Originally Posted by
Racecrafter
This I see as short sighted. Correct; ROAR does not control the market nor do they have a say in what the manufacturers build. You may run a cab forward body at your local event but not one at a ROAR sanctioned event.
My personal feeling is that 1/8 Off Road has spun out of control with the way it has presented itself in the last few years. Small case in point is that our UPS driver walked into the shop and saw a buggy siting on the bench with no tires on it but with a cab forward body and wing. He didn't know what it was as his first guess was that it was a boat of some sort or maybe a jet fighter. When I told him it was an off road buggy sans tires he laughed......... then pointed at one of our short course trucks and said "Now that's an off road car."
ROAR isn't trying to control what you buy. ROAR is about keeping the industry alive. Manufacturers want to be innovative and I love that about racing. The big picture though is to continue to keep things in perspective with new comers to our hobby. Do you think a kid or young adult will pick a T4 or a T-Maxx? Based on realism alone the T-Maxx will get sold 20-1.
Per a recent post on S-Grid I will borrow two words: Slot Cars
Roar's job should be to promote
FAIR PLAY in racing but the reason why they have lost so much respect from the industry is that they have made so many unfair decisions. If you are going to outlaw cab forward bodies, fine, but you better outlaw all of them otherwise you are going to lose respect... which is obviously what happened.
Our job as manufacturer's is to make things that the people want, not what Roar wants. All of the things that Roar has had a problem with have been wildly successful products for us, which is what really keeps the industry alive [Not Roar]. Even if we try to follow their rules, they could decide to change them in an instant and leave us in the cold... Case in point: I went to the electric off-road nationals this year and they had some absurd body height rule for SC trucks where only the stock ae body fit. If they would have stuck with the rule then over 90% of the racers would have been DQ'd, so they changed the rule...twice. If we would have spent the time to make some ugly body to meet the rules and then they changed the rules, we would have went ballistic! So, there is no reward for us following their nonsensical rules because we could get screwed either way.
If Roar wants to be relevant again, they need to make rules that make sense to the racers (i.e. consumers who vote with their wallets) and make rules that promote fair competition. I want Roar to be relevant because it could really help grow the hobby by having National races that were more than just glorified club races and truly showcased the best aspects of our hobby. In the meantime, we are going to strive to make products that our customers want and care less and less about the out of touch Roar rules.