just the economy car for the average club racer? Or does it really have true potential?

CEN Matrix- Havent got to research this one as much. How will it contend with the worlds best this year.

Xray XB8- Another rumor, this car breaks often. Word is, the arms are bery brittle and lack the strength to withstand crashes. ( locals words not mine)

GS CL-1- actually drove one of these this weekend, wasnt too bad, but still could use some work

I am just looking for a buggy that will not be overly hard on my wallet as I am still a teen (17) but want something to run with the guys at my track. I am still rather new to 1/8 as I dont quite know what all the adjustments do to what. Im just loooking for a little guidence to a car that will handle on a consistant basis and be able to stand a crash when I goof up every now and again. Any insight you guys have on any of these cars would be great. Just state what you have exp. with what car please. Any help would be much appreciated.

the prospec isnt needed but it is a awesome kit. Me personally would go with in no specific order, mbx5 prospec, 777sp2, Jammin, or xray

I think that from the list Id have to say that the jammin will give you the best value for your money. I have driven the car and can say that its a very consistent handling car and should be driver friendly. I havent really heard of too much breakage. The new team kit should fit you really well

i have input on 3 cars.

i have the jammin- very stable car, easy to drive and strong!! just like any other car the parts will wear out quick if you dont take care of it. do the proper maintance and you will be good.

2 a friend has the xray- he likes it alot, but says it is a little harder to get the set up right. he drove my car and said it felt more stable and easy to drive

3 another friend has a ttr with the flat chassis.... althought he has only run it one time he says its nice. the reason for only running it once thought was b/c he had to mod and rig parts to get the suspension and steering to work freely.

I don't think one word can explain any one buggy Like stable weak or fast. There are to many ,setups, tires ,tracks, motors ,servos, things like this can make a 777 the best car or all the way too the worst car.

Some times the best car may be the most popular car at the track you race at. people that have it can give you a perfect setup for that track. hint MBX5

If you only are going to race 3 times a year a RTR may be for you, who cares if you win

If you like tech goodies leading edge stuff a TTr3 or a CL1 but these things aren't always faster

I have raced 8th scale for 5 years and for me set up sheets are very important, and needed for a racer to start with. if you don't try 5 sets of tires motors, differant springs, ride height changes.....+ You have limited any cars ability to win a race

Good cars for good me not in any order Mbx5, CL1, 777, hyper7,ttr3,
hongnor Cr, Xray, mayham pro They all have factory setup sheets and hop ups

One thing about the Jammin, did it have revised arms and towers made? I heard something about getting more travel out of a new version of the arms and towers?!

edit: Im not looking for a one word description for each car. As I understand that they cant be as easily described. But rather reasons for or not to buy a certain car. For example I would reccommend my JRX-S to any and everyone because IMO its the easiest car to drive fast that I have ever owned. :tire:

from what Iv heard the new shochtowers are now 5mm. Not that there was an issue with the 4mm, they just wanted to make them a little stronger. On the new kit they now included the big bore shocks wich are the best shocks iv ever used. Not so sure if they revised the arms though

there is a new team kit out for the jammin that comes with a newer chassis, the big bore shocks, new 5mm shock towers, captured hing pins. and i think a few other small updates and its only like 30$ more than the previous pro kit. ultimatehobbies has them for a nice price with free shipping. just call them

I got my Factory Team kit a couple weeks ago. It comes with the fiberglass brake pads, 5mm shock towers, captured hinge pins, big bore shocks, and the lower CNC "B" block. Nothing about a new chassis in there?


-Seann

i don't think its the lightweight chassis, but there was a running production in the chassis a while back to get full suspension travel? i may be wrong though

I never heard anything about a different chassis on the new pro kit. Just the brake disks, shocks, towers, hinge pins and did it include alum. B blocks? Anyways I had one of the early production run Jammin's and they rock! I never had any trouble with mine, parts were kinda though to get though, although you dont need them often. I did break a rear hub, but that was it. I would say the car is super hooked up and flat out handles awsome.

The Xray and TTR cars are really popular up here in Canada, I've heard nothing but very good things about the Xray, great parts support, awsome quality, and good factory support for setups and such. The TTR is popular, cant say I know much about it though.

i run an xb8 and it is nice durable and the most adjustability of all the 1/8th buggy range, good price check out www.teamxray.com and you can choose set up sheets and forum questions answers even feedback and you can give xray a feedback of what you want for the xb8 also the car is ready to race right out of the box with some hop ups and there are more hop ups available to me i chose the xb8 over the rest because of its versitility price and bang for the buck i have broken an arm but they are cheap anyway so whats an arm or two in 6 months or so? also you can choose the option of more flexable plastic soft compound , longer arms to get away from the rigid hard brittle ones, if you want. its a great buggy to drive but like you, i also have engine troubles as i bought mine second hand, i dont even know if it was broken in properly so no more second hand engines for me.
get the xb8 its great check out its adjustability its great no buying full steering block for set degrees you can just change the bushings in the xb8 and get different settings with different bushings ,beautiful .

Last post before bed. I know that these cars are all equally fast in a good fast drivers hands. But I think most of the exp. racers know that some cars are just easier to drive at a local level, and some arent. If I were going to the worlds and could compete id say that any of those guys (tebo, kortz, etc.) Could run just about any car, on any track and be in the A main. This post is more directed to the car best suitable for a club racer who does try to be fast on more than just a one track level. I travel a bit in the somewhere, and I love to be competitive. And I know this takes money, dont get me wrong, but Ive seen a few tub chassis GT's beat some AD2's (inlcuding mine) before. Thanks, sorry if that was confusing. Keep the comments coming, Im really liking my jammin guys stuff right now! :sneaky:

The Kyosho and Jammin will probably be easier to setup and drive. The Kyosho costs more but the parts will last longer. Will they last $100 longer? Maybe.

Every car has its issues. The Mugen diffs leak and the front arms have gotten fragile. It is also harder to drive fast. The Jammin shocks sometimes leak and the outdrives and center unis wear fast. The Kyosho shock bladders tear if not built just right. The Xray eccentric bushings rotate in the arms (especially the soft arms), the setup is tricky, and the kit cost is high. The TTR needs the flat chassis (drives the price up to Kyosho territory) and some knowledge to make the shocks good. The Hyper 7 is being replaced by the Hyper 8. The Hyper 7 diffs sometimes leak and the shocks are not always the best.

So pick your poison. The Kyosho and Jammin seem to be the easiest to get setup to handle well. Xray has the highest quality parts but you need to really know what you are doing with setup.

I ran the TTR S3 all year, and I had no issues with it, I ran the box chasis, and I had no real problems getting the set up, it stays consitent, i used the same set up basically all year, and at handful of different tracks, i never broke during races, only if i hit a pole or soemthing, which i think any car would break in the situation i put it in, this was also my first year running 8th scale, and i found it easy to build and work on, and to set up, the instructions where missing a couple small things, but if you take your time it wasn't a hard build, the shocks can be tricky if you rush them, you just have to make sure you get the bladder seated properly, the only hopups i would say you need to run it, are the red front tower, and the red steering slider, the king headz diff brace is nice too, but its not essential, and i ran the stock rear tower for half the year with no bending,

I also really like the looks of the CEN matrix, i dont know alot about them, and i've never seen one run or anything, but i think when the Pro kit comes avaialble, i might pick one up to try it, i think they have alot of potentional, and you can't beat the price,

the xray is also a nice buggy,. but at least where i am, the price is unreal, there is no way its worth paying the extra money for it, even if it did work slightly better, which in my opion its no better than what i've got, for the amount i saved getting the TTR, I bought a motor for the car, and still payed less than the xray kit alone was, not to mention parts are expensive to get, and if they arn't in stock, it takes longer to get them than the TTR, again i'm sure this stuff is different for different areas, but for me thats how it works out, which played a huge role in my running the TTR,

for the kyosho, again for my area, impossible to get parts for it, and way too much money, its no good having a buggy if you can't run because you broke an arm and can't get a new one,

jammin, hard to get parts here,

mugen, still what most guys run, very popular kit, i dont think you need the prospec kit, at least not to sart, and what ever you need to upgrade, you can get seperate as you need them, one thing with them, alot of the guys i run with could never get enough steering out of them, and it seems like most of the time they are tight,