I have a Tamiya Super MantaRay - 4WD Buggy. I've just ordered a new battery pack... $12 from Hong Kong!
It's super fun on flat gravel car-parks, doing awesome power slides... I even converted the wheels/tyres to WRC Rally Tyres... Both tyre sets are fun...
HSP is the best of the cheapie brands, but nowhere near quality of your Tamiya
If only using it in gravel carpark with no jumps and nothing to hit - maybe. Otherwise you will break arms and stuff a lot.
Do you necessarily want 4WD, or a stadium truck, or 1/10th?
Can u post up your budget, dirt/road, nitro/electric. A few basics and I can give you suggestions and price.
Do not buy HSP, please take notice, do not buy HSP. You will be out of the rc car scene on your first repair.
Edit: new tamiya hornet still weak, a little stronger due to the new plastics, still slow.
Tamiya gear is great although finding parts at your local hobby shop can be hard - I would buy 30 other brands before Tamiya.
I recently purchased a Traxxas Rustler Nitroto suppliment my new found RC plane habit and to support my addition to the smell of burning nitro methane and caster.
The thing hauls arse
It brings the kids out of there houses with their RC cars and we race up and down the street.
I looked at the cheaper ones but I didn't want to ruin my fun by having an inventory of spares for weak parts.
Select to expand quoteyoungbull said..
Do not buy HSP, please take notice, do not buy HSP. You will be out of the rc car scene on your first repair.
Been runnning my HSP drift for 2 years now, and not a single repair. That includes hitting plenty of street poles, brick walls, gutters, etc. at full speed. Open up the diff and have a look, good quality hardened steel gears. You get a complete package for about $150 bucks. Can't beat the price if you just want to have some fun mucking around, and it's 100 times better than the toys you get at K-mart or Jaycar for a similar price. My only problem with it is that I can't change the front to rear ratio to set it up for over driven counter steer.
If you want to race every weekend, sure buy the good stuff, but for the occassional backyard punter, the HSP is great value.
Youngbull he already said dirt, and not nitro. ??
Dunno what you mean about out of the scene on 1st repair - spares grow on trees as there is plenty of eBay and real store sellers of HSP in Australia
They are BUDGET but not hard to find spares.
I'd love to hear the 30 brands better than Tamiya in 1/10th electric 4wd buggy racing.
Associated, Durango, Xray, Losi, Kyosho, maybe another 3 or 4 . Does not add up to 30.......?
I don't know rc cars that well but I know boats. Don't worry about your local hobby store, they're not worth supporting. I am usually all for supporting the local guy but their mark ups are huge. Buy whatever you can get parts online. And certainly go electric, they have bulk power these days. I looked at the hsp but don't know enough about them to comment. I know I'll get flamed for this but get something from china . For me, money talks and if you can use your money to buy a more powerful solid unit from china then do so. By powerful I mean a name brand set up might get you a small esc and motor but by getting a knock off you can afford a bigger esc and more torque more. Get lipo for sure don't get anything else. Everything traxxas I've bought has been solid but these days I go Chinese knock off over traxxas
You might like to checkout Helipal. They used to have the best price on HSP, plus they have the full range of spares.
And yes, always go for brushless motor and lipo battery for electric.
HobbyKing is great source for lipos.
This is my drift car....netball courts are best place to drive. (It's just rebadged HSP)
I'm thinking the HSP Brontasaurus Pro looks like good value for money. Includes some upgraded parts.
I've seen people on the net stacking them pretty hard, and big jumps... They seems pretty damn solid. But super fast.
The Brontasaurus (new HSP's Brushless Motors) look heaps faster than my old Tamiya. Better suspension, etc... And even slightly cheaper. Plus Digital controls...
Tamiya Parts - I haven't had to buy any parts... I was wearing through the original knobby stud tyres quite quick, so I bought the harder wearing Rally Dirt/Road tyres.
The battery pack is the first replacement part I have bought.
I've been driving RC Cars for 30 years, so I don't really have major/bad stacks...
Can't wait for the HSP! I'll place an order tomorrow I think.
Select to expand quoteSimondo said..
Tamiya Parts - I haven't had to buy any parts... I was wearing through the original knobby stud tyres quite quick, so I bought the harder wearing Rally Dirt/Road tyres.
The battery pack is the first replacement part I have bought.
I've been driving RC Cars for 30 years, so I don't really have major/bad stacks...
Can't wait for the HSP! I'll place an order tomorrow I think.
can you give me some more details on the tyres?
These are a nice durable tyres...
See what I mean about WRC Rally Tyre... Even has the Subaru WRC Gold Rally Rims!
I've done a bit more research, and I've found a GREAT RC shop in Geelong, in Breakwater.
I've already purchased a cheap end HSP Brontosaurus (it's due in the mail tomorrow or Thurs).
In photos it looked much better than my Tamiya, but in the flesh, it's probably worse! (saw one in store).
HSP Bronto - my preliminary advice, get the "Pro" not the base model... Even the Pro model was slightly uninspiring, compared to this...;
The HPI Blitz! (I'll be getting first thing in the morning... can't wait any longer!
)http://www.rcwebandwarehouse.com.au/HPI-RTR-Blitz-FLUX-w24Ghz--WaterProof--HPI109326
Does anyone need an HSP Brontsaurus for spare parts...? We'll run it until we break it.... then flog it off on eBay as a wreck for spares!
If I love the HPI Blitz enough, I'll buy a second one, so my mates will come and play with me!
The Geelong Breakwater RC joint also has a great Drift Track. I'll get a video of it tomorrow, with me driving...
Good to see you got yourself a nice short course car.
Sounds like another hobby shop got you on the straight and narrow.
Do not even unbox the HSP - just pass on the problem. People can say what they like but I'm up to around 70-90 repairs in 6mths, I turn them away now unless a tune up, and even then 90% have zero compression or failed esc.
I do suggest running 7.4v lipo in the blitz - although they say 11.1v you will cook it in hrs/weeks they just dont handle the higher voltage.
Also stay away from alloy upgrades on the Blitz - yes they look good and stiffen up the car, the only problem is it shifts the damage down the line and you could be up for a new chassis.
What about going for something a bit simpler. No batteries, charging for this idea. Also much harder to break. Probably just as exciting, for a much shorter amount of time. My bet is your RC car will be broken in a week.
You can try to hype them up about it by telling them that's what your grandparents played with during the war. That will make them feel bad when they start to cry.
I always found my kids liked the boxes more than the toys - put it in a huge box full of newspaper and those foam bubbles you see floating all over the bay.
Get creative, buy them a camera, and suggest they make a better clip than this one of their lamest ever xmas.
In years to come they will blame you - but they will anyway.
mate i struggle to find good parts suppliers on the net (never seem to have what i want). can you post ups ome links.
The HPI Baja Blitz Short Couse Truck is .... INSANE FUN!
First Impression - as fast as a Ferrari! Makes you scared you'll crash it,... so quick...
Advice - go easy for the first few minutes!
When you de-throttle (to off), a nice amount of braking kicks in...
The HSP Brontasaurus - it's actually quite fun for $134... Suspension is very good. It was so cheap because it's only the NiCa Version, not the LiPo (Battery) version. The Hobby shop boys said it was also the slower brushed motor, not brushless.
Verdict - The 'HPI' is for me, and the 'HSP' is for visitors and kids!
(The HPI Blitz is also waterproof these days!)
HSP - the big wheels were out of balance, right out of the box! I should rotate the tyre on front right (worst balance of the 4 wheels)... Can't make it any worse!
It's quite tough though. We have been hitting stuff with the young kid on controls... But I admit that it will only last 1/4 of the time of the HPI...
I mean, I think I will be selling the HSP for scrap parts, while I contemplate which HPI to buy next / add to the collection!
