electric 1/5 starting to take off
 

We've had the hpi baja conversion kit out for a while now so you would think HPI would have signed up a deal somewhere to line there pockets. Mike has a conversion kit as do castle (aside from the electronics) but there is no rtr baja...??!! Fg were also one of the leaders in large scale but they don't seem to have any conversion kits or rtr brushless kits...WTF??

As far as I'm aware large scale electric used to be owned by Netzfalke and Aqwut. Now you can get a few rtr cars - XBE and Shredder series and also HSP! They must've sold out in the last few hours cause I can't find it on the website anymore but here is the email I got -
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/pict...&pictureid=914

They all seem to be going down the Finedesign theory of just enough power for them. The HSP might be a redcat ripoff but it's available unlike an rtr FG or HPI. Maybe they are waiting for the price of motors to come down :rofl: Yes it would be a smaller market to them but I think they are losing out to the clones as a result.

Is it just me or does it seem the back end is leading the brushless 1/5 market:oh:

"Is it just me or does it seem the back end is leading the brushless 1/5 market..."

I think it's both. The "back end" as you call them were bold enough to make a purpose-built electric vehicle with 4wd. Combine that with a balanced layout (batteries on each side of the propshaft) and you've got a new approach altogether.

I believe that H.A.R.M. from Germany was the first to 1/5 scale electric if I'm not mistaken. But that was pre-MMM and electronics as well as batteries were too much of a gamble.

If HPI gets into the large-scale electric act, they'd be well served to go 4wd and learn from some of the shortcomings of those with electric bajas already.

Yeh it just seems to me like the baja is heading the similar direction as the novak hv-max - became the most popular but never improved/advanced, so will got left behind.

Kinda does remind me of my converted revo with carbon vantage chassis in a nostalgic way already. Although my revo would probably still be competitive in the truggy class with a capable driver (surely not me). I think others will eventually follow if things pick up. Let enough large-scale Chinese brands sell and a new race class will open up. Then the big names will join in. Oh, and ROAR will make up a bunch of crappy rules to then eliminate all of the Chinese brands from racing.

The first thing roar will do is limit the number of cells to 6s which the stock esc's are rated for :lol: I can't see 1/5 racing taking off though.

R eally
O ld
A bsurd
R ulemakers
:gasp:

The redcat and HSP are basically one and the same. There's a factory in china that produces the vehicles for both companies. According to Redcat, they get the basic vehicles that HSP and others get, tests them, and then has the factory that produces them make any changes Redcat deems necessary for durability, handling, looks, etc. I have read about instances where standard HSP parts won't work in the "upgraded" Redcat versions and vice versa.

It is true that Redcat (and others) are using "just enough" in the electronics department to get by, especially in the large scales. But that's how they can keep their price points too. The new Shredder (basically a stretched out 1/8 truggy) is a perfect example with its 80amp esc, but its also $400 bucks RTR with batteries. Thats their recipe, amd it seems to be working well for them.

Its pretty damn tempting for me too. Personally one of my MMM's and 1520's would instantly make their way into it. But the old stuff would make the old Ofna in my closet RTR and pay for a nice chunk of the new Shredder. I'm just put off by parts availibility, I like going to my LHS, even if they end up having to order the part.

LOL, I like that...:surprised: