The future of 1/10th

[thorns_nz]

Just new to the racing side of RC and was wondering where the future of 1/10th buggy racing is? Is 4wd going to eventually replace 2wd racing?

Being from NZ where the RC scene is quite small, and have mixed classes for 2wd and 4wd most of teh time, so was just interested in teh bigger picture as to wether there are any trends favouring one over the other. Most manufacturers seem to have 4wd these days, but I have noticed that a few are looking to move back into 2wd as well (new tamiya buggy for example).

Is it a case of the two will always co exist or will we see a move to one class or the other?

Any thoughts?

[David Church]

I think both classes are very strong at the moment in Euorpe.
The 1/10 off road is the most subscribed class in all of Euorpe.
The UK National scene has seen a 10% rise over last year and the Europena Championship has has the most people want to enter I have ever seen with 180+ wanting to take place.
My region in the UK, the South East has seen it's best numbers in years with 40+ being a low attanded meeting and 70+ about the top.
1/10th off road is becoming more popular also because it is a very fair formula, you don't need the best of anything, there are many competitive manyfactures and equipment.
I see both classes being around for a long time

[Mr. Red]

I totally agree! Up here in Sweden the scene has improved significantly over the last few years. More and more people join every week. Just the other day I went out to our new track we are building and I meet several new people I have never seen before in my own hometown and they were there to race. Sweet

[Chesty]

Maybe it's just here in the east of england where it seems to be dying

Seven (of which four completed the meeting) at the last EoE regional in 2009, meaning that there's no series for 2010...

RC racing in general will never be as popular as it was back in the early nineties (120 entries at each regional) for a number of reasons, but here's hoping we've hit rock bottom in this area. The only way is up

[nicefrog]

I think within 5 years the 10th electric scene will be every bit as strong and competitive as it was in the early 90's. Still along way to go yet but that's my prediction. I believe nitro which killed the 10th scale and with it most small clubs will be as dead as it was in the early 90's and the universe will be restored to it's correct order

[MHeadling]

Yes 10th electric is going from strength to strength, at our local club (Faversham Off Road Club ) we are getting 60-70 drivers on a Wednesday night!
Alot of people are coming over from TC due to costs and seem to be having a great time at off road. I see far less tantrums at an Off road meeting than at TC, the whole scene seems a bit more laid back and just as competative

On a side note I believe Oople has had major input to making the class it is, the great reviews, forum, race reports are superb, long may it continue!

Well done Oople!

[Hog]

Originally Posted by Chesty

RC racing in general will never be as popular as it was back in the early nineties

I beg to differ - as Dave Church and Mark Headling have stated here, we're going from strength to strength here in the South East. Not only drivers making the transition from TC to Off Road, but plenty of newcomers to the sport as well.

Perhaps the EoE needs to look at why it's getting so few drivers?

[sparrow.2]

Over in Germany we have had a large injection of new people come over to offroad from touring cars since the cars got so fast a lot of people had trouble keeping up with their kit.
Over the winter we held the Longfield Sixdays and were totally overwhelmed by the interest it generated. Entries went up from 35-40 people per race in 2008/2009 to a regular 100 entries per race in 2009/2010. A nice touch is that we had a good 20 or so newcomers per race as well who have stayed on as we went outside.

Offroad does seem to be clawing it's way back out of the slump caused by touring cars in the 90's bigtime now. The cars are at their best ever and the choice of cars is incredible with all cars being more or less on the same level of performance making it easy to choose.

Now all we need to do is figure out a race format to mix things up a little now that we can run 15 minutes + with lipo. Bump-ups would be really cool

[Mr. Red]

Yeah, and new cars popping up all the time makes a great indicator that the manufactures also believe in the class. Dex 410, Cougar SV and a new TRF 2wd at the least.
3 yeas ago offroad were introduced in the winter series where TCs rule and this last year we have seen many of the big names in TC converted into offroad racing instead. The biggest class indoors are now the offroaders.

[Nick Goodall]

Isn't 1/8th off road the most popular class in Europe nowadays??

I think things will only get better for 10th though, as the Gov't try harder and harder to stop people using anything with an Engine for pleasure surely Electric will be the future??

Buggy racing is very similar to MX in a lot of ways - years ago you would struggle to get an entry but then it died off big time but has since started to get quite popular again as people can pick up cheaper bikes and equipment now (mainly with stuff being made in China).... i think Electric R/C will just become the standard as it's not noisy or smelly and Joe Public prefer that

[pugboy]

There are two things here, one is the introduction of many different scales, classes and sub classes that can rival 1/10 off road, but IMHO 1/10 off road is definitely back on an upward trend, I believe due to costs and hassle factor being significantly less than a few years ago. The advent of brushless and lipo is the primary reason for this, and also the availability of parts/accessories etc. from HK and other parts of the world. Not sure on the EoE region. I'm from the Northwest myself but attend midwest regionals. They have so far had around 65 drivers for each of the rounds so far, which is I believe is consistent with last year. However, there are many more doing the Northwest regional series this year (I understand from the first round at Southport anyway) and the turnout for the indoor series at Chadderton was over subscribed for every round. I entered 3 nationals this year in 2 and 4wd, just to have a taster as I'm not a serious contender, and was between 19th and 25th reserve for all meetings which backs up what the BRCA are saying about entry levels being up.

2wd and 4wd are both very popular, and becoming more so I believe. It's all good for the sport of 1/10, and I agree, a site such as oOple can only help as it is IMO the least pretentious and most informative of all the RC sites I've come across.

[Chris Doughty]

I agree with what has been said earlier, I think the coverage and exposure that this site gives attracts people to the class.

all you have to do is read a race report and you can feel the fun going on there through the report, it makes you want in on the next event

reports often boost the profile of a race, a well reported meeting of 60 drivers will sound a lot better than a massive race meeting of 200 drivers with no photos taken, no results or reports posted.

[Chesty]

Sounds like we're the minority then here in the east...

At least we have MORERC. Onwards & upwards, here's looking forward to a bright future for the class.

[SlowOne]

Looking at your entries, it seems to me that 2WD and 4WD will always exist. They both have their challenges, and people seem to like to take on both classes.

Off-Road is taking a boost because it is one of the most stable classes. Your Rules haven't changed much for many years, and you've done a good job of feeding in the new technologies. The Rules on control tyres are also very attractive to the masses of average drivers, as well as newcomers. That means you can attract new drivers because they can buy what's needed to get going easily, and know it won't be out of date by the following month.

Off-Road also has built in limits to what will work. Primarily that is the level of grip - no matter how much power you have, there's a point at which it doesn't translate to faster laps, so driver skill counts for more than depth of pocket.

I've reached the age where standing out in all weathers, and cleaning cars, aren't my idea of a good day out. 12th was my original class, and it's where I enjoy RC the most. Nonetheless, if someone asked me where to start in RC with a proper car that's easy to drive and maintain, I'd tell them that they would be having a lot of fun with an AE RC10B4 RTR, a couple pair of UK-spec springs, some 30 deg blocks and a set of the relevant control tyres. For under £200 at a friendly Club, I can't think of another class where that simple recipe would almost guarantee success.

I don't think anything favours 2Wd over 4WD, or that either will be better than the other. 2WD will always rate as one class where the driver is the defining factor - just like 12th really!

[tonymon]

noone has discussed 8th electric?

[peetbee]

I guess it's not been mentioned as the question was specific to 1/10th.
But, yes, there's the possibility that 8th Electric will convert some 1/10th runners to 1/8th scale, but I think it's more likely to convert existing nitro guys to the electric side and won't impact 1/10th as much as you'd think.

[teamxray]

i have been car racing since 1978 and i have seen so many changes in that time period it makes you chuckle but for what i have seen recently that 2wd and 4wd off road racing is making a fast come back in the uk in the south of it and the onroad racing taking a turn for the worse with declining numbers and losing clubs and dont forget losing shops front due to the internet is not helping matters as well for my self i am returning back to my old roots which is off road racing cant wait to get out there with the new sx2 schumacher car roll on off road

[rocketrob]

IMHO different classes, formats, and cars come and go, as people migrate from one to the other - some seeking a class or a car with which they can win at (everybody gets into this hobby wanting to be the next champ), and others just trying to find a niche in which to fit, while others migrate from one class to another buying each new release (and next hot thing) that hits the market.... it's seemingly always been this way, and I've seen nothing that suggests it'll change.

2wd was really the first class in electric RC (with a history going back about 30 years), and 4wd first came along about 20 years ago (with it's high and low points over the ensuing years).... this is not to say one is "better" than the other, but just saying the market is more consumer driven than anything.... "if you keep buying them, the manufacturers will keep building them"

[antnee]

From what I am told the mid east region had very low numbers 2 years ago (less that 40 I think), now we are having over 70 drivers at every regional.

Also look at the Worksop series, 140 drivers per round was it?

[James]

Originally Posted by antnee

From what I am told the mid east region had very low numbers 2 years ago (less that 40 I think), now we are having over 70 drivers at every regional.

Also look at the Worksop series, 140 drivers per round was it?

At Worksop we usually get just over 200 entries to each round, with 180 places being available. About 30 do both classes so yes around 140-150 individuals. Rob Nelson tells us its the biggest R/C series using BBK in Europe. 10th really does seem to be on the up.