Need advice on new touring car.
 

Im looking to buy a new touring car for running rubber carpet. Im looking at the Tamiya, Xray, or Top car. I run oval usually and am new to touring so I do need some help. Here are my main priorities.

1. Parts availability in the US (mail order is fine as long as its not super expensive and is still fast) and no im not going with a TC5
2. Durability (from what ive read this is why no TC5 for me)
3. Large setup window 416 sounds like the way to go here
4. I also dont like the idea of mixing and matching other companies parts onto my car to make it work. Seems alot are doing that to the corally car. (shocks, arms)

So sorry if this has been posted before but im looking for a concise opinion on these concerns. The only car my local market carries parts for is a TC5 but it seems to take alot of work to get it up to pace as well as the durability.

Thanks for your opinions. This isnt a whats the best touring car thread so much as it is whats best for me under those priorities.

Can't go wrong with an Xray T2'009. Sure the up front cost may be a lot, but parts are fairly inexpensive, you don't need to mix and match parts from other companies on the car since Xray has a lot of great upgrades, durable as all get out, lots of tuning ability, and best of all, if you are stuck on setups, Xray has a wealth of information on setting up your car.

Best of all, they are easy cars to drive as well since you don't have to worry about a part breaking if you get T-boned or hit a wall (not going at excessive speeds obviously).

I think very few will disagree.

Hi Phil,

I'll start off by saying I am Tamiya biased:D But I will give you my honest opinion regardless.

All of the cars you mentioned would not have parts support issues in the US. Parts for Tamiya should be available through your local hobby shop as most shops have dealings with the 2 largest vendors in the US, and they both carry Tamiya parts. So if you are looking to support your local shop that could be a bonus for you. With Xray, your local shop will need to apply with RCAmerica, and for the Photon, TOP USA. As far as online retail, again you will not have any issues with parts availability for the mentioned cars. Many of the online shops frequent Rctech as well for questions you may have/support.

As far as durability goes, out of the 3 cars you are considering I rank them all about equal. They all will break if you wreck hard enough. Each brand has its weakness. But luckily the solutions are simple in all accounts. I will say that Xray has a slight advantage in wrecks as the design is a little more stout. But as far as replacement parts price goes...Xray is WAY more expensive. Carpet is tough on axles if your planning on using a spool. If you need to replace axles on a Xray, your looking close to 100.00 for both fronts. On my 416 I can reuse the axle ends because they rarely wear, and the axle shafts cost 15.00 each. I race 2 tracks a week usually and have only replaced front axles once in a year. Photon parts are priced well. The ones I have raced seem to hold up well. The only major problem I have seen with them was the spools breaking, but I believe they have fixed that issue now.

Setup window goes to the 416 in my opinion. Its a very forgiving car. You can do some wild things to it setup wise and it will still be drivable. I always count on my 416 to be fast. When I experiment with things on other cars at a race I usually will bring my 416 a long. If I can't get a car to work that day all I have to do is grab the 416 because I can count on it being fast. There is a ton of setup advice for this car available. Getting help with tuning will not be a problem.

The 416 is what others go by. It has been around for a long time with minimal changes because its proven. People mix matching parts are using 416 suspension to upgrade with. Statistically the 416 is the car to beat.

Have fun with whatever chassis you chose:nod: