Darkstorm05

I've been away from the hobby for a while(10 years or so) and need a refresher on the state of things. I used to run On Road oval primarily, but now am looking to try Off Road. I see that CORR/Short Course is where it seems to be for that area these days. So I'm looking mostly at SC 1/10 in 2WD and 4WD, and both Electric and Nitro of each. Close by where I live there are both indoor carpeted offroad and indoor/outdoor dirt offroad racing tracks. I believe they all have all 4 of these classes available.

What I don't know is how big of a following each gets. Is 2WD likely to have a bigger field than 4WD? Electric over Nitro? The track owners have been slow to reply with any info on what classes see the most ongoing action.

How does Nitro stack up to new brushless electric? Used to be that Nitro was where it was if you wanted to run for an extended time, or at the highest speeds. Is that still the case?

Regarding kits and RTR...how up-gradable are the basic RTR kits? For example, if you buy an SC10 RTR, can you later add on parts to make it match what comes with an SC10 Race Spec kit...or Factory Team kit? Would a basic SC10 kit get you by in Novice race classes, or will you find yourself being outclassed by guys who bought the Spec kits right off? If a pro driver was given each kit to run, with off the shelf parts going into the non-RTR's, would there be a big difference on their lap times?

I would like to get something built, practice a little and get into a beginner class race series. Having some experience in the past, I'm just not wanting to get a kit that will need entirely replaced to keep up with anything beyond beginner class racing. I'm leaning towards something in the Associated SC10 or Losi SCT lines. It seems like Associated has more offerings in the 2WD Electric and Nitro classes, while Losi has more going on in 4WD.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

With today's brushless motor systems and LiPO batteries, I think electric has achieved parity with nitro, as far as power and speed is concerned. Ease of use can't be beat. If your chosen ride can fit the larger capacity 2S or 3S Lipos, run times can challenge nitro, but nitro probably still has the edge. A new 5000mah pack can last up to 25min. But over time, that ends up being closer to 20min. They do have 6500mah packs and that should get you well over a half-hour. And I have seen 10,000mah packs, but they're not very common.

RTRs are usually eminently upgradeable, depending on brand, and what you want to upgrade. Traxxas certainly has the lion's share of aftermarket parts support from the likes of RPM, who make better replacement parts than Traxxas (or anybody else) does. RPM also makes some parts for Associated and...trying to think....maybe Axial? Losi? Most of even the RTRs come with lots of adjustment possibilities for tuning, like multiple shock mounting positions and adjustable camber links and turn-buckles. There are usually a few select aluminum parts available for the more popular models to aid in durability (or in some cases just add bling, and un-needed weight).

I think you have it pretty well narrowed down to the best choices, when it comes to short course. You won't be unhappy with either one.
2wd or 4wd? 2wd has less moving parts to maintain, simpler to work on. You already have had experience with RC, so maybe this isn't a factor for you, but 2wd will teach you how to drive fast, with finesse, as the rear drive forces you to use throttle control and counter-steering to keep the thing going where you want it to. Which, in the long term, is beneficial. 4wd has more moving parts and more stuff to maintain, but is also easier to drive, easier to recover from a mistake, and pulls out of corners better. When I got my 4wd car, I was surprised how ham-fisted you could be with it and still keep it under control.

The only nitro engine I ever had was a fly-by-wire airplane WAAAYYY back when. Some guys still love nitro. I won't deny it has appeal to real motorheads. But nitro fuel is expensive. And electric is just so damn easy, and powerful. And quiet. They ARE starting to come out with small gasoline-powered models (the Losi XXT Monster Truck) which takes the expensive fuel out of the equation. What are the guys at the track mostly running?

RustyUs

I have to agree EXT2Rob. I never owned a nitro RC, but I would think electric is so much easier to maintain. And there will always be those who say nitro is the "real deal". Up until 2006, I dreamed about getting into nitro...then I got a Mambamax ESC with a 5700kv Brushless motor combo for 1/10 scale 2wd buggy racing. I since then never thought about owning a nitro engine again. The power of brushless motors is unreal, and almost maintenance free.

Today's electric ROAR races are 6 minutes heats/mains with nitro running 15~60 minutes long. I loved stock class in the 90's. Now it's the Spec Class. You can dump tons of money upgrading a RTR to be a full blown "Factory Team" model. It all depends on how fast you want to go. Spec Class puts more emphasis on drivers ability. As far as which brand...I would check with the track you plan on racing at and find out what the others are racing, and parts availability at the track hobby shop (if they have one). You don't want to break something in a heat and not have the part to get you back in the next heat/main.

Associated; Losi; HPI; Kyosho; Proline; Team Durango, and Traxxas...pick your flavor. Also needed to race are hard case LiPo battery packs and charging bag.

john01374

Dark,

I've raced SCT in a number of places and a few things seem consistant at least here in the midwest. Again this is what I see here in the Chicago area. If things are different in other parts of the country I can't speak to that.

1 - 2WD SCT electric seems to be the biggest class. At one local track there were 120 trucks that showed up to race in 2WD SCT Stock two weeks ago. Due to time restraints they only took the first 40 so keep this in mind.

2 - Electric Brushless is where it's at today. A decent 2S 5000mah pack will get you 20-25 mins of on track time so you can run a couple of races between charges if you like. When it comes to punch and overall power there's no comparision. Electric motors pretty much just run away with the instant hit you get when you pull the trigger. Around here Nitro is just about dead. The cost of fuel, the maintenance, the noise and the smell have all but killed it off.

All of the RTR kits are upgradeable to full race truck status but i'm going to caution you that going this route will be more expensive in the long run. It's better to just bite the bullet and buy the loaded race truck right up front. The Losi or the SC10.2 are both great trucks. I own both and they have been reliable and fun for the most part.

Keep something in mind when racing at the club level. There are no pro drivers 99% of the time. Yes occasionally someone will show up but odds are everyone will be on a pretty level playing field at least in the stock class. Over the years I've learned that slow and steady wins the race everytime and the truck you're driving has very little to do with it. Just keeping the truck on it's wheels the entire race will get you a top 3 almost everytime so don't sweat it.

I've told this story before but here it is again as it's fitting. I was at race many yrs back. It was just after the Slash was released. Like everyone else I had to grab one to play with. I was at an 1/8 scale indoor track in OH. As is normal these days people were complaining that the track was bad, their setup wasn't right, people were cheating etc etc.. One of the drivers there was actually a "pro" and drove for one the big brands so he was the focus of everyones anger. To prove a point he walked into shop and bought a brand new Slash off the shelf. Took it out of the box, swapped his old tires on it and entered it in the next mod race. Needless to say he wiped the field. Just goes to show that it's the driver and not the truck.

Go enjoy and try to aviod the drama and have a good time.

Darkstorm05

Thanks for all of the advice. I ended up getting an SC10 Race Spec kit that I had a coupon for at the local shop. Just waiting for my battery packs to come in, then I can get going with some practice runs and see how it does. Exciting having a new kit for the first time in years.