Vintage Buggies; which will you suggest for racing/runner

[Dandare]

I have some Fastrax shocks on the rear with a spacer on the shaft to slightly reduce downward travel to stop the dogbones falling out, & I did try some softer springs on the front end but they didn't really work out, lol.

Tbh, it's kinda fun bouncing around as it is, it's not serious racing just a laugh.

[Adam F]

I decided to buy the ones I either had as a kid or really wanted and couldn't afford..

Current vintage runners are a Carbon hybrid Cat XLS/Procat thing which I made too pretty to use really and a Tomy Intruder thats just about to be painted up... which will be my main vintage ride.. (again too pretty really, but I always wanted one) I have a re-re Lunchbox too for a bit of a laugh...

I guess my vote from the ebay offerings would be:

RC10 Tub - £100 ish
Procat - £100 ish

or...

Tamiya Mantaray - £60ish

[Welshy40]

What about a bosscat? Great car with wishbone protection.

[alcyon]

My vote would be optima mid LWB or Lazer ZX series.
Both are strong cars, still almost comparable against modern cars, and the good news is many parts are being made by enthuthiasts like myself.
If you run the LWB optima mid, things to watch out for .
1. use the aluminium chassis, they will never snap.
2. Bodies are easy to get with marwan and kamtec repros, as well as belt covers.
3. A good runner is quite cheap.
4. You can use the associated B4 spur gear and slipper clutch with my new layshaft (there is another guy making this shaft too, no need to buy exclusively from me)
5. Front arms are scarce and can break,but i am using a 8.5T brushless.. rears never break. Good news is i will be making nylon arms for the fronts soon.
6. Ball diff pulleys are still cheap. forget about gear diff SG-25, crazy prices !
7. Can use modern kyosho universals.
8. Difficult car to work on to remove diffs and gearbox.

Lazer
1. Layshaft Pulleys are almost bulletproof.
2. A B4 slipper layshaft is in the works. A compatible spur gear has been made by RW.
3. Bodies for the ZX-R and ZX-S are easliy available.
4. Easily removable front and rear diffs for servicing.
5. front arm can break under very hard collisions. Arms are rare and expensive, but can be made.
6. Front gearbox can strip with open type shock tower, get a closed loop one.
7.Belts are cheap and easy to find.
8. modern kyosho universals are compatible.

So there you have it. I have run my LWB optima mid at a 1/8 scale rough buggy track and broke several front arms, but keep in mind I was running in really extreme conditions, nothing else gave trouble, so i will make several front nylon arms for runners, something that will flex a little and be harder to break.

[optiman]

After reading comments and suggestions I personally narrowed my options to the following:
1)For pure fun my #1 choice is; The Tamiya Lunchbox, Black Edition.
2)For a fun, but with better handling than the Lunchbox it would be; The Tamiya Frog.
3)From this point on, looking for more performance, but still willing to do some maintainance and since it's my favourite buggy; The Kyosho Turbo Optima.
4)For even more performance on a vintage platform with mantainance involved; The Kyosho Turbo Optima Mid SE but with Gold shocks. I will also concider a Lazer, but have never had any expirience with them.
5)And for a "vintage" expirience without any hassle of expensive or difficult parts to find, tough as nails chassis and zero mantainance; The AE B44 hacked up and with a Optima vintage body.

I've been tinkering with the idea on this last option, and it is very doable and in the end I think the result would do it for me. Let's face it, locally there's NOT ONE other racer running vintages, so I would be competing against modern buggys all the time. Since I am an average R/C driver I will never get a vintage on the podium, and only will end up staining the vintage reputation.
I've seen the B44 Grayseal conversion and I could do something very similar making parts to make up or mimic the chassis of the Optima but with a mid motor layout. For the rear I could make the Option House motor guard that encloses the ESC with a fan instead of the rear motor....
But... What's the fun on that?! The whole idea of fun and vintage is all gone in CAD design, figuring out stuff, etc...

So after thinking what I am really after, which is a NO STRESS pure fun expirience, a Tamiya Frog it would be!!!

[mr. ed]

Build your own: get a traxxas bandit and 'retro' it back to something resembling the TRX-3 (TCP)

[Jamesk]

I race my Top Force Evo from time to time, spares are fairly easy to find as they share with other tamiya models. The car is still quick and so much fun to drive on period tyres. Build any classic race it and enjoy my fast attach vehicle is slow easy to flip and handles like a wet paper plate but is huge fun and that's the best part.

Any vintage races in south east of England coming up?

jK

[Welshy40]

Personally i would opt for a 2wd as parts will be easier to source plus its simpler to maintain.

I am the number one fan for the Lazer ZX/ZXR and am responsible for a lot of the items plus a lot of redesigned items being availble from different suppliers, however for a bit of fun 2wd will be the way. Avoid tamiya as they break just looking at them and are costly for spares. Why not buy an RC10 thats worn out and rebuild it to race as they really were designed for punishment and handling.

[Welshy40]

Originally Posted by Jamesk

I race my Top Force Evo from time to time, spares are fairly easy to find as they share with other tamiya models. The car is still quick and so much fun to drive on period tyres. Build any classic race it and enjoy my fast attach vehicle is slow easy to flip and handles like a wet paper plate but is huge fun and that's the best part.

Any vintage races in south east of England coming up?

jK

None that im aware of.

[kaszal]

My Procat's been awesome btw it's for sale

For fun or regular club racing my Lazer FS2 is easy to drive and set up, no problem getting spares (although tbo vintage Schumacher spares can still be found) and I can run it into the ground if I want to.

Depends how fond you are of vintage and having something rare and unusual.

[ralphee]

I love the vintage "race" cars TBH. Just brings back so many memories i guess, to me its like real cars, road and race, way back, they just had more character.
Im actually cycling NIMH's now ready for next friday lol, either gonna take the '94 YZ10, or Works 91 out, full vintage running gear too, well, apart from servos, there modern lol, but brushless/Lipo installs are in the pipeline for both cars!
If you feel flush, grab a Yokomo YZ10.....spendy and hot on parts, but my lord they drive on rails and go like the clappers!

lee

[ralphee]

Originally Posted by kaszal

My Procat's been awesome btw it's for sale

For fun or regular club racing my Lazer FS2 is easy to drive and set up, no problem getting spares (although tbo vintage Schumacher spares can still be found) and I can run it into the ground if I want to.

Depends how fond you are of vintage and having something rare and unusual.

Luke your Procat is legend, it would kill me to part with such an awesome car, i still may pop someday for a CAT2000 though, never owned one, but had many friends who did, a wicked car!

lee

[kaszal]

Originally Posted by ralphee

Luke your Procat is legend, it would kill me to part with such an awesome car, i still may pop someday for a CAT2000 though, never owned one, but had many friends who did, a wicked car!

Cheers Lee!

It's time to say goodbye. Can anyone give her a home?

[optiman]

Well I definately would like to run something vintage, not necesary a true racer, just something with carachter like Lee said.
If I go with the Frog, I'll be happy and with it's stock 540 it will be fun and slow. I am not a great driver, not even an above average one, so running a fast vintage or one that "invites" me to put in a hotter motor is just bad news for me. I will crash it and break something, end of fun...

So I am seriously concidering the Frog idea and/or maybe the Optimized B44, which I already know how I will do it, at least in my head. Why an AE B44 instead of a Kyosho Lazer? Because I have three B44, plus numerous spares and once the body is on top it won't matter to me, this project would be for fun.

I will get a Yokomo YZ10, but I want one for my collection, I really dont
want to scratch them after restoring them. I tried the "restore & then run them" expirience and is really not for me, too much stress for me!!!!

[stickboy007]

I assume you're referring to 4wd buggies here? I'd say you have three realistic options - CAT 2000/EC, Lazer ZX/ZXR, and YZ10.

For the YZ10, I just ran my 870C at the Vintage Nationals in Bethel, CT, and it did very well (video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9jBQuxy9xQ). I love my 870C - it's an animal! It is technically not as "great" as the '94, but it's easier to find (and easier to find parts for), and can be set up to drive quite well. I also have a '94 runner, but I tend to restrict that only to "clean" tracks which do not have many loose rocks, since the 33T pulleys are much harder to find than the 35T pulleys. It is not hard to fab a rear dirt cover out of lexan, though, and I do very much enjoy driving it. Takes a bit of time to get used to the center one-way, though, especially if you're on loose dirt.

The Lazer ZX/ZXR is arguably more competent than the 870C, but it is a total pain in the butt to get to the gearboxes and replace belts/pulleys. I have one as a project car and may run it a few times, but I honestly don't take it too seriously, as working on it is way too complex for what I think is a relatively simple design. Spare parts are also difficult to find and people tend to sell them at extortionate prices.

If you can get your hands on a CAT 2000/EC, that thing is a beast. Plenty of suspension travel and probably way better over jumps than any YZ10. I have a CAT 2000 that I plan on running soon, and I expect it to be much more competent where I race (U.S. Northeast). It is comparably easy to work on as the YZ10, but has way more tuning options. Spare parts are also not too hard to find.

[Welshy40]

Originally Posted by stickboy007

I assume you're referring to 4wd buggies here? I'd say you have three realistic options - CAT 2000/EC, Lazer ZX/ZXR, and YZ10.

For the YZ10, I just ran my 870C at the Vintage Nationals in Bethel, CT, and it did very well (video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9jBQuxy9xQ). I love my 870C - it's an animal! It is technically not as "great" as the '94, but it's easier to find (and easier to find parts for), and can be set up to drive quite well. I also have a '94 runner, but I tend to restrict that only to "clean" tracks which do not have many loose rocks, since the 33T pulleys are much harder to find than the 35T pulleys. It is not hard to fab a rear dirt cover out of lexan, though, and I do very much enjoy driving it. Takes a bit of time to get used to the center one-way, though, especially if you're on loose dirt.

The Lazer ZX/ZXR is arguably more competent than the 870C, but it is a total pain in the butt to get to the gearboxes and replace belts/pulleys. I have one as a project car and may run it a few times, but I honestly don't take it too seriously, as working on it is way too complex for what I think is a relatively simple design. Spare parts are also difficult to find and people tend to sell them at extortionate prices.

If you can get your hands on a CAT 2000/EC, that thing is a beast. Plenty of suspension travel and probably way better over jumps than any YZ10. I have a CAT 2000 that I plan on running soon, and I expect it to be much more competent where I race (U.S. Northeast). It is comparably easy to work on as the YZ10, but has way more tuning options. Spare parts are also not too hard to find.

Mmm not true for the lazer as gearboxes, pulleys and belts are readily available and if you want a tensioner i feel my design will be available for everyone within two weeks. Also chassis of all designs including the tub, top decks, front and rear shock towers, L braces in various formats, steering plates and if you want tobe serious my cf rear gearbox but will be pricey as a few items are hard to locate. Still doubt youll need that if my tensioner works well on the rear gearbox. Wheels are easy to get as well as bearings snd ujs and bodyshells like the Parma Tomcat and Lazer ZXS shell which does fit with a bit of adjustment.

[stickboy007]

Originally Posted by Welshy40

Mmm not true for the lazer as gearboxes, pulleys and belts are readily available and if you want a tensioner i feel my design will be available for everyone within two weeks. Also chassis of all designs including the tub, top decks, front and rear shock towers, L braces in various formats, steering plates and if you want tobe serious my cf rear gearbox but will be pricey as a few items are hard to locate. Still doubt youll need that if my tensioner works well on the rear gearbox. Wheels are easy to get as well as bearings snd ujs and bodyshells like the Parma Tomcat and Lazer ZXS shell which does fit with a bit of adjustment.

That is very interseting. My experience has been decidedly different for the Lazer. Belts are certainly easy to find, from places like sdpsi. Anything that's a plate (shock towers, upper and lower decks) are obviously available from FibreLyte. But if you want a new bumper, or new arms, layshaft, slipper clutch, diff pulleys, etc...not easy to find at all...at least for me, and they are way overpriced as a result (but that's Kyosho in general...even the new stuff). Even if the parts were easy to find, it is not an easy car to work in in comparison to the CAT and YZ10.

Let me be clear that I am not a Kyosho "hater." They make a great product. The Lazer is a great chassis; however, in my experience at least, the YZ10 and CAT 2000 are easier to work on by miles and perform just as well.

[mintzant]

Kyosho lazer zxr and yokomo works 91!!!
Super cars...

[Welshy40]

Yup all perform well and Yokomo especially.

We now have a 3d printer who can make the bumper, pulleys, wishbones etc and yes a bit pricey.