dietDrThunder

iTrader: (3)

This whole idea is EXACTLY what I just brought up today in the 'future of stock' thread.

I will state right now that if this comes about, I will buy one and race it and work to grow the class, as long as it comes along as a pure spec class (must run the electrics it comes with, etc.).

Great thread!

dietDrThunder

iTrader: (3)

Wow, and a real live industry professional and enthusiast agrees! Awesome.

Andy63

Im pretty sure Traxxas would do good building a race car offroad or onroad. They have some really good quality and the cars is often well built. Why not develop a race car?

BullFrog

iTrader: (4)

Well I'm going to say afew things and I've only read the last page.Traxxas has been around for quite awhile.At one point they took on both Associated and Losi in the off road world and decided to go a different way. And it's worked for them. During that time they did and still make some on-road cars. I still have one of there orginal attempts in 1/12th ready to go in the plastic wrapped box. This was back in 1992.It also came with a GTP body painted white and blue. You needed a battery and charger and a radio.Some hobby shops made a package deal (at least the one I was dealing with did). Traxxass also came out with the 4 tech touring car. Since it could not compete with what was out there at the time it and the people that bought them were laughed at at our local track. Never to be seen again. Since then they came out with the E Maxx and now the Slash.People race them both on road and off-road and having fun.I don't think they really care about competing just the fun bashers.There are more fun bashers than racers.
Just look what they have started with the Slash- everyone has copied them.

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

Maybe Traxxas could do magic for on road, one question though........


Why would they want to???

Lets face it, the on-road crowd for the most part are self destructive. By that I mean that no matter how cool something is, how convienent it is, how realistic it is, or most of all, how balanced something is, the on-road crowd will ALWAYS destroy it with over competitivness.

Think of:
-All the class that have come and gone to "save" on-road or on-road tracks. Corrupted...all of them.
-All the technology that has come along that could have made for stable competitive racing. Corrupted...all of it.

Fact is, no matter how many good ideas you throw at on-road, the 'I have no life outside of my next R/C car victory' crowd will always ruin it with the next timing advance, the next motor crank, the next $500+ TC, the next C rating that don't mean crap, the next RIDICULOUS TC BODY THAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A CAR, the list goes on...

SO...the question remains, why would Traxxas waste their time investing in something that we all know is a losing bet.

No matter what magic Traxxas would/could bring to on-road, it would be corrupted and forgotten by the over competetive scene in on-road within 6 months...guaranteed!

Traxxas, save your money and 'magic' for the people in R/C who actually still care about having fun in this "hobby". Don't waste it on the on-road scene, we don't deserve it....and this is coming from an on-road racer...

RCHR

Tamiya started the touring car craze with cheap, reliable spec cars that looked real and ran on any parking lot and made the class really popular....



Racers pretty much paid for that type of racing to go away.

Tamiya is already willing to go there for the hobby (So was Trinity), but not enough of the racers are buying.

Where can Traxxas improve on Tamiya's example?

RCHR

AE also already failed at winning over the budget minded on-road crowd...

dont slow down

iTrader: (16)

Instead of coming up with a whole new ingenious idea to bring to on-road, maybe Traxxas should just make the 4Tec a bit more scale. It seems that scale is coming back, from the Slash being more realistic, and all the scale stuff that has blown up the crawling scene, how bout just a more realistic look car? The VTA class, IMO, is flippin sweet! Realistic looking cars but still containing the performance people want. I could never get into the plain aerodynamically correct wedge bodies on many on-road cars. It doesn't seem like the VTA class has swept the nation however I think Traxxas could do something to make that class more popular, then as people progress they could move into other on-road classes. The 4Tec could be used as a durable base to put something together that would generate more popularity in the on-road department. Like the Slash it wouldn't have to be rediculously adjustable, made of carbon fiber, or come with brushless stuff. Just produce a solid, durable platform with some scale attributes and see where things go.

PS those RC10DS still look sweet!

inpuressa

iTrader: (10)

I'm afraid this is the underlying problem we face with on-road. Traxxas should concentrate on what they are successful in.

Tamiya's emphasis was "fun to build and fun to drive". I remember the days when I got a brand new kit and experienced each step of its inception. When it was finally completed, you can't help but to stare at it. When I was building the reissued Hotshot, that feeling came back which was a good fresh air to breathe in the mayhem these days. Too many people forgot that appreciation these days.

Cain

iTrader: (294)

its possible, Tamiya did have those 1/10 scale SCTs out for awhile back in they day and i still think they are available, long before the Slash. And the Slash as everyone can agree really got SCTs going.

mrrcguy

iTrader: (25)

To those that dismiss this concept because "off road is where the money is" I argue the following.

When Traxxas debut the T-Maxx, (around 2001) what was way huge around that time??? The answer is ON ROAD! Stadium trucks and buggies were kinda stale. TC's were everywhere and every race was getting play from all the magazines. Soon after, T-Maxxes were ripping dirt tracks nationwide and the press took notice. Pro-line Maxx Challenge sound familiar? Evntually came the hybird's and the truggies which pulled even more press and attention away from the previously popular on road races, and the story goes on.

Everything in life tends to have cycles and this industry is no different.

I repeat, COME ON TRAXXAS WAVE THAT MAGIC WAND AT ON ROAD.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

This looks A LOT like I would imagine an on-road version of the slash would look like. Like I said early in the thread. Make them kinda rally car-ish.

redbones

True things all have cycles. On-road is at a low point where things are beginning to become stale. The current chassis designs are at its apex in terms of handling so all you see are variants of each other. I would like to see a completely new concept (kinda like the tigermoth that allows super low scale bodies to fit). If any company can revolutionize it I say it'll be a toss up between traxxas and tamiya. Tamiya's IFS system proved that you can have a competitive car even without the traditional standup shocks, and allows for low front end bodies. Traxxas also had the same system in their REVO line, and was popular too. That's the kind of innovation we need. Not carbon copies with negligible differences.

On a side note, I wondered why TC shocks need to be at the current size it is. There is too much shock travel for the suspension travel needed, and I don't see why it can't be smaller to lower the shock towers for low bodies. I'm sure regulations are behind it, but rules like that only hinder progress imo.

I also think rally is where its at. Kinda like a hybrid on/off road with "scale jumps" (not like the x-games ones we see these days) I tried out a M03 rally race, and it was pretty fun. Too bad it never caught on.

Old Tech

iTrader: (3)

I've seen the same issue in r/c planes when they went from kits to more ready to fly stuff, so I don't entirely disagree with you. However, I think what is missing now is racers, period. As such, if a Slash onroad equivalent can be found and produced and if the effect is to bring more racers in then I'd say it's a good thing. There are many reasons why somebody buys a ready to run car. Many of them do wrench on their own. I don't think you can cassify all rtr owners into the "won't repai their own car" category.

trackdesigner71

iTrader: (6)

As someone who has been trying to get on track since the time of Noah, if Traxxas can come up with a fairly low cost, good quality, race-worthy vehicle, and can come up with a racing class that can cater to fairly inexperienced racers and not get swept up as another class overrun by bigtime competitors or sandbaggers Id be blazing down 460 to my hobby shop money in hand to get in on the ground floor.