rhodesengr

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys. I could use some advice. I have a situation that is a little unusual (maybe). I belong to an RC flying club and a few years back we built a simple dirt track for RC cars. Interest has waxed and waned but seems to be getting more popular lately. We don't do actual, real racing but people have become aware that Truggies and SCT's don't mix very well. Most guys buy RTR SCT's like Traxxas but I like to buy better stuff. There has been a push have two basic classes: 2S and Open. I have two 1/8th scale buggies (a Serperent that I bought used and a Losi 4.0 that I built new). But I don't run them when we are running the 2S (mostly SCT's). I have a Losi Ten-SCBE RTR buggy that I run when the rest of them run the 2S SCT's. Its the same class power system but I seem to mostly smoke them.


My Ten-SCBE is OK and although I have upgraded some of it it, I don't want to buy anymore RTR cars. I am thinking about getting a 1/10 buggy like an Xray or Teckno kit. I recall a few years back that guys here told me 1/10 scale buggies like the Losi 22's were sort of fragile. We are pretty much a bunch of hacks so fragile won't do. I saw that Xray has a dirt version of their 1/10th scale buggy so that is the sort of thing I am looking at. So here are my questions:


Are 1/10th buggy kits (like Xray or Techo) fragile compared to SCT or 1/8 buggy? Being a bunch of hacks we tend to have a lot of collisions, flips, and cartwheeling. So fragile just won't do.

How would a 1/10 buggy tend to run against SCT's in terms of speed and power? I don't want to be too far ahead in terms of speed but I don't want to be too far behind either. I realize I could get an SCT kit but I just don't like the look of the SCT's. That's why I went with the SCBE years back. Its an SCT chassis and power system with a buggy body. I know the 1/10 buggies are a little shorter wheel base.


Hope this all makes sense. I wish they'd all get 1/8 buggies but the trend doesn't seem to be in that direction. So I would like a 2S buggy kit to run with 2S SCT.

Sir 51D3WAYS

1/10 SCT and 1/8 buggy are actually roughly equivalent in terms of size, although SCT tends to be lighter. Quite a few 1/10 SCTs are based on 1/8 buggy platform. Personally, I'd just stick to 1/8 buggy and smoke the rest of them. Maybe step down to 3s or a slower motor.

1/10 buggy is way more agile and darty than an SCT or 1/8 buggy. Much harder to drive. They can all be made roughly equal in terms of straight line speed.

1/10 buggies are quite a bit smaller than 1/8 buggy & 1/10SCT. (20% in each dimension) They are considerably more fragile than 1/8, although the latest gen of buggies are remarkably strong. You're probably going to break a fair few parts.
For reference, 1/8 weigh twice as much as 1/10.

rhodesengr

iTrader: (1)

well sounds about the same as 4 years ago. My 8ight 4.0 is much heavier the those typical SCTs. Also much more power. Like you said, they have almost the same wheelbase but the performance is very different. Maybe I can put a buggy body on an good SCT kit; like a kit version of my SCBE.

RazorRC

iTrader: (5)

They used to make a 2S 1/8 Buggy version of the Tekno SCT410.3 which was nearly the same just with a buggy body. It was called the EB48SL. You can still buy the SCT410.3, might be able to still get the conversion parts.

BRabbit

Ebuggy “light” was once a thing. That footprint, weight, and power might be what you’re looking for. Especially if you are running exclusively in your group because as far as i know, the actual class is pretty well dead.

I was bored last year and started playing with parts i had. I have an eb48 2.0 and a TLR SCTE 3.0. I found that the EB body fits the scte almost perfectly once you trim the side bumpers off of the side guards. Also, the wing mount from the EB has 2 holes that line up with existing holes in the rear tower. Within minutes i had a super light ebuggy that was surprisingly good on a track. You can of course get 17mm wheel adapters too if you wanted to go further. I chose to leave the SC wheels on because i was just fooling around anyway. Regardless, i let several buddies drive it and everyone got a smile out of that setup.

Sir 51D3WAYS

You still can. I have one.

sosidge

I raced in mixed buggy/SCT classes when they first came out - and buggies and SCT's don't mix either.

Main issue is that the SCTs have an enclosed body so they allow a completely different driving style - i.e. doorhandling and bouncing off other vehicles that you just can't get away with when you have open wheels. Also the 1/10th SCTs are much bigger and heavier than a 1/10th buggy so the buggy always comes off worse.

However a 1/10th buggy is a lot faster around a track unless you are on extremely rough ground that the smaller buggy tyres and ground clearance can't deal with.

If you are introducing "classes" to your dirt track you are basically turning it into racing - why not make this an opportunity to have more formal SCT rules so that the people running those chassis have more cars of similar capability to run with?

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

The biggest issue you’re likely to encounter with a 1/10 buggy on the track you describe is that they’re far more sensitive to surface prep. Bumps, ruts and low grip can make them difficult to manage as they’re mostly designed for smoother, higher grip surfaces. An older buggy like an RC10 can run pretty well on that stuff but anything with a bigger footprint and wheels/tires is probably going to be more fun to run with others.

rhodesengr

iTrader: (1)

These guys are fickle and tend to buy stuff in fads. At one point (this was a few years back) they all showed up with 6S Arrma Truggies which made my 8ight seem small. I was close to buying a good truggy kit but all those truggies seemed to disappear. I guess they all broke. Most of them are just buying low quality stuff. I see wheels hanging off after every run. I could get an SCT kit (Tekno or Losi?) but by the time I do, they might trend to something different. I saw some posts about mini Truggies but don't see current products.

Wondering why there seems like only two 4WD SCT kits. Is that not a popular class anymore?

DirkW

iTrader: (1)

SCT in general has declined in popularity in many places during the last couple of years, especially with 4WD. Over here, that class is dead, but your area may be different. The only constant class in Off-Road around me is 2WD buggy. Everything else seems to gain and lose popularity all the time.

billdelong

iTrader: (33)

I agree, but not really worth doing the conversion for a 2S limit, I would just buy the SCT410.3 kit and only do a partial conversion... keep the SCT arms/wheels, only upgrade the EB48.3 parts to run the buggy front bumper, buggy body mounts and buggy rear wing, that's about as close to a EB48SL as you need to get for a low key club on 2S


Some build tips here for the SCT:

• BUILD/REVIEW TEKNO SCT410.3
  

billdelong

iTrader: (33)

Depends on where you go, SCT is pretty much dead due to what I believe is because of the 2S restriction which tends to put too much stress on the electronics and wear batteries faster than the more efficient 4S setups for buggy

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (9)

You can throw some ST tires on your SCT for more traction.

purplegrape

I find buggy to be more fun overall. But not fun to run with larger heavier vehicles as it's not a race (buggy faster) and the bigger vehicles tend to break/bend things whereas if you're driving a SCT you're just rubbing bodies.

Luxin

If you all like to race then I think it’s time to set some rules and settle on two or three classes. Well, make two classes and an open class to run whatever you got. Then everyone has a similar vehicle, motor and battery setup. Here is an example that is practical and works well, there are many other examples- google dirtrunners RC club in NJ for an example, I’m not allowed to post URLs yet.

What you are missing is a lap counter system. I think they are crazy expensive for what they are but keep in mind that they probably sell a dozen setups a year or less, not thousands, so economies of scale make the price quite high.