Khan48

iTrader: (3)

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losirunner

ummm.... it all depends on perosnal preferance. I know a few factorty drivers replace arms or even chassis with normal plastic to get a little bit of flex for forgiveness purposes. I personally run with what came with the car, then replace when i break with something cheaper... lol....

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

Every part of the T4 and B4 are available in both plastic and graphite. The Bk2 was never made in a "standard" kit so parts that are propreitary to the Bk2 such as arms and hubs are not available in plastic. Shock towers and bulkheads carry over from the original XXX so they are available in plastic and are sometimes better if you find that you are breaking a part repeatedly ,like a rear shock tower on the Bk2 or front shock tower on the B4. For Bk2 arms we're stuck with graphite.
The B4 drivers almost universally use the plastic chassis because the car runs better in every condition with it. I asked Jesse Robbers about this option on the Bk2 and he said the car gained a tiny bit of grip but that it was inconsistent from lap to lap.

DrOlds

iTrader: (4)

Most all of the parts are available in composite.The current RTR's are all plastic(xxxt/xxxnt).The buggys used to be offered in plastic so most of them should be still available.Losi usually has most anything you could want available but finding the part number for it can be hard.

Just last week I bought a set of plastic BK2 rear arms at the LHS.They are using the BK2 mold for all the XXX rear arms now.Don't know about the fronts.If you are using them on the older XXX remember that all the extra holes to the outside are the new ones for the BK2.

BobbyDoyle

Running an all-composite car or just a composite chassis will make the car feel more forgiving and stable. The B4 and T4 tend to be aggressive and on-the-edge at times, which is why many drivers run the composite chassis and lead weight in the rear of the car.

The Losi's are stable out of the box, and therefore running a composite chassis wouldn't be beneficial.

Hope this helps.

semper

The Associated TEAM cars and the RTR comes in plastic. The Associated FACTORY cars comes with graphite parts. (so yes, there are options)
The Losi BK2 is graphite only and I am unsure about the older KE.
The Associated cars seem to benefit from a little bit more flex (easier to drive), which is why some people use the plastic chassis on their Factory cars. The Losi cars however do not benefit from more flex.
The cars are different and respond differently.

Team Duratrax

Matt Francis used plastic A-arms as shown here -

http://www.teamlosi.com/wallpaper/MF_buggy1024.jpg

They aren't the VLA's which lead me to believe they are original XXX arms.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

Those look like associated springs too. Yikes!
DrOlds, that's good news about the plastic arms. I wondered why they didn't do that sooner.
Losi made a big shift. At one time the XXX came in 3 versions (standard, spec, and Kinwald. was there an RTR?) and now the buggy only comes in Bk2 form. I guess they didn't sell anything else...

"Spanky

iTrader: (1)

i know i can speak for graphite when i say man, THAT STUFF BREAKS, HAHAHAHAHA Way to much experience changing.... everything, hahahaha

Aaron Waldron

Teamduratrax - That wallpaper photo is from the Losi race in Florida before the BK2 and MF2 were released.

Matt's setup for the original XXX called for orange front buggy springs with two coils cut off to make the spring slightly stiffer and more progressive. As you can see with the rear springs as well, he simply took the color off.

Losi's graphite composite material should withstand more abuse and hold up to breakage better than Losi's non-graphte parts, until the ambient temperature is what most people would consider "sweatshirt weather".

Doughty

My views differ from a few that have been posted all ready so I thought I would add what I think.

I personally think that you can run a plastic chassis and arms to allow you to be slightly off with your setup and get away with it.

I think more flex (plastic) in your chassis will mask over any odd traits your car has so it allows you so be slightly off with your setup and get away with it.

stiff chassis (graphite) will respond sharper to any input from bumps or from driver input so you have to be more dialed in with your setup to get the most from it, but with the right setup you should be able to get it around the track faster than with more flex.

this is what I have found to be the case

(experience from running Losi)

Aaron Waldron

Lateral and longitudinal flex are crutches for improper suspension, both setup and geometry. I have mixed feelings over whether or not torsional flex is a crutch or a legitimate adjustment but until our cars are more efficient geometrically that argument is a null point.

From what I understand, the molds for the original XXX arms have been changed to have the VLA option.

Khan48

iTrader: (3)

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Team Duratrax

I had that in mind, but I thought it was odd having wallpaper from 5 years ago and not having any BK2 wallpaper.

Aaron Waldron

http://www.teamlosi.com/wallpaper/bk2_1024x768.jpg

Hehe..