vxlmaster821

Then, is it a better idea to get a less expensive kit like a tc4, sakura zero s, ta06 pro, ofna, etc. and upgrade to carbon fiber later or to buy a used tc5/tc6, t3, trf416, etc.?

SteveM

iTrader: (165)

If you want to get into sedans and don't want to break the bank, I highly recommend the Spec-R S1 chassis. It's under $95 brand new and makes a great base to run the 17.5 blinky class. It's basically a clone of the current high-end cars and they are the same for setup.

I'm running this chassis now and have only added the floating steering servo mount, sway bars and clamping wheel hexes. The rest of my car is stock, right down to the shock oil and springs and I regularly beat guys with cars that cost four and five times what I paid.

D.a.v.e

iTrader: (8)

If your planning to race on asphalt my opinion is the car/kit is the cheap part. Buy the associated or xray that is supported at your local shop (surprised no one mentioned serpent) then start budgeting for tires. Most guys at my track plan for a set a day. They run the main on a new set and then use those for practice/qualifiers the next week and start over again. If your running indoors I suspect it may be less costly due to tires.

Associated is probably a good way to go as you can get parts just about anywhere for it & replacement parts are cheaper. Carbon fiber is probably the way to go. It used to be folks did not want any flex in their on road cars, now folks have come around to thinking that targeted flex is a good thing which the carbon fiber allows for. My opinion is spend the money early and get a good kit vs nickel and dimming yourself adding the hop ups later.. Especially if you are already familiar with the hobby and know its something your going to stick with for a year or two.

If it was me I would get the serpent as that's what folks at my track run.

Troy Carter

iTrader: (22)

LH has been really good on tires this year, particularly for 17.5. Good track prep and traction seem to be keeping the tires alive for a long time. Ken the guy mentioned earlier who is very often the winner there has been able to run all season on a set of used tires from last season. I actually find very little difference at the club level between new and used tires there this year.

I do agree though, get a good car with parts/setup support at your track and work from there. No need to play the upgrade game. Always wondering if parts are going to help isn't what you want to do, just get what works and drive the thing.

vxlmaster821

Is buying used a good idea if I want to go associated/xray/etc and cheap like you said? Like a tc6/t3/etc.? Or should I just go all out for a brand new trf417x/t4/tc6.1. Can I buy a ta06 pro/tc4/etc. and do a two stage purchase in that I first buy the kit and then buy an upgrade kit to bring it up in performance? This should prevent nickling and diming myself. Will this still keep me "bottlenecked" to the performance of the chasis? I'm hearing a lot of different philosophies here...

bvoltz

iTrader: (44)

What is your experience with on-road? If you just starting out, then purchase an inexpensive car (used or new) get experience. I would even recommend that you start with VTA or USGT. LH is a big track and when you hit at the end of that 200' plus straight way it can get costly. VTA and USGT are not much slower in lap times and they really make you work on your skills and car setup. LH has some very good racers in both VTA and USGT and they have really good racing in these classes. The nice thing with USGT, all you would need to change to move to TC 17.5 is motor, tires and body. So yes you could race both... but club racing does not really give you enough time between runs to change over. So purchase 2 used for the price of new, and run 2 classes, this will get double the time on the track.

If you have experience, say at LH you can run with the C or B main, then get a new car. Your ready to take your game to the next level.

On-road is not like off-road. Off-road vehicles are built for the punishment of jumps and crashes... On-road cars can take a lot when you hit with nose of the car, but they are not off-road built.

Look, no matter which direction you go, you are going to find pros and cons. So get off the porch and come out and play with the dogs...

We are running a points race this coming Sunday, stop and talk to people, watch and ask questions.... Doors open at 9am, Round 1 starts at 11am... We could be finished by 4pm, depending on the number of entries and if Matt is running the race...

vxlmaster821

I've owned many on roaders but, in the past 2 years, I have only purchased one. It is just a Sprint 2. I have worked on tuning it for awhile and want to move to a more competitive level. I only used to go to the track less than once a month but, I'm looking into going more often. I have really fallen in love with my sprint 2 and my buddies' touring cars. I love the class as a whole. I plan to make my sprint my bashing car if I get a new touring car.

RogerDaShrubber

iTrader: (6)

If you have a Sprint 2, then go and race it for a couple of months, gain some knowledge and some skills, then go and buy a car based on your new found knowledge.

Yes the Sprint 2 sucks as a racing tourer, but it is still more car than you are driver, at my club, we have had in the last year quite a number of people turn up with Sprint 2's, then after a 2 or 3 months, upgrade to a better race platform.

At the end of the day, racing is about fun, look for the fun and forget about what gear to buy, because mostly it is not important. Got a car, go drive it, have fun, come last for 3 months, when you are coming 2nd last more often than not, time to upgrade that sprint to something better.

Fuzzi0n

It might be worth trying the Sprint 2 for a few weeks just to get used to it. As for buying a kit, I'd suggest the Spec-R R1 Pro. It's a high end car, tons of performance, all the features you need but with a much lower price tag than the other top end cars. Spares are easy enough to get, but you'll want to stock up on them either ordering directly from Spec-R, or from somewhere like TQ-RC. End of the day it is your decision, just take everything in this thread into account.

vxlmaster821

I'm running a velinion system in it also... Traxxas hi-torque servo, I dremeled some of the parts that keep the a-arms from going down all the way and raised it up to race my friends on some bumpy street pavement, it also has slicks, a Mitsubishi eclipse body, extremely hard shocks (we have ancient looking and brand new streets in my neighborhood and when the car was lower, I damaged the underbody on a driveway drag race so I made it higher), a motor fan, a sidewinder sv2 esc, and a low gearing

Yeah... All my buddies are running similar setups for our makeshift multi street/driveway track. When I do go to the track I try to get the best time with what I have for fun... I'll try to get pics.

jpk4ud

iTrader: (5)

At our track we run on asphalt and it is has medium grip day in and day out. The top two guys are running a TC3 and TC4 . Those tubs don't tweak and there is no drag with the shaft drive so you can gear them to the moon. I think you can still get a new TC4 for under $150

vxlmaster821

Makeshift racing racer that I call a sprint 2
Sorry for poor quality phone camera
Yeah, it is kinda weird. You might have to play with zooming in or out to see the picture. Sorry I couldn't get it to work .

nf_ekt

iTrader: (115)

Those pics are way too small, can't see a thing

vxlmaster821

No one has mentioned the losi jrx-s when saying used cars... Is it bad?

D.a.v.e

iTrader: (8)

Used cars can be good or bad.. Just depends on what you buy. Problem with used is you never really know how used it is or how many screws are stripped out. So take wear parts and replacement of a certain amount of plastic parts into consideration when thinking about them. For a first race car I would suggest buying new unless you know the car/person your buying from. This way your starting with a decent base set up and you know everything is new so anything that fails along the way is your fault and your not frustrated or making excuses for a used car you may not know much about or has the wrong hop ups for your track.

I would go with the other folks suggestion of start racing with what you have buy the popular tires for your track and race. Then poke your nose into other folks pits and figure out what you really want. Not knowing your background makes helping a bit harder but its never a bad thing to start off with the same car everyone else is running so you can get lots of feedback & maybe extra parts when you break. Once you get a good hold on racing then you can branch off to new territory to try less supported platforms.