mercfocus

iTrader: (3)

I'm thinking Losi/Horizon Hobby is the biggest culprit. I've never owned any Losis but I have worked on quite a few for people now, buggies and truggys and all 3 versions. I can't help but notice how most of the parts, at least the parts I had to order, are all different part#s from version to version and they're changed just slightly enough like somebody doesn't want them to be compatible.

I stay away from owning any Losi for that reason but I do use some of their parts that I find to be better like fuel tanks and air filter set up. My TTR in the pics above uses their airfilter.

Herrsavage

I haven't had a Losi buggy or truggy, but I actually kind of like Losi, because they are usually so widely available. It also seems to me that their cars stay on the market for pretty long periods of time. Seems to me like people were running 8T 2.0's for a good 3-4, maybe even 5 years, which is not too bad.. (OK, I guess the buggy came out with an update or whatever..) Some other brands are much worse. Seems like pipes recently have been bad that way. The whole market for 8th scale offroad seems to run too hot. Maybe it has to though to sustain itself. I don't know. It sucks though if you're not ready or willing to dump thousands of dollars a year into it.... Ideally a thousand dollar toy car should hold a lot more of its value than the six months it currently does..., after which you can give it away.

I'm not sure - seems like the worse part of the equation might be racers themselves(a certain few of them anyway..), who are constantly demanding novelty for novelty's sake. So the companies oblige, and whoop your whole car is now "outdated" (and worth half as much...) overnight..

mercfocus

iTrader: (3)

...and trying to call it "new technology". I've read that in articles and heard it said by people at the track and LHS. And that's all BS too. Definitely reinventing the wheel with their own new name.

New technology would be like when the 2.4 gz radio came out or NIMH replaced Nicd.

Some of these differences I'm seeing in cars might be innovative like how JQ mounted the brake cams/bearings at 90 degrees to keep it cleaner. I thought that was really cool when I saw it but still the same technology, just rearranged and maybe a little smarter but pretty much everything else I've seen in the last twenty years is all the same thing over and over. Pillar or C-hub? Dogbones or CVs? Cab forward, cab centered, cab rear? Skinny chassis, wide chassis? Blah blah blah.

So I guess one more thing I would look for, and do look for, is who can keep it simple. AND will stick to that.

Never owned a Team Associated either but I always have wanted one and kick myself for not having one by now because that's a maker that sticks to what they do well. They always have and support their cars for a very long time.

mercfocus

iTrader: (3)

Ironically, Losi is the brand I recommend to most people just getting started in nitro. I can almost count on 2 hands now all the guys that have Losis because of my recommendation.

I also have to admit that last December, I was trying to find this ad on CL where somebody had been listing a Losi buggy and Truggy with what must have been hundreds of brand new spare parts, bearings like crazy, new OFNA truggy starter box with spare parts for that, a few battery chargers, both cars had RB engines in them with JP pipes, tool boxes, and more than I can even remember ALL for $500.

I had the money on a Friday night but the ad seemed to disappear. I thought at that price, it was sold but I waited all weekend checking every so often but still no ad so when Monday rolled around, I went ahead and ordered stuff I needed for other projects including a radio upgrade for my TTR: From MT4 to a MT4-S.

So of course that Monday night, this guy's ad was back up. Doh!

I agree, Losis are fine cars but I see way to much corporate influence there for me to make them a top choice unless it's just too awesome of a deal. There's at least two dozen other cars out there that I would get before a Losi.

AND, while my thunder Tiger is one of my most favoritest cars ever, I actually don't recommend it to anybody getting their first couple nitros. I'm just looking out for who I'm working with.

Herrsavage

Depending on where you live in the world, the TT buggy is actually probably a good choice for an RTR nitro buggy(OK, maybe not for racing..), because it shares parts with so many other cars... So in Europe for ex. parts are absolutely everywhere - and cheap.. For a basher nitro buggy it's a pretty good call actually...

I used to like Associated, and currently have four of their 8th scale cars (RC8T, RC8B Worlds, SC8, and SC8e). I like that they had all these cars that shared parts, which were also widely available. Now you can't give any of these cars away, and I have a ton of parts for them, so can bash them around for a couple years yet. Maybe even race the truggy in a "classic car/antique truggy" race or whatever..

If I were going to buy a new buggy for racing now I'd want to get a Mugen - what I should have started with years ago. But everything I always heard that I liked the sound of re Mugen applied to the MBX6R. For ex. - neutral, easy to find a basic set-up on, good for aggressive driving, etc. Now with the MBX7 it sounds like a lot of that has changed, and it's a twitchy car which requires searching for a pefect set-up or whatever. Still, Mugen keeps its value better than all other brands from what I can see. After that I'd want to try a Hot Bodies D812, but that too has now been discontinued and "upgraded". So forget that, til the new one is proven. I think now, if I were going to get a new car to race, it'd be Mugen. They're pretty ubiquitous at races, the availability is good, the repuation for durability (except arms) is good, and you can actually recoup a few bucks if you have to sell it...

mercfocus

iTrader: (3)

Wow, you can't even give em away? Bummer. Actually, ya I have noticed a certain trend, it seems, the resale value of a lot of different cars has dropped. OFNAs are way awesome (IMO anyway) and have no resale value either and I own 6.

Fortunately for me, I never sell.

I have 2 Mugens: MBX5 Prospec and an MBX6R. Still building the MBX6R so I havn't had a chance to see what the difference is yet but the Prospec is super tough. It has to be because that's the car I learned jumping and racing my first track. I was pathetic as a driver but that car still has ALL its original parts. Now it's got a brand new barely broke-in OS ZXB and Futaba 4PLS and I can actually drive these days so it's a whole lot more fun.

What all this really boils down to is the fun-factor; longterm.

wombat

iTrader: (31)

This. Hit the nail on the head, couldn't have worded it any better myself.

wombat

iTrader: (31)

+1 and this

fizzy

iTrader: (15)

This is really interesting reading different thoughts on this, it seems like brand loyalty has a strong influence for some and what's latest and greatest for others,that's what I'm seeing from this. Parts support and what other locals run comes into it but I don't see this as really what influences people in their decision. It's interesting.

houston

iTrader: (96)

If it says made in japan and kyosho, thats what im looking for

BigInJapan

iTrader: (18)

Quality. I hate stuff that wears or breaks prematurely.

Eivind E

I go by
1) Does it suit my driving style (needs to be compatible with heavy trigger finger)
2) Does the car break a lot? (loved the kyosho, hated the glass front arms)
3) Are there any nice people that drive the car? (everyone in HB are really nice people)
4) What's the chance of setup help if I go to a big race?
5) What's the chance of setup help if I go to a local race?
6) Is the car seen as generally competitive?

Parts availability at any LHS isn't very important because we now have the internet and can get any parts online and have them home within a week.

Spads11

iTrader: (33)

My purchasing matrix:

Do's

1. Does it suit my driving style and durability - can't compete if it can't stay on the track.

2. Solid distribution of kits and parts - waiting over a year for a part to come available is unacceptable in my mind.

3. Design stability - A new car every year is a bit much to support. Especially when the car 2 to 3 generations ago is better than the current one.

Do not

1. Don't care what locals are running, I'm not them and they are not me - the herd can be wrong. Just watch how folks jump on a bandwagon and then jump off like it's on fire when they can't win like the current pro running said platform.

I look for stability in running a platform that has the 1/8th scale vehicles that I like to run. However, I don't hesitate to move to a car that may fit me better as I don't do this for a living and spending days upon days hunting for a setup as that does not fit my lifestyle. So, something that is fairly consistent from track to track with my AOR is critical for me.

AHR43

I rely on two deciding factors, (1) my experience in the hobby, and (2) opinions and experiences of local drivers and racers.

When upgrading or purchasing, I always pose the following question to myself, "Can I afford to give this away or throw it away?". If the answer is yes, immediate purchase follows. If the answer is no, then it gets thought about for two-three days before making a final go-no go decision.

Once I accepted the fact that this hobby is one of expendables and not investments, it became much more a relaxing hobby for me. And deciding whether to upgrade or not became much easier as well. Good luck.

'AC'

mercfocus

iTrader: (3)

I agree, if a person's choices are based on "investment", I think the fun factor is gone. I can't even begin to count how many people think they can buy one of these, lose interest, and try to resell to get most of their money back. Even in the best condition, they have very little resale value and that's the top brands.

Getting back into this a 1 1/2 year ago, I decided there was going to be no reselling. If I build it, it's going to be something I want to keep.

I've past on some pretty good used deals because those were something I just don't want to keep.