looking fora new buggy
#2
Tech Regular
#3
I'd say a Hyper 8.5 or the RC8...
#8
Tech Elite
iTrader: (17)
All are great vehicles. First I would narrow it down to what you have parts support for, if any. Then narrow it down to which vehicle you think you would like more. I love my Losi 8 and was thinking about trying the Mugen MBX5R, however there are things I don't like about it. What I would do is download all the assembly manuals and take a look at them all, and decide what look to be the pros and cons of each as far as maintenance.
#13
Tech Elite
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Jammin: Don't have one, never driven one. Other folks seem to like them AND be fast with them... (but then again some folks are fast with the Mugen)
Supposed to be really planted like the Mugen but turns better. A little heavy.
RC8: Looks good, but new to the market. Parts support? Help with setup? I would wait on that one. The local guys that have them seem to really like them. Turns great! The only car I would consider to be somewhat on a par with the Losi.
Losi: I drove a couple of tanks through one and I was hooked, dumped my Mugen as fast as I could and got a Losi. Turns like you can't even imagine. Does what you tell it to do, when you tell it to do it. Downside: Does what you tell it to, when you tell it to! Push it too hard and it bites. It will instill a false sense of confidence. "Sure I can quad that 50' series of singles... this car can do ANYTHING!"
A couple you didn't mention:
Kyosho SP2/WC: Turns almost as good as the Losi or RC8, but more planted. A little heavier! With the lightened drivetrain stuff and the new big-bores, might be even better, but I haven't seen one yet.
XRay XB8 EC: Less tail-happy than the older model, but I've seen folks switch from the Losi and be slower... ymmv.
It all comes down to driving style. The right car for me may not be the right car for you. I'm sold on the Losi, but then again it matched what my wants and expectations were.
Hope that helps... I realize it was somewhat ambiguous.
#14
Hyper 8.5... The car turns very well (More forgiving than the Losi), and it is extremely planted. Excells in rough and rutted conditions. Great Jumper. Parts widely available and dirt cheap on Ebay. Durable. Slingshots outta corners and off the line.
Easy on the wallet!
Easy on the wallet!
#15
I've driven jammin, mugen, losi, associated, and kyosho and have owned multiple jammins mugen mbx5 and mbx5r, and losi 8. The mugen is BY FAR the best parts quality, everything on that buggy is bullet proof. Kyosho buggies, i think, still come with phillips head screws - wtf? the losi 8's parts quality is pathetic, everything gets loose and sloppy in few weeks, pluse you'll burn out throttle servos (i had the king headz brace and the updated kit with the orings under the radio tray and it still ate servos. The associated is the most intriguiging of the johnnie come latelies to the 8th scale worlds.
The mugen pushes a bit with box setup but the beauty of that kit is the pillow ball front suspension, you get a track width adjustment and easy to change (clip-style shims) caster adjustment that can make the car turn on a dime (just like the losi car). also, since most tracks are tighter than the giant tracks where you can't even see your car like the farm II, if you put 3000,5000,1000 and take out 1-2mm of caster in the front of the mbx5r it steers like a champ. In my opinion, if mugen racing paid drivers like losi, associated, and kyosho do, they would be a dominant force on the national and international 18/th scale scene. They basically have one premier driver, Scott Hughes, compared to whole cadre of premier drivers especially at losi and associated.
The 8ight can be very fast, but it is very twitch, easily upset, and if you drive it hard it will let you down, that coupled with very poor parts quality says the losi is out, unless you want to change center drive cvd's, hinge pin braces and wait until horizon feels good and ready to stock parts, when the parts are in, you better get them, because horizon is increasing cash flow by reducing inventory!
Call mugen on the phone, you'll fall in love with that company, get an mbx5r kit and you'll fall in love with the parts quality, adjustability, and rock solid stable drive of the mugen
the hyper 8 is a cheap kit for a reason, it also has shotty parts quality. and in my opinion, when i owned one of those for one race weekend, it pushed like a pig more than any other buggy ive driven.
the jammin is pretty nice, no real complaints there especially with the very nice updates like the aweseome super big bore shocks, you will have to drill an extra hole in the rear shock tower however to get the setup right (unless they started doing that in the newer kits), call them and they will explain it to you. the jammin parts quality is pretty good, but not quite the same as mugen
one more problem with kyosho, kyosho america sucks! they are very unfriendly to local hobby shops with shipping charges, long lead times to the east coast and only one supplier, themselves, until they go with great planes or horizon, kyosho will never be mainstream at club tracks. may gil jr. will make a phone call to horizone
The mugen pushes a bit with box setup but the beauty of that kit is the pillow ball front suspension, you get a track width adjustment and easy to change (clip-style shims) caster adjustment that can make the car turn on a dime (just like the losi car). also, since most tracks are tighter than the giant tracks where you can't even see your car like the farm II, if you put 3000,5000,1000 and take out 1-2mm of caster in the front of the mbx5r it steers like a champ. In my opinion, if mugen racing paid drivers like losi, associated, and kyosho do, they would be a dominant force on the national and international 18/th scale scene. They basically have one premier driver, Scott Hughes, compared to whole cadre of premier drivers especially at losi and associated.
The 8ight can be very fast, but it is very twitch, easily upset, and if you drive it hard it will let you down, that coupled with very poor parts quality says the losi is out, unless you want to change center drive cvd's, hinge pin braces and wait until horizon feels good and ready to stock parts, when the parts are in, you better get them, because horizon is increasing cash flow by reducing inventory!
Call mugen on the phone, you'll fall in love with that company, get an mbx5r kit and you'll fall in love with the parts quality, adjustability, and rock solid stable drive of the mugen
the hyper 8 is a cheap kit for a reason, it also has shotty parts quality. and in my opinion, when i owned one of those for one race weekend, it pushed like a pig more than any other buggy ive driven.
the jammin is pretty nice, no real complaints there especially with the very nice updates like the aweseome super big bore shocks, you will have to drill an extra hole in the rear shock tower however to get the setup right (unless they started doing that in the newer kits), call them and they will explain it to you. the jammin parts quality is pretty good, but not quite the same as mugen
one more problem with kyosho, kyosho america sucks! they are very unfriendly to local hobby shops with shipping charges, long lead times to the east coast and only one supplier, themselves, until they go with great planes or horizon, kyosho will never be mainstream at club tracks. may gil jr. will make a phone call to horizone