merc-blue

iTrader: (1)

i know this is a taboo subject. but why dont people use cars like kawada and alex racing. both have proven to be decent cars (there no TRF415 but decent) but every one just says there crap.. for club racing and smaller stuff i really thing these cars are good.. the kawada has some great features and alex racing realese cars IN MORE THAN ONE COLOUR. its the small things about these cars that i like.. i know that most cars are similar becasue there a well polished design and hard to improve on BUT what about the new losi thats unique and people say it looks good.. im just confused y when i said i wanted to get a new kawada evey one said its a stupid idea.. parts would be hard to get but hell localy if i have anything besides a schumacher, tamiya or xray parts are hard...
what people thoughts of the dislike for smaller companys? and other issues involved with these "different" cars

Oasis

iTrader: (38)

It's the parts issue,The problem with the exotic cars is not so much the parts availability,but are you going to be able to get them in 6 mo.With most Japanese exotic's they tend to come out with a "new" car that will make the "old" car obsolete every 6 mo.I have owned a few,Ova's,Techs,speedmind..A few cudas.The bigest problem I see is the exotic also tend to be no faster than the mainstream cars.

merc-blue

iTrader: (1)

yeah thats the point there not faster then mainstream but not slower either... the parts arent to bad for the cuda and the sigma.. as for some others i dunno.. but all the top racers get a new car ever year any way..

seaball

iTrader: (9)

as long as you know that parts will be difficult to get, and you'll have to find the good setups yourself, there should be no problem. most of these cars aren't less able, just less explored. there aren't a ton of people that have the time, the skill, or the know to really get cars super dialed in, so often it's a better idea to go with the sure thing.

as with any advice, it's a good idea to qualify where it's coming from, and understand the reasoning behind it. it's all about what you are trying to get from this hobby. for many, it's speed and trophies. for others it can be as simple as being different, or exploring the many ways to make a 4wd sedan work. regardless, there is no reason you can't enjoy both, but it may just take more work.

there are few exceptions that really won't work well against today's designs, but most of the latest offerings can get it done.

good luck.

seaball

iTrader: (9)

also, i understand the sigma to be on the heavy side from the many fasteners and aluminum parts. it's a sexy car, but making weight indoors on foams might be tough. usually the minimum is between 50 and 51 ounces.

have you seen all the pics posted early on the sigma thread? high res, close ups. man, it's a sweet ride.

sac

I know people who own Kawada Sigma's and they have to add weight to make limits and they are running a box stock Sigma's.The one's who are over weight are only over by a little .This is not a issue with most Sigma owner's.For the one's who want a Sigma and the weight of the current car is a issue, the New Sigma 2 is coming out soon,it will be lighter than the current car.
As for the Tamiya trf415 being a better car than some of the "exotic's" car 's just remember who makes it for Tamiya ,Tech Racing one of those "exotic" companies!! and it's not any better .

JusBox

iTrader: (1)

Most people don't use these cars because you can't buy these cars in most hobby shops.

mafiaracers

iTrader: (22)

Its the same idea all over the world....when I was in Japan, they pretty much don't know what Losi is. You go into any hobby shop and ask for losi parts and they will have a blank look on their face. Shoot, I was hard pressed to find AE stuff either....But companies like Kawada are pretty big there. Its just where the market is.

razzo

Exotic cars are fun to race, assuming you also spend a pile of $$ up front for replacement parts you know you just can't get at LHS, or somewhere on the internet quickly. However, with these internet specialty shops now, getting parts for even most exotic cars shouldn't be too hard.

I ran Kawadas for a long time, even after they 'officially' pulled out of US market (closing down Kawada USA, then Mach5 rc was sole importer. Long before Evo hobbies) Still have enough parts to run SV-10 and SV-10II for next 3 years if need be.

However, if you travel for races, running a 'exotic' car is catch 22. At local track, since it's your home track, you might find a killer setup that's fast and be competitive. However, going to something like ROAR nats, you're SOL (unless it's your home track). Last ROAR nats where Team Kawada was present, I think there were 2 of us running the car (out of 150+ sedans, 2000 carpet nats @ Minnreg), and honestly, not being 'Masami' caliber of drivers, we were shooting in the dark for setups. And results reflected it. If I was running TC3, it would be MUCH easier to find a setup, from talking to 50+ people who were running it. By end of day, most TC3 guys were running similar setups, and running FAST. Where as I went one direction, other guy went completely 180, and at end of day, neither one of us had a setup that remotely worked. I'm sure if we had someone like Masami driving our car, we would at least be in same zip code for setup. After the Kawada, ran Tamiya 414X, 414M, TB Evo I (before Tamiya got popular and these were considered exotic) for a while, at least Tamiya had TRF guys who had general setups that worked. Made big race life LOT easier.

I know this is a hobby for fun, but running a small market car, that you have to spend 20 hours to find a setup is less fun, when with popular cars, you can just go to a website and get a good 'base' setup to work off from, and be fast in 2 hours. This probrably discourages lot of people from running these exotic/boutique cars, along with local parts availability.

I'm running a TRF415 now, and yes, Tech helped them design it, but Tamiya's part supporting it. It might not be better then 'exotic' car, but with full factory backed team, and endless availabilty of setups, it's sure easier to make it go faster.

But, if you plan to race an exotic car only at local track, or not even race it at all, above points are moot. And there is 'fun' in making a rare car people think it stinks go fast. Sorry for being long winded!

merc-blue

iTrader: (1)

yeah im just interested in the engenering.. im going throught that "curious" stage were i have had about 10 cars in a few months trying to find whats good for me..

Yokomo Aust

All this talk about EXOTIC cars got me to searching. I don't know if you guys have seen this as yet but it's the Robitronics ETCV1 single belt 4wd electric 1/10 touring car. It looks very interesting. I have just spent a large amount of time on the Kawada web and i am thinking of getting one of those new Sigma 2's. It is no trouble for us here in Australia as the cost of shipping is cheaper from Japan than it is from the USA. and most parts are ordered from overseas anyway.

pumpkinfish

iTrader: (4)

I run an Alex Racing Barracuda R3. From my experience, the biggest problem is not parts support. As mentioned before, with all the specialty internet dealers spares are not a problem, or at least less problematic than in the past. The real problem is that Americans seem to prefer to run electric on carpet and nitro on asphalt where as the Japanese run on asphalt. I remember that someone once posted that there was maybe 1 or 2 carpet tracks near them in Japan while asphalt courses were plentiful. As evidence, with my Cuda I have had to make mods out of the box just to get 28mm foams to fit. The car was definitely created with nothing but 24mm rubber tires in mind. I think in the end it comes down to what do you want from the hobby and how big is your wallet?

edseb

For most people its just the parts. I run a Corally, and around me that is Exotic. Every time I need something for it, its dealing with the Distributor and then waiting for the part to ship which means full retail, plus shipping, plus wait. All that and the car isn't noticeably faster.

Javen13

yeah exotic cars are kool but if your the only one at the track with one and your lhs doesnt have parts, if you break your screwed so you have to stock up on parts. Also you really should know an adaquit(sp?)amount of setup teqnique because if your car is doing something you dont like you gotta fiqure it out on your self theres really no one to ask. But hey if you really want and R3, kawada, or something buy one and A LOT of parts and see what happens it could be the best car for you. Trying one is the only way to find out.