I dont get it ...

I have had my Nitro Evader for going on 3 months now and people with other manufacturers cars call it trash, junk and so on. But I search these forums and others, these same people are asking for help with their own vehicles because something broke or doesnt work. I have had very little trouble and breakage with my Evader. While they are waiting for their new part from Tower or wherever, I am still in my yard or in the street running mine. May be the fact I dont try to see how much air I can get or try to jump a house/garage. None of these vehicles were manufactured to fly, if they were they would have optional wings for them. These were made to run onroad or offroad, that is exactly what I do with mine and I have no issues to deal with. Yes, mine has broke a few times but that was from my own negligence and not DuraTrax. I have seen people jump a truck off a roof, break a part and then sit there and wonder why it happened. Most of you might think Evader owners have junk for a truck/buggy because it wont take a 20ft fall off a ramp. But not everybody wants to do that, including me. Sure its cool to watch, but not my cup of tea, I would rather spend my time driving instead of a few seconds of WOW and then fixing it. The price I paid for my 4 Evaders I see as an investment in fun times with my kids, not something I have to pump money into so I can jump a house or skate ramp.

For those of you who tell people not to buy "DuraTrash", have you driven one of the Evaders yet? Or have you been stuck with one vehicle? I have owned and driven 1 Tamiya, 2 RC10's and 2 Kyosho's and 1 Losi in all my years in this hobby. I dont lean one way or the other towards any certain manufacturer seeing how this hobby is supposed to promote fun and friendship. Years ago about 20 of us used to get together once in awhile, have a cookout and play, the cars/trucks ranged from a Radio Shack beater to the top of the line Shumacher. Nobody cared what the other guy had, it was all in fun. No one was rideculed or picked on for their choice in vehicle. Today its a different story, people look down upon others because they want an Evo or DuraTrax. People, especially younger kids new to the hobby are forced by peer pressure to buy a certian name truck because "IT'S THE BEST", "ITS NUMBER 1", "IT WILL BEAT SO-N-SO". When the new hobbiest gets the certain truck, now he/she starts in on others, "MINE IS THE BEST", "MY TRUCK ROCKS, YOURS IS JUNK" and the vicsous cycle starts all over again. I was in the hobby when Losi introduced their cars to the market, they were not the best vehicle when they started out. Losi was a company new to the RC racing circuit. Just like DuraTrax is new to the racing scene but been supplying racers for years with quality racing products. I said it before, this hobby was intended to promote fun, not disgust.

Well, I have ranted enough ... I had to get my thoughts out after reading some posts on here.

I'm not sure where this all is coming from, but I won't allow it to float around the board. Nothing good can come from this post, and with all that you've said, you lowered yourself down to the level of the people that you claim criticize you.

I hear you man. I just got an electric Evader BX and I"m loveing it. and yes I have busted a few parts on it too but it's a fine buggy and I'm happy as a fly on crap when I'm driveing it.
If others want to hack on me for my choice to have a Dura-Trax " FINE" let em I just smile and keep on haveing fun while they brag about their expensive cars or trucks. I just love the hobby , I"m not trying to impress anyone

Have fun

I have had only the rear shock tower break on my evader Bx. And I just use CA glue to glue it back. I love my evader I can't wait to put some graphite on it.

People will always have the "MINE IS BEST" attitude. It's funny, when asked what the best vehicle is, people respond with what they bought. It doesn't matter what the other guy has, it's what they have. I think it has something to do with the fact that no one wants to admit that what they bought might not be the best. I agree with you about what you have. If it works for you and you're happy, it's the best!

I see its unlocked now. Let me point out I am not complaining or pointing out one single company. This rant was just an observation of the kind of things I noticed going on in the forums. Sometimes they go from a simple jab to down right hateful insults. I only used DuraTrax as an example because its a popular company to bash

I've had my evader for a lil over a month now. The only thing I've had happen to it was stripping the servo gear and broke the front bumper. I've had no troubles with the servo since I made the modifications to it as I was told to do. My husband on the other hand with his "more expensive not saying any names rc" has had to replace turnbuckles, suspension arms and other miscellaneous parts.. AND, I've had mine a week longer. I did at first regret my purchase, but after watching all the things that have broken on his, I don't regret it one bit. Mine IS the more durable vehicle. Just my 2 cents

Morphineous - If you have any more problems with your bumper, you could get [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?&I=LXEV25]this bumper [/link] whic says its for the XX, but it fits fine. I find it works better than the stock bumper.

ptarp... I got an aluminum one off ebay.. thanks tho!

Ah, ok then

Actually, you do get it.

I, personally, drive AE products. I started long, long ago in a place far, far away...

I got comfortable with their products and I was satisfied with the performance. I had fun. I contine to have fun. No matter what anybody else ever says, all of these things are just toys. Toys are made for the enjoyment of the user. If you're having fun, then the toy is fine.

Then we all agree, peace has been restored to the (RC) universe.

I know what you mean ...

Usually people that post bad comments like "it is trash" when talking about another person's car; it just shows their ignorance. I have had many diff. vehicles & diff. makes. They all have their ups and downs & don't believe for a second that every single one of them will eventually brake something. So don't worry about people that don't know what they are talking about. I hope this helps.

What a great page having fun is whatits all about, Ill leave the national car races to the guys who get thier stuff for free. And if you Duratrax guys are looking for somethinbg onroad that is an absolute blast check out the duratrax delphi indy car Tower has it on sale now. under a hundred bucks with esc radio and engine this thing is a hoot. Oh ya I loved my evader so much im gettoing a pro. and noone can beat the waratee or even trys for that matter. I think there should be a dyuratrax club any takers.

i'll second Featherpluckin's motion.

I purchased a delphi, and talk about TOUGH[>:] this thing will really take a beating!! I live in az, and the blacktop on my street isn't the greatest, and everybody has a rock front yard so the street has small 1/4 in. rocks everywhere. I can't tell u how many times I have hit one, and the car will skidd to the side ramp up the curb, and summersault end over end like seven times, and I have yet to break a single part! I have been TOTALLY satisfied with the performance, and only have the same complaint about traction with the stock tires that everybody else has, but I am planning on buying the type B tires from Tyima i believe, and really get down and dirty[>:]

The only reason people say that their car is the BEST is because they have had the most experience with THEIR car and want to let YOU konw what THEIR experience has been with that car, I don't think things said sould be taken so personally, just because he happens to like the car the best because it's HIS/HER car! anybody else have something to say?

Man I wish I hadn't had such a rough day. Otherwise I might be able to think of a nicer way to say this.

From my experiences, Duratrax has made some very high quality items when it comes to pit tools & extras (fuel filters etc) but when it comes to complete vehicles they're low on the totem pole. I can safely say this because I've used their tools (not totally happy with my 4 way wrench tho) & fuel filters with no problems & I've seen a nitro Evader run. I've ran with a guy a few times that owns a Duratrax truck & a nitro Evader. He broke the truck before I got there (glanced off a curb) & the Evader got smoked by a RS4 with low end electronics & an inexperienced driver (1st time he had it running outside of his house). Granted, the guy with the Duratraxes wasn't the best R/C hobiest but he had 5 vehicles with him & has been running them for several years. He made sure my friend & I knew that he didn't have a high opinion of Duratrax's cars & he proved that he could drive when he pulled out his other R/Cs. He didn't point out that he was driving better but my friend & I noticed a difference between them.

To set this straight & to hopefully avoid being flamed I AM OPENLY ADMITTING that Duratrax doesn't deserve the name Duratrash. They make good entry level vehicles that with some sensible driving probably last a long time. Problem is, that's not always what the hobby is about. Most people drive R/Cs because they can do what their 1:1 cars can't do.... go insanely fast, safely roll over in a curve, & jump.

I've been there when several people 1st got into the the hobby. They told me what they wanted to be able to do, I recommended a R/C that fit their criteria then they bought something cheaper & regretted it. My friend kicks himself everytime I pull out my Savage because he wanted something that would compare to a Savage but he bought a Rush. Years ago I had a friend that did the same thing when I pulled out my RC10T & he pulled out his Stadium Blitzer. Another friend just left all his R/C gear at my house because it didn't compare to what I was running. Not once did I rag on his rides, tell him to buy something else, or purposely dust him on my track. We're still good friends & he even asks about his stuff occasionally & I offer to bring it to him but he doesn't want it because he knows it's not the same as running top end R/Cs. I work with a guy that was into airplanes but after he watched me run my Savage & my Ofna a few times he decided to buy a truck. We threw out a few suggestions but he bought the Tower Hobbies stadium truck & his dad bought a TMaxx. Now he's trying to talk his wife into letting him sell the stadium truck & the Maxx (dad got tired of it breaking & gave it to him) so he can buy a Revo because neither are as durable as my Savage. When I got my 1st real R/C I wanted something that would hang with my neighbor's RC10. I bought a FX10 because that's what the LHS had. Futaba makes some great radios but their R/Cs are WAY under par.

Once again, I'm not trying to talk trash about anyone R/C but in my experience Duratrax manufactures entry level rides. For all those people out there that have & love them I'm thrilled that you're happy with them. For me, they hit their peak too soon & wouldn't be able to keep my attention. I enjoy having R/Cs that are fast & tough because I like to grin when my Savage is about 7' in the air. I know it's not indestructable. I've worn out more parts than I've broken & thats the way it should be. If I had an Evader or even a Maxx I'd be too worried about what might break to run them the way they're meant to be ran.... fast, hard, & nowhere near the way I drive 1:1 vehicles.

It's just like anything else in life.... Some products are made better than others. There's no need to compare a Hyundai Tiberon to a Ferarri F50. Sure they both look fast but which would you rather have in a race?

hey buddy you arent the only one... remember i drive a HPI and hear that all the time untill it beats the person talkin trash then there all like "hey what engine are you running?" and when i reply with "stock" they reply "yeah right... impossible"

i hear it all the time at my LHS... dam ntc3 owners... they never learn [>:]

You dont like Duratrax vehicles because one of your friends bought a Stadium Blitzer (Tamiya) and another friend bought a Rush (HPI) and your other friend gave you all his RC stuff because he didnt like it and some other guy you dont know broke his Evader when he hit a curb?

Im having trouble following the logic there. I guess you don't like HPI stadium trucks, Tamiya or Traxxas vehicles either?

Your story illustrates exactly what this topic is all about. Maybe if you tried to help your friends they may have stayed with the hobby. I am guessing by your attitude you were less than helpfull?

I don't think the people posting here are pretending Duratrax is the equal of AE or Losi or or to a lesser extent HPI. Duratrax makes entry level vehicles for people on a budget. With some reasonable hop ups you can do well with Duratrax at the club level.

Most Duratrax owners are new to the hobby and as such, often have questions about hop ups and how to diagnose problems and repair their vehicles and want to have fun running them in the back yard and are not racing for regional trophies.

What they don't need is the all too common 'You should have bought a RC10, or Losi, or HPI instead of that Duratrash.' All we are asking is that if you see a post Duratrax owner looking for help to fix his ride just try to help if you kow the answer and not sound like a salesperson for HPI.

We know where to get HPI, Losi and Team Associated stuff if we wanted it.

You post was the Atypical mine is better than yours. Would you quit the hobby once your Savage gets smoked by a Cen Genesis or GS Storm? Will you give up on HPI and buy that Cen or GS once you know its better than your Savage? Would you become a walking billboard for that vehicle too?


Proud owner of a electric Evader in need of a new ball diff and a Maximum MT in need of a engine.






.

The main thing to keep in mind on the forum is that you have to weigh what and who you are reading from. There are lots of informative posts out here but also a lot of trash by people that have no experience.
I can almost close my eyes and click on a thread and find a post with advice that is lacking experience or just plain wrong. It is great for people to try and help but if you do not know then just dont offer or make it clear that you are offering an opinion. That is basically what I look for , if I see a post about a particular model I look for "when I had this car" or I have owned several of those" before putting any weight to what has been written. Statements made without experience waste space and peoples time on the forums and are basically null.
When it all comes out in the wash it really does not matter what model one has, if they are happy with the performance then it is probably one of the best models out there regardless of the brand or price. It is amazing how some people will bash on models they have never owned or in some cases never even seen.

Just keep in mind what I call the sift factor and the forums are a great place with lots of great information. I learn more everytime I visit and sometimes I add to the info too.


Dbow

I'll second what ed said....
I bought a nitro evader back in Feb. After buggin the hell out of my wife (she finally gave in)
I'm not new to the hobby...Just been absent from it since 1990.
however I'm new to nitro...thus my purchase of the evader.I am in no way dissapointed with my purchase.
how can a person (new to nitro) pass up the warranty on parts that break frequently....and two years on the engine
It's pretty much a "no brainer" especially breakin in a new engine (for the first time). nine times out of ten you will do somthin wrong.Just ask everone who sent their engine in. I'm one of them.as I'm about to send mine in.
Yes I would agree they are entry level trucks/cars......but over time they can certainly be hopped up to be competative.

At least there is potential......for that beginner truck[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=idea.gif]

how many of you guys who bought the other brands....can send in your blown engine in for a new one 3...4....8 months or even a year and a half later?????[X(]

How many of those guys who bought the other brands can send ANY broken part in and get it replaced for free.

My lack of sleep & state of brain fry didn't get my point across. They bought entry level vehicles when they wanted / expected race ready vehicles. The Duratrax truck hit the curb. I watched the Evader run & was surprised with how slow it was as well as how inconsistant the steering / tracking was.
I had a Traxxas Stampede, loved it, & will probably buy another. My friend had a Blackfoot it was good truck. The Rush is a good stadium truck IMO but ANY stadium truck has trouble going where a monster truck can. 2wd low sitting Rush bottoms out & / or loses traction when it's trying to follow a 4wd Savage with 40 series tires. On a good track the Rush has a slight advantage but we only have one track around here right now & it's private. We have access to it but don't want to bother the owner all the time.

I'd bet money that everyone I got into R/Cs would laugh at that comment. I sat down with two of them & we thumbed through a TH catalogue & the current Speed Mart so they could point out what they liked & I gave my honest opinion on each & every vehicle. None of us really had the ca$h to afford vehicles let alone upgrades so on the rare occasion that I got something new (motor or tires usually) they spent time in my friend's vehicles as well. No, I had no problem putting my brand new Green Machine II motor in my friend's Stadium Blitzer & putting his 540 in my RC10T Team truck. And yes, I did try every pinion gear I had until he was happy with the way it ran. My opinions of vehicles might not have been perfect but then again our LHS sold FX10s, Blackfoots, & Clodbusters. They stocked two different chargers & only sold Futaba radios. That's it. It was VERY rare to see a motor in their display case which was usually packed with baseball cards. They sold no tires or other hopups & their paint selection consisted of roughly 5 colors. The other two friends jumped into the hobby. One bought the Stadium Blitzer & an Optima roller from the 1st guy I helped out. YES I tore down & rebuilt the Optima & donated what was needed so he could run it. I had just bought another guy's gear as soon as I got it home I called my friend & told him to get what he wanted. I loaded him up with tires, a couple batteries, a radio / reciever, motors, & other misc parts. He didn't like the Optima because it was heavy & missing a link on the chain. He wouldn't let me try to make a link for the chain so I transfered all his gear & a steering setup into an onroad car that he liked but didn't run much because he was afraid it couldn't take the abuse he wanted to dish out. The other one told me & the owner of the Rush that he wanted us to sit down with him & look through some magazines but his wife talked him into getting the TH truck because it was cheap.

Good point. At least you got something out of my post.

Didja miss that sentence? I'd have no problem helping people fix their Durarides if I could give something better than "Get a better motor, a bunch of aftermarket stuff, & learn to tweak it for every track or bashing area you go to.

From my past experiences, it's less expensive to buy a high end R/C the 1st time than it is to buy an entry level truck & try to upgrade it to a racer. My friend with the Rush has already added the price of the Rush & the upgrades to the price of his not yet purchased Savage.

WRONG. My post was the Atypical "It happened to me, I saw it happen to my friends, I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake." Futaba FX10 vs Associated RC10. Stadium Blitzer vs Associated RC10T Team Truck. Rush & TH truck vs Savage. The 1st two were entry level vehicles vs race ready vehicles. The last one were two different classes. No, I'll never give up on my Savage to buy "the new truck" because one smoked me. I don't have the money to lay out for every new R/C that comes out. My Savage is enough of a billboard. It has pulled 4 people into the hobby & they asked me questions that I answered truthfully. When asked if there was anything like it I told them all I knew about Maxxes (T & E) but mentioned that from what I've read on here they aren't as durable but that was probably due to high power in a smaller, lighter truck & if the driver had some sense a TMaxx was probably every bit as durable as a Savage.

O.K. That clarified it. Your problem is with entry level vehicles like those made by Duratrax and the people who buy them because they are not aspiring to become team factory drivers and are not buying top of the line vehicles.

Is it safe to say that after your friends spent a few hundred dollars they decided the RC hobby is not for them. Maybe it was for the best before they had spent thousands. Do you think they would have really stayed with it if they bought a better truck? I doubt it.

You have it wrong, Duratrax and other entry level brands are not chasing people out of the RC hobby, they are actually bringing more people to the hobby. I wouldn't be in RC at all if it wasnt for a 180 dollar RTR Evader. I would love to have a better truck. But, I am on a budget and I am trying to get the biggest bang for my buck. Do you think LOSI or Associated would have ever offered 200 dollar RTR versions of their vehicles if it wasn't for Duratrax or Traxxas?

You say Duratrax isn't for you. Well, it sounds like you have been in the hobby a while and have had more than a few vehicles and you own some really good ones right now and do some very competitve racing.

Havent you figured out that Duratrax is not marketing their vehicles to you?

What's your point? This thread is a thumbs up or thumbs down comment about Duratrax. Either you are here to tell us Duratrax makes a decent product - OR - you are here to tell us we are wasting our money on Duratrax.

Which is it?

i'll second Ed's motion,
Every company has to have a target market, and in this case Duratrax is targeting low-budget, and entry level RC drivers looking to get into the hobby without spending 500$ I will say that I am a semi-entry level to intermediate driver and just love my Duratrax Delphi. just like every other vehicle, it can use several improvements, but hey, if the vehicle didn't need any tuning and hop-ups where would the fun be?