Newbie Needs Buggy Help

[geekride]

Im looking to get a good r/c buggy or truck for bashing.

My primary concerns are: (1) Durability and (2) Speed. In that order.
The third thing Im after is an exciting drivefeel.

Mostly I want something that'll be fast and exciting to drive on grass as well as pavement.

Ive been looking at the Traxxas Bandit VXL. I was thinking if I put larger tires on it that could help it handle off-road? Looks pretty fun on pavement from some youtube vid's. Im also not sure how the 2WD is gonna be at those speeds. The fastest r/c Ive driven so far is my old hoped up TL-01 car. Are there any 4x4 buggies in the same speed class as this? That are in the same price range?

Is it worthwhile to spend more money on a 1/8 scale buggy? Im also tempted to get an e-revo. Is the handling of 4x4 so much better?

advice?

[marco2236]

I had an Ofna Ultra LX One a couple of years back that the R.C.M.P clocked at 87 km/h in a school zone.. with a Force .28 engine aboard.

It could take a beating and keep on kicking A$$. I never had to replace anything other than the rear wing (from tumbling at speed)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/MT-hell/Newbuggyshell005.jpg

[inhissteps]

You might want to state if your wanting to do Electric or Nitro. Believe me NOTHING is durable at 100km. Its hard to get the best of both worlds. You need to decide where you are going to run your vehicle. Rural or Urban. Nitro is smelly and noisy and high maintenance. Electric is quite, clean and low maintenance.
4X4 will be really nice in the grass. If your out for all out bashing then I would suggest a monster truck or 4x4 buggy. Now I have seen the E-revo be put through its paces and they take a real beating but unless you get the brushless version you may be disappointed. Now as most of the guys here on RCC they know I'm a HPI Fan. You might want to take a look at the new HPI Savage Flux
Check outhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc8NMdmQb6k

Now I have not ran a savage flux but hpi makes a durable, fast, clean, low maintenance product. Check it out.

If your wanting a buggy, you may be more disappointed in the bashing fun. Do get me wrong the buggies can take it but the ground clearance is much less. Take a savage Flux with a 6s Lipo and you will have all the power you will need.

The drawback of the flux is that lipo's are expensive and some what dangerous if not take care of. Nimh battery's are a good starting point thou.

Most importantly don't only take our word as gold as this is only a personal opinion.
Do some research at you LHS and see what they have for parts support. What brands do they carry and ultimately price.

[RAMJET]

wild vid,for a nitro guy I must say that is pretty cool ,may just have to get me one of those LOL.Roger

[geekride]

Ive been into my LHS recently to check things out actually. Ive some background research as well.

Im looking for an electric, which I will run with Lipo's for max speed. 90% of my will be bashing while taking the dog for a walk, in suburban parks mostly. So Im looking for quiet, but quick.

Will ground clearance be a real problem in suburban parks with buggies like the bandit vxl?

[inhissteps]

Well even thou the the bandit VXL is brushless and you are wanting to run a lipo you are still dealing with a low ground cleariance 2x4. You will just spin the tires harder when you get stuck.
Also Traxxas has been known to be a bit fragile. I have a Traxxas stampede and it sure takes a beating but the amount of time going through it after the run and tighting it up and adjusting is a pain in the but. My Wifes HPI E Firestorm just keeps going and going and going. NO problems even with our 5 year old driving it.

I think the 4x4 would suite you better.

All IMO

Cheers

[geekride]

Sry, I should say my LHS carries mostly Traxxas, Tamiya and HPI products, so thats what Im looking at.

Id like to have a brushless setup for sure.

Is the E Firestorm 1/10 or 1/8? What's it cost? Is it brushless?

Would putting larger tires on the bandit vxl solve the ground clearance problem? or will i still have an issue on soccor fields and baseball diamonds? Will I really get stuck with 2x4 or is losing traction at high speeds more of a problem.

Im also considering that 2x4 might be more fun than 4x4 because you dont have all the grip. However at that size and speed I could be wrong.

[bigfoot3387]

best basher out there is the hpi savage and you can get grate speed out of them i think its the only monster that you can get a 3 speed for but that my opinion

[Ice Dragon]

I'd go with the Kyosho Inferno VE. Great quality, durable, cheap, big, and lots of fun. Plus you have the added bonus of your LHS carrying the parts you may need every tree or two. I had the Savage .25 a while ago and it is very very rugged and fast. If the HPI Flux Savage has any heritage you might want to look at it as well. It will handle off, off-road much better.

My 2 cents
Good luck with your final choice.