imbsbiaoy

In my experience in R/C, one of the biggest problems and benefits of the sport is the amount of classes that are raced. We have 3 popular scales: 1/8, 1/10, and various minis. Then we divide them into types: open wheeled buggies, open wheeled trucks, and closed wheeled trucks. Then they are divided further by specific class rules... stock, blinky 17.5, mod, etc. This can be good for areas that have good turn outs, but devastating for small tracks. If everyone raced the same style vehicle and class we would see better competition and prices for that style vehicle would go down. Classes could get broken down by driver ability rather than the vehicle body.

What do you think is the best ALL-AROUND CLASS? To me this is tough, because although I love 2wd buggy more than anything... it is not the best all around class. There are many factors to consider when looking at this other than just they way it looks or handles a specific environment.

Here are a few qualities that I think are important to create the best racing class:

-Ability to race on both large outdoor and small indoor tracks
-Handles rough/ loose conditions well. This makes going to an outdoor track and practicing actually fun.
-No need for tire wars
-No 'parachute' effect
-Durable

I think 4wd short course trucks with 2.2 truck tires and whatever body you want to run, be it buggy style or truck style or going with 1/10 buggies but upping the minimum weight (so manufacturers will make them a bit beefier) and allowing wider tires (so tires don't wear so fast). 2wd SCB would be great too!

What do you think would be the best all around off-road racing class both indoor and outdoor?

hlb14

iTrader: (28)

1/8 ebuggy

Theibault

1/10 Mod 4WD Buggy. This is the F1 class of RC and a drivers class. Just my two cents.

imbsbiaoy

While 1/8 ebuggy is awesome, it just doesn't work on smaller indoor tracks unless there is a cell limit... and unfortunately with a cell limit you have to switch kv to be competitive. 1/8 e-buggy is a bit expensive, although many argue 4x4 sc and buggy are just as costly. Personally, I am afraid of 1/8 ebuggies indoor... a lot of power on a small track is scary in the hands of some drivers.

1/10 mod 4x4 buggy is awesome... but they need to be a bit more durable and use wider tires for less wear. It is the most fun r/c car I have driven on a track. Make them almost as durable as an 1/8 buggy and we have a winner.

Tran901

iTrader: (97)

1/8 ebuggy. But they do need room, expensive, and tear up tracks

symmetricon

iTrader: (27)

2wd buggy is the shizzle. You dont really learn how to drive until you learn on a 2wd buggy.

Theibault

I do enjoy 2WD Buggy, but I get much more satisfaction running 4WD Buggy.

aloksatoor

iTrader: (43)

Its a toss between 2wd buggy and 1/8 ebuggy tending towards ebuggy for the air they can get

Pulse_

2wd 1/10 to learn, 1/8 e-buggy for the adrenaline

R.Shackleford

iTrader: (4)

Stock and 17.5 blinky are the same thing.

For smaller turnouts you really have one option. Open motor in every class. Everyone shows up, all the like vehicles run with each other.

One of my local tracks does not have a really huge turnout so we do a lot of points series. The owner/organizer talks to the racers and we figure out what series we run next series. One that was really fun was 13.5/17.5 buggy. The slower guys ran the 17.5 motors, but got a 2 lap head start. First one to 30 laps wins. Then at the end of the night there is a name draw for partners. Your laps and times are combined and scored against everyone else's. Whichever team got the best time gets the most points for the round. Within the team whoever had the best time got the most points. Basically if your team had the fastest time the guy with the fastest time within the team got 25 points, and the other guy got 23 points. The next teams fastest guy got 21 points and the other got 19. It made for a close points battle all the way to the last round, which helped keep attendance up towards the end. The last couple of things were you got a throw out round, and you could only be partners with someone once. If there were an odd number of racers then someone would get drawn twice and the partner that determined the twice drawn guys points were whichever team had the fastest time of the two. It was a lot of fun, and made for an exciting race because every race came down to the last couple laps. Some of the 17.5 drivers were even able to take home some wins.

MX304

iTrader: (21)

1/8 e-buggy all the way.

Edumakated

iTrader: (19)

1/8 ebuggy would be the best all around class imho. Durable, fast, and a relatively cheap TOTAL OPERATING COSTS. They cost a little more than 1/10 to get started, but break far less. They are also much easier to drive.

The only downside is some tracks are too small for them to run safely. So with that said, I would say 1/10 4wd. Just as fast, cheaper, relatively easy to drive, and appropriate for smaller indoor tracks.

The reality though is every class has its down sides.

If I were Dear Leader for a day, I would make a more robust 1/10 4wd. I think the lack of durability is what keeps them from being more popular. If mfg's beefed them up more, I think the class would lose its glass jaw reputation.

All they really need to do is use the same plastic formula that is used on 8th scales and add captured links, and some stronger gears.

iTz Nicholas72

iTrader: (19)

1/8 eBuggy if the track is big enough
1/10 2WD SCT Mod if the track is on the smaller side

Would rather 1/10 Buggy or Stadium Truck but around me both are dead...

novice racer

Id say Nitro Buggy. Really. It all comes down to driving and tires. Everybody runs .21 motors and unless you can tune your just not gonna win.

imbsbiaoy

Sounds like what we need is 1/9 4wheel drive buggy

The problem with 2wd buggy is track and tire limitations. It is always a tire war, unless on a super tacky indoor clay track. Wouldn't be much of an issue if the tires were wider and larger diameter to increase tread life. IMHO they are the most fun on a tight indoor clay and the least fun on loose big outdoor.

1/8 ebuggy imo is not viable indoors. Most indoor tracks are not large enough for 1/8 the sheer weight and speed.

Stadium trucks seem to be the best balance of an all around 2wd class. They are better outdoor than buggies, but still handle great on an indoor track. The tires are wide and tire wars are not as much of an issue as in 2wd buggy. They also lack the parachuting effects of a short course. The reason why I would push 2wd SC buggy is that it is pretty much the same as stadium, but with slightly longer wheelbase and narrower tires, and with the influx of sc's, it would be really easy to just slap on a different body and fix the parachuting plague.

HYPER TT's were an awesome class that never really caught on. Durable, fast, handled great indoor and outdoor, tons of tires available, and could hit the bigger jumps.

I'm thinking a true 1/8 derived 1/10 buggy designed for 550/540 4 pole motors and 2 cell. Lighter than 4x4 SC, more durable than 4x4 buggy, no parachuting, no tire wars, and the ability to take it to any track and have a blast racing, indoors or out