wingracer

iTrader: (24)

Howard Hughes (used his own money to complete aircraft projects after the orders were cancelled).

Bugatti, Lexus and others. Veyron and LFA cost more to make then they can sell them for.

Movie studios. Very few movies actually make back their budget. Most lose money. It's that one mega-hit every now and then that makes them the money.

People do things that may not make money all the time. They do it out of passion or to "enhance the brand" to boost sales of other products or speculation (throw money at ten different projects in the hopes that one will pan out), etc.

Eivind E

I'm just not taken in by this "low light CSI color theme promo video" stuff.
It's just not realistic for me.

And at that price point.. I can buy OS Speed or Nova btt full ceramic. Proven winner engines.

Rsickles

iTrader: (21)

Engines look great. I'm sure there will be more reviews when they finally arrive in America, but you're point is correct. Hudy has said they have no intentions or budget to sponsor big name drivers, so unless their plans change, they won't have a lot of the following of people wanting to run what top drivers run - and marketability of being a National/Euros/World Champ, etc.

Jaz240

iTrader: (52)

Isnt it funny how an engine/Chassis/tires can win a world championship and people run out to buy them? Like the drivers mad skills had nothing to do with the win. I think the only chassis that did not benefit from a major showing at the worlds was the Hyper 9. Jeremy Kortz wheeled that thing to 4th place overall and it was dropped a year later. He did it with a $200 engine also

nitroexpress

2010 Pattaya Worlds
Kortz finished 6th

22Racer

iTrader: (67)

I was blown away by the specialized machinery that is used to make this engine. All looks to be top of the line and very expensive. I am a cnc machinist and wish I could work with some of that equipment.

Rex

Rsickles

iTrader: (21)

Yeah, and I'm guilty of that too. I think all of us are to a degree.

But sometimes the psychological benefit of confidence can be huge. If you're running "proven" equipment, at least you know it's you [the driver] sucking, not the equipment. So you can focus on driving. The negative psychology of running something you don't feel confident in, or start questioning if it's your equipment and start messing with, can be huge for some people.

Jaz240

iTrader: (52)

Ok I stand corrected but dude!, Hyper 9 and an off the shelf Werks B6! To me that was the next best thing to Hara winning with a Hot Bodies even though his car was mostly custom.

Matt Piva

iTrader: (25)

Jeremy Kortz is a badass tho. If he only had an Rc car to worry about he would be the best but unfortunately he has a bigger life outside Rc that he takes care of. That result did surprise me but I'm sure a lot will agree that we all know he has it in him to put his car in a great spot when he feels on. No matter what the car is talent is talent.

mxr17

Wouaw, love your calculations, when he sells 10 000 units he will be very far away from making 3,5 million$ , as there is all the costs of metals to make those engine, even if he is in Slovakia he still has to pay people to work, there is the margin of the importer and the margin of the retailers, I would say That out of 350$ a piece, if he gets 80$ back to the company once paid all the costs, That will be a lot. But I am pretty sure he won't even get That. It's going to take years to get his investment back will all the R and D That he had to do before production and buying all those top of the line production tools,if he ever get's it back.

wombat

iTrader: (31)

+1 - purely simple business model economics. Don't forget the taxes, export duties etc that HUDY would incur as well. It will take him ALOT more than 3 years even if they do 'hypothetically' sell 10,000 units per annum for HUDY to start making reasonable net profit after the initial investment in what would have to be in the millions of $$$ worth of machinery and thousands of $$$ spent on R&D, especially given the relatively small profit margins made on RC products, particulalry those items that are not produced and soruced from R.O.C/taiwan.

From the release/MAP pricing I've seen...it's gonna take a long time to achieve this.

mxr17

In a perfect world, return on investments should be done in a range of 5 years, but considering the economical situation,the hobby business and the poor margin, I would say That if he breaks even in a 10 years range, he should be lucky. Without the hudy and xray brands behind making benefits to pay the losses in the FX engines part, I don't think he would have been able to produce That engine in those conditions ( made in eu, in house and all materials from Europe ) his only other choice would have been to get it made in Asia (loss of quality and quality control) or get a maker like os and rebadge their products.
For me Mr hudy is a courageous man and we should all thank him for That.

Motorman007

iTrader: (89)

Does RCA have them on their site?

Jaz240

iTrader: (52)

I dont recall saying he would make $350 per engine. I said the total would be 3.5 million dollars. I understand his profit is just a slight percentage of that.

moto775

iTrader: (17)

I have to say that I am genuinely intrigued by this engine coming out from Hudy.

I see a lot of wisdom in the whole design and marketing. They were smart and went after the very core of the engine build - they didn't necessarily reinvent the Nitro engine as it is today. Instead, they built the foundation to build whatever they want.

They aren't necessarily building a dynamite engine right off the bat - the engine coming out I am guessing will be mediocre, and that is totally okay. Play it safe - tell a story about durability and dependability first, then performance.

But, they have unsurpassed technology (maybe not by Novarossi - unsure) to go right back to the drawing board with ideas and lessons learned. Just the beginning of a potential legacy of great engines....

Well played Hudy.