Hyjaxx9

Ive been out of the heavy race scene for about 8 years now. but when i left TLR was doing quite well. i think the big difference in saturation of platforms at tracks and events is the ability for hobby shops to get Horizon Products into the hands of customers. to get a Horizon Hobby/TLR distributor deal takes an act of congress and your first born child. They make it a big long drawn out process when you can get accounts with other distributors with some spit and a handshake.

if all things were equal i think TLR would (past tense) have dominated the scene with its fit and finish and Local/Regional presence at tracks.

again...this is my insight from years ago...who knows what the heck is going on since the 2020 debacle lol.

token

At every National/Worlds and a lot of big races, the factory guys are running stuff that is not for sale, and maybe never for sale. Heck at Worlds, there were prototype cars, brand new releases, even AE had world parts. How do you expect a new car to be designed if these guys aren't trying new things? Everything Tater ran can be purchased. People forget that there are aftermarket companies? Aftermarket has been around since RC began.
I think its funny people will drop $300 on colored titanium screws, hundreds on bodies, hundreds on tires, and have every new tool in the pit, yet complain about spending money on AVALIBLE performance parts that will make the car better, or doing a little work to get those extra tenths. I promise you the guys at Worlds wasn't complaining about the kit not being perfect out the box. No, they were trying everything they could to get the best result. Name me a chassis that was perfect out the box, where you didn't see a dremel or a hop up part come out soon after its release. Its all about being as fast as possible, period.

chevmaro

iTrader: (25)

I want to give TLR more of my money on a new kit.

Alexv2024

iTrader: (2)

You know what sucks? Telling people new to the hobby with a TLR I have no idea what setup they should run because everything is custom. They think they have the same car Tater or Dakota just won with, (talking in general about different races) but they really don't. They need to dremel a bunch of stuff, get different sized turnbuckles after they just bought some. Or wheeler arms or different parts from random companies.

I've been tempted to try a TLR setup, but theres so much piece meal setup changes that a kit needs I'd have more in a TLR 5.0 than my B6.4. And its harder to work on as well. As in no quick access diff. And TLR setups commonly use AE springs.

Oh and AE can keep everything updated, so I have a new wheeler and my t6.2 is sitting on the shelf while I consider if I want a new T6.4. Buts an option unlike TLR.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Here in Illinois, TRL is probably the dominant brand. When I go out of state it’s seems to change track to track.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

I’m in Wisconsin and can’t recall a time since I moved here (2004) when TLR has had more than a 30% share at any of the tracks here. I only ever raced in IL. a handful of times but it was the same at the tracks I tried there. I’m not knocking the brand, I ran from when the JRX2 came out through about 2008. The last TLR kit I bought was the 1st mid motor kit (22 2.0?). It was nice but as its development progressed, it got to be like the old XXX, a custom made car from parts and I tired of it.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

I only started racing in 2020. Back when we had the clay track. It’s was a mix of Xray, TLR, Associated. Since it’s all carpet now it’s mostly TLR or Associated. Unfortunately, most of the regular TLR drivers I haven’t seen running much since last December. Hopefully that changes soon.

Dangeruss

iTrader: (3)

The prototypes, new releases, flat hand modified parts, all make the races fun. What's there, what's coming it to market, what on earth is that thing, lol. Only factory parts ever bought were to replace something that broke and you had no other option. Go into the hobby shop LOOKING for cool hop ups. If someone thinks it should work box stock that's all cool & the gang too.

But if anyone looks at what HH has done to every brand they've bought they'll see Losi's future.

DirkW

iTrader: (1)

Quite the opposite from what happened here. After converting from clayish dirt to astro TLRs have pretty much completely disappeared. AE, Xray and Schumacher are all popular instead.

RogerM

Team Associated B74.2 ... most I see have zero option parts on other than maybe a spring change here and there to suit the driver.
Team Associated B6.4D .... my own personal car and that of several top level national racers are straight out of the box for lower grip conditions on astro turf. Admittedly my high grip car has some weight options to suit the ancient front tyres we run in the UK & a piston change to suit our comparatively bumpy tracks but otherwise is totally stock in terms of other hardware hardware.

It can be done as the same was true for my B6.3 too.

silence360

Aarma is the only thing popular here in SE Asia from HH. TLR is practically non existent here. Every big race I have attended in 1/8 I have been the sole TLR racer. There is a small handful in Australia, but not for long. I have since switched brands, as it was getting pretty old traveling to other countries, and races with little parts support as well as other fellow racers to bounce ideas with. For 1/10th I still have my 22x-4 and 22 5.0, and there is a few guys locally that have the same, but AE is the dominant 1/10th brand, next to PR racing.

AussieB64D

Theres only a handful of TLRs at my local, AE and Kyosho are the in thing atm.

Lonestar

iTrader: (14)

Not even the future. Losi's most exciting offroad release since ages is an R/C bike...

mrkab

iTrader: (3)

That may be part of the problem but let me offer a different perspective. Back in the 90s as a teen I lived about a mile from MnM Hobbies which was a fantastic track and Brian Kinwald's home track. It had a hobby shop with loads of square footage but very little stock and no helis, planes, nitro or anything big ticket, and absolutely everything was overpriced.

We really, really wanted to spend money at that track but you couldn't. The selection was bad, the prices absurd, so we literally drove to Ultimate Hobbies in Orange, and that's up to an hour+ one way, to buy the crap we would happily buy 1 mile from our house if only it was reasonable.

I was at MnM all the time, I used to do the math on entry fees and could never figure out how they were in business. And then they weren't. Ultimate Hobbies is still there though.
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Almost 30 years later and tracks with a hobby shop still have little or no stock, no online presence, no service desk, they make it unnecessarily difficult to spend money.
​These are places that clearly have distributor agreements, they don't take the initiative.
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BeefHead

The new car y'all want is being released very soon. It's just not a TLR it's a Mugen lol!