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Best Buggy
- Thread starter bikr345
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Look around and do a search, you can find alot of threads with your question. My two cents are Hot bodies lighting pro, (not the RTR) you can find this buggy for under 300 bucks, and you really can't beat it for the price or the durabilty these buggys have been known for!
BigBadWolf
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You mean a lot of happy Storm owners! 
1/8th scale buggies are not cheap. No word of lie, they can cost upwards of $2500! I'd call mine the "Bargain Buggy". I've invested only $1200ish (little by little since april).
Anyway, my point is when a company tries to sell a buggy that includes an engine, servos, pipe, reciever, transmitter, tires, wing and a body for under $500, the quality of something that goes into that buggy is going to be sacrificed.
Typical RTR buggy deficiancies: (can't spell sorry)
- poor stock steering servo
- poor am (rarely FM), glitchy radios
- poorly made engines that are under powered or under designed (run hot)
- #1 worst thing: poor, weak chassis or sub structure
All of these things can be upgraded or replaced with one exception. The chassis that comes with the car is the car. Yes, you can buy hops ups, but in some cases a complete conversion is required to bring the buggy up to the competition or the pro level.
IMO, the only buggy that's worth it's salt can comes inunder $500 is the Hot Bodies Lightning Pro.
Yes, like all the other sub-$500 buggies, the engine, the wing, the body, the tires and the pipe will all need to be upgraded at some point. The difference, however, is in the chassis. The chassis is a tank. I've had the buggy since april and have yet to break a part. I've lost eclips and I've even bent screws. But nothing has broken. CRSMP5 runs a picco .26 with a 18 tooth clutch bell (TRANSLATION: ONE VERY VERY FAST BUGGY). I think he's broken a couple wing mounts or something.
The honest downsides:
Lightning Pro is not for newbies
The diff gears need upgrading when you upgrade the engine
The steering knuckles have been known to have issues (can be replaced with GS Storm or Kyosho knuckles)
Anyway, if you have the money, don't hesitate and get a sweet kit like a mugen mbx5 or even a Kyosho Inferno MP 7.5 Kani. There is even the Storm Pro kit which is a great bargain kit (good bang for the buck).
If you can't shell out the initial start up cost on these buggies ($1200-$1500), the Lightning Pro makes for a great place to start. For $350 you get a buggy that you can almost run (requires a radio) and a solid chassis that you can upgrade on slowly.
NOTE: Lightning Pro NOT RR!!
Good Luck,
Rob
Anyway, my point is when a company tries to sell a buggy that includes an engine, servos, pipe, reciever, transmitter, tires, wing and a body for under $500, the quality of something that goes into that buggy is going to be sacrificed.
Typical RTR buggy deficiancies: (can't spell sorry)
- poor stock steering servo
- poor am (rarely FM), glitchy radios
- poorly made engines that are under powered or under designed (run hot)
- #1 worst thing: poor, weak chassis or sub structure
All of these things can be upgraded or replaced with one exception. The chassis that comes with the car is the car. Yes, you can buy hops ups, but in some cases a complete conversion is required to bring the buggy up to the competition or the pro level.
IMO, the only buggy that's worth it's salt can comes inunder $500 is the Hot Bodies Lightning Pro.
Yes, like all the other sub-$500 buggies, the engine, the wing, the body, the tires and the pipe will all need to be upgraded at some point. The difference, however, is in the chassis. The chassis is a tank. I've had the buggy since april and have yet to break a part. I've lost eclips and I've even bent screws. But nothing has broken. CRSMP5 runs a picco .26 with a 18 tooth clutch bell (TRANSLATION: ONE VERY VERY FAST BUGGY). I think he's broken a couple wing mounts or something.
The honest downsides:
Lightning Pro is not for newbies
The diff gears need upgrading when you upgrade the engine
The steering knuckles have been known to have issues (can be replaced with GS Storm or Kyosho knuckles)
Anyway, if you have the money, don't hesitate and get a sweet kit like a mugen mbx5 or even a Kyosho Inferno MP 7.5 Kani. There is even the Storm Pro kit which is a great bargain kit (good bang for the buck).
If you can't shell out the initial start up cost on these buggies ($1200-$1500), the Lightning Pro makes for a great place to start. For $350 you get a buggy that you can almost run (requires a radio) and a solid chassis that you can upgrade on slowly.
NOTE: Lightning Pro NOT RR!!
Good Luck,
Rob
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Christian has a pretty sick video of my buggy getting the beating of it's life. It was after the bashfest that I found one of the screws that hold my diff case together (long sucker) had actually bent in a wicked way at the top. I'll post of a pic of it when I change out my screw set. It's ugly. Bent screws instead of broken chassis -- how many T-Maxx owners can say that has ever happened to them? :x
2 5$ wing stays.. and bent 5 screws, and broken 2 screws.. the ones for the anti bending rod, one on front, one on rear, i put in softer SS screws so they will deform/bend instead of break to see how that lasts now..
the pro is great if you already own electronics.. you can buy the buggy for 290 i just gotta find the link to it.. http://www.hobbyhaven.com/hhrccars.htm
make sure to boil the wing, to make it more flexable.. and thru a different forum i deal with on the lightning it was mentioned that a webpage deticated to tips and hints and all would be nice.. so here is the skelition of it that I've been working on adding info too.. PM me if you would like a link to the forum i speak about.. it is the lightning owners haven of information on the web.. BUT has to be 80 page long thread, which has been divided into 2...
lightning page
the pro is great if you already own electronics.. you can buy the buggy for 290 i just gotta find the link to it.. http://www.hobbyhaven.com/hhrccars.htm
make sure to boil the wing, to make it more flexable.. and thru a different forum i deal with on the lightning it was mentioned that a webpage deticated to tips and hints and all would be nice.. so here is the skelition of it that I've been working on adding info too.. PM me if you would like a link to the forum i speak about.. it is the lightning owners haven of information on the web.. BUT has to be 80 page long thread, which has been divided into 2...
lightning page
lillightingboy21
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get the lightning pro i have a lightning rtr but i dont like it because of the sucky radio system but I'm sure to change that my buddy has a lightning pro with different servos and radio wat a diff. i still like my lightning rtr cause it is a sweet basher and it is fast gonna change the motor when it dies but go with the pro havent broke a thing on my rtr and the pro is even stronger
looks slow but floats
Slick nick
looks slow but floatsSlick nick
lillightingboy21
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:jester: :contract:
No offence man, I'm sure your choices in buggies are great ones, but it's somewhat typical of what I see a lot on these types of forums.
If you get a decent RTR kit you don't have to dish out $1500 to decide whether it's the hobby for you or not.
From what I've seen, there's aftermarket parts for almost all the RTR kits. OFNA, GS, etc. There's hardened chassis, better braces, just about anything. And a lot of them have a "pro" counter-part that you can use parts form to upgrade your RTR. It depends on what you want to do with them, and if you're just starting out, I really don't think that it's great advice to suggest only the most expensive buggies.
If you have the money, just like anything else, why not, but usually that's not the case..
I fully admit, it's not cheap to get into these things, any of them, as I've learned recently (lots of little extras, like temp gauges and other accessories.)
I don't know. I just see a lot of "All the buggies are junk except the one I use" or "All the buggies are junk except the best one you can buy."
Seriously, no offence. But I really think a newcomer could be very happy with some of the nice RTR kits out there, and not have to dish out lots of cash.
I recently aquired a new GS Storm RTR, and I'm very happy so far. I've upgraded a few things, and I'm still breaking in the motor. The LHS's I've taken it to around here all agree that it's a very decent buggy and only a few small modifications will improve it's reliability greatly. It might not be racing quality yet (although lots of people race Storm RTR's) but it could be.
I think what RobH is saying is most people want to by an RtR and have great buggies. ALL RTR's need better servos so that is 100.00 or more. I also have the pro and it's a great buggy but the first day I drove it I knew I had to get servos at about 150. for 2 of them. Then things broke as they always do so that made me spend more. Then after a few days driving I had to buy a new engine to go faster now after a summer of I bought another new engine. So all this means is don't get into the RTR and think it will hold up for ever. You can't have 350.00 and expect it to last forever you MUST have money to replace things. Yes you can get the RTR and when things break save up and buy parts but who wants to be without a buggy for long? Not trying to start anything just the way I see it. 
Skyline Racer
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All Ofnas Are pretty cool and Super fast, I like the Ofna's. Later and Good Luck with you search!
Originally posted by 1meathead Not trying to start anything just the way I see it.
Oh no, I agree with you. Anyone that's getting into pretty much anything gas powered, you must learn that it's not cheap, there's a lot of hidden expenses. This is true with any buggy, RTR or not.
Even if you need to replace (at the least) the steering servo, it's still a lot cheaper and easier to get into an RTR then it is anything else. Maybe the radio isn't the best, maybe the chassis can't withstand a two story drop, but all the RTR kits I've seen are just fine for a beginner. (there's probably some crap ones but the common models all have people loving them.)
If you really get into it, you can almost always upgrade the hell out of your RTR, or at that point consider something very expensive. You don't have to spend nearly $1000 for a really decent buggy.
That's my opinion though, and there's no problem with having differing ones!
This is true and thats why I got the 320.00 HBPpro. For a first 1/8 scale I agree go with a good RTR or ARR but if you have time to save or have extra go with the better buggy to start with. I think we are all on the same page.
