Looking for a buggy project
 

As the title says, now I'm looking to do a buggy project. Something specifically for racing: 4WD, ~1/10 scale, center diff, etc. Main considerations are durability and ease of finding replacement parts. Performance is also a must, but that has more to do with the driver I suppose. It would also be nice to have something that is relatively easy to work on.

This time, I plan on using a high-quality LMT or Neu motor coupled with a Quark. I've seen some people use the Mamba Max ESC, and while it seems to work OK, I want something easily capable of 5s. I suppose 4s would suffice, but that's a something to think of later on. I'm shooting for something that will run cool and efficient.

Some choices I've browsed so far:

- Team Losi 8ight
- Kyosho MP777
- Or one of the Ofna buggies.

Suggestions?

i have the ofna ultra mbx (not driven it yet) and it is easy to work on. on ebay you can find very cheap parts for it.

Ah, I was confused about the 1/10 buggy idea with a center diff. You mean a 1/8 buggy. I couldn't reccommend one, since I don't know what's best or what your budget is like.

the losi 8ight would be cool, or maybe this

http://www.ofna.com/teamjammin/kits-x1cr.html
:027:

Hey Brian.... I think I'm going to do a Jammin or Losi buggy. Hobby Haven is expecting the Losi Eight in about two weeks. But that keeps getting pushed back. Can't wait to see it...

I like my 777 but an electric Losi would be sweet... and the Jammin is very popular with the local racers and I would have more to compare with, setups, spare parts, etc. Plus I have the Jammin CRT now so it would be nice to have the buggy the same.

Have you seen the recent buggy conversion using the 2100 lipos? The shorter battery allows a layout like my truggy. The diff can stay in the center so you don't need special driveshafts, and the motor can stay on the chassis up front. I like it... makes an easier conversion.

I am using a Mugen MBX-4 and i love it. It is a dream to work on, parts are easy to get, even here in Europe. The handling of a buggy is totally different than any monstertruck. it's a blast.

I have a MP7.5 roller I am or was going to convert. if you are interested let pm me. maybe we can work something out.

Ofna sells a a buggy as a roller brand new. Maybe you could check into one of them. I thought about one to convert but found a deal on other. Buggy is not my thing so sold it.

I have bought a mugen MBX5 Prospec it's a nice car which i will also convert to bl....

But i think it is not so important which buggy you take because the dimension and the chassis layout is always the same and a strong drivetrain and diffs does all 1/8 racing buggies have...

IMO, Stay away from the Ofna MBX they are too narrow. It makes fitting batteries very difficult.

Thanks everyone! So, at least I'm on the right track. I'm gonna head over to both my LHS today and see what they have in stock for kits and parts.

Sorry MetalMan, yeah, 1/10 was a typo. :)

I believe the new X-Ray XB8TQ buggy is the best money can buy.
http://www.speedtechnitro.com/ebprod...il.asp?id=6707

My choices would be:

1. Losi 8ight
2. X-ray XB-8
3. Mugen MBX5 Pro Spec
4. Ofna Hyper 7 PBS PCR

The LHS (the one with a track) has good deals on all their kits... you won't find them much cheaper anywhere.

They carry the new Sportwerks RTR buggy and it's pretty dialed. It's a good car and a good value. I have thought of getting one of those and parting out all the stuff I wouldn't need... that would cover much of the cost of the kit.

I know one guy did that and almost got the roller for nothing after ebaying everything.

Hmm, so it looks like the top (best?) choice is also the most expensive one. Figures. Oh well, I guess it's to be expected.

I stopped by HobbyTown and they don't carry many buggy parts of any brand, but can get most Ofna stuff in 3 days. I still have to stop at HobbyHaven and find out what they have, especially since they are the ones that deal more in the high-end stuff.

The 8ight looks very nice, but is the chassis area wide enough to hold two largish lipo packs? The documentation boasts a narrow chassis design...

That's where I plan to check out tomorrow. I'm kinda hoping to find a kit that doesn't have the motor, tank, electronics, etc to save me the trouble of eBaying stuff, but if it comes out that cheaply, I may reconsider. Like I said, one of my main considerations is durability and ease of finding replacement parts.

The Eight is very cool, but yes the chassis is very narrow. It's a full two inches narrower than most buggies (counting the side skirts). It's also about $600

I want to check out the Eight in person and see how BL stuff might fit.

Seriously, you need to just skip HT and check out HH. They stock real cars, they know 100x more than HT, and they can get anything you want in a matter of days. And you don't pay shipping.

There are guys there (or they know the guys) who have owned every brand of buggy out there. Brandon and Mike (car dept guys) have owned Sportwerks, Jammin, Hyper 8, Kyosho, and Mugen, and have the Losi8 on order. That's the cars I know of... that just those guys have had.

Ask the HT lady what the difference is between the Mayhem and the Kyosho SP2 and you will just get a dumb stare. :)

Hobbyhaven has also sent back stuff for me to get fixed, like my ICE charger I smoked a couple weeks ago.

Rant over. :)

The Hyper 8 and Jammin RTRs are pretty good deals too. All of the "pro" kits are expensive. Buying a RTR and selling off the nitro crap is not a bad way to go unless you want to race and want the best hopups.

Back when I was loking, I really wanted the new at the time XRay buggy or the 777 SP1 but they were both $700. I got the "standard" Kyosho 777 kit for $320. It's not that cheap now.

Or if you want you can check out my 777... I may be getting a Jammin from one of the local racers.

As for getting parts, buy from HH and they can get parts no problem... sometimes it only takes 2-3 days... they have shipments about every day.

BTW I will be there racing again tomorrow night.

And hobbyhaven I think is down a bit on 1/8 kits in stock from what they usually have cause it's about the end of the racing season. And Brandon is off on wed so Mike is the only one you want to talk to.

Cool. I will be hanging around town tomorrow anyway to take advantage of the nice weather (winding down my two-week vacation :frown: ). I'll probably stop by to check out what they do have and maybe ask some questions. I'm sure I'll be around for the races, and I'll have both the Revo and Jato along with me if you want to check them out. They're nothing like your buggies, but I'm pround of my "babies". :)

About HT vs HH: The people over at HT may not know much about the higher-end stuff, but they sure do carry pretty much any Traxxas part. Plus, they seem to be very nice and friendly. Sometimes I feel like I get brushed off (no pun intended... I know, bad joke) at HH (car dept) when I'm looking for the right vehicle and asking questions. Oh, they answer me, but that's all they do; answer. There's no discussion involved. When a potential customer is seriously looking for something, I would expect the sales staff to volunteer various strengths and weaknesses of the different brands based on what I'm looking for, especially when I'm ready to plunk down $400+. I have to know to ask the right questions or I'll never really know what I'm buying until after. I've gotten much better service from one of the flight guys there, but they don't know all that much about vehicles. That's why I didn't get my Jato there.

Sorry, rant over. I just hate poor customer service, so I tend to vote with my wallet. :)

Anyway... (I do tend to ramble :dft001: )

Yeah, I know what you are talking about. The people at HT are nice and they try to help. But they aren't hardcore at all imo... just rtr newbie types.

Sometimes HH is busy and I have noticed they don't converse a lot. But they are cool too, everyone seems to like them, even the non-racers. :)

Rick is one of the owners and he's cool... more customer oriented than the "car" guys. They aren't natural salesmen. :D

I'll definitley check out your rides...

BrianG, you Jato is BL right? Got pics?

I was gonna ask for pics of the jato too but I didn't want to be a hijacker :018:

Ooops, i guess your right. Sorry about the hijack man! But pics would be nice????

Sheesh! There's a whole thread about the E-Jato! :http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3423
The pictures of the final product are on page 6. :)

BTW: I stopped by HH today and all they really had was an Ofna Hyper 8 and a Sportwerks model (can't remember which). The Hyper8 is oh so pretty, but not sure if it is wide enough to house the motor and required batteries. I will check out glassdoctor's buggies tonight at the races (which I'm apparently late for); maybe I'll get some inspiration.

BrianG, forget about every other 1/8 buggy... do a 1992 Kyosho inferno... haha j/k... that's what I have and it's old as H*ll... but man.. it's still running good.. the rear diffs just finally wore out... http://www.geocities.com/aqwut/INFERNO05.jpg If anyone knows where to get parts for this please help me get a manual... it's 92 or 93... :)

LOL, I think I'll stick with getting something a tad newer.

There are a few lightly used Hyper8 rollers on eBay right now for quite attractive prices. I just wish I knew if everything would fit. Glassdoctor showed me the layout on his 777 and the Hyper 8 looks similar, so I'm guessing everything will probably fit.

everything fits... Just make it fit.. :)

Well, yes, it could be stuffed in there any old way, but I like to have a neat and safe setup. It's gotta be pretty and functional. No sense in getting a beautiful Hyper 8 and then zip-tie a bunch of crap in there. :) I may actually go lipo on this and making sure the battery is padded and secure is a must.

Or, I was thinking that I may just go with emolis. Something like 4s2p (or two packs of 2s2p). I'm quite happy how they perform in my E-Jato. Depends on the my motor choice and current draw. Plus, they are kinda cheap.

Either way, it's gotta look nice.

You may have seen this Hyper 8 already but I'll post a link anyway. http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...ighlight=hyper

Actually I hadn't seen the link until this afternoon. So, I went out today and picked up the Hyper8 from my LHS. Now to tinker!

Hyper8 is a nice buggy... it's one I looked at a few months ago when I had the itch to race and almost went nitro. he he

But I held out and got the BL going again. :cool:

Oooh, you don't want to go there! :eek: Nitro is evil! :)

It'll be at least until next spring until I get the funds for the BL motor and controller to finish the Hyper8. Maybe by then, I'll learn how to drive on the track!

BTW: I took my E-Jato to the track tonight. You really should NOT use street tires on a dirt track! It was funny. More like drifting than anything else. There was another guy racing around with his electric stadium truck and he had to swap batteries three times while I just kept going and going and going. He finally asked what the heck kind of batts I was using. I was out there for a good 45 minutes to an hour straight. Of course, if I had tires that would actually hook-up, runtime probably wouldn't have been as good.

Funny stuff..... I have a couple nitro motors, starter box, glow ignitors, fuel, etc etc........

It's all doomed to ebay though. :)

I was looking at the different LMT and Neu motors and was wondering what size to use. Of course, a larger can will dissipate heat easier, but would like to use a smaller motor than an "XL" size if possible due to space constrictions in the buggy. However, using a smaller motor will most likely heat up faster and more. I want a light powerful setup using one of these motors that will get ~30 minutes of runtime on the track. I figure 8000mAh Lipos (4s), geared (~11:1) to go about 30-35mph tops.

Also, I haven't been able to find the front/rear diff gear ratio for the Hyper8. I counted the spur turns vs wheel turns and came up with about 3.4:1. Is this close? Or, if someone happens to know the tooth counts of the diff gears, that would be better. ;)

Brian i found this on the ofna site. Beval gear 43t & diff beval gear 10& 13. I hope this helps.

95% of all buggies are gonna have a 3.31:1 ratio. You might want to try the new Lehner XXL motors due out soon. They should be fairly light, but have tons of power.

Should be 13/43 as most buggies are... ofna does make a 12 and 14 tooth pinion but teh stock gera should be 13.

Anyone know how to spell check? :)

There is a spell checker you can download for the forum...

Oh... I can spell ok. Usually. :) it's the typing that gets me. I noticed a couple typos in the post and made fun of myself. Out of curiosity, are the spell checkers automatic... ?

Sorry to junk up the thread... :010: