BagofSkill

Hi people,
I've been racing touring cars for a long while now and want to get into off road. I was wondering if some of you would help me by sharing your opinions of the Schumacher Fireblade Evo and the Losi XXX, thier strenghts and weaknesses (as chassis, not counting parts support, etc.) If it matters, I'll mostly be running on a blue groved clay track with slick tyres.

Thanks in advance,
Chris.

dw

Well I've got both.

the xxx is a far better car. Easy to work on and better parts quality.
The parts quality of the Schumacher off road cars is poor (the on road parts are ok though).

The blades self destruct with a decent motor in the 2wd. They last for ages in a touring car and are ok in a 4wd but I found you were lucky to get 4 meetings from a set before they were worn out with the evo. Even when new they can self destruct if you are unlucky. The outdrive usually goes with them and sometimes the driveshaft pin too.

The car is also a nightmare to work on with too many screws etc.

I can't comment on handling as in the Uk we run grass , astroturf and carpet not dirt, but the xxx is a proven car on this surface and will be easier to get help for.

I think they have changed the cell arrangement on the newer chassis so it is adjustable but on my evo the cells are much further forward than the xxx. This is a good thing indoors on carpet but off road it makes the car nose dive off jumps and the rear kicks up over bumps. It also causes off power understeer.
You will have trouble getting wide rims for a schumacher. It is possible to convert them to accept b3 fronts with a bit of work.

The schumacher also needs a slipper clutch and decent shocks adding before you run it.

Get a xxx or b4.
The associated cars tend to be slightly less durable than the losis but are usually lighter out of the box. Haven't seen an actual b4 yet though.

Dingus

I've also heard it's difficult to get the Fireblade to jump. In the US, many tracks have large jumps.

I've seen the b4 go and it looks better than the xxx to me. No push and it is rock steady over the whoops.

Check out www.rc10b4.com site by a local guy. There is some video of a heat from last weekend that I raced in against those two.

Also, lots of tech tips, setups and Associated engineers/racers posting on the site. Pretty cool...

midnight oil

I'm not sure if you call this fireblade having any difficulty in jumping, i wouldn't. As far a what dw is saying I have not had any problems with the blades or outdrives breaking. I have been running my fireblade for a few weeks straight and use a 14 turn motor and havn't broken either of the above. I have no idea how that could happen as easily as DW says. As you can tell from the next three pictures I am not easy on my fireblade and I have only ever broken a front a arm in a horrible crash. Other than that the car is indistructable.

midnight oil

right, right

midnight oil

Enjoy

holden

umm... wow
i thought i went big with mine but mine would get about a bit over half of that height

Dingus

Well, you proved me wrong. When my local track installs springboard jumps made with plywood, I will definitely buy the Fireblade.

midnight oil

Actually dingus I wasn’t trying to prove you wrong since you have absolutely no experience with the fireblade, like you said you heard it was difficult to jump it. I was just trying to show you the car can most defiantly jump. It cracks me up that you think that the fireblade can’t handle big jumps. What would make you think that, where is the logic? It’s well balanced and has the similar if not the same amount of travel as the xxx or the B4 and the shocks are great. Let me tell you it’s allot more difficult to get a car to fly level off a jump of this size than a small jump at the track made for an rc car. While I agree with you that a jump made with plywood does not directly translate to the jumps made at a track, it gives you an idea of the air this car can get. It jumps perfectly and landed almost all of the time perfectly. I didn’t break a thing. I was a little surprised at what dw was saying about the blade and out drives since I have never experienced anything like that. The fireblade has it’s weaknesses like any car go on the b4 forum and read all the front end breakage and slop problems owners are experiencing with their b4. Anyway no big deal.

Dingus

I considered getting one so I asked the local sponsored drivers and they all said the same thing. They all had the car and that was their conclusion. That's the logic. These guys go through cars like water and as a result, end up testing just about everything available.

Sounds like you're in love with the car. That's fine, but the question that started this thread was for opinions about what to get as far as a newbie to off road. It's not like I went to the Fireblade thread to start shit.

I have a B4 and raced it last night for the first time. No breakage whatsoever. The slop in the steering is intentional and that came straight from one of the engineers from Associated. Source: www.rc10b4.com

You can launch anything off a skateboard style ramp in the street, heck I did it with my Grasshopper in '85. The challenge is is to get a car to clear a triple at a track with a short run up and a step face and land on the downside smoothly. Big difference IMHO.

No biggie, but remember all cars have their weaknesses, even the B4. There is no perfect car for all tracks, but the B4 is a HUGE improvement over the B3 and XXX. Can't say next to the Fireblade because nobody runs them around here.

midnight oil

Yes I do like the fireblade I wouldn’t say I’m in love though. Maybe down the road when I’ve really got to know it for who it really is I will fall for it, but until then we’re strictly plutonic. Look I think that team associated and losi make fantastic cars but I just think people should know there is more out there than two companies. Everybody complains that 4wd class is dead and there is no competition in the other off road classes yet everybody just wants to use the exact same cars. I remember back in the eighties when there was a real rivalry in the 4wd class not just one or two companies. You had Yokomo,kyosho, Schumacher, and tamiya, now look at it. I think a big reason for this lack of variety and interest is because people only support one or two company’s intern having a negative effect on the whole industry. I’m not saying people should buy other inferior cars than associated or losi just to be different, but were not talking about a huge difference between Schumacher and the others. They have always made top of the line cars that could compete with both those companies. Come on I remember the grass hopper while I have some fond memories of that car what a peace of crap. How are you going to compare a fireblade to a grasshopper. I highly doubt that a grass hopper could ever jump like that and I know with that highly efficient straight rear axle if I recall correctly and springs for shocks that it would withstand landing from the height without breaking anything. I don’t think you are starting shit in this forum I’m sincerely interested in hearing what all the problems with the fireblade are. Even though I like my fireblade,I still am going to cheat on it and get a b4.

Dingus

This is getting boring and off topic.

The guy just wanted to know a good car for off road.

I say, B4, Have Fun!

...unsubscribing from thread...

midnight oil

Sorry for boring you I was just trying to learn from you and what i could do to make my car better.

losikid

the team losi xxx truck is very good for a gas car if you are getting a electric offroad car the buggys and truks are superb i've owned a team losi buggy for 6 years and it still runs great, and i just got a xxx nt nitro truck and it is awesome with great steering. Definitley go with a team losi you'll love it and offroading is much funner than road cars or touring cars.

dirk

I have a fireblade EVO and the only negative comment I could agree with is that it's a pain to work on, many many screws, but in competition it's a fast, and reliable,(from my experience).