Dan the Man

iTrader: (41)

I have an Xray T2 '008 sitting in parts on my bench. It needs about $60 with of parts to get it back running. I was thinking of buying about $150 with of spares for it, but for the same price I could buy two brand new Spec-R S1 kits and have a modern cars with all the spares I'd need.

I love my Xray but it's hard to knock back the idea of a brand new modern kit, so I'm stumped.

Edit: I will be racing at club level for 2013/14 season. It will also take a long time for me to save up the moneys to buy a top-flight touring car (T4/417/Mi5/BD7 et al) due to having a family etc..

Opinions and/or advice?

chasingthepack

it depends on how competative you want to be,the t2 is way behind now ,if it was me id get the cash together for a t4,or similar,the spec r isnt the best out there for build quality

oceanhighz

iTrader: (49)

compared to your 008 the spec r would be just fine. It may not be quite the quality, but you can definitely make it work. If you want something still lower on price, but closer to those major brand high level kits, look at the CSO touring car (several guys are running them locally with success (T4 clone basically) and the Spec r R1.

I'm sure you could get your car to work, but if you have to spend $60 in parts to get it to run, and then you're going to buy $150 in spares, you're better off updating. That's $210 right there. CSO is going for about $300, Spec r R1 is going for about $290. As far as I know all current Xray suspension fits the CSO. Most guys if they broke anything, just replace with Xray parts. In my opinion you'd be better off going with that, if you want a more current touring car on a budget. The Spec R S1 will be just fine if you're trying to stay lower on budget.

hyujmn

iTrader: (27)

If you're comparing a t2'08 vs a Spec r s1, I'd take the xray every day of the week.

theproffesor

iTrader: (66)

What class do you plan on racing? If its vta or usgt some of the older stuff works great (TC4, PRO4). If running TC, you might want a newer chassis. But I would definitely go with something that at least few guys at the track have. Thats makes a big difference in how well your race day goes. Set-up help and sometimes parts if you need them. I am the only one at my track that runs a PRO4 chassis and it was a little rough at first. I had to develope my own set-ups. I would switch but I have so many spares it wouldnt be worth it

valk

iTrader: (13)

I think it depends on your expectations of competitivness. we have a number of older cars; t1fk04, t2 whatever ect competing at all levels in our club. we also have t3/t4 ect ect at all levels. buying a better car doesn't make you a better driver.

if you still hit stuff, id keep the T2 going as long as you can. but its your money. Newness is definitely nice.
one of the top racers in my club, pretty much top 3 every single time he puts a car on the track runs a t2,009 that he doesnt ever touch lol. just races it and puts it away.

F. Mendoza

iTrader: (79)

The only difference is that parts are getting more scarcer to find. I just sold my T2 008 about two months ago. I still have my T2 009 and some parts. They are almost the same car except for the lower deck and the shock tower mounts. What exactly are you looking for in parts?

I'd still be running the 08 but came across a great deal for a newer car. The 08 is still a competitive car. Tech support is the only setback that I know of. The older the car the harder it is to get support.

valk

iTrader: (13)

it has also been mentioned you can go used and get a great deal. I picked up two pretty much new serpents last year and got a wicked deal.

Id probably look to buy a good used car over a cheap new one, even if it needs parts. with a lot of the top end cars, a LOT of the value is in the shocks and bulkheads/axles ect. those are things that dont really break that often. just plastic. maybe a tweaked peice of carbon fiber. but those are cheap for the most part. replacing bulkheads is half the price of a car lol.

so get a used t3/s411/417 ect and even replacing all the plastics and bearings on it would still be better than a cheap new car i think..

fivepointnine

iTrader: (15)

man, the T2 is still plenty modern and competitive. It has all the tuning ability of the new cars and is only slightly heavier. What parts do you need? I have a bunch of spares.

DesertRat

iTrader: (2)

Repair or replace... the 008 is still pretty good, just put a bit more flex into the chassis and see how it does.

I have this problem every once in a while of repair or replace, I usually do both. That's why I have so much junk... and rides to lend out to other racers who want to try no-jumps racing.

hyujmn

iTrader: (27)

T2 uses most of the same spares as the t3/t4. C-hubs, knuckles, front/rear arms, roll bars, shocks, springs. All of the essentials.

Dan the Man

iTrader: (41)

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to venture their point of view, I appreciate it.

I've managed to sell one of my other cars, so with that little windfall in my pocket I'm going to get the spares for the repairs to the '008. I felt pretty bad letting it go, and I agree it's still a great car, especially for club racing Blinky 21.5 which is my plan.

Apex models in England and A-Main Hobbies both have a reasonably wide range of spares and options, so I shouldn't have too many issues with supply.

Time to spend some cash!

F. Mendoza

iTrader: (79)

If you find yourself in a bind for parts, let me know.

tc3team

Just a heads up, rc-disco also stock a lot of xray parts, as they are the main dealer for the UK

Hope the rebuild goes well!