Well I haven't raced in about a while, but when I did, I raced against some insane competition. Names like Cuffs, Schreffler, Fairtrace, Swift, Pressinger...and many more that frequented Horsham and Jackson. I was even teammates with a few of em when I was on express. These guys could use 1.18's and smoke you when you had 1.22's (remember it's been a while.) True they did have the big stick in their box if they needed it, but you have to remember...there's only so many cycles on a pack...can't use them every run.

It's about how you prep and your attention to details. I was never on the level these guys were and probably never will be, but that was because I couldn't devote the time to practice and make sure my car was right (and I guess something to do with skill :p ). I fell into the "I gotta have great cells to compete" trap and spent way more money on motors and batteries instead of tires and track time.

Just an old former slow guy's humble opinion

This is one of the better points made on this thread. Most of "the latest, greatest car/batteries/motors, etc" is a trap to get "us" to spend more monies when much of the time we don't have to. I run both electric and nitro touring cars. In nitro, I was just as competitive with my local competitors with my stock MTX-3 against their MTX-3 Prospecs and MTX-4s with all the hop-ups and bling-bling. Why? It was because I started to learn to set up and drive the car to "my" abilities. Plus, I spent a few days each month between races practicing the basics (hitting corners right, when to roll on and off the throttle in turns, how to respond and input when you car over/understeers in corners, etc). I learned my cars and what inputs did what to my cars on the track. I found "my" setup for my cars, not Burch's, Swauger's, Baker's, or Skidmore's setups. Those setups are fine for them, but, I am not them. Let someone else stated somewhere on this forum, I worked with what I had until I could not do better before I moved to the next car in the line (latest/greatest).

Well it is true that you dont need great equipment to succeed......but it does help to own them......imagine running batteries that dont have the punch and power you need.....how are you gonna catch up with others....:nod:

A mediocre driver and a great setup will beat a great driver and a mediocre setup every time in most situations. I believe in racing for the fun of it, and to me running up front is the only way to have fun. That being said, I think its crucial to have these parts, in this order:
- The best tires for that track, meticulously prepped and maintained. Doesnt matter how great your setup or driving ability is, if the tire isnt making maximum traction, you wont be a contender at the higher levels of racing.
- Free suspension. Polished, trimmed, using Teflon, Delrin, ceramic bearings, etc. It doesnt have to be aluminum or look pretty, it needs to be free and it needs to minimize sprung mass.
- Properly built shocks. Might take a while to get them perfect, but I think its important that they are built properly with the proper pistons and oil.
- Good servo and good servo mounting. Fast and responsive, mounted properly.

I feel that with those components, a solid setup and a good driver, you can be competitive at most tracks. If youre running against stiff competition at a big, sweeping track, a little motor cant hurt if you get the power to the ground.

if you think you don't need good motors, batteries and tires to succeed then your not racing in a competitive club

For the most part, if you aspire to win races and make the A Mains at big events you need a better car, batteries, motor and the right tires. But that doesnt necessarily mean you need to spend $2500.

You can save money by buying proven used racers like the FK05, XXXS, TC4, Pro4. But they definately were not cheap or inferior cars. Its just the opposite. The were the best cars out there just 3-4 years ago and won races at the highest level. And they werent terribly inexpensive either. They were all $250 - 400 if memory serves me correctly. And they can obviously still win in the right hands.

But you don't see many poeple having much success with 4Tecs, Sprints, TL01s, etc. So the car does make a difference.

Fortunately, If you just looking to compete at the club level, there are a lot of good cars $200 and under that will do the job. The problem is that once you get close to the fastest guys you race against, you might never find the last few 1/10s you need to get you to the podium.

Equipment...
Chargers: You get what you pay for... A $50.00 charger might give you a full charge maybe 75% of the time with 25% false peaks. Batterys will not last long or give you the best performance.
A $300 charger will give you a full charge 98% but has built in options for checking and monitoring while charging and be able to do maintenance as well as motors, discharges and cycles the packs..

Batteries same as above.. Soldering irons.. radios.. ESC.. also the same as above.

Now cars are different.. You have to pick the one that fits you.. And that has already been posted in here...

But nothing can make a person faster and better that practice.. Practice... Practice...

LOL what's funny is some of the fast club guys I've raced against ARE using the TA05 to crush everyone else. They happen to know a ton about setup, are great drivers and the TA05 does great for them. They also school everyone else except the nats A & B main level guys. And some of them do it on a very reasonable (relatively speaking) racing budget.

dont bother buying 3 year old second hand cars.... stripped screws, stripped knuckles, worn bearings, dirty diffs, worn chassis, sloppy arms, sloppy steering rack, worn uni's ... not to mention lack of spare parts support for the fk05.

I look at it this way...

If you buy the best high-end gear and the car doesn't perform well, it's usually you and not the gear. IMO, when you're just starting off, this is an important consideration. If you don't do well with less than high-end gear, somewhere in the back of your mind, you're thinking that it's the gear and not you - which may or may not be the case. This isn't universally true, but I'm sure most people know what I'm getting at.

If you're on a budget, then the important thing to do is maintain that budget! R/C spending can quickly get out of hand and before you know it, you're blowing way more money than you intended. You may not be the fastest guy out on the track, but if you're just starting off, it's more important to work on your skills and have a good time, rather than killling yourself trying to make the A Main - which may not be possible anyway, even with the best gear.

Being competitive is really a relative term based on what your expectations are. These days, I just want to do well in whatever main I qualify for and have a good time. While I don't expect to place in every race, placing is good for the soul (and ego) and makes me want to come back for more. I would imagine that it would be very discouraging if I never placed.

In my opinion having all the bling in a spec competition will give you 10% more chance in winning. Open mod class w/no rules is a different story.

When I started racing I had TA05 and I was all over the place and then one guy from Team Yokomo told me its all in the set-up and practice-practice-practice.

Anyway, I purchased all the upgrades for my car and still Im at the last place all the time :flaming: To the point that I sold my TA05 and got a TA05MS:nod: The new car is sweet and I did improve my lap times! and two weeks after One guy showed up w/a TA05 plastic chassis (same upgrades like my old TA05) guess what... He won the Pro Mod class :eek:

This reminds me about 15yrs ago to an international race at my former offroad club where the top guys where running high end turbo Burns (nitro) cars with highley modified engines. One of club members was running a standard Burns with a standard OS engine. He made it to a finals and finishes 3rd!. It doesn't take the latest equipment for good results but practice and relialeble equipment.

Here's my 2 cents. Both theories I've read are true. The fast guys are fast because they're good, they practice and they spend a lot of time on the track. Heck they could probably beat us average Joe's with a 10 year old bolink pan car, and a basic radio system... Why? Because they practice, they would get to know their car, find it's limits, and run it to the max. The problem is when you get 2 or more guys like this together then equipment becomes an issue, if one of them can get their battery to run at peak for a few seconds more that may be the difference of running 2nd and running 1st. The top of the line gear with the average Joe only means extra money in the manufacturers pocket.

I blamed my gear when I first started too. Then I went out and bought the best charger, batt, ESC, you name it. Guess what, it didn't make me a better driver at all. :lol: Several years passed, and I can finally finish a race w/o crashing. I got to a level where my lap times decreased using better gear. Let's just say nothing beats a consistent driver. Above everything. PRACTICE. :nod: