I have been lurking for quite a while, trying to find out as much info as I can. I have searched, and found many threads where newbies are wondering what the best buggy would be for them to get. However, I couldn't find much info on newbies trying to decide on which kit to get as they are usually looking for an RTR. Either that, or it's one of you pro's looking for opinions on specific things between different kits.

I am not new to RC, and certainly not new to building things. Especially small intricate things. I am very excited to start on my first buggy kit. I just have one problem, which one! Alot of the names and descriptions you guys use make it a little hard for me to search them out. Usually when I do, I see all sorts of different versions of what appears to be the same thing.

From what I've gathered so far, I want a pro kit. Or whatever the top of the line is. I want something newer (as in date, not usage), and most definitely want to build my own from a kit.

Price? Doesn't matter too terribly much, but I'm not going to drop $700 on just the kit alone, so probably something more in the 5 to 6 neighborhood is more like it. Then I'll just take my time getting the electronics and power plant.

Heard a few good things about this Xray buggy. Searched a bit, and found a few not so good things. Is this rig a bit too new perhaps?

Found a lot of good things about Ofna, but mostly RTR stuff. Then I found out about this 'not released yet' Hyper 8? Will they offer this in a kit?

Heard a TON of good things about Kyosho Buggies, but I searched and a lot of places either discontinued them, or their asking $700. That seems a bit weird.

Mugen? Hot Bodies?

Let me know your thoughts. I will be running in sand, dirt, gravel.... just about everything. I am crazy about maintenance on my RC's though.

sand - dirt and gravel -- have you thought about a good truck like the HPI Savage?

Sounds like you are doing your homework. Do you have a local hobby shop? If so what do they stock? If you are looking at ofna their top of the line buggy is a kit and it is a good buggy. I have a Kyosho and think it is great and parts are getting easier to get. You are correct in that Tower no longer carries the kyosho line. Have you checked out Nitro House for kits?

Look no further, here is a shopping list to a kick ass setup on the cheap. This is what I would have done, if I had done more research. Instead, I impulsively bought a used car thinking the $300.00 was a good idea. Now I am up to almost $2000.00 invested and I still don't have as good of quality components as listed below (almost though, I just need the starter box and the charger, to replace my inferior models).



-Hyper 7 TQ Sport = 240.00 at ace (car is so upgradable, and so much parts availability, you can upgrade to pro kit off of e-bay as needed)

-JR XS3 Radio = 150.00 ebay (It is the cheapest synthesized radio around. This means you never have a channel conflict again. Also comes with decent servos to get you going, range seems good and its computerized).

-OS RG (p) = 110.00 or 90.00 at tower when they do the $20.00 coupon (great engine, at half the price of engines with similar power)

-Jammin JP-1 or 2 exhaust= 45-60 ebay depending on coating (good pipe for the RG)

-OFNA Chrome top starter box = 80.00 ebay (12 volt motor, room for a dry cell, and has hookups to run a glow starter off of the dry cell)

-Dubro Pit Caddy = 30.00 (comes with 850 cc fuel bottle, jetting screwdriver, glow plug wrench, engine stopper)

-Byrons 30% race fuel 28.00/gallon @ any hobby store (I have tried Blue Thunder, and Odonnel, and found the best results with this fuel for the above engine).

-OS 8 (or A8, I forget) plugs = 5.00 anywhere (I bought tons of these, because I used to go through McCoy MC-8s alot. I have had this same single plug in the engine for months without fouling!!)

-Mugen Aluminum clutch shoes 16.99 ebay (great hook up, long life)

-Mugen 1.0 springs 3.99 ebay

-Ofna clutch bell 15.00 most hobby stores

-12 volt 7ah battery = 20.00 (for starter box)

-Venom 2400mah NIMH AA batteries (8) 20.00 at tower (highest mah rating out right now it seems, and one of the cheapest)

-OFNA 6 volt receiver pack 9.00 ebay (don't mess with AA's for your receiver, this will only lead to a low voltage condition and a runaway)

-MRC 977 Super Brain 99.00 on ebay (plug in peak charger that charges 2 batteries at once, can charge/discharge almost ANY battery type used with nitro cars, including 12 volt starter box batteries).

-OFNA PCR temp. gauge 33.00 on ebay (fits in top of engine, so you don't have to worry about lining it up, easy to read display)

-OFNA micro failsafe 17.00 on ebay (Keep your car from going out of control, with loss of reception)

HPI? Well sorta, that 4.6SS kit looks pretty cool, however I'm already in that boat. I have a pretty modded Tmaxx, and I don't really plan on getting rid of it as of just yet. I kinda want to see how I like the whole buggy thing. From everything I've read and seen, a buggy would suit me fine.

No local hobby shop. Well.... 1.5hrs away is the closest one, and they already kinda burned their bridge with me I'm not a racer or anything, so internet orders is fine with me. I usually end up with quite a few spares of the 'broken often' parts anyway.

Do you have a specific model of Ofna for their top of the line buggy? Are you speaking of that "Jammin" buggy? I could have sworn they were asking an arm and a leg for that buggy. I will have to research it more.

So you say the Kyosho parts are becomming easier to find. That is usually something that happens a short while after a new model of something is released. I was under the impression (mainly because of Tower dropping the line) that the Kyosho buggies were a bit older. Am I off base here? I really liked what I saw with the Kyosho stuff.

Thanks for the good info! I do believe I read that somewhere else as well, because I did make a note of your post

I will research what you suggest, thank you.

BTW, KX 250's rock.

RYDER -- are those batt's the rechargeable AA's?

Klaus -- the items that RYDER listed are a great way to go if you are looking for a buggy. The only thing I would change is to go with a rechargeable receiver pack -- just my preference there.

Yeah, the NIMH means nickel metal hydride. I edited the post to add AA in there so it would be less confusing. I actually had the OFNA rechargable receiver pack on there already, it has a pretty high MAH rating (pretty much equates to long lasting) and its cheap. If you can avoid it, never use alkaline batteries anywhere in your R/C car or transmitter. They don't last anywhere near as long as a good set of NIMH batteries of the same size.

EDIT: I acutally sold my KX a couple years ago, and just kept the screen name because I was already using it for everything else. Now I have a 2003 YZ 250, which I am hopefully selling in November to get a 2006 YZ450F. But my KX was the best bike for its time(1998).

As far as batt packs, chargers and all that, I'm good to go. I have several 1200+ mah receiver packs and a nice peak charger. I even have an extra micro failsafe.

I'm a big fan of OS motors, so more than likely I'd go with something of theirs, I would just have to see. Researching engines seems easier for me than researching all these different buggies

So KX, you say you like the Hyper 7. What are your premptive thoughts on the Hyper 8? Have any ideas on when that will be released? I'm sure it's been covered somewhere, but I can seem to find it.

It could be awesome. Then again maybe not. I haven't been one to be the first to purchase a new design (exceptions being my Nissan Titan, and the '06 YZ450 I am about to buy). For the most part, you have to deal with all the bugs that the engineers missed. Plus, you are basically funding their R&D efforts if you buy early, because the price is still so high. If you have the patience to wait for it, you could try the Hyper 8. That way you could be my guinnea pig. I would still wait until spring though, thats when they plan on releasing the pro version.

The Hyper 7 is in like its third generation now, so other than the fact that the laydown servo faces inward (idiot engineer) the design has been foolproofed. Most people would recommend trying to find a Hyper that does not have that laydown kit on it. I would say get a Hyper PCR Pro kit, and then buy the stand up servo setup off of e-bay for like $30.00. That way you get all the PCR upgrades, without the servo issue.

Plus, its probably the most popular kit out there, so there is tons and tons of parts availability. The one thing I have noticed though, most hop up parts are OFNA brand. It seems like the other aftermarket companies ignore the Hyper. Which is pretty stupid marketing on their part. It doesn't really matter though, buying an 1/8th scale buggy is different from other R/Cs. You don't really have to upgrade them much, its mostly just different tuning options.

I made the mistake of buying used up front, which was bad (9.5 Pro). The only saving grace was that it was a used pro kit. Which meant that I had all the CNC and carbon bits (stole that term from our Brittish members) already included. That is the advantage of the pro kit. You pay more, but the hop-ups are damn cheap in kit form, as opposed to buying them individually later. This would be my honest recommendation. No matter what you get, be it OFNA, Mugen, XRAY, Kyosho, Thunder Tiger, Hot bodies, Sportwerks or whatever, get the Pro version.

I fully intend on getting a Pro kit, no matter what brand I go with. It doesn't seem that they all actually list them as "Pro" kits, but I'm sure they have their own 'top of the line' model. This is one of the main reasons for me posting this thread here.

So you think going with the Ofna Hyper 7 PCR Pro kit would be a good option. Looks like NitroHouse lists it for $474.95 which doesn't seem too bad.

What are some of your thoughts on the Kyosho buggies? When I go to the Kyosho website, I get a bit confused. They don't really list prices either. I can't even seem to find a decent online dealer that lists all the different buggies with their respective prices. All NitroHouse lists is the MP777 SP-1 and MP777 SP-2. The SP-2 lists at $749.95, while the SP-1 lists at $279.95. What's the deal with that?? Is there really that much of a difference?

hot bodies is ubelievably strong the buggy is also a great racer and a very strong basher it is a kit to about 400

This one, correct?

http://www.hotbodiesonline.net/lightning2pro.html


Edit: That one appears to be somewhat 'pre-built'. What's that, not an RTR because it doesn't have motor and electronics, but otherwise already assembled?

Your best buggy is the top dollar kits!! Kyosho SP-2, Mugen Prospec, X Ray and Jammin.
I've driven all of those and Hyper's, Sportwerks, GS and other OFNA's. When I was deciding, I went with the Kyosho but it was hard. Mugen and X Ray were my other choices. The Kyosho won out with the steering and equal (to the others) handling. I wouldn't say any one of the top 4 are better than the other 4, but those 4 were definitely better than the others I drove. Oh, by the way, I stepped up from a Hyper 7.

The SP-1 list at Nitro House is the upgrade from SP-1 to a SP-2. It's not the SP-1 kit.

Does anybody know where a good online resource for Kyosho buggies is? Probably preferably in the states

Hobby ACtion in Tempe AZ has a SP-2 kit (not an upgrade SP-1 to a SP-2) for $699
[link=http://h1072049.hobbyshopnow.com/]Hobby Action[/link]

A main has them for $749
[link=http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php?cPath=44_48&products_id=3844]A Main Hobbies[/link]

Thanks Jbone.

Go with the jammin pro, you can get it for under $500.00 bucks ,I think GS Hobby has it for 499 as well as Ultimate hobbies. Great durable fast buggy with cheap spares (although you won't need them) I have raced and bashed the daylights out of mine and only wear out spurs and one pinion. They handle as well as anything and turn better then most.

I have seen the Hyper 8 but it was being raced by Paul Coleman so of course it was fast , it will be out after the first of the year so I here.

Ofna is your best bang for the buck or euro or yen hands down!

It doesn't matter really. Kyosho, Mugen, XRAY, Hot Bodies, Sportwerks, Thunder Tiger or OFNA can all put you in the winner's circle. Pick a kit that meets your budget. If you plan to race it, it wouldn't hurt to make sure you have parts support with the local hobby shops, and also a model that other racers use so that you can share setup informatin.