vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

My local track pretty much runs only 2wd buggies/4wd buggies with the occasional SC race. So I guess I need to get another buggy to race although I'm not at all a fan of the buggies.
So my question is like the typical guy,

Which is the better buggies out there.

I do not like Team Associated stuff as I use to run it, but the T4 and B4 were not very durable.

I also don't want to spend the kind of money an RB6 costs or even the 22. I thought about the Durango, but I'm not very good at setting a vehicle up so that one seems like a bad choice.

I'm looking at the Hobbypro PR S1, the Team C Evo, or the 3Racing Cactus.
The parts support is not a big deal to me as I would order enough extras to be able to keep going while I wait for parts to arrive.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

beedee

iTrader: (9)

Seems to me like you have eliminated all of the top 3 choices that people would suggest. No buggy I'd say is dubbed as "durable". Everyone will break arms, towers, etc. at one point or another. What didn't you find durable on your T4 and B4?

Since you don't want AE, Losi, Durango... I'd go with a brand that your track or LHS has a lot of parts in stock. Every buggy will need to be set up and dialed accordingly. Do you have any buddies that could help with set up? Also, you could look around the pit area at your local track and see what most guys are running, and ask them why the prefer this brand over that brand.

hairless_ape

iTrader: (3)

I run a Team C TC02 Evo, so I'm a bit biased. I chose it over the HP PRS1 because of wider parts availability. I don't like having one place as my parts source, even though I do buy all my parts online.

Regardless of why I chose the Evo, it has turned out to be a great choice for me. It's pretty tough (by 1:10 2wd buggy standards), it's very forgiving set-up and handling wise, parts are cheap, and so are upgrades. Even if you don't purchase any additional upgrades, what it comes with out of the box is an unbelievable bargain.

vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

I snapped front arms almost every race with my T4 and I ran stock truck. It wasn't from hitting walls. I would land on the downside of a jump and snap an arm. Or I'd overshoot the downside and land in the flat and snap an arm and a front carrier. I had more dnf's than finished races. I upgraded to rpm front arms and never broke again, but on our hard packed high bite clay track it had too much shimmy at high speed and was hard to handle.
I figured it was my driving that was the problem, but I raced my friends backup XXX-T and ended up 2nd without any practice. I got to the point I was using my Traxxas Stampede and coming in 4-5 out of 8-10 trucks. In short course I ran my HPI Blitz and I was competitive with that ad never broke a single part.
My B4 was a pain in the butt to drive. It was so twitchy that I kept screwing up in corners and the slightest brush against the pipe or wall snapped arms.

Both were Factory team vehicles and were the first versions of the B4 and T4.

Our track runs primarily AE and Kyosho with a couple Lois's and 1-2 durango's.

I can't afford a kyosho or a Losi. They cost too much money for my racing budget.
The Durango honestly intimidates me as I've heard it's hard to setup, but is amazingly fast once it is dialed in.

vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

That's the opinion I keep hearing from Team C owners. The price is fantastic especially the upgrades it comes with. I like the crazy looks of the PR S1, but the value of the Team C EVO is tough to beat.

asc6000

iTrader: (15)

the hobbypro is a surprisingly good car...

RC10Nick

iTrader: (9)

no car is any more difficult to set up than any other. shocks and camber links work the same on every car.

With that said, it sounds like you're trying to talk yourself into the team c car. Go with that if it's what you want. Flip a coin, roll a dice, guess a number... you'll probably be happy with any modern buggy you can choose from.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

I believe you are either exaggerating the amount of breakage you experienced with your AE cars or concealing the severity of the crashes you had. They are well known to be pretty durable (racers would not overwhelmingly chose it for a decade if it were delicate). Sure, there are parts of some cars that may be stronger..

That said, the B5 is known to be more durable than the B4, very competitive, and can be had for a very reasonable cost.

dnuggett

iTrader: (33)

The B4 needs the proper weight distribution, that may be why you had an issue with it. The B5 is a completely different car. Much improved.

ThePanda

iTrader: (68)

i could argue that this is not true. while all adjustments will do the same basic thing from car to car, the geometry and design of the car adds an element of difference between cars that changes how they will react to different changes, making some easier/harder to set up.

ThePanda

iTrader: (68)

Hence the reason losi came out with the 2.0 in the first place. to make a car easier to drive and set up with the geometry changes.

to vwjuice, I sent you a pm with an offer.

vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

I'm not exaggerating at all as too the severity of the crashes.

My T4 was amazing when it held together. It's the first Rc vehicle I ever raced. I beat on it pretty heavy and I could clip a pipe on the softer outdoor track and not do anything to the truck. I even race it on the oval track with good results. It just couldn't survive on the hard clay track. Landing on a jump was too hard on it. I even had other veteran racers check my truck over. Jared Tebo and Joe Pillars are two guys in particular that tried to help me with it. Tebo drove it once about 6 or 7 years ago and he only made it a few laps before a brand new right front arm snapped when he cleared the triple and landed smoothly on the downside. He didn't hit anything at all. No one could figure it out. I was the only one that had these tough problems. There was another guy that broke arms the same way, but it wasn't that often.

Like I said once I switched to the rpm arms I never had a problem after that, it just didn't handle as good afterwards on the clay track. If we still had a truck class I would still be running it.

vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I know it wasn't setup well for me. I had help with the setup, but I didn't know how to describe where it was handling badly. The T4 box stock settings were perfect for my driving style so I didn't worry about setup with it.

bambambennett

B5. Don't look back. Box stock it comes with all the adjustable goodies(in plastic not alloy, this keeps the cost down). I have 2 and have been running my first B5 i got since the first week release and have yet to break anything. I hit a pole on the edge of our straight on power(pole is halfway down the straight) and thought for sure the car was going to be a yardsale at that point. Marshall flipped it back on the wheels and off I went, with a load in the shorts. I have tumbled it a few times with no issues whatsoever. The diff is really good too. I got 5 weeks out of mine when my 22 would go 3-4 and my B4 would go 2-3. Soon, parts will be readily available, however you might not need many. I bought a bunch of spare everything and have yet to open any packages. My 22 was durable too. B4, well caster blocks and front arms,lol. The guys who ran Durangos be me did not like them much and they didn't seem tough either. I am not sure of the Team C but the HP is another car locals near me seem to buy, say it's bitten, then sell it off for a 22 or B5. My choice is B5 first, 22 second.

vwjuice

iTrader: (5)

Honestly if money was not an issue than I would buy a new Losi in a heartbeat. I've always liked Losi products and never had any issues with them.

That being said, I have a disabled son so money is a big issue as his needs come first.

I like the looks of the PR S1 and the Cactus more than I do the Team C, but the Team C seems to be a good value. I am just trying to get some feedback on these kits and if there's any other suggested ones around the same price.