spitfire355

Hi, I have just sold my old Tamiya TGS XBG, and I am now looking for a cheap but good stadium truck. I have done a fair amount of research on them, and I have come up with three favourites, and I was hoping someone with more experince could point me in the best direction.
The trucks I have chosen are as follows:

XTM X-Cellerator (£130, .18 engine, looks ok, but it doesn't seem to be able to be started with the shell on)
Hot Bodies Lighning Staduim 10 Sport (£170, .15 engine, VERY high quality, 4WD, can be started with shell on)
HPI Firestorm (£180, .18 engine, again VERY high quality, 2WD, can be started with shell on)

The URL's for each are below:

XTM: http://www.globalhobby.com/public/xt...ery/145610.asp
Hot Bodies: http://www.hbeurope.com/kit.php?partNo=66509
HPI: http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?partNo=10511

Any advice or other possible trucks would be greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Joe

twomanytoys

Out of all of those the hotbodies is the better of them. Its also 4wd. You just cant beat 4wd. It looks the coolest too.

Shark413

I vote for the HB Stadium 10. I don't know why the 1/10 scale 4WD trucks are not more popular. They are a blast to drive, are far cheaper than 1/8 scale trucks and take more skill to drive. I guess I'm a little bias because I own a HD Stadium 10, but I did do a lot of research and checked out the HPI 18ss+, Kyosho Stadium Force, amd CEN MG10. I wanted a 1/10 scale 4wd truck. I choose the HB because it had an alloy chassis, 6-gear diffs, parts are easy to get, and most of all it had the lowest price (under $200). The HPI was nice with it's bigger .18 engine but I had an OS .18TM (From my REVO) and I replaced the stocker with it. I added a Tsais two chamber pipe and some Outerware shock covers. The thing is a bullet and handles great. I am a 1/8 scale guy so I needed a truck with power, the OS .18 can battle my modified REVO heads up on the track. It's loads of fun and flys like a buggy.

So Cal

Thats bad! I vote for the Hot Bodies.

scheibler

damn I was looking into getting an xcellerator or reparing a very old rustler but I need something 4wd. Is there any aftermarket support for the hb stadium 10 and where you can buy parts for them...my local hobbyshop doesn't have hb

So Cal

I have an x-cellerator and always reccomend it because it is pretty strong the engine is very reliable and powerful and the price tag is only 199.99. But the hot bodies looks stronger and its 4wd!!!

spitfire355

Yeah, thanks for that, I was leaning in that direction anyway! Your truck looks sweet Shark413, just one question though - on the website its advertised as having a "jump start" engine. What does this mean as I can't see any pullstarters on yours? Also, what did the stock engine run like, because I simply don't have the money to upgrade it to a .18.

rclynx

X-C will beat both of the other 2 out of the box, has more upgrades, costs less and has support in the UK

spitfire355

Rclynx, are you just saying that because you run a website selling them?! TBH, I have currently changed my mind to go with the XTM X-C due to the cheap price, only £130, which I can afford now, whereas the others I would have to save for. The only thing that worries me is the fact XTM isn't a very well known brand such as HPI or Tamiya. Is it still a good quality truck that can take on any others, and with quality as good as the others? Another thing that concerns me is the fact you can start and refuel the others with the shell on, whereas it seems you cant with the XTM. Will a small tool such as a Dreml fix this to take away the parts of the shell covering the pullstarter?

rclynx

Hell yes I'm saying that because I sell them..........lol.......... but I sell HPI, Associated and a few others alsojust got the XTM site going first (what a pain) not expecting to many sales from the UK M8[]

There are predetermined spots outlined on the body of the X-Cellerator so that it can be refueled without removing the body and yes you can put a larger opening at the engine to gain access to the pull start very easy.
The body is like that for the racers that want minimum holes and start with a bump box................my lazy butt uses the sure start on all the display models no matter what model it is. I highly recommend the bump box for racers and the sure start for the bashers. Not just because I make more money on them but its much easier to start them for a novice[&o]

If you do some checking I think you will find XTM's in a few stores there in the UK

So go get an XTM, get out a dremel and have some fun because yes it will stay right there with the GT2, Firestorm for quality and blow them away out of the box..........don't let those Hobby stores sell you any less than 16% nitro fuel and it should have a minimum of 20%.............best part is its a real ST not a 4x4 immitation of an ST[&o]

spitfire355

Fantastic! That's it then I'm off to buy an X-C! i found one place that sells them in the UK for £147 with fuel, batteris and squeezy bottle. I already dug out my Dremel from the garage (that took some effort!), and I should have one by the end of the month. Just a couple of things; Does it already come with a glow ignitor you have to put batteries in, a rechargable one or not at all? Also, I can only just afford one without any fancy starters, but my old Tamiya was a real pain to start with the pull starter, often needing around 15 mins of solid pulling (around 500 pulls!), and often when it decided to start, once I put the body on it would stall! Can I expect any similar problems with this one, or are the pull starters particularly good on these (the Tamiya was a road car, is it different for STs?)

Thanks!

rclynx

You will need a good glow starter and see if they have the XTM #146046 its a very high quality glow starter.(it doesn't come with one unless the guy packages it in) the glow starter I recommended has a 2400mah battery with charger and it has a gauge in the top to tell if its charged or your glow plug is bad. Quite a nifty peice of equipment. (starting)It takes some getting used to but if tuned right it should only take a few pulls to get it going. Read your instructions very carefully and you will understand how its done. If there the same instructions that we have here there very informative. Good luck with your new toy, I'm sure you will be happy with it if you learn about it properly........of course its the same with any of them[&:]

The only real weak point the X-c has is the rear hubs and lower arms, you might want to invest in a set of each if your Hobby shop is a long way off[X(]

spitfire355

OK then great! I'll do that soon, but the glow heaters are about £10! is this normal, I was expecting them to be only a couple of pounds, and as for the one you recommended, they pretty much don't exist in the UK, butr there are similar ones on eBay for around £18

rclynx

Do get a good one and the price here is about 23.00 USD cheap ones here are about 10.00 dollars

xtmracer41

i vote for xtm nitro x-cellerator cause the breakin is super easy and it is tough as anything.