Buggy Weight?
 

Ok,
So, over the winter I have been modifying a Kyosho MP777 SP2. I began this modification before reading this website, so I can confidently say that the majority of people on this website will probably think I did everything wrong:
-Novak 4.5 motor
-dual battery trays
-center mounted (raised) motor
-maxamps batteries
-battery trays were made to fit the maxamp 10000mAh batteries.

Enough about my unpopular choices, I finally got the buggy together and everything installed and I weighed it today and the weight seemed a bit shocking...
without batteries it weights 7.4lbs (3.361kg).
Assuming I use the huge batteries I planned for, I would be at track weight of ~9.3 lbs
If I use 5000mAh batteries I would be around ~8.4 lbs.

I could probably trim some weight (~1/8 lbs, maybe a 1/4 lb if I went drastic).
So, how heavy is to heavy?
And what is the "average" weight of a buggy? (or just the weight of your buggy).

I will add some pictures for those interested later, I just got to work and I will have to wait till I get home.
Thanks
Charles

Holly ****, that is heavy. Most nitro buggies weigh about 7.5 lbs stock. My Mayhem buggy weighed in at 7.6 lbs stock (nitro). After much weight trimming it now weighs 7.6 lbs ready to go. Most electric conversions seem to run about 8 lbs or so. Mine was a bit over 8 lbs with my first set up.

My 777 was 8 lbs with a 4s 6000 battery. The extra weight on your buggy is probaby in the motor mount and batter trays. Mine has carbon fiber mount and basicly nothing but velcro strap for the battery mount system so I would guess that saves at least 4-6 ounces.

So I don't know where you could save weight... but the good thing is that it won't matter that much for handling etc. Half a pound might make a small difference in the motor/esc temps and runtime though.

My 8 weighs in at between 8.5 and 9 lbs. w/batts. installed as well. I'm sure my 1515 and RCproduct designs integrated tray make up the majority of the extra lb. Certainly still raceable and competitive at a club level but between the weight and my driving, not so successful on technical tracks against expert drivers. The biggest issue with the extra weight is increasing spring rates and dampening to properly compensate for the extra load and of coarse whether or not your motor has enough torque to overcome it. In the case of my 1515/1y, no problem; couldn't comment on the Novak, though.

Thanks for the replies.
I did some math and figured out each one of my two battery boxes weight around 1/4 lb, so I figure I might be able to reduce their combined weight around 1/8 to 1/4 lb, there are a few other smaller things I am going to cut back on that should allow me to save a total (including the batt boxes) of around .5 lbs, I guess I have some work to do when I get off work tonight.

As for the torque of a heavier buggy, that shouldn't be an issue I have read the HV4.5 has to much torque, so as long as I can keep my temps down, that should be ok.

Here is another question for buggy owners:
do the spoke rims weight more then the dish rims? I ask because the spokes on these rims seem pretty thick, and I know my dish rims from my 1/10 stadium are very thin material.

Wheels vary a lot... depends on which brand etc. I have seen really heavy and really light wheels in both styles.

In general I don't think there's a big difference with the common brands Ofna, Panther, Kyosho but I'm curious too.

I have a few sets.... mostly dish. I could start weighing them to keep some records?

Some of the Ofna rims seem to be about the lightest.

You may want to consider smaller batteries as well, most run about 5000mah.

I've found Ofna dishes to be the lightest as well, followed by Proline dishes. On a dry track spoked wheels are fine but if it's wet the spaces between spokes usually collect more mud than the dishes and get heavier faster.

I haven't checked the weight of my losi 8 in awhile but I believe it was in the 8.2-8.4lb range.

My 8ight weighs 7.3 to 7.6 lbs rtr depending on which tires I use. The Losi pin tires and rims are remarkably light for their size, probably because they use very little plastic not to mention that losi rims are 1/8" wider in diameter than regular buggy rims so there ends up being less rubber in the tire overall. Proline tires seem to be pretty heavy, especially with molded inserts. The ofna premounted slicks are the lightest of them all, but they are only 4" tall.

Also, I use a single battery and it is held by a battery holder that I made myself which weighs only a couple of ounces.

I never weighted different tires so that might be part of the weight difference. I know I have proline crimefighters on it with molded foams.

My brushless Kyosho Kanai III is 9 lbs 3 oz with a 4s2p 6000mah lipo. My battery tray is super heavy duty because I lost the battery a few times after some big crashes. Also I have extra mounting around the motor to hold it together (Feigao). Without the battery it weights about 7 lbs 14 oz. My Nitro Kyosho Inferno 777 SP2 weights 7 lbs 12 oz (without rx battery).


http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r.../P1010002x.jpg
Current setup with aluminum battery tray, large heatsink, fan & Venom temp gauge/failsafe.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...413/kyosho.jpg
Older version with plastic battery tray.

You may want to check out this poll I started on RCUniverse what does your buggy weigh? the most popular answer was 7.5-8lb.

NativePaul,
great info, Thanks, I guess I need to improve my googling skills as I have never come across that thread.