tom73

iTrader: (81)

I primarily race 1/8 nitro off-road but am looking for a replacement 2wd buggy for my B6.1 and am curious what is popular out there. Schumacher, sworks and PR racing are brands I’m less familiar with but understand they are highly regarded in Europe. What seems to be the hot ticket / most competitive car that is available? Would you recommend it and why?

thank you in advance

p.s. If there are any other good resources to learn more please pass along this suggestions also.

mushroomed

iTrader: (8)

The B6.1 is still a very competitive platform. If you liked the 6.1 and want a newer car grab a 6.2 kit. The 6.1, schumacher, yokomo and xray buggies are all highly competitive.

If you want something a bit different, the Willspeed chassis conversion for the b6.1 cost about as much as new kit and look fantastic and seem to get good results from their team drivers.

Funkydrummer1

iTrader: (7)

Schumacher, Yokomo and Xray are well known carpet buggies. But for my money its the tlr 22 5.0 ca. Its a well designed buggy. Lots of setups on line. Well supported everywhere. AE is the go-to brand though for many. But they dont do much for me to be honest. But Im the minority on that opinion

Headling

I bought a used 6.1 cheap and converted it to a willspeed, its awesome on carpet and looks amazing

Headling

Here she is!

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

Pick a color, any color. They are all good. I've said it many times, it all depends on your driving skills. If you did really well with the B6.1, stick with that one. The biggest difference with carpet and clay is the diff. One is good for a ball diff and the other recommends a gear diff. You can also look at a Kyosho RB7 or RB7ss. They have the gullwing arms so it sits lower and they only cost $220. The RB7ss is way under weight, so you can add more weight to the front. The Schumacher is pretty much designed for carpet also. Again, it's depends on what your favorite brand is.

Funkydrummer1

iTrader: (7)

Yeah that WS conversion is boss

Kyosho Joe

Rb7ss is $220! Build it out with Titanium screw kit, Lunsford turnbuckles and Kyosho X gear diff, and its a pretty formidable weapon. Like off road junkie said its way under weight...

waitwhat

iTrader: (4)

Every modern car has gullwing arms, and some of them even have both as tuning options (another option for adjustment the kyosho doesn't have). The TLR front arms have 2 outer hinge pin holes so you can switch between a long arm and short arm settings very quickly.

Gullwing arms do not let you lower the ride height further than straight arms. Gullwing arms let the shocks sit lower, which lowers the center of gravity of the whole car. This is why the AE carpet cars come with gullwing arms up front and shorter rear shocks (and tower) than the dirt car. A gullwing arm also has a different rising rate than straight a-arms.

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

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excuse me while I use your name as my reaction to what you said. Wait... What...?

I wasn't referring to kyosho being the only one with the gullwing arms. Just about every carpet car has them. Kyosho also has the straight arms as an option. The RB7ss was pretty much designed for carpet.

The gullwings do let your car sit lower. The purpose is to allow your car to sit lower without compressing the shocks. Therefore, you still have full movement. The ideal posoition is to have the arms come level with the chassis as much as possible. The kickup at the end gets you a little lower. Yes, lower to the ground = better control around corners.

I'm not saying the RB7ss is a better car. I'm just saying it's an equal option for only $220. That's over $100 cheaper than the rest. It's also way too light to meet ROAR rules. This will allow the driver to put extra weight were ever he wants it. Put it all in the front if you want serious bite while turning.

Remember, in the end, it's the driver who wins the race. Not the car.

waitwhat

iTrader: (4)

Your saying gullwing arms let your car sit lower without compressing the shocks as much? How does that change handling compared to flat arms if the chassis hits the ground before the shocks run out of travel on either arm?

Have you tested gullwing arms back to back with flat arms?

What was the last car you raced before you got your rb7 a few months ago?

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

It all started way back in 1984... Just kidding.

Up until April, for over 15 years I have been working an average of 60-70 hours a week. I didn't have time to get into racing, but I still loved it and kept up on it. The good part is, I have friends that always did race. When ever I had the time, I would go to the track and use one of their spare cars to race or just drive around the tracks during practice days. One had Associated buggies and the other had Losi buggies. Off the bat, the Associated felt better on the track. After some tweaking and adjustments, the Losi felt just as good. I don't like the Losi any more than the Associated, but I drove the Losi more because I have a soft spot for the underdogs, and Losi is not nearly as popular as Associated.

This last April, I changed jobs. I now have a 40 hour a week job so I get to have a life. I decided to get my own car and start racing. I was fully set on getting a Losi 22 5.0 Spec, just like the one my friend had. As I was talking to a few other guys at the track. one of them, who drove an RB7ss, told me to take his car for a spin, so I did. Once I got use to the amount of turning this thing had, I was liking it. I knew that after a bit of tweaking, I could get it to handle like I like it. However, I was still looking at the Losi. Then, my kids got excited about me getting a car, so they wanted to race also. At $220 each, the RB7ss was the most financially sound way to go. After putting weight where I like it on the RB7ss, I was turning faster laps than I was with the Losi. I know it is mostly because I was able to set up the RB7ss just the way I like it.

So, to answer your question, I raced Losi and Associated cars before I got my RB7ss. Both straight arms and gullwing arms. However, I have driven Yokomo, Xray, and a Serpant. All were excellent cars. I have nothing bad to say about any of them. The guys at the tracks offered to let me drive them when they heard I was looking to get one.

I have not tested these arms back to back on my own car. However, I am not a beginner when it comes to engineering designs. I understand the physics behind certain ideas. The gullwing is not new. It has been a prototype since the mid 90's. They also tried bending them down, but that made the suspension too soft.

This reply is getting way to long, but I will explain the engineering behind the gullwings. Carpet and astro turf are not as pitted and bumpy as dirt/clay. There is also a lot more traction on C/A so you can turn faster. Therefore, you want your car as close to the ground as possible but still keep your arms and level as possible. This helps to keep your car from having as much body roll. Look at the professional 1:1 racing. This is exactly what they do. They go as low as possible while keeping the arms flat. Even in dirt racing. I grew up in San Diego. I went out riding with Brian Deegan, Trigger Gum, and the rest of the crew (Google them if you don't know them). When they would talk about their suspension set up on their trophy trucks... As low as possible and keep the arms flat but maintain maximum suspension travel.

As for suspension movement, if your shocks don't have enough movement and you hit a corner jump while turning, your shocks will bottom out. Back in the day, racers use to put spacers on their shocks to keep the chassis from bottoming out, That went away because it only takes one time you bottom out your shock and lose the race because of it. Obviously, you race. How often do you hear cars go off a jump and bottom out? All the freaking time. If it is too often, then that driver needs to up his spring rate of oil weight. Look at the bottom of everyones buggy. What do you see? The very back edge of the chassis is worn down. Even after a few races you can see a substantial amount of scraping back there. However, it is not good to slap the chassis.

Now, if gullwings are so terrible, then why are all the big names using them even on their newly released vehicle that are dedicated to C/A?

Now, what have you raced?

waitwhat

iTrader: (4)

Get back to me when you've tested them back to back. Make sure you run the same ride height and droop setting for each arm so the only difference you are testing is gullwing vs. straight, because that is how I do testing methodology. Isolate one single change. The flat arms for the RB7 are from the RB6, so you might have to run the RB6 front tower (IDK if this is even possible, but the B6.2 has a shock tower that goes with each arm).

What ride height do people run on carpet vs dirt?


I've raced rc cars since 1992, I have 28 years of rc racing experience and have raced at 60+ tracks across the US. Nitro, electric, on-road, and off-road, carpet, asphalt and dirt. I've raced dirt and asphalt oval, boats, and motorcycles on and off-road. Ive raced ROAR nationals, The Reedy Race, and many other famous races. I've got on an airplanes to fly to races, I've had chassis, motor, and battery deals back before sponsorship was handed out to anyone with a pulse and a social media account.

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

Impressive amount of racing time. I've been into RC cars since 1982. Bought my Mauri Big Bear in 1984. I've been around the racing scene since 1985 when I first saw Jay Halsey win at the Ranch Pit Shop in Del Mar, where I grew up. At that point, I started racing my uncles Scorpion out there. Talk about body roll... In 1987, I bought my own racer, the Ultima. I chose it because it had better suspension, which I was able to tell because it had longer arms. From there, the list goes on. I have been around RC cars ever since. Around 1995 is when I didn't compere on a regular basis. I Didn't race at the tracks, but I still ran them and tinkered with them. I had my subscription to RC modeler until RC Car Action came out. have been in a couple ROAR events, but I I had to work for a living and didn't have the time or money.

However, this isn't a rooster fight, just a clarification. What I really want to know is what brands you have legitimately raced and prefer? I am not biased to any brand. I have owned and legitimately raced Associated, Losi, and Kyosho. I think the sexiest cars out there are by Xray. I would get one of those, but I would have to give up my real dirt bike racing due to how much they cost. RC is not my only hobby, it's just my least expensive hobby. If I was to go out and buy an ST, I would get the new Schumacher. I honestly don't know why this is a conversation. Gullwing arms and straight arms are like RC brands. It's a drivers preference. I have never measured clearance between carpet and clay setups. I race on clay. I would swap out the arms and try the difference, but I don't see a reason to. The way my car is now is quite comfortable. if you want to know the difference is ride height, I attached a picture of the B6.2 and the B6.2D. I'll tell you this, they look fast just sitting there.

By the way, the shock mounts on the RB7 stay the same. The bend comes after the shock. Therefore the angle on the shock doesn't change with you swamp out the arms.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Used Xray XB2 complete. For $320 just needed a battery and receiver.