Tekno EB48.3 vs Mugen MBX7R Eco
 

Hey guys I am looking for my first rc buggy to race. I come from a bashing background so I am not used to the racing thing. I would like to know which buggy would be a better fit for me. I will be racing on a small track. I have read that the mugen is easy to drive and the tekno is durable and I like both so I have to decide on which one is better for me. Which one of these buggies would you recommend to a first time racer like me. I would also like to know how durable the mugen is and how easy the tekno is to drive. I would also like to know the pros and cons and how these buggies compare.

Difficult one to answer. Depends on the track support and driving style IMO. I've driven both and I own a 48SL. I did have a 48.2.

I've bought Teknos because the track side shop is basically the Hong Kong outlet for Tekno gear! So if I break anything, 99% chance there's stock of the part.

On top of that though, the Tekno suits my track (small ish) and my driving style (a bit more aggressive and on edge).
The Mugen stock setup that my friend had was VERY easy to drive. It was planted. Braked very easily. Had a touch too much rear end grip on cornering for me but overall a VERY forgiving car to drive.

Best bet - hit the track (without car). See what the locals are driving and have a chat with them.

Small track Tekno not a bias thing but they work much better on smaller tracks. Mugens from experience are much better on bigger wider tracks than small and techinal tracks.

Pretty much what the other guys have said. My local track is big and on the loose side. I found the Mugen alot easier to drive and more planted. The Tekno out of the box is nervous and twitchy. Hopefully I can get it handling better over the next race day.

The Tekno is very setup sensitive. Try reducing the rear droop. Helped immensely for me. Guys on their setup sheets are running 121mm shock length on the rear. I'm running about 115mm

On loose tracks il say Mugen is better just because of the design and the stabity but with lead weights on the Rear hubs which helped a lot for me when i ran the Mugen.

Will do. Thanks for the advice. :) I've made the rear links longer and put 7k in the front diff (That was also alot harder than my old Mugen) in the hope it will help. Droop will be the next thing on the list.

What do you guys consider a small track and how much easier is the Mugen to drive? Also how hard is it to dial in the Tekno compared to a Mugen?

Main straight on the track I go to is less than 150ft - probably less than 100!

The Mugen was planted out of the box for the track surface I was running on. Tekno needed some time to setup but easily faster for my driving style.

Too many variables to say because I likely have a different driving style from others and also different track size and surface and condition.

Its why I say get to the track and speak to the locals.

How fast is your fastest guy's lap time?

The tekno is a bit more agressive and has a lot more steer.
On a small and tight carpet track the out of the box Tekno EB48.3 was in the second race more than 1.5s faster per lap than the Mugen MBX7R Eco with setup. With the same driver/radio/electronics offcourse.
The mugen feels a bit more relaxed but seems slower in turns. Also the shocks from the Tekno seems to work better and after a landing on a straight concrete floor (yes they do that...) you can pull up a bit earlier as the Tekno didn't jump up.

From build quality (building mine as we speak) the Tekno feels better (are those arms breakable :p) but I never had big issues with Mugen (MBX6/6T and MBX7/7T). Over the past 2 seasons I broke 1 lower front arm, I think he was just tired because I drove over a bump of 25cm when it broke :).

how much of the twitchy behavior do you think is due to the body shape? i haven't run my eb48 yet but i have a proline phantom body on it now since i had one already. i'll be running it as a e lite on a pretty small track so twitchy will good for now buy come march it will back outdoors with 140' straights. not sure if i want to keep the cab forward body or get the stock one painted up.

Hey Shein ...

The body has little to do with it ... Did you get a .2 or .3 ? if you got the .3 don't worry about it being twitchy at rogers . When I converted my .2 to .3 specs , I had to go back through the buggy set up to free the rear end up again and get back the handling I liked from the .2. If you have a .2 though , pm me , I have a set up sheet Unrath gave me that's money at Rogers. Totally turned the .2 around for me anyway ...

The Tekno is tough for some to dial in because it is very re active to set up changes . Cars like the Mugen have a wide chassis and weight distribution that slows down the cars reaction to inputs . The same can also be said for set up changes . You have to make a bigger change on a wide chassis car to get the same feeling that a smaller change will have on a narrow car . Being the Tekno is significantly narrower than any car most drivers have had , it takes some getting used to. Its not so much the Tekno is twitchy as it simply reacts more quickly to inputs from the driver than most other cars. You can drive a Tekno inside any other car on track in a corner, at least that's my experience. If you prefer a aggressive , more nimble car , a narrower car like a Tekno will suit you. If you like a car that's "steady wins the race" , your going to prefer a more traditional chassis. The key to this whole thing is finding witch car suits you the best out of the box. That will avoid the frustration of having to do a lot of tuning and feeling lost. You chose two great brands , both will serve you well. However , all the top brands are pretty great these days and you really should try as many as you can to see what DRIVES the best for YOU.

From a quality and durability stand point , if you spend money with one of the big players you will be hard pressed to buy a POS.

My 2 cents , and its overpriced at that ...

thanks josh, i do have the .3 set up for box stock setup. running it at debbies this saturday for the first time. will prob only run it there 2-3 times before changing it back over to the heavy setup. what motor,kv, gearing setup are you running?