wingsformarie

I am a newbie and I just purchased a Himoto 1:10 Syclone 4wd buggy, It is the Single speed with a .18 tiawan engine. It is a single speed, I can upgrade it to a two speed for about 35$ plus shipping. Is It Worth it? What are the advatages? More low end torque @ low speeds, and high end torque at high speeds? Also, how is Himoto quality-wise? The price is right.[8D]

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

I would stick with the single speed and spend as very little as possible on this car. If you decide you don't like Nitro RC, then you aren't out that much money. If you decide you like it, then you need to get a real hobby level car. Don't kid yourself- you get what you pay for. You paid for a car with no hobby shop support, hard to find online support and very little cross model part compatibility. I have mixed feelings about those cars. Sure they have a cheaper entry point and might bring more people into the hobby, but on the other side, they might leave you with a bad taste in your mouth when you find you have no support for it.

There is a reason why people buy from reputable companies. They can go into their local hobby shops and get parts and advice from the guys, they can go onto towerhobbies and other reputable e-shops and get parts easily, they have an 800 number to call if they have problems, and they have a lot of aftermarket support along with more superior materials used in the first place. You are buying more then an RC car.

The Himoto will be good to see if you like the hobby, but I would recommend buying a reputable car (Traxxas, HPI, Tamiya, Kyosho, Losi, AE, GS, etc) If you continue in the hobby. Don't put a dime into that car.

Single Speed...

wingsformarie

Thanks Dale! Makes alot of sense,A very helpful response. The major brands have put a good taste in my mouth (20% nitromethane that is). I'll make sure a low quality company like himoto does'nt ruin my opinion of the hobby/nitro cars.
Thank you.

oojamison

My Feedback: (1)

I bought a Syclone also. love it, I got a friend that thought to go with a reputable car, a duratraxx, broke 3 times, all three times he has run it. Plastic parts all over it. I remember talk years ago about a car called Kyosho. It was cheap and people did not know what to think about it. As far as the two speed, it's just another thing to go wrong. By the way, the three times we have run our cars, I've smoked him. [>:]

46u

My Feedback: (3)

AS far as a 2 speed for this car I would stay away from it.

wingsformarie

update........i barely had time to break in the motor before i broke the diff gear (motor mount screws came out, my fault for trusting the factory) HPI diff gears work with a little cutting with my dremel. The next time I ran it (a month later- september i think) I crashed it in to a curb and broke the steering arm. It has been sitting in it's box since. Poor thing. When I have time I will be bringing it back out, the only disadvantage to the Himoto is the parts availability.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

Try this place, as Redcat and Himoto are the same. Tell Mark 46u sent you.
http://www.topspeedtoys.com/index.php?main_page=index

wingsformarie

Thanx 46u, I do shop there, It is the 1/2 the price (or less) than the himoto dealers. maybe the LHSs will eventually sell these

s7jstep1

of course, its a duratrax[sm=thumbs_down.gif]

traxxasman125

yah ive seen the himoto cars on ebay i mean u get what u pay for my friend bought an off brand nitro rc and he said it ruined his whole nitro rc experience but i can see that it is hard to resist at the price they go for but as far as the 2 speed goes i like the single speed as in with mine i get great accel and a decent top speed and not all the trouble with shifting points as you might encounter with an off brand 2 speed transmission.

smaxx3.3

i thought about buy a cheap off-brand just to beat the crap out of it! don't want to mess up my s-maxx doing that.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

What good are any of them if you do not beat the crap out of them?

Grits

You need to check out the Redcat Racing Support thread further down the opening page. Redcat and Himoto are identical so everything in that thread applies to Himoto. Lots of help there. Stay with the single speed tranny as the 2 speed has problems. Check out the thread for both support and parts. Good luck and enjoy.

Ramer 1

Mark Thanks again, Did try getting my parts from Himoto to no succes. I should be getting new parts any day from topspeedtoys. I have the same buggy also, mine is a two speed. So far no problem with tranny. Just make sure all screws are tight every time you run it. I lost one out of the front end and lost the steering liner at the same time. It would be the lower balljoint!! I think the Tornado xp is the same at topspeed. I tkink i may use a little blue locktight on my screws.

xxMESTxx

well i just purchased a tornado bb, and its a two speed, are thier any solutions to stoping problems, over this summer im gonna be uprgrading to as much aluminum as possible i dono any suggestions?

graymatters

from what I have read on manuals they even say to check your engine screws after EVERY RUN.
My advice would be to go through your car and blue loctite (or any removable threadlocker) all screws that go into metal. it definitly helps when you are beating the crap out your cars. plus if you do not check every time the screws will hold longer.

xxMESTxx

so i should check teh screws every time...and haha this is stupid but, what is blue loctite, can u still take ur screw out if u ever had too?

wingsformarie

loctite is a glue like paint that fills any voids in the threads, creating more friction, so that the screws are much tighter than without it. It can be cleaned out of the threads easy enoughi'm pretty sure that petroleum based cleaners or solvents(wd-40, paint thinner nail polish remover) can remove it pretty easily with a rag. maybe even nitro fuel