DOMIT

iTrader: (1)

Let's see... what do I know... hmmmm...

Ex girlfriend of 7+ years was Viet. Adopted daughter is Viet... been to VN twice, in 2003 and 2006... so more than you think, huh? Hence my (admittedly bad) Vietnamese... yes, I speak enough to order food, ask where the bathroom is, or get slapped.

Is this my brother Devil Dog?

RC Pro up there was fun, we might make the April race.

I'm still undecided on the Ice Breaker too... Super Bowl Sunday? And Friday night practice, on my birthday? I'm thinking there is beer to drink and women to chase on that night... Hmmm... We'll see.

DOMIT

iTrader: (1)

Have you decided on a car? I'll be happy to let you drive my Losi if you want to try one out. I have it set up pretty "friendly..." I don't know if we will be at JCG Sunday or Indy Saturday... JCG is great, but Indy is indoor so the weather is less of a factor. It's up to "the guys" since there are 4 of us that usually race together.

Jason Halvorson

iTrader: (22)

the Go 3port is a great choice...with that engine i would run a dynamite 086 pipe, this pipe comes with a header, so there is no need to buy one...the pipe sells for around $50...i would also suggest picking up a Go 21 turbo button for the engine, this will increase performance and run time both...

Jason Halvorson

iTrader: (22)

oh as far as buggies...maybe look into the OCM DT-19EVO the buggy has a great price at $350 and is a very stable platform, also the hyper 8.5 at around $410 is a very solid choice and will save you some money...

DOMIT

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm... I've seen the Losi "Race Roller" for pretty close to that price, brand new, from Losi/Associated parts house.

free2day77

iTrader: (2)

I have run both the 086,053,jp3, and the GO 2047 on this engine and the GO is the best match personally... +1 on the turbo button.

Jason Halvorson

iTrader: (22)

yes thats true the Go pipe is the best on the engine, but he seems to be looking to save some money, so i suggested the best lower prices option...

vthondaboi

thanks for the help so far guys and the heads up on the l/a parts site, might have to go with the losi 8ight at that price

yea trying to save a bit now as I'm sure I'm going to bang things up while getting the hang of it

free2day77

iTrader: (2)

while the losi is a fast car, it can be a handful and if this is your first 8th scale, I would not recommend it right now.

OCM or a Hyper 8.5 would be a good choice as they are very stable and tough. One thing the hyper has over all the others is parts cost. you can get parts off ebay for cheap! the new cnc chassis $35 shipped plus all the other parts cheap as well.

Brad has my old losi which was setup to stable and fast but I am much more consistent with the hyper than I was with the losi.. just food for thought,

I will let Jason talk about the OCM as I have not had one of those.

vthondaboi

ok well I ordered a DX3R for the TX

thinking about Hitec 5965 and 5985 for steering and throttle/braking respectively, what do y'all think? fast and strong enough for their applications?

but I did read at ashfordhobby.com that digital servos were not recommended for off-road as they don't hold up as well as analog

DOMIT

iTrader: (1)

Hmmmm... now I am REALLY curious... is this Clint? Or??? Anyway, I'm curious to see the 8.5

I know I'm the third owner, but can't remember who had it first... Gary? No... I know Gary went back to Losi... hmmm... I'm stumped!

Anyway, good point. The Losi is just a bit edgy. This one is set up pretty "friendly" (for a Losi) meaning it is easy (again, for a Losi) to drive. There are other cars that are more forgiving however. I had a Mugen before... a lot more forgiving, a lot easier to drive in general, but also harder to drive fast. I switched to the Losi and got faster, although I'm STILL the worst driver out there most of the time.

jpz_67

iTrader: (57)

Those hitec sevos you are looking at will be fine, plenty of torque and speed along with metal gears to boot which is a must in 1/8 nitro. I have read that digital servos are not recommended for mainly throttle duties but are acceptable for steering duties. I run full futaba digitals for steering and throttle and have had no issues. The go engines are definitely a good value for the money, I have a 5 port turbo and it runs great. Most of what all these guys have stated is some pretty good advise as for the cars and such. I am not going to bash the losi because it is a great buggy with a lot going for it, but I would think for a newbie just getting started it may be a little intimidating at first. But once you get it set up everything will be good. My personal choice for offroad is the mugen. It is very well balanced. Good compromise of steering, traction, stability, and very easy to wrench on. Good luck.

supralative

iTrader: (16)

COOL!!!!!
No Devil Dog here hehehee

Well I hope to see you guys up here. There were some folks down there last year for the Free For All race...actually a Texan won it hehehee.
Hit me up if you guys do. We can go eat some pho, bun bo hue, com....who knows...LOL.
You have been to Vietnam...I havent yet.

Take care

Son N.

vthondaboi

y'all are confusing wih the losi, is it really a bad car for a beginner?

if so I'll fork over the extra money for the XB8EC, it seems to be more durable anyways and the distributor is in dallas so parts shouldn't be an issue

any more input on the servos mentioned earlier?

DOMIT

iTrader: (1)

Ummmmm... maybe. It is very precise, and reacts very quick to any control input. If you play a lot of video games, and have quick reactions and good hand/eye coordination, it might be ok. Otherwise, maybe a different car would be a better choice to start out with.

If you over-drive the car, push it too hard, or don't keep your throttle and steering inputs smooth, it can be very frustrating to drive.

It steers like it is on rails... until you push it past the limit... then it will bite you quick and hard. It is NOT a forgiving car to drive, compared to some other options.

One other downside to the Losi... it is the ONLY "major" buggy that uses standard hardware. Every other top-level car is metric. That means if you buy a Losi and then switch to something else, you also have to buy new tools. If you buy a Losi, be sure that it is what you want first!

Note: I still consider myself to be a beginner. I pretty much suck as a driver, there are VERY few people who are as bad as I am, and I am driving a Losi, and I'm happy with it. It isn't the car I started with, and I cannot honestly say how much harder or easier it would have been to start out with that car. I've been driving about a year now, but not really frequently, and I'm old and a slow learner on physical tasks, without a whole lot of hand to eye coordination.

I have not driven the XB8EC. I don't know how it handles. You absolutely DO NOT want the OLD XB8 as a beginner though... it is even edgier than the Losi. I have driven that car, and it is a serious handful! An expert can be VERY fast with that car, a beginner will just be VERY frustrated.

However, you are right about durability. There is not another manufacturer that matches Xray on component quality. IF the XB8EC has been tamed down, it should be absolutely awesome.

Another problem (if you view it as such) is that the Xray has so many adjustment options that it can be daunting to try to tune the car to your driving preferences. It is probably the most adjustable chassis out there. That is good of course, but pretty overwhelming to try to figure out. The nice thing is, Xray's manual that comes with the car is "The Bible" on chassis tuning. Even if you don't get the car, get a copy of the manual and read it!

Sorry, I don't know enough about those servos to comment.

Just to chime in on what jpz_67 said:

The Mugen is probably the best beginner car out there. It is extremely easy to drive, very forgiving, very durable, parts are readily available, and it is a competitive car with the right driver. (I'm not the right driver!) It is a little limited on turning ability, but it is stable, has tons of traction, and tough.

Another option is the Jammin. Stable and forgiving like the Mugen, but turns better. For a first car, one of those two would be my choice. Both are still competitive cars.

The Kyosho SP2 or WC is somewhere in the middle. Turns almost as good as the Losi, but more forgiving and stable. Pricey though...

The one other buggy with a significant amount of local availability is the Associated RC8. From what I understand it drives like a Losi, so if you think a Losi will be too much to handle the RC8 probably will be too.

You might consider buying a USED Mugen, Jammin, or Kyosho...

Sorry if we have confused you... if you know someone with those various cars, you might see if they will let you drive them. I'd be happy to let you drive my Losi, but AFTER the race or VERY early, so if something gets broken I don't miss the race.

Brad