fmm

Hi all!

I am preparing for the coming outdoor season and I can't decide between these two cars.

I had a Xray T4'14 last year and I know that it is a fantastic car, but I am disappointed with the approach of xray: new car every year.

I was wondering if the new VBC WildFire D007 is at the same level.

Could you please provide me objective opinions about pros and cons of these two cars? Specially in terms of drivability, easy setup and durability.

Thank you in advance!

69rotang

iTrader: (5)

While i cant comment on the T4/15 i did have the T4/14 which i promptly sold after out performing it with my D06...i have since bought the D07 which out performs my D06.

I wouldnt say quality of VBC is quite that of the Xray (its close) but the D07 is just a dream to drive and setup changes are very noticable on the track. It carries a tonne of corner speed and you usually are dialling steering out of the D07 as it has heaps whereas the T4 i seemed to be always looking for more steering.

Parts are cheaper than Xray and D07 std kit comes with some items that would be extras with Xray kit.

Do you know anyone with a D07 you can have a test with?

Might come down to personal preference really. I know a couple of xray converts to vbc besides myself and they said it was day vs night in favour of the D07.

Geberit

Ask yourself a question; are you serious about racing or just ‘’fooling around’’?

RC Racing is as serious as real racing only in smaller dimensions. It’s everything about development and constant progress to find advantage over the rivals. This is what they do in all big racing series: F1, WRC, WES, Indy Car, NASCAR… Why should it be different in RC? The best company’s invest the most money, hire best drivers, make most marketing activities. For this reason they have to stay on the top of score boards to make the sales and afford all their activity.

So why switch the car? To get faster? To ride the same chassis longer without getting any updates?

At the end you could drive the T4 2014 with much success for the next two-three years for sure. Parts are still available and you already have experience with it!

I can say I’m a solid club driver and drove many chassis. At the end I didn’t get any superior advantage with any of them as many on this forum claim.

It comes down only to how serious you are about RC, which approach you like and what your heart says!

theproffesor

iTrader: (66)

X-Ray make a great quality car that comes with loads of support from the RC community. But with that comes a high price tsg and you still have to get "standard" extras like DCJ's. I have a D06 Dynamics that came with all but one of VBC's tuning options. All springs, sway bars, DCJ's, 2 chassis. And for $75 less than a stock T4-14.

The D07 doesnt come with everything the Dynamics did, but parts and tuning parts are cheaper. However, getting set-up help from the community doesn't come as easily as it does with the X-ray. It is there, just not as abundant.

To me it comes down to a higher price for a great quality car well engineered car that has tons of support, or signifigantly less money for a car with more standard options, that is on par for quality, but support may be more difficult to get.

I like my VBC's but have been tempted to drink the X-ray coolaid just to get some set-up help. But I hate all the bright orange anno, and while parts dont break often, when they do, your wallet breaks with them. I also really dont like the x-ray fan boy club. I compair them to the people that wait outside an apple store for a week to buy a phone. There were people pre-ordering a T4-15 just on the fact X-Ray announced they were making one. Having no idea what it was going to be like. I dont want to be even close to being a part of that group.

Lonestar

iTrader: (14)

Smartest stuff I've read on rctech for a long while. Unless your car is letting you down big time performance- or emotion-wise, stick to it. Switching cars, and especially brands is a negative-ROI investment vs learning the current car further...

oeoeo327

iTrader: (75)

Both cars are very capable, when set up properly. If you think about it, you're making the same adjustments on both cars to fix a similar handling issue - short of a few differences in the chassis and the top deck, you won't see many differences in getting either to perform well. XRay plastics, however, are far superior to those used by any other RC manufacturer - so durability tends to be far better as a result.

While XRay's "new car every year" concept irritates many drivers (probably to the point of frustrating drivers enough to leave on-road racing, or discouraging new drivers from getting involved; but that's a different argument altogether ), relatively few suspension and drivetrain parts have changed over the last few generations. You might buy the new chassis every year, but most of the common spares don't change from year to year.

Choose the car for which you're most able to get spares and set-up help; make the purchase from which you'll derive the most satisfaction, based on what you'd like to achieve. Do some research, and decide accordingly.

patorz31

For support for VBC I have found that the team drivers to be very helpful. The only hitch the seem to be on facebook way more then on here. I have asked questions and had setup's messaged to me on facebook.
Here is where most of the US guys hangout.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/277343609136952/

Dave , Korey, Max, Ryan, Oliver, and Troy have been a great help to me getting mine setup. The funny thing is the setup that works the best is usually the kit one....

redbones

Most top level cars come out with different "upgrades" every year, so there is no way around that.
Ask yourself, orange or red/gunmetal?

Korey Harbke

iTrader: (13)

I try to get on here as much as I can. The CEO of my company sits next to me now, so I can't surf rctech as much as I'd like . Usually PM's are better as I'll know someone is asking a question and respond as promptly as I can.

I can usually pop on Facebook a little easier via phone.

Either way, both cars are very good. You can't really go wrong. I always tell people to just pick what they can get parts easier for, and where they might have good friendly help from the factory team or other racers around you.

Hope that helps some.

-Korey

daleburr

The difference on track between the two cars if set up perfectly is likely to be very small. However the difference between a badly set up car and one set up well can be seconds per lap.

So... go with the car that you can get setups for (from good drivers), for the tracks and tyres you race on, as that's where most performance will come from. Setups don't transfer well between tyre makes, surfaces and grip levels, so you need setups off the fast locals, not random setups off the internet. So, what do the fast locals run where you race?

The Xray is probably the stronger of the two cars (and is probably the strongest car period), so if you race indoors with hard barriers that's also something to consider.

Chaz955i

iTrader: (5)

Nah, you're part of a worse group of sad sacks that troll toy car threads taking passive aggressive shots at X-Ray and the people that enjoy the brand. You must have a very fulfilling life.

To the OP. Both cars are good. I'm partial to X-Ray but we have a couple VBC supported drivers at the track. The cars perform fine and the quality seems to have improved significantly from the first VBC offerings. I'd have no hesitation giving the newer models a try. Good luck to you.

Shaun B22

iTrader: (3)

I own Xray but I have seen the VBC in action.......it's awesome too.........so is the newest offering from Associated.....Oh and then Tamiya........they are ALL hella good........my question is are you a good enough driver to truly notice the difference between them? I am not! However my LHS fully supports the Xray line and they ALWAYS have parts for me when I put it in the wall. I follow the parts and support. Buy what YOU like and surround yourself with knowledges racers that will help you dial it in no matter what chassis it is. At a club level it's all about having fun. Pick you colour and have a good time.

nf_ekt

iTrader: (115)

This is only an issue if you decide it is an issue. A slightly "older" Xray is not going to suffer on the club level...

daleburr

Didn't you hear? Last years car self-destructs as soon as the new one is released, burning the owner and inflicting unimaginable pain!!!

I look at it this way; all the big teams are developing and testing new parts the whole while, with the team drivers keeping the good stuff on their cars. With Xray you're never more than 12 months behind the team drivers cars. With other manufacturers who release a car every 3 years, then at the end of the cycle you're 3 years behind the team drivers prototype cars (and 2-3 years behind Xray who improve the car every year).

A lot of the other brands have cottoned onto this now anyway, with Yok, Tamiya and VBC also releasing new cars for each of the past few years, so if "keeping up with the Joneses" is an issue for you, your best bet is a Corally, there's zero chance of that being superseded!

Bappe

Often a year old car is a better way, its cheaper when a newer car is released, there are often proven setups at start so you dont have to start from scratch testing everything.