This buggy forum doesn't get much traffic these days compared to a few years ago when there were dozens of new threads everyday and it seems to reflect on the racing class. My local club a few years ago used to have sometimes 3 classes of buggies (on a nice day) with around 10 per class and maybe a Truggy field of 6-7 truggies. Now buggies are a dying minority, the vast majority have converted to truggies. I prefer the truggy class even tho I was once a solid buggy fanboi. but the truggies don't rely on the track been ultra smooth, they can really fly unaffected over the ruts and bumps at the end of the days racing that seem to tip the buggies over.
Just wondering if this is a universal thing or just a flawed observation?

On my last trip home to San Diego I hit just about every LHS I could find to stock up on spares, tools and other supplies.

What shocked me was the total lack of high end stuff. When I asked, their reply was that there were no more race tracks around. If someone had a track in San Diego, it was someone's private back yard track, nothing really open to the public.

Don't think it's a lack of interest in buggies, think it's more the sign of the times, i.e. money too tight to mention, etc.

Agree with you about the buggy v truggy point about being able to handle rougher terrain though.

well at my local club in the UK we get 9 heats of buggys & 1 (maybe 2 but not often) heats of trucks!
its pretty much a similar story at most other tracks too ( although not at such a high ratio) [:-]

as for the forum being slow its just because people come & go. its the nature of the internet
i drifted away from RCU for a while as it was just the same old "what buggy is the best" questions receiving the same old " buy this cuz thats what i got" answers
which just led to the inevitable arguments

LOL....true that. Welcome back sh0wtime.

nice to be back

Also Coopsz.....It has been the weekend and most "rc'ers" have either been RC'ing, working, playing or honey-doing......

I got out of racing buggies because it ended up costing too much for a day at the track. The cost of fuel, a plug or two, a set of tires (or two for the competitive guys) and entry all added up to over 100 bucks. I swapped to racing gas boats, same set up cost initially & then 3 bucks to enter a race & 3-4 bucks of fuel & that was it, props don't wear out & as long as you don't hit anything there's no wear on parts. Plus the boats go a heck of a lot quicker than the buggies do. I used to race at the same club Coopz races at, I haven't been there in years. I still have my full 1/8 setup ready to go, I just don't have the motivation to race it anymore.

...but "what buggy is best"? :P..and do you still drive that A8?..or was it an S?
People come and go but always good to see an old face.

yeah i'm still driving the S8

good memory!

as for what buggy is best.............i believe Amain are taking pre orders for the december 1st release

that will be THE car to have in 2011 [8D]

I have noticed that this forum isnt real lively either. However, yesterday was the first time i have been to a track, and it was a fun experience.

I didnt race, only practiced some, but I did watch the racing and it was a lot of fun to watch! There were several 1/8 buggies out fighting it out for the win in qualifying. There were less truggies than there were buggies actually, but I can definately tell by watching that the truggies would be easier to drive because of stability. For some reason I kind of like the buggies better though. The finals got rained out though, so I didnt get to watch them.

I wish there were a track closer. The one i went to is the closest around and it is about an hour away. However, it is a pretty fun track to run, and I had a lot of fun seeing as it was my first time. It was also a little harder than I thought to run the track. Definately would take me some practice if i ever wanted to start racing[8D]

Eric

this thread has died. Places like rctech.net are still hopping for 1/8th buggys.

LOL...did you feel that?? That was the bug biting you mate....

Well I'm still around and I popin quite often to check if I am not missing anything. Well in my town theres no racing happening. I think the times has hit us bad. I have high end equipment that I am dying to take on a track. I am not going to bash with my OS Speed and other. For now My equipment is cleaned and stored.

But all in all there has been a decline in 1/8scale overall. Also you must remember that I am so sick and tired of reading the same posts over and over. Most posts are sameo sameo. All new cars and engines are but copies of the old ones. Maybe if they can come up with something new.

Cummins driver,
Once you start getting quicker at the track, you think it is easy, however, when you start racing in competition that is a different story again. As it is more serious and you're competing towards winning, I find myself freezing during parts of qualifying because you don't want to crash. During the race if I am in front, for a couple of laps I don't feel comfortable I tend to freeze up again but then I talk myself into settling down.

Back to the actual thread, at my local track here in Japan there seems to be more buggies entering the races now. Late last year, the owner constructed a 1/10 electric course next to the 1/8 course and the majority of the 1/10 guys are now purchasing 1/8 buggies and racing with us and vice-versa. So it is pretty healthy here.

wow that is close for me the closest track is around 2-3 hours away(more like 5 hours at the time they open which is the heat of the after work traffic jams) and there only open 4 hours a night...

Found out there was one 30 mins away but they got shut down for some kind of zoning issue (some BS about needing an amusement park zoning permit to run a track if I read it right...), and no ones bothered opening anything since.

My track situation sucks too. There is one, but it's closed half the year, and it rains most of the other half.. I was getting into truggy racing, competed in several fairly comptetive events over a year and a half or so, etc.., but in the end gave up. Insane expense - for 2-3 races a year - was one reason.. So I sold the truggy (RC8T), and am getting an SC8 - more of a tweener for bashing/messing around/speed runs but also for running on the track.. Don't need to feel pressured to always have all the high-end gear, etc.. I also have an RC8, and though I only raced buggy once(and did surprisingly well never haven even run one before...), I think buggies are more fun than truggies. Truggies are lethargic in comparison.. I like that buggies require extra concentration. Truggies look cooler though...

Anyway, if this forum is slow, tracks are down, etc.., I think there are several reasons. People like to blame everything on the economy, but I don't think that's all there is to it. IMO a bigger factor is that RC has just spiralled off into too many different directions.. Tenth scale short course, electric this, electric that, gassers, helis, etc.. There's just too much on offer. Normally that might be a good thing in other areas. But in RC - what is essentially an enormous waste of money - I think it's bad, and everything gets diluted. From what I hear truggy racing is suffering much more than buggies. And to be honest, maybe it should just die.. Electric too!! Ha ha.. Seriously though, I do think elo is a lame fad that ultimately detracts from RC - real motorsport RC... If it were up to me, in 1/8 scale I'd like to go back to where everything was focussed on nitro MT's for bashing and buggies for racing.. That's not gonna happen though. Times change, people move on.. So who knows.. I definitely think buggy racing is here to stay though. Maybe a low point at the moment, but it's not dying.. I wouldn't be surprised though to see truggies die eventually....

The costs was a main factor I've pretty much given up racing.. A day at the track was a lot of money and was frustrating more often than fun..
It cost almost $100 for a competitive day at the track and sometimes more if something expensive broke

Over here 1/8th racing is doing great..Buggies are number 1, truggies are number 2.......Mt's are gone 100%, taken over by SC Class.......... in the local bashing scene MT's are dying off and guys are now bashing Truggies...Brushless Truggies are making a huge gain in popularity with the bashers........... MT's are the ones dying here.....

I just bash these days with my Baja clone (also to much frustration and costs to warrent racing), buggy racing was dying at my club, gone from 30+ buggies to about 10 regulars (think rc racing his its peak 2-3 years ago when my club had about 60ppl racing on a good summers day, probably about 25-30 these days), truggies are a lot more popular now, monster truck racing has been canned completely. 1/10 stadium truck racing has become popular now, altho they struggle a bit when the tracks rutted up.

Funny, the "peak" in racing popularity more or less coincided with the economic bubble, when everybody was spending play money as if debt and responsibility didn't exist. The bottom line is very clear IMO: racing just got too expensive.

Was it always so? Don't know.. But you don't need companies releasing entirely new models every season and a half, new tires even more often, body styles, new engines every season, Kings Headz this, M2C that.., entry fees going up by the year, etc.. The constant bombardment by the manufacturers and other companies with new stuff is also a big reason that, whenever we buy a new race rig for €1200 or whatever, we now know more than ever that even if you only run a liter through it, you'll be lucky to get half your money back a month later.... Here in Germany you practically need a caravan for driving around the country(fuel is about €5,50 a gallon.. Do the math..) to the different tracks if you want to be really serious..(and not limited to the lame-ass local track which is closed half the year..) But go to a race, and there they are(or were..) - the parking lot full of caravans.. Which is all just beyond reason... So what's probably happening is the tide is receding, and going back to where mostly only the (very) dedicated and rich few participate anymore..

u guys are funny how long do u huys think till electric takes over nitro completly

Elo will never be as popular as nitro... For the same reason you don't go to the cinema and watch an action film on mute...

Hell yeah can i get an AMEN

electric 8th is just a novelty class for people who can't tune engines

bit like truggy. only thats more like a bad joke thats just gone on a bit too long [:'(]

well i was thinking about selling my buggy because the classes are getting smaller and smaller i dont what 2 do. buggy's take way mor skill in driving tell u dat dog . hahahahahahahahahahaha