So I came crawling back eh?

[Marvin]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

I was always tempted by short course, but in the end I just like buggies...

Also, crawlers/scalers (particularly scalers) always appealed, but a lack of good places to run them in my corner of the UK, as well as the lack of a local community means racing will remain my R/C fix I think.

Well, it begins...

Before I left, Joseph Quagraine was going to release a buggy that looked rather good - a cross between an Xray 808 (a car I got on amazingly well with) and a metric Losi 8ight. Now it has been released (well, 2 years ago really...) I just had to try it, that or the Durango (seems like Xray is being left behind a bit, much like Kyosho - decent, but the price isn't justified). I quite like Mugen, but spares are a bit funny in the UK as the distributor situation is somewhat unstable.

I also noted that Tekno-RC have come on a bit as well, now onto V4 of their conversions, including a rather nice looking one for "THE" Car. I'm not fully decided on this yet, my temptation is to go the homebrew/RC-Monster method as it'll allow me to place the battery exactly where I want it, but the temptation is there as it looks properly sorted, and doesn't use their nitro-esque motor mount which I never liked.

So, I've just ordered an updated "THE" Car kit, along with some spares, and I'll decide what to do conversion wise when it arrives. I'll be sure to get some pictures and post a log here.

A couple of other things. I've noticed that obviously a lot of companies are in on the 1/8th E game, including Orion, LRP, Speed Passion et al. My instinct in the past has been to avoid this lot like the plague, as the original stuff was either just a 540 but a bit longer with a different sticker, or poorly made rebadged Chinese stuff for 4x the price. Is this still the case? Also, I've noticed that Thunderpower now "make" motors (or source them...?), anyone had any experience with them? They're around the same money as the Tekins, but TP have always given me good experiences with batteries in the past, so I wouldn't mind going that route.

Oh, and back in my day, Hyperion's 35C G3 batteries were the shiz. I've noticed they've got a 45C range out, and there are many "manufacturers" with 65C cells, which I assume is overinflation by "racing brands" who specialise in hyperbole first, products second. What is the popular route nowadays? I don't give a toss about hardcase, and am quite happy to spend a bit to get good quality batteries if it means I need less of them.

Sorry for the second wall of text...