hpiracr28

hey guys, im getting back into rc after about 2 years of being out of it. I used to have a modded savage .25 and loved it, but hated spending the money on fuel and glow plugs and replacement parts due to parts failure. The local hobby store had outrageous prices. So as of now, im wanting to get into electric car/buggies. I dont know much about them, so im really looking for some expert advice between two vehicles. im kinda on a budget so i was looking at the HPI Brama vs. the Traxxas Bandit. Which one is faster, better built, or all around better. Also after a while, if i were to get the traxxas bandit, i would be upgrading the motor to a vilineon 3500. So which is better, the bandit or brama?? please help!!

SyCo_VeNoM

BANDIT hands down
The Brama 10B is a festering pile of turd. It has durability issues with its stock electronics. Which propel it to a walking speed. Parts support is a joke, along with upgrades. Its electronics are pretty much crap too. It has a nice design and could have been good but they never made any aftermarket/hop-up parts for it.

You might want to look at the Tamiya Plasma Edge (DF-02) also its cheaper than a Brama built 1000X better, and upgradeable. It needs a few parts to improve its durability but in the end it would still be cheaper than a Brama 10b.

I talk from experience
I spent around $100 on the brama trying to make it decent just to get fed up and chuck what was left of it (it was in quite a few pieces) in the garbage can. I e-mailed HPI about it and they said they never meant for it to be upgradeable, its meant to be a bare bottom entry level RC.

The Mad Modder

+1 I would take a look at what Tamiya has to offer. They make quite a few types of buggies; from ones for bashing around the yard to racing buggies. Of the two that you listed, the bandit is better(the brama has durability issues), however compared to modern buggies, the bandit has poor handling.

Casper06

What exactly is your budget? Are you looking for a RTR or Kit. But between the two you asked about the Bandit is better as syco venom wonderfully pointed out.

hpiracr28

well my budget is for a RTR, so i can charge the battery and hit the throttle for no more than $210. it might sound silly but for only $210, i kno i can only get so much performance out of it. but thanks for the replies guys. keep em comin. the more replies the better decision i will have! oh yea and what about that vilineon brushless?? good motor?? will it make the traxxas faster? thanks again. and ill check out that tamiya. is that fast and durable. im not looking for an rc that goes slow as hell. i want a quick one, but also durable in my price range. hope this helps with the replies.

SyCo_VeNoM

ok fast and durable definitely ruled out the brama

The tamiya stock isn't the fastest (faster than the brama), its shocks blow, and its a kit.

I'm actually flung a $50 BL system in mine, just waiting on lipo batteries that fit in its tray.

If you want RTR Bandit is prolly the way seeing I think its faster than most the others

Candre23

My Feedback: (8)

If you want excellent performance for very little money, then an evader with a cheap brushless kit is the way to go.

Evader EXB - $120 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXTXT8**&P=ML
Traxxas idler gear - $3 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSGZ3&P=7
Leopard BL combo - $60 http://www.hobbypartz.com/26p-blcomb...2r-3300kv.html
Blue 2s 30c lipo - $28 http://www.hobbypartz.com/83p-4000ma...4-30c-car.html
Decent AC/DC lipo charger - $44 http://www.hobbypartz.com/75p-t606-charger.html

That's $255 all-in, and it will keep up with (or beat) any stock brushles 1/10 buggy.

HJJFFFAA

Anything but a bandit.

sheograth

Anything but a Bandit OR a Brama

Casper06

jbounce

How about that electrix ST. Not a buggy though. But if you can spend about 230 , I would go the Associated t4.1 Brushless with 2.4 Ghz at amainhobbies I think.

The Mad Modder

An electrix is NOT something for beginners or people getting back into RC. The Evader is the same price, available in ST or buggy form, and not a POS.

J.D.T

+1 on the NEITHER, but if I had to choose I would go brama, who cars there are little parts and they are hard to track down its 4wd which makes it 10 times better than any 2wd buggy in my mind.
+1 on the tamiya df 02, very nice basher, RTR its $170 from tamiyamiami, $190 from tower, $10-130 for the kit, good selection of hop up parts, no sissy ball diffs to burn up if neglected, the best part is if you got a good parts source(champrc in japan +++) the entire chassis is $5, whole parts trees for $4, super cheap to have spairs around.
I would start watching target and get one of the $99 df 02 clones from extreme machines, with the extra $100 you could order a cheapy 2.4 radio and 60 amps brushless setup from hobbyking or whoever, the truck thread is here, I have tons of df 02 parts so this is going to be a perfect loaner vehicle at my house once my target gets them.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9938129/tm.htm

positron

AE b4.1 is a good RTR buggy, brushless version doesn't cost much more either

4goodbuys2

How are those blue lipo's , how's the run time compared to a more expensive brand?

kaiser01

WERD

hpiracr28

ok so ive been reading the replies, and like half say the bandit, half say the brama, and some others say the tamiya. ill try to make this simpler no offense to anyone...i need an rtr buggy, truggy or truck, thats fast and with an upgradeable motor. I wanna take it out of the box and run it. i will pretty much be on pavement. 2wd or 4wd doesnt matter. i want a durable one tho. all for around $210. start shootin

john01374

The bandit is a great car as long as you're not trying to race it as it needs some mods and a skilled driver to be competitive. It's super durable and parts are everywhere. Out of the box the XL5 will run in the low 30 mph range and if you break in and care for the titan motor it should last you a 100 runs or so.

As for the Brama. I've never owned one and I'm thankful for that as I have repaired more than a few. There is no kind way to say it. HPI dropped the ball with the Brama and it is a big ol' steaming pile....

Some have mentioned Tamiya and I too will say they are great cars but not RTR so they are out. The Evader series of cars and trucks is better than the Brama but after owning a EXP and a BX Pro I will never go down the Duratrax road again.. It didn't matter what I did to the gearbox I still stripped gears with remarkable ease. The Stress test guarantee is a joke as well. After you call them the first time you're on you own..

What I would recommend is either a Rustler, bandit, Pede or Slash. All come completly RTR. Another option is the Firestorm 10 HT (hobby town) edition. Great truck but you will need to get a battery and charger.

kaiser01

for 250 you can get an associated rc10b4.1 rtr.

but you'd need batteries and a charger. but you'll need that with most rtr's anyway.

i'd save the extra $$ and get something like that, because it's already an awesome car and very upgradeable.

SyCo_VeNoM

didn't read anyone say the Brama most I read knocked it lol
as John said the brama is HPIs big stain on their reputation (hell they don't even sell its parts in their store) it hit a whopping 11mph if your lucky.
Plasma edge was sold RTR I know this cause I got my nephew the RTR I picked his up for $95 shipped off ebay (cheapest I see now is $215) where I paid $125 for my kit...

If your open to trucks there is one at Target for $99 http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9938129/tm.htm it is a knockoff of the DF-02 platform no idea how durable it is. I've been thinking of trying one for fun but kinda have to save for a new ESC for my MT Hell for $25-30 you can turn it back into a buggy (needs rims/tires, and a body)

4goodbuys2

If you want a truck that's durable stick with a 2 wheel drive . You bend and loose the most dogbone's when their in the front.
From my experience traxxas is mainly for bashing it will take a lot of abuse expecialy if you add a rpm front bumper and front casters and hubs.
I used to be into nitro and I had a associated rc10gt it's great for racing but when I tried to bash it I would come home with parts missing , but I didn't upgrade any parts to rpm so It could have been more durable if I put more money into it.

SyCo_VeNoM

uhh huh? I've lost 5 dog bones total and all my RC's are 4wd cept a stampede. 3 of the dogbones were off a rear wheel... 2 were in the front. I've also yet to bend one. I've snapped a rear wheel dogbone in half though... The reason I lost the 2 in the front (Both were on the same RC) was the last owner of it had the wrong tie-rod on it (it was pushing the wheel too far out), and I didn't know better at the time that it was too big seeing it was my 1st RC. After I put the right size of tie-rod on I've not lost any dogbones on the front, and the RC that lost them on the rear I scrapped (it was a Frankensteined RC).

Only things 2wd has over 4wd IMO is its easier to repair, and cheaper to buy.

hpiracr28

Sounds good guys. im leaning more towards the traxxas bandit. i like how traxxas looks and my friend had a tmaxx and it was better than the savage i had. i thought my savage was the greatest. but now im wanna try electric. so thanks for the help. any opinions on switching the stock motor out in the bandit to a vilineon 3500? good or bad? faster?
       Also, just found out i can do payments on tower hobbies. which is good for me considering i wanna keep on a budget. sorry for all the questions, but what would be the fastest electric buggy or truck rtr for about $300? i really appreciate all the help guys.

4goodbuys2

You can get the bandit vxl already brushless.

HJJFFFAA

Associated T4.1. Way better than the Bandit piece of crap.