Cost comparison between running Mod and Stock class.
 

*Assuming that we are running rubber, not foam (not that we do that in Australia anyway)*

Basically, is it more dramatically more expensive to run Mod than it is to run Stock?

Are the motors and electronics more expensive?
Do you use more consumables like tyres and bodyshells?
Does the wear and tear on parts increase dramatically?
Is the chance of catastrophic breakage increased?
What's a good starting wind of motor for a new Mod driver?

I'm on a budget, planning on coming back to racing. Never actually driven Modified, only 540/Stock/Mini/F1, but I think I would like to (after 20 years of dabbling). What I want to know, is Mod out of the range of the budget driver cost-wise?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions :tire:

I would start with a 13.5 class, then motor up when your ready.
Buy the right speed control to run either so you save costs.
Plan on stocking parts, things will break and wear out faster.
Good luck

motor, esc and battery cost the same regardless.. (for the most part)
Just make sure the esc you choose can run lower wind motors as said by MC112b.

The biggest factor will be you ability to not hit things and break. faster car might mean more crashes therefore more parts.

As far as tires. Here you can only use one set per event anyway. Club racing and practice ill use the same set longer than most because im cheep. Some guys run a new set every night. Im sure someone who runs mod can let you know more about the tire wear.

I say start stock but with a mod capable esc and go from there! Have fun

Im running stock until I can crash less lol then all i need is a motor.

What do you mean exactly by stock? I run 10,5T boosted 'Stock' where speeds are pretty close to modified

I would argue that, from an equipment standpoint, it is cheaper to run Mod on a competitive/national level than it is to run the slower 17.5 non-timing Stock classes.

In Stock, you have to keep up with the Jones's... best/latest batteries, motors, speedos, etc. The speeds are slow enough that the differences in the electronics from a year ago can be substantial enough to affect your race outcome. In Mod, the cars are typically overpowered to the point that you can be competitive with most off the shelf motors and batts.

In Mod you will obviously go through consumables faster... and you will break a lot more if you cant keep it off the boards...

+1... In Mod batteries are much less important than in blinky stock classes from my experience ;)

I would say the rebuilds on the car from wearing stuff out is much more pronounced. One guy I know who does pretty good in stock at big races told me that his schedule doesn't allow mod from the perspective of the constant rebuilds.

I would have to add that another extra expense you have in stock is to get an up to date charger, while in Mod you can get away with the old 8.4volt max chargers... New chargers that can do 8.5+volts is a must in 17.5blinky....

IMHO stock is more expensive if you want to win... there's always going to be the motor of the month = you buy more. while in mod, sometimes (depending on the track) you want to slow the car down a bit. Battery has less impact i think in mod as the motors have enough power already (but i feel like you'll go through packs more because of the motor's KV and amp draw). in our track atleast, i think 95% of the top speed of mod is achieved with 13.5 boosted already so i feel like breakages and wear is almost the same (also depends on driving style though). so for me might as well go mod.

I have recently moved from 21.5 Blinky to Mod (4.5)
(in Aus we run 17.5 boosted as our stock class)

car setup has to be more spot on in mod, so far i haven’t broken anything on my tc6.1 since switching, but i have had to replace the front spool outdrives and cva blades a couple of times due to wearing them out. i haven’t killed any belts yet, but i do have to keep tightening then up every once in a while, Tyres do wear out more quickly, but i can still get a few meetings out of a set of MuchMore 32's

The only thing I did have to change was speed controllers, as I couldn’t get the Tekin i was running to stop overheating, even with a tornado fan blowing directly on the terminals. The hobbywing V3 is so much nicer to drive in mod as well.

Beth.

From stock to Mod your setup needs to be different/more spot on, you will wear belts, pulleys and bearings out faster, and will need to probably replace more parts if you're not a top level racer. :lol:

On the good side, as someone already said, equipment doesn't really matter as much. You can compete with older motors and batteries so you're not having to buy new ones for every season, or even every event sometimes for stock.