You all complaining about the tires that come in a ft kit...you need to realize that the amount of cars sold that see a track is so small that it would not be feasible to offer a ft kit with hole shots, and ft kit with suburbs, an ft kit with a jc body etc...that is why there are 10 different body choices for an rtr sc10. Because people want to be able to watch their favorite full size truck on tv/at the real track and then go home and bash with their toy truck that looks exactly the same. The rtr / basher market is what companies like ae make money off of, not us racers complaining that we don't use the kit tires. Look at traxxas...they are the kings of the rc car world, and look how many you see at the track compared to our ae/tlr race bred cars. I think tlr did it right by including just rims so the consumer can choose what tires they want instead of throwing in a set of x2000's that nobody is going to use.

So what's your point? I'd bet that at least 90-95% of all Factory Team edition kits are raced, or at least practice on a real track. There's no point in buying one if you just plan to bash it, so bashers tend to buy the much cheaper RTRs that include wheels/tires/bodies/radios/electronics. Your back yard basher doesn't want to build their car from a kit and paint a custom body... People buying the FT kits are not average consumers by, any means. They'd still buy the FT kit if it came in a plain brown box with no tires and the model information printed on a label slapped on the side, particularly if that change saved them money.

hey guys , just getting into the hobbie and bought a b4.1 kit . went together well and now am just waiting on my electrics to come in . got an lrp17.5t mottor and the lrp vxx2 esc . so was wondering if any one had this setup and could point me in the rite direction in witch spur and pinion gear i should start out with . going to be running it on a small track at keilor , its hard pack ground . also was wondering what sort of tyres i should stock up on and what sort of batteries i should stock up on , want a batterie thats going to last .

thanks

I think blinky 17.5 is 33/72 gearing. Probably get a few pinions. For tires you should really ask the guys at the track. generically I would say prine suburbs in m3 or clay compound

why is anybody even talking about a b5 at this point? The b4.1wc has already picked up a world title and recently grabbed 2 more national titles for AE in the one year it's been out. How much can they really improve?

Anyone tried running the inline axles? I'm a bit up in the air about it put them on the car and I like it in some areas and hate it in others. Haven't had a chance to put a lot of time on them yet been working. If someOne is running them post your setup. Would like to see how far off I am at the moment. Thanks!

Anyone looking to sell their BB colars and cups hit me up with a PM. Looking to buy one possibly two sets. I don't want the whole shock just the colars and cups. If you have some springs to include that would be nice too.

+1 Aside from a few quality issues, the b4 is still kicking but and taking names. Losi and Durango came out with there super fancy cars, but the b4 still kicks them in the butt. It corners well, jumps well and is easy to work on. It cost 1/2 of the losi's and durangos with the same upgrades. Hell the losi comes out of the box stripped. No alum hubs, no Ti turnbuckles, nada. you need a tlr kit to really get the kit going. If AE releases a b5, I will buy one, but I am unsure why they need to.

Yeah, your probably right with how many of the ft kits that are purchased for racing. My point is that there is a market for 10 sc10rs' with 10 different bodies, there isn't one for 3 different ft b4.1's with 3 different tire combos. The amount of rtr's sold vs the amount of factory kits for racing doesn't even compare. like i said, tlr did it right with the 22 series kits...just include rims and let the consumer pick the tire.

moving on....

lol, Matt did it lower the price though? Losi are expensive as all get out, lol.

It's that stupid aluminum chassis, I think I read on the rb6 thread that their chassis was $110 retail. That's ridiculous. Losi and ae were always pretty comparable as far as price in the past.

Yeah, I think the tlr chassis is what $99? A local guy just replaced his because it was tweaked. I was like F^&& that. If I break my chassis its like $20, but I have never broken one. I really hope AE does no go the way of aluminum. I loved my old school gold chassis RC10, but that chassis tweaked and it was pretty rigid with the tub design.

Trust me I own a B4 so I am a fan but let's be very clear the B4 did not kick their butt. Ryan Cavileri kicked their butt. Put Cav behind a Losi, Durango, Kyosho or any other top car and the result would be the same. These cars are all close, it is the driver NOT the car.

I agree 100% and question how many FT kits are purchased by real racers for racing. The bread and butter is in the rtr stuff for the mass market.

Look at real auto racing. There is a small market for performance parts like those found on very expensive GT cars, but most of the high performance three piece wheels, and large rear wings are fitted on front wheel drive imports used by people going to work or the movies. Very small market. The millions of standard cars and bought by regular folks for commuting.

Just look at some of the posts here? "im new to the sport and want to upgrade my ft kit", for what? High speed street runs? Even if they do race, can they tell the difference between an m3 or a m4 holeshot? So why dont they buy the rtr kits? I think its because they want to tweak and upgrade just like the people who drive 6 inch lifted grocery getters to tackle the speed bumps at walmart.

Point is real racers will modify no matter what body or tires are included with the kit, but most of the stuff is purchased by the average person.

The fact that the b4.1 is still winning major races and is driven by the best drivers in the world proves the car does not need improvement. Its the market that is driving change. All the talk about b5's or b6's means to me that people are more interested in new and exciting products, the latest and the greatest, not something thats been tested and proven. That brings me back to my original point. Bashers dont care about the type of kit they buy. As long as it's new and exciting they are happy.

Lol of course the driver maters. But what is wrong with the b4 besides its old