jpz_67

iTrader: (57)

I have seen quite a few pics of this buggy on neobuggy and it looks very innovative. The only thing I see that might concern me is all the aluminum bracing. Even though the chassis braces appear to be a composite or plastic, everything looks very rigid. A rigid car can become a handful on a rough track. Just an observation. Not condemning the car but just studying it.

Integra

iTrader: (8)

Lol...using your hands to compare weight....

Small pocket digi's are like 8$ shipped on E-bay....do yourself a favor and pick 1 up....Alum is NOT as light as CF...PERIOD.

wingracer

iTrader: (24)

Very true. Though some others were, I was not comparing aluminum to CF.

Aluminum vs plastic. While plastic is lighter, it is no where near as strong and rigid as aluminum. For SOME components (I stress some), to make the plastic part both rigid enough for performance and still be durable, you end up with a surprisingly bulky part. A properly designed, nice and thin aluminum part can come in at about the same weight.

This is one of the reasons many onroad cars are going to aluminum bulkheads and pin mounts yet still have no trouble coming in underweight.

Integra

iTrader: (8)

I hear ya.

XRC

iTrader: (33)

So, forgive me as this may have been posted, but is there a rough estimate as to what the prototype or production version will weigh.

TopGearRC

iTrader: (21)

The problem is that when aluminum is strong only when its thick i.e. more weight if its then then its just like aluminum foil. No matter what, aluminum can't beat plastic (or cf for that matter) in weight. But ceramics is a whole new ball game. I think in the near future we will be seeing a lot of ceramic parts.

rkhess

iTrader: (54)

allmost 10,000 views at this thread .........somthing tells me heavy or not its gonna sell

teeforb

iTrader: (94)

I was reading some articles and it said this maybe one of the lightest buggies on the market. Any word on cost and date release. This looks like a very innovative buggy.

TRArena

$699 and April seem to be the word at this stage. Certainly an interesting looking buggy -Serpent must be really pissed that Durango is kinda stealing the limelight at this point...

foampervert

iTrader: (5)

well... considering that the durango 410 is possibly the heaviest 1/10th scale 4wd buggy in the biz... i suspect it evens outweighs a tamiya db01 with full bling at 1700grams+++ more likely, durango is going the way of heavy makes for a stable car theory, just pack everything as close to the centre line as they can.

hard to say how it'll go, looks awesome though, i'd certainly love to get one.

-Alexander

underway

iTrader: (56)

But Serpent has the track advantage. Meaning its car is running RIGHT NOW at CRCRC for the public to see and admire. While the PICS look great we all know that waiting is not a racers strong point! Take the OD car for instance, alot of people lost interest waiting... Hopefully this car will hit the market before the spring/summer season begins in the midwest and east coast....

captain america

iTrader: (12)

Patience is a virtue, and good things come to those who wait. This is not to be construed as the Durango being any better than the Serpent, merely that, by waiting until both cars have hit the ground, one can make a better informed decision as to which buggy best suits them.

underway

iTrader: (56)

I am just glad that there are options coming to the table that are different from whats already available.

TRArena

Yep, I take your point on the avertising effectiveness of good on track results and the issues OD faced with production delays however it seems to me that Serpent have rushed out press release photos after the reaction that Durango's pics seem to have stirred up recently. I may be wrong but why else would they photograph a used car on used tyres for a press release? Even if they only have produced a single proototype, surely some one would have been clued up enough to photograph the thing for promo work before it hit the dirt?! As long as Durango do actually release in April I think their press releases to date may have influenced alot of racers to actually hold off purchasing the new Serpent until they can actually see / compare the Durango.

captain america

iTrader: (12)

There appears to be some slight tension between Serpent and Durango, no doubt because of their previous, ill-fated collaboration. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if one firm decided to move up their timetable to compete with their former collaborators, or at least give the appearance of not being left behind.

That having been said, there'll still be close to a $200 gap between the two cars, so release schedules or not, I think that may be more of a factor than either car's outright performance... Provided that one of the two doesn't turn out to be a total lemon with regards to lap times. This is certainly a very interesting time for us nitro buggy fans