I'm finally taking the next step to 1/8 Nitro Buggies. I feel like moving forward in the hobby and get into possibly racing 1/8 scale after several years with just hobby-grade Nitros. I will be using the buggy to practice and hone my racing skills. I was looking into getting the Kyosho Inferno MP9 TKI4 ReadySet given Kyoshos track record for championships under the belt. The problem is every vendor I try has it backordered. (Maybe its a SIGN!! <GASP> LOL) I'm open to suggestions of other buggies that may be better than the Inferno line of Kyosho. (Losi, X-Ray, Mugen Seiki, etc.) I want to get a buggy I can really use intensely on a track. I want to start at a low cost, entry-level racing buggy, but nothing cheap I will have to keep replacing parts on. If you guys suggest I go for a Kit, I will just have to save more money and take longer to get into this level of the hobby. I was hoping to just get into it with a RTR, eventually upgrade the parts on it (if necessary) and make it a racing level buggy. OR, bite the bullet and get a Kit, and use that as my race level buggy right off the bat.

Here is my thinking on this:
Would like Kyosho RTR because of their reputation and high quality standards in 1/8 Nitro Buggies and I can afford it.
Losi RTR didn't look as if it had quality parts and I'm not a fan of the yellow body. (OMG, I'm sooo shallow.;(

I don't know if these brands offer RTR and I know nothing about them:
X-Ray, Mugen, Serpent, Tekno, HoBao, and Exceed or any other brands.

I hope you guys can steer me in the right direction!
Thanks!

If your goal is to race at a club and you want to save money, then do yourself a favor and buy a quality kit that already includes all the upgrades up front.

The RTR's cut far too many corners and will leave you very disappointed and will ultimately spend far more money replacing all the junk parts with quality parts that will be more expensive because they are not bundled together like they are in the kit.

The most current release is from TEKNO, the club in my area has a seen a drastic surge in TEKNO kits with that being the most popular buggy by far and large in this area. It offers more tuning options and is arguably the most durable platform on the market today, they also offer a 50% lifetime warranty making the brand the least expensive to maintain over anyone else.

If you are truly on a tight budget, then go electric.... nitro maintenance costs will easily be double the expense of electric.

Good Luck!

Thanks Bill. I'll take a look at TEKNO. I started with electric way back in the day only because:
1) Radio Shack R/Cs bored me real quick and I was just starting out and discovering Hobby-grade buggies/trucks, Blackfoot was my first "Bundle Deal".
2) Tamiya was the top dog for affordable kits in the early 80's.
3) I don't think I knew Nitro existed back then OR they were all kits where everything was separate and way out of a kids budget.
I have a couple of electric bashers and on Crawler but that's pretty much my extent I want to go with electric. I love working on Nitro probably a little more than actually running them.

What is the TEKNO model I can look into?

If you look at lap times for pro drivers who run both nitro and electric you will see that electric is a pinch faster on lap times, though an advantage that electric has for reduced costs is that they typically run anywhere from 8-10 min mains, sometimes they will get double A-mains if you're good enough to finish that high in your class. Nitro mains typically go about 15 min for lower mains and can run for as long as 30min to an hour for some really big races.

Tires for electric will typically go 3-4 race days but a nitro driver might go through 2 sets of tires in just 1 race day.

More nitro drivers flame out and lose their race due to poor maintenance and/or inability to know how to properly tune their engine where a quality $500 engine might only last 3-4 months before it needs to be replaced. If you want to be competitive, you will need deep pockets to race nitro.

take a look at the EB48 2.0 and NB48 2.0 for respective electric and nitro versions of the buggy, good luck with your decision!

hi doutrnz , and bill delong yes the kits you have to build and then choose your motor you want to run whether it be elecctric or nitro you will always have a spare motor or back up as you choose when you race , that s what a lot of racers do also tuning nitro
here in the east the humidity constantly changes , the nitro fuel becomes hydroscopic ( attracts water ) so tuning is constant , in the heat and mains . yes the good kits are tekno kyosho mugen seiki losi xray electric and nitro with nitro you have to learn
to tune your nitro engine properly , you can down load the manual of nitro engine tuning by ROB PARIS he was the grue of nitro tuning and paris pipes ( exhaust pipes ) . well electric is easier plug and play yes the tekno eb48.0 is nice along with
nb 48 nitro buggy and the kyosho , mugen , losi , xray team associated and they are faster good luck with your choice ok how fast does your wallet go ok mugey