Ofna Buggie 1/8, racing material? (New Member)
 

I was just wondering if my Ofna buggie is a racing material type of RC car. This was at first my brothers hobby and he did everything for me but now I am starting to independently work on this buggie (needs some tuning but runs great and his incredibly fast with a 457 XTM .28 motor.) Any help on getting a start to racing this car would really be nice. Thanks
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...0102082249.jpg

throw some new tires on it (crime fighters or bowties) and have at it.

Well that buggy isn't really good for racing ... I work at OFNA and the two competion buggy's we have are the jammin fte and the new hyper 8.5 both rolling chassis, you could deffinetly get out there and race it but be competitive "no"that car has a 28 in it 21's are supposed to be ran in buggy's for racing. I would say go out to your nearest rc track and check out what people are runing..If your going to dump any money into that buggy don't bother i would recommend geting a rolling chassis a new motor and going from there,thats if you wan't to race .....

I agree with what "Tooofast" is telling you except for some slightly different advice regarding the motor. He's right, you'll need to change it at some point, but I feel it can wait...

Most club racing venues don't care what motor you run as long as you are in the 'Sportsman' or 'Novice' classes. In fact, without a quality 'legal' sized .21, you probably won't be very competitive with your buggy anyhow. Why? Bigger motors tend to overpower the buggies at some point, making them much harder to control - especially for newbies. It isn't as important to replace the motor with a legal one right away. I think it should be further down on the list of priorities, as most tracks will let you run it, and it won't matter as much in the beginning because you've got more important upgrades to make - IMO, such as Tires, Your driving and setup skill (Practice!), Radio, and servos to name a few...

BTW ~ Don't take any offense at the term newbie, we all gotta start somewhere and we've all been a newb at somepoint. :nod: I still consider myself a newb, and that's with several years in this sport!

Anyhow, If you already have a bunch of spares for the Ultra you have now, then go race it. If not, I suggest you go and race it until something breaks, but do not dump any money into that buggy. It is good to get some learning out of it until it breaks, but ultimately, the buggy isn't remotely competitive in terms of getting a good racing setup on it. You'll always be chasing a setup on it. I started out with an Ultra series RTR, and wound up dumping a ton of money into it trying to 'race' her. Don't waste your time and resource on it. As soon as she breaks, ditch her (Keep her for 'bashing' if you want, but cease with trying to race her).

Go directly to a Pro level Kit, as this will save you 'beaucoup' bucks in the near AND long-term. I'd suggest the Jammin' FTE (X1X when it is available - newest version of the pro kit) or a Hyper 8.5 Pro to name OFNA's premier platforms (OFNA markets and distributes them in the US, manufacturers are Hong Nor and Ho Bao, respectively). Both of these are great buggies to learn on and bullet proof for the most part. The Jammin' may have a slight edge in terms of overall durability and being easier to drive for a newbie. The Hyper 8.5 Pro, however, is the more competitive rig IMHO... Do your research on both as well as other buggies to see which one will suit your needs best.

Disclaimer - I have owned and raced the Hyper 8 and now the 8.5 for around two years to date. I tend to recommend the Hyper 8.5 to folks because I think it is the best bang for your buck in terms of overall cost of ownership and it being one of the best performing platforms on the market - once again, this is my opinion - others can and will vary... ;)

Check out this thread that we started on the subjects of racing kit upgrades in order of importance (Group discussion and ranking of when to buy what and in what order...): http://ofna.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8181

This will get you started, hopefully in the right direction!

:nod:

+1 to you man, great info for him dude ;)

Thanks so much guys helped me a lot. No offense taken I understand that I am a newb :) but I am willing to learn. Now I am just learning racing techniques and just racing around at my local hobby store. Working on some tuning also, I just got this thing started last night ran perfect. This morning got up and started it Receiver batteries to low ran by itself full throttle for about 2 seconds I got in a wall and turned it off, so its still safe and starting. I am going to wait for the new Jammin and buy her. Always have been a fan of Ofna, great kits.

Two plus years and I still have sooo much to learn it's not even funny! That's the great thing about this hobby, it is so nuanced and complex, that you'll never really 'know it all'. There is always something to learn, and that makes it 'fun' for me!

I had a worn out battery connector come loose during a B-Main at the JConcepts Clash race a few weekends ago! Run aways and glitches never fail to make one feel 'stupid' and get the 'ole bloodpressure up!

:nod:

One thing you didn't mention is how comfortable you are with the buggy and what racing experiences you have had. If you're still learning, don't worry about upgrading and buying a completely different car. Focus on being as competitive as possible with what you have. Most people underestimate that even if its old its no longer fast. Not always true.

My 1st 1/8th scale was a Hyper 7 and I was quite happy with it. I hadn't ever run 1/8th scale, but I have been racing for over 10 yrs, and my friend who does race and is quite good, went out one night to the track with me. he and several other fast racers were there and I managed to keep up with them despite my new-ness and the fact that the car might not have been as competitive as their cars. I got compliments after we hit the pits. I let my friend drive it and even he was quite impressed and he was a dedicated Mugen driver.

IMO, drive this car until the wheels fall off. If you think you have gotten to a point that you have outgrown this car, then consider getting a different one.

You are likely overwhelmed with this car as it is. Having to do your own maintenance, and understand how this car works is enough. Play with this for a bit, then, once you are ready to graduate, THEN look at getting a newer rig. You might even be able to find a good Race-roller from a fellow racer at the track. You already have the radio and other electronics so you wouldn't HAVE to upgrade unless you wanted to.

I think that RC should be a graduation process. (Just cause the fast guy drives it, doesn't mean that its the best for you.) Its also about what you can afford. make upgrades slowly and as you progress with skill, not just cause people tell you the equipment you have sux.

Good luck!


MOmo

Everybody has definitely made some great points. I agree with Momo, race that sucker until the wheels fall off.

I race an RC8 but turn the same lap times with my Ultra when the 8 breaks. Maybe it's because I'm so comfortable with the Ultra...or maybe it's because I'm still a newb...who knows lol.

and rabid, don't feel bad about a little runaway...I had a rx pack take a dump on me just as I was grabbing the buggy off the ground. All 4 of my brand new bowtie premounts went flying off the rims. now THAT will set off the blood pressure, especially when everybody is laughing their asses off at you :nod:

Well yes I am VERY VERY overwhelmed with this buggy. I have about 1 year of experience on racing but not nitro. I raced my rc10 T4 at a couple events and I am pretty good with it but that thing is history now. I am over electric cars needed something more challenging. So I am new to the nitro thing and it is hard to tune I mean I barely know what I am doing but I learned fast and I started my buggy and my brother approved of the tunning. Great suggestion though man I am going to mess around with this car at the track get some races going, learn how to race nitro and then once I feel I want to start racing into something bigger I will upgrade. This beast is really nice though has a nice radio and brushless metal gear servos. So it is pretty durable. Today i need a few things on the buggy. Gas, Orion Servo battery, Glow Start, Tires. Going to ride it at home a little and hit the track for the first time with her:sweat:

My friend used to race an rtr ofna buggy and he did very well with it. He only broke one part in over 6 months, I think it was the front c-hub. He ran it hard too and he liked it better than his losi 8 pro kit (lousi in my opinion but we won't get into that:lol:;)) The only thing I would change are tires, get some crimefighters on there and you are good to go.

While the buggy might not be the ideal one to run on the track, you can certainly upgrade it to make it a BETTER track performer than it currently is. Find a engine to throw in there and match it up with an exhaust system that will best suit it for the track and the engines characteristics. Make sure the suspension is moving freely and is taken well care of and you should be able to compete and have fun doing it.

Some good advice from these guys...

With little or no experience spending money won't really make you faster. Keep that buggy and learn how to go through it and keep it running at it's best. You can buy the most expensive stuff out there but if you don't know how to take care of it then it's not worth having. Preparation is everything in this sport so learn how to prepare your buggy and spot potential problems before they hit you during a race.

I only have a few years exp in this sport and if I can go to a race, practice, run my quals and my main and finish without some component failure or breaking the arms off hitting the pipe I still have a feeling of accomplishment.

Once you are able to get the best preformance there is to get out of that buggy and understand how to tune it and set up the chassis and are faithful with your preventative maint and race prep your making some good progress.

If you can take that buggy and make progress with it then your ready to move to the next level for sure.

Good to hear! Once you get the basics down, really the tuning is the same accross the board, just with subtle changes. And many parts carry over too. Also, in this industry, things change relatively quickly. Whats good today, v 2.0 is out next week.

What gets me are those racers who go out and buy the bestest, most expensive stuff, but lack the skill to drive, then throw stuff when they don't do well. Work on skills first, the better equipment will help. Good equipment will help, but its still up to the driver to get it to the finish line.

Good points Hook: Taking care of your equipment and maintaining what you have means you save $$ in the long run. a $300 motor only means a more expensive re-build when you blow it up. Taking the time for proper breakin and like he mentioned, maintenance, it makes all the difference.

Don't worry about being fast, be consistant. Even if you are finishing each race in 5th or 6th, or Dead last, your lap times should be really close each time. Compare them with the lap times of other drivers and watch how they drive. Are they smoother on the course? are they slowing down in areas you try and punch it? Even working on fast pit stops can help. Talk to other racers or Even ask if you can follow them around the track and see how their Line is and how much faster you go. Have them watch you drive and give honest pointers. Even pitting near fast guys and talking with them about setups will help expand your knowledge.


MOmo

By the way this car did not arrive RTR it was a kit Ofna World ultra II. My servos are FMA s3551m Coreless System. Futuba Receiver and Airtronics radio. Spent a lot of money on this car but I guess things improve fast in this hobby