4wdracer

What is the most american made 1/8 buggy that is competative? LOSI 8? Associated RC8? Hotbodies D8? I know that most of these buggies were designed in america, but do any of them manufacture their cars here?

Snaut Rocket

I dont think so.
I think theyre all manufactured over seas.

j_blaze

imagine paying $15 an hour to build a kit, at 6 hours each to make it a roller (like most companies do) the cost woud be $90 just to assemble it. not including packaging, sorting the parts in the box, blah blah blah. if there was a usa made kit it would probably cost $2000. maybe thats why the kyosho is so much?

4wdracer

lol, I doubt it... They are jsut damn expensive.

So none of them are manufactured here, but Losi, associated, and hotbodies corporate are all here right? What about mugen seiki?

Racing T

Isn't the Hot Bodies D8 Japanese??

4wdracer

So I checked out some websites, mugen and kyosho have there corporate offices in japan. Hotbodies was formed in the U.S. as with LOSI and Team Associated and all three have there corporate offices in the U.S.. It looks like none of them are manufactured in the states. I think the LOSI race rollers are assembled here though, not sure.

Jacked69

4wdracer, I am with you and wanted to buy a american made product but in that class it is going to be hard to find which is a shame but the truth. I am probably going to pick up a RC8 kit that someone is selling at the hobby shop with engine and everything ready to roll for 650$, I also researched what you did and found Associated does have offices in the states. So that is why I am choosing that one and its a hell of a steal since he only used it 1 time and needs the money for college.

Racing T

oh, I thought hot bodies was owned by HPI, didn't know it is a independent company.

4wdracer

I was going off of this statement in their company profile: 2002 - Tatsuro Watanabe, owner of Hot Bodies, opens the first HB facility in Temecula, California....here's the link: http://www.hotbodiesonline.com/content/en/company.html . But it could be misleading....

46u

My Feedback: (3)

HPI and Hot Bodies are sister companies. Yes for all piratical purposes they are the same company but I do beleive they are both not US owned companies.

Snaut Rocket

Caster racing is based in the usa.
But unfortunately there built overseas.

Racing T

I have one question for you guys, Im not from the US so Im having a hard time understanding why you guys care so much if is american made or not, don't get me wrong, Im not saying it's a bad thing, just want to understand better, you say it to support your economy or is it pure patriotism??

Snaut Rocket

its mainly about our economy.
CAn you imagine how cheap it is to ship the materials over to china, have them build and assemble it and then ship it back here and still be cheaper for them to build it.
I agree if they didnt do that the kits would cost a lot more money then they do right now.
Unfortunately or economy is paying the price.
Plus china is known for there poor quality.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

If the economy here does not get better many here will not be able to buy our toys.[]

losiben888

Gee I wonder what the main reason was for the economy taking a dive.......

SAVAGEJIM

Its complicated. When we, the West, opened our doors fully to china and india, we almost dropped virtually all of our tariffs on them. But on the othrr side, they still kept high tariffs on Western goods. The natural trend is they dont import Western goods where the West totally imports chinese (and some indian) goods. Additionally, companies in china get money from their country to do business (they are subsidized) where Western companies do not have that luxury. That and coupled with teh fact that a chinese company can pay a poor chinese farmer very little for their work, thre is no way for a Western Company to compete with that. The Western companies therefore resort to cutting jobs in teh West and ship them to China where labor is extrememly cheap (again teh poor chinese farmer does not get paid much, nor do they require any benefits such as medical, sick, vacation, or bonuses, etc.).

Here is what has happened: The Westerner is teh consumer that keeps teh economy going. The Westerner loses his job because his company fires him to send his job to china. The Westerner, who used to consume, no longer can because he does not have a job. Or, if he gets a new job, it pays way less and he consumes way less than he used to before.

What I described has been going on for several decades to occur, but the Westerner losing jobs has really escalated. YEs there are other factors in play: Fear of the consumer (they are afraid their jobs are going to china too, so they save for when they will lose their jobs). Fuel spikes have exaserbated the problem too. And the funny loans of adjustable rates too magnified teh problems. No, adjustable rates was not the cause of the poor economy, but it came at a really bad time.

SAVAGEJIM

Hot bodies outsources all of their manufacturing to off the coast of china, taiwan. Pick up ant HPI or Hot Bodies blister pack and it will say "Made in Taiwan"

HPI does have a significant number of American employees. If you need to call their customer service, you will talk to an American in California.

SAVAGEJIM

That is correct. Actually, HPI created HB for Atsushi Hara as a subsidiary. I do not know if Hara still has say on it or if HPI has taken control of it again.

HB stuff from what I know is also made in taiwan. So, teh HB D8 race buggy is also Taiwnese. (If someone kows definitively about where HPI has HB makes their stuff, please let me know if I am wrong).

SAVAGEJIM

The most american buggy on the market today is the ODonnel *Z01
The alum parts and plastic parts are all American made.
Additionally, the alum is teh best quality to the market of RCs. They are all CNC 7075 T6 alum parts made in the US.
The plastics aer also American cast. Odonnell says the plastic is US virgin plastic. That means it is not made of recycled plastics, the plastics are composed of 100% first use polymers. As everyone knows, second hand and third hand plastics have the polymers broken down some because of teh heating and recycling prcesses. So the polymer chains of teh plastic are much longer and stronger.

This is not a cheap RC though. It is a high grade RC that sits in teh same race grade as Mugen, Xray, and Serpent.
If you want one of these, be ready to shell out about $500-$600 USD just for the kit. So you should eitehr be a serious racer or somone who has the money to spend.
Or, if you are that patriotic and want to keep at least some Americans working, buy this RC.

*EDIT: This is called Z01, not 801. The 801 is Tamiya's RC

SAVAGEJIM

I cannot agree more. If we Americans lose our jobs, we cannot consume, including buying RCs.
But of course, that will hurt china too. Since most RCs come from china, those chinese guys will suffer too because Westerners cannot buy the RCs anymore.

Chris_RC

5 straight posts SAVAGE JIM? WOW!!!!

Racing T

mm yeah, I suppose that if my country made rc cars, I would also preffer them, to support the local companies.

Redcat_Mike

losi kits are assembled in america. I think losi tires are also molded here.

gokartingbob455

arent losi an associated buggies designed and tested in the U.S.?

K_B

Yes, along with the D8, designed by Jason(?) Ashton, who incidentally, was also a designer for Losi at one time.

It was not Jason Ashton... it was an Ashton but his first name escapes me now...

Nevermind... it's JOSH ALTON... jeezus I'm bad with names...