r/c buggies

[tim]

I bought my son a Tamiya Hornet off road buggy for Christmas, which is spectacularly good fun. Too much fun, obvs now I need one too. I got him that one primarily because it was one of 4 available as a complete "XB" expert built kit with all the stuff ready to go and looked pretty rugged for off-road shenanigans and being piled at speed into stuff, as is the typical nature of a 10 year old.

The official Tamiya importers have the worst website ever, and i'm having trouble locating a decent place that lists the whole range so I can gauge what else is available that I fancy. Probably another buggy, but AWD I think. I love the look of the Integrale rally car but not sure off-roady it is.

Anyone got any good links, tips or helpful advice?

[mik]

MitoBoy appears to be the resident RC expert.....

[Zonda_]

This is a good place and they have a forum too. https://www.modelsport.co.uk/

[tim]

This is a good place and they have a forum too. https://www.modelsport.co.uk/

I just fell over that site as it happens, cheers.

[Mito Man]

Yeah modelsport and wheelspinmodels are my UK choices. I don’t know much about electric, but the build quality on the Traxxas TRX-4 Defender I bought last year was excellent. HPI and Kyosho make nice stuff too.
In my past experience Tamiya were the worst of the hobby grade brands - they use the most plastic, were less durable and when assembling the kits they were clearly inferior. But they’re cheaper for that reason.

If you go for 1/8 scale 4WD it will be fine on cut grass, the 1/8 scale cars usually share the same chassis with their buggy variants but with shorter shock towers and less ride height so you can’t jump them.

[integrale_evo]

I have one of the deltas, it's for tarmac / compacted dirt at a push. Useless on grass.

I had a hornet as my first 'proper' rc car. Absolutely loved it.

Not sure which ones they have rereleased these days but the boomerang was the period correct more expensive and more complicated 4x4 alternative.

[Zonda_]

I have one of the deltas, it's for tarmac / compacted dirt at a push. Useless on grass.

I had a hornet as my first 'proper' rc car. Absolutely loved it.

Not sure which ones they have rereleased these days but the boomerang was the period correct more expensive and more complicated 4x4 alternative.

Pretty much all of them.

[tim]

I ordered a Neo Scorcher Blue Metallic

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-neo ... cts/424039

[speedingfine]

I've got a Traxxas Rustler gathering dust in the attic if anyone wants it

[tim]

I built my NeoScorcher on Friday. Pretty chuffed with this



Next to my boy's Hornet (note it's in wingless low-downforce mode on account of doing too many flips off a 5' skate ramp!)



A little vid of us having a few laps around the drive.



So much fun! They are pretty evenly paced but with the same motor that's not really a surprise. Obvs I have better traction due to AWD but William's car is a bit lighter and seems a bit quicker ultimately.

[JLv3.0]

Right that's it - my ancient HPI Savage is getting resurrected when I get home

[ste]

Good chassis the TT02; My boys have started off with one of those each. They like to snap the front damper upright piece. It's worth adding bracing across it with a simple piece of CF or something or even a tiebar with a turnbuckle at each end so you can put it slightly into tension.

Another nice simple mod is to flip the front wishbones around the wrong way. It lengthens the wheelbase but also allows you to add more castor.

[scotta]

Ive got a battery RC with an exige body. I inherited it from my freind who had it gathering dust. Its 4x4 and pretty quick. unsure the make or model for it. Ive had to put a new battery on it but it still doesnt last very ling.

[JLv3.0]

Tim - I spent a disproportionate amount of my youth dicking about with Hornets.

1. The rear wheels / tyres fit on the front - you might have to put the locknuts on back to front to get them to hold, but they do work.

2. There is plenty of space under the body for additional C-cells. You'll need to get busy with the soldering iron but from memory the motor will handle up to 12V and it bloody flies then.

More nonsense when I can remember it

[integrale_evo]

They need some sort of locking diff really, live axel and open diff means they spin the inner wheel like a mofo. Don't know if anyone made a ball type diff for them!

The old school layout and simple drivetrain means they can be made absurdly fast in a straight line at least.

Definitely a fun car rather than a handling car.

I think to put rear wheels on the front you need to use the inner bearings holder section of a front wheel. A ball race set will make them loads quicker and is pretty cheap as there are only two at each corner. Two in each front wheel and one each end of the rear axel tube each side.

[tim]

The biggest issue with the Hornet we have is the battery cover will come off quite easily if you're doing big jumps. We took it to a skate park which was huge fun but landing it hard on tarmac over and over took it's toll.

I've got 4500mah NiMH batteries for them both, which last pretty well. A good 25 mins at least.

Good shout on the wheels, it has epic understeer, and some truly shocking bump-steer. Bloody good fun though.

The difference in how my NeoScorcher handles over the bumps is enourmous - obvs with double-wishbone suspension it's not doing geometry gynmastics over every stone :p

[JLv3.0]

They really do just bolt on Harry, trust me. It's not a perfect engineering solution but it does work.

If a 13-year-old James can make it work, it can't be difficult!

edit - it really did help the terminal understeer, from memory. And looks awesomer.

[Jimmy Choo]

I've got a Traxxas Rustler gathering dust in the attic if anyone wants it

I'd love it but not enough to pay you as within a week it would be sitting in my loft, gathering dust.

[JLv3.0]

Sadly that is what they are best at. Plus with the glow engine ones, you can't use them in populated areas as they're so loud, and if you do you get a viewing entourage almost immediately. And they're always broken.

[JonMad]

I've got a Traxxas Rustler gathering dust in the attic if anyone wants it

I'd love it but not enough to pay you as within a week it would be sitting in my loft, gathering dust.

Probably, sadly, this.

I had a £60 r/c car on my Amazon Christmas Wishlist but no-one bought me it. After this from Tim & son now, and seeing the £450 Land Rover monster that Mito linked to, a £60 car would clearly be insufficient.