Need Help With a New Buggy

[AC48]

Hi all,

I have been in this hobby for about a year now and I am looking into trying a 1/8th scale buggy. I do know quite a bit about engines and things but I don't know much about the actual buggy and I want to try one. I have somewhere around 400 to spend on a buggy but I would like to have a little exta cash for fuel ect. So far I have been looking closely at the XTM X-Terminator. I have seen it for about 320$ online. Is this a good buggy for a person just getting into buggies? I have also seen those Kanais and stuff which look amazing but I don't think i will need something of that level. Any help in deciding on a buggy would be very helpful! I am open to other suggestions aswell.

 

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

i believe if you are going to race it ... the engine is not legal ... cause it is a 24.7 .... but i have heard good things about this buggy otherwise ....

 

[AC48]

Well i'm not going to race so i don't think that will be a problem. What are the pros and cons of this buggy? Also, any others i can look into? Thanks for any help!

 

[Ryhton]

Well I can't tell you anything about the XTM X-Terminator, have not delt with it yet. I own an Ofna PBS and I beat the hell out of it and it stands up well, only minor damage so far. It is a bit higher in price $450.00 to $500.00 depending on were you find one. What kind of running do you plan to do??

 

[AC48]

I plan on running around my yard mainly but I have built a pretty big jump for my savage that i could go off. I don't usually beat the hell out of my R/cs but i don't go easy on em' Also, i don't really need much after market support because if you look at my sig i have hppedd up my other R/Cs and i don't plan on doing muck to this one except for an engine mabey. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Ryhton]

I see you saw my video. zandor22, itsmesag and myself like to fly off things, its like an addiction we just can't stop. The only down fall to it is you break afew things here and there. My PBS and zandors PCR have held up very well with minimal damage, itsmesag has the violator and he would destroy the front end almost every weekend. He would get all kinds of pissed off, we converted him over to a PBS suspension and now he is flying high and the front end is holding up well. Except for when he hit the sign pole at wide open throttle, only broke top A arm. I guess what all this babble is about would be, that cheaper dosen't always work, if you plan to do some crazy stuff you may want to move up to a mid range buggy. Not that the XTM X-Terminator isn't any good. But hang tough and see what other responces you get I know that there are some guys out here that have them. Good luck

 

[AC48]

I don't really plan on getting as much air as you did in the vid. but i'll wait and see what others have to say. Thanks!

(great vid Ryhton)

I guess to sum it up I want something that can handle some jumps, go fast, and be able to go off raod. I have my RS4 3 SS for fast onraod, my savage for doing crazy jumps, and i'm looking for a mix of the two. I thought a buggy would do this.

 

[tofufar]

you have a couple of options. If you buy stuff new, hell its always going to be much more expensive than its really worth. Along those lines, I was able to pick up a PRISTINE gs storm pro for only 250 bucks... and it came with tonnes of extra goodies. Your price range doesn't put you in the range of the Mugens or the K's but hey, those arnt the only buggies out there.

As for the XTM, when i was in the market, I didnt take to the design. The Storm and the HotBodies Lightning Pro both share major similarities with the Kanai design but with subtle differences. The Lightning Pro actually accepts a wide range of Kyosho Kanai Parts.

The Storm which I have right now has a weak lower A-Arm design which must be remidied.. and you also need to buy a Fioroni brace to keep the rear shock tower/wing mount from sheering off a bulkhead. Other than that... its a good buggy. If you are willing to risk it, id say go used. If you get lucky... Maybe you can score a K2

 

[AC48]

Well I'd like to get something new so I think it is pretty much down to the XTM or the Lightning. I've seen this one at tower and it is exactly how much I want to spend.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDAT0&P=7

So is the XTM though. I've heard the lightning's engine is basically a HPI .21BB, is this true?? How would that compare to the XTM 24.7??

 

[tofufar]

Good pick on the lightning... bad on the RR. The alu is much weaker and thinner than that of the Lightning Pro edition. Plus it doesn't have all the alu braces and stuff. I had one =) Good buggy design but i wish i got the pro. i swapped out stock parts when they broke and the pro aluminum ones have been great since.

So the Lightning is a good pick... if you get Pro.... it might be hard to secure one seeing that they majorly went on sale a while back since the Lightning Pro 2 was coming out. It was selling for like 280 for the Pro1 and they were being snatched up like hotcakes. I have not been able to locate one since. All the RRs are left though but nobody wants them since they are overpriced and nowhere near as tough as the Pro.

Yes the 21 supplied is just a 21bb with a different stamp on it. EXACT same engine. It runs okay... it has three needles instead of 2 so it might be a tad harder to tune if you dont know what you are doing. Try not to move the midrange needle. The XTM 24.7 will kick a 21bb up and down the street all day long no contest. The 24.7 will kill it for speed and torque anyday. Not saying anything about quality, but the 24,7 is a bigger engine in general. The Pro version of the 24,7 is even better.

If you have the money, try to pick up a Pro 2 or Pro 2 RR if you can. You wont be sorry. Not from Tower though. Their price for new is wayyyy overpriced. Maybe try RC Boyz or some other distributors. RTR equipment is generally not worth it. All of mine is laying around.... hell you can have my RTR radio gear that i got for my Lightning RR if you want it. Just pay shipping =)

 

[AC48]

Ok, I've pretty much decided on the Lightning. Is this the pro you are talking about??

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDAT0&P=7

Because if it, is it discontinued. I'm thinking about getting the RR and then switching out the parts if I have to. A couple of questions about the RR, how fast is it stock?? How is the overall design?? I think I might be upgrading the engine so I'm not too worried about the 24.7 being faster. Thank you very much for your help:bow:

 

[tofufar]

The link you have is to a RR which is not the Pro. The Pro comes with an engine.. but no radio and other stuff. The radio gear they give you isnt all that hot anyways and you need a high torque servo for the steering as for as any buggy is concered. The parts for the Lightning RR that MUST be switched are few i suppose.

Aluminum front and rear braces are a must to prevent you from bending your chassis

A thick 7075 aluminum front shock tower would be good and maybe the front steering holder. I had a hinge pin rip out on me once. I can get the part numbers if you want. Getting part stock for this buggy seems kinda hard somtimes but horizonhobby now stocks all of them. Whether they have them IN STOCK is another question though. Their search function is absolute crap. For the lightning buggy.... you should search for HBSC_____ and the part number in the blank.... i think. =)

As for the design... its a copy of the Kyosho.... aka its great. The part quality obviously isnt as high and its not as fine tuned of a race machine but it can hold its own. You wont have the A-arm issue like you have with the Storm which is good. The only true weak spot on the buggy i think is the wing mount. The plastic they use is kinda weak for that part. I dont know if the new one for the Pro 2 is stronger or not. There may be substitutions but dont quote me.

Stock.. the 21bb should be capable of perhaps 35-40. Its decent... not incredible.. but good. A good source is at www.radiocontrolzone.com If you look at the specific misc vehicles forum, they have a massive lightning thread. Good luck!

 

[AC48]

Thank you very much tofufar, I meant to link to the pro version which is discontinued, my bad:whistle: , anyway I believe I will be getting the Lightning for about 299.99 USD. If you have seen it for less than that please tell me where it is.

It sounds like overall it has a great design, except for some low quality parts, and the engine is decent. 35-40 is enough for a stock buggy i think. Mabey I will upgrade to something better in the future.

One more thing, do you know what electronics it comes with. I'd like to know if it comes with a high-torque servo or not. If not I'll probably get the HS-645MG because I have used this one before on my savage and it is a decent servo.

Thank you for your help!!

 

[Nitro_Freak]

don't chuck the x-terminator out of the game just yet. i have one, it's pretty tough, just running around my street and running into the usual curbs, posts, 5yr olds, etc, it's pretty strong, and comes with an awesome engine

jk on the 5 yr olds, lol

 

[AC48]

So what are the pros and cons of each buggy?

I can tell this is going a tough choice lol!

 

[tofufar]

Hey there,

The servos included are standard like most RTRs. You'll need a new servo definitly. For the throttle the stock one is fine. Dont use the batteries they include, they came dead on me.

And Nitro is right, dont discount the X-term. I havent had one myself but there seems to be alot of thick aluminum on there.

I still personally say get the Lightning because the design is tried and true. The x-term design is a little funky in my eye. Plus the Lightning can use a bit of kyosho parts. X-term tho... you can get parts perhaps cheaper from hobbypeople.... but only them

 

[lykan]

On the sotkc servo bit, not everyone needs to instantly swap the steering servo for a new Metakl gear bad ass..

Although it is nice to have quick positive steering, even while your nitro is not in motion, any of the stock servos will do the job until it either brakes, or you decide it's worth the coin to upgrade.

Me, I don't race I just bash. My kids, well 10, and 12 should tell you something (and I'm a 33yr old kid).

Somedays we go out and just run up and down the street, other days we are onery and jump over anything the savage/tmaxx/buggy will launch off of.

In the nitro business, because of our versatility and reputation for breaking things, we only replace things when ABSOLUTELY Neccesary.

If you are in the same boat (love nitro but don't want to spend life savings), well then replace things as they brake. Or when you have some extra "nitro cash"

To be honest, we run our nitros almost daily and we've never upgraded a steering servo, not yet anyways.

 

[AC48]

Do you think I should post a poll and see what people say?? I think that would give me a good idea on which one. I've been surfing around the internet and I don't seem to see a negative feedback on either the Lightning or the X-Terminator. Well some people don't like the X's engine cause of the old heatsink but other than that...

Edit: Wow!! I just saw this!!

http://www.hotbodiesonline.net/lightning2rr.html

Anyone know when it is coming out??

 

[Nitro_Freak]

i heard it was coming out late june/early july. not sure though

 

[AC48]

Actually I just checked for it on Tower and it is already out. It's about 500 dollars though...oh well, a little too much for me so I think I'll stick with the original version.