I just didn't feel like I could push the Eco like I wanted to, when I needed to. I was fast as long as I didn't need to push it to pull out a gap or reduce one; once I did, and made the ever so slight mistake it was instant punishment. I also didn't care for the weight that I had to run in the rear to get it to hook up either.

I was looking for a platform that I could push when I needed to and it was a bit forgiving. I think I have def found it! I raced mine last Wed after just picking it up with someone else's setup on it. I arrived late and had maybe 2 minutes worth of practice on it. I qualified 4th and finished 5th out 12 cars - not too bad for the very first time out, with times almost as fast as the Eco.

I was considering the Tekno, but don't know how to feel about running truggy suspension on a buggy. I got a good deal on this one from a team guy with options on it and wanted to try it.

Keep in mind this is my 2cents, so no need for the Mugen folks to jump on the defense.

ok thanks for the input mate yeah I have to do some research on this or the tekno I rule out the mugen now

Crap I got carried away with thinking about my reasoning and forgot to really answer your other question - how do they really compare at this point?

The Mugen can be fast, but requires quite a bit of setup work to get there. I went all over the place with the diffs and tried some team suggestions and it drove like crap for me. The high diff weights made it flat underivable for me. It was a challenge for me to get the rear to hook up and had a ton of weight on the rear to do so. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to run the same platform for everything and was running the 7r nitro as well with the same challenges.

The Serpent, from what I gather so far, likes to be DRIVEN. It took me about a dozen laps to finally figure it out and not be gun shy like I was with the ECO. It is a well built car that I don't anticipate it requiring a ton of replacements when maintaining it and that is a good thing for me. I bent a front uni on the ECO without a big crash and was not pleased with that. The Serpent jumps way more neutral, which takes less concentration in the air, and allowed me to get on the power sooner. It seems that when you get it out of shape coming out of a corner it just wants to self correct.

That's what I see so far.

No problem; if you decide to go Tekno, pm me and we can compare notes. I will say that in my opinion you can't go wrong with the Serpent. Well built cars for sure.

yeah but serpent part are hard to get here the local guy is a wicked job not talk to deal with

That is not good about the local; my lhs doesn't carry any of the parts, but it's easy access for me to get parts online.

see if he had good customer service and nice to talk and get part and don't rip you off then I would deal with him but he doest

Where is here? Outside the u.s.?

yeah

aussie serpent
 

Gday coombes, try looking up southwest rc models warnambool, I was speaking to the owner on the weekend and he deals in serpent gear, I was looking at the 811 be, did post on here but noone answered so to answer my own question yes the 811 be rtr does come in v2 but guess what I picked up 1 of them buggies that start with m, pitty I didnt meet him a week earlier, I know what your saying about the other fella but I found this bloke quite helpful.

You know who I am talking about right hey the dealer

Yep try the mob i said phil was more than happy to talk and help out even offered to lend me some tyres for the meet I got his direct no or I think luke is in the shop as phil just moved towns

Yea after I spend over 5k what the hobby shop i still didt get a nice customer service off him even he sent me wrong parts some time I still had pay for it get right as well

Steering Links
 

I'm killing the steering rod outer links. Started when I went to the aluminum c-hub and steering blocks. Other than going back to placstic c-hubs, is there anything else I can do? I would probably be okay if I could purchase them separately, but I can't.

Nevermind. I was told to try Mugen. Im going to look at Mugen and possibly Xray.