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Old 03-10-2007, 11:56 PM
  #346  
Disaster
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 179
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Originally Posted by chris_dono
Uhm... that's not startup kit as you've mentioned for other things in your list.

Remove the following:
top-end charger (not needed to get started)
comm lathe (not needed to get started)
one motor (only need on to get going)
one-way (not needed until you can drive )
various upgrades (run out of the box)
set up station (build to kit specs)

Over the course of a year, maybe $300 for a set of wheels/tyres. Assuming that's US prices, you're talking 10-15 sets (based on converting to UK money). I'm still very new to RC, so I can't comment on this really other than it would change on how often you ran it ?

As you're talking about being competitive it seems, let's have a look at your other costs...
I don't think you can be very competitive and remove any of those...unless you borrow them from others. Also I forgot the cost and time of tire truing. How much does a tire truer run for?

A motor will not last that long before it needs work to stay competitive....or worse, be ruined. Ideally, it should be dissembled from the start and "blueprinted."

You need the correct one-way, or diff to be competitive on the track you race on....or you will get destroyed in the corners.

Some people use new tires every race...that gets expensive.

I don't want to get nitpicky about $15 dollars vs. $12 dollars for brushes. My point is that the maintenance cost and associated startup costs, to be competitive, are very high with TC.

The biggest point I'm trying to make is TC racing would greatly benefit with entry level, low maintenance classes. The cost would be best controlled by limiting the cost of the cars in the these classes.

I'm not saying to give up the regular classes. Leave those...but I suspect you will find these new classes take over in popularity.

P.S. You can't really include the cost of a TV when you look at video gaming. Almost everyone in the U.S. has one...in fact, they have more than one. Heck, most people in the U.S. already have gaming consoles too...more than one of those as well.

At least 95% of the time spent racing cars on a gaming console goes towards improving your skill....maybe 5% to learning setups. 0% is spent on maintaining the console.
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