whats the difference between the 2 companies Himoto and Redcat. I noticed himoto sells redcat parts an has more choices. Quality wise are both companies about the same?

RedCat and it's Dealer network offer better support.
It is the same as Mecury is to Ford or GMC is to Chevy.

Well said. In my opinion redcat is way better there comming out with so many new models its hard to keep up and there great quality. there parts support is also alot better most of the himoto sites are in hong kong, and other places over seas so it takes a long time for replacement parts to be delivered.

thanks

How can you guys honestly say that? A lot of the models that you guys refer to as "new" are the RC's that himoto has had since 2007 and infact they announced that they would have what you guys refer to as the XTR monsoon and hurricane in December of 2006. And as for the parts support, Himoto actually has several dealers in both the US and around the world and when I order from HimotoRacingUSA, I get all my parts in 3-4 days. Whenever I ordered from redcat, it was atleast a week and if I remember right, the shipping cost $9.99 where as himotos shipping is generally like $5. And you want to talk about good support? HimotoRacingUSA replaced a bad servo that was actually my fault and it was known that it was. Try having redcat deal with that. I don't know if anyone remembers around a year and a half back, there was a HUGE problem with all their FM Digital radios that they were selling and redcat claimed that it was only a 1% product defect. A week later they made a major recall about it. How is that for Customer Support?

Wow, I thought you fans of the HSP sellers were all chums! I never thought I would see anything like this, I always have seen you guys stand up for each other and even see many of you guys with both Redcats AND Himoto RCs.

I know, Himoto has their own RCs that are not HSP at all, but some Himoto RCs are still HSP. So I do know there are differences; I am not saying they are all the same. All I am saying is I am surprised to see such a division just because someone asked for a brief comparison of Himoto and Redcat.

LOL, they're the same all the HSP cars are the same, the parts are the same, the quality is the same an HSP car is an HSP car and that's the bottom line. We sell both himoto and Redcat HSP parts mixed in our store only because we buy from whoever gives us the best price and so on at the time when we buy, LOL. There's no difference. They both sell the HSP and they BOTH sell the Non-HSP (mega-p for himoto and the new stuff, like the earthquake for Redcat) ALLTHOUGH, there is a difference in these cars, Redcat uses the lower quality hard nylon and Himoto uses the Higher quality Poly Carbonate nylon(flexible, like RPM parts). The parts DO NOT all interchange, since the lowwer quality hard nylon has to be thicker to hold up to the abuse and the Mega-p parts are thinner since they are made out of polycarbonate nylon and can take the abuse because they flex instead of breaking. I'm not about to argue with anyone about which is better, they have there ups and downs. I've seen them both, sold them both and used them both. We also carry parts for them both.

Man pede calm down, its their opinion. No need to get so harsh. And about the radios, if someone had their radio have a defect, it would ne nice to know that you can send yours back, and get one without a defect for free. It was a voluntarry recall, so redcat didnt have to do it, but they did. And if you wanted to keep your radio and maybe let it have a defect, then thats cool. And ya himoto has had models before redcat, but not all of em. Like the corr, 1/5, ect. He just said it was cool they are coming out with all this new stuff. And shipping depends on who the dealer is, and where they are at. I would have to think that there are more redcat dealers in the us than himoto, so more places to shop around and stuff. And im not saying himoto is a bad company or anything.

Dont take this as hateful or anything, and im not saying himoto is a bad company or anything, i was just pointing things out. To his, his own, opinions are what they are, and nobody can do anything about it.

Nicely put, lol

Actually I think Tommy (pede) was bent outta shape cause it was mentioned redcat has better support...I dont agree with that..

as far as the products...yeah alot of the older models were the same...granted the may have had different engines or what not....but the parts were the same..same #'s even....this past year has actually been kinda exciting....although redcat is now offering like (not the same models) as himoto has had for awhile (there are differences as Wade mentioned) they are also offering completly different rc's...

redcat does have a good parts network...but thats not to say himoto doesnt...if you own a redcat and need a part Wade or Mike will get them to you quick fast and in a hurry (I know this from experience because I have ordered from Wade)....ONLY time I experinced a very long wait on getting a redcat or redcat parts was when I ordered them directly through redcat...if your in kansas you will be waiting awhile (personal experience)....

I now enjoy parts within 4 days (usually 3...much like Wades service if he has the part in stock)...but I'm not ordering from a dealer ...I'm ordering from the usa distributer for himoto...which ='s more stock........

with that said I frequent redcat forum to help people out...sometimes a new hobbiest is struggling and needs help and hasnt had a reply....the simple fact is its a hobby and one of the kewlist things to me is helping each other out with setups, hopups and what not...

I try to get along with folks in redcat cause we got all the other people that like losi, associated, etc , etc...saying our cars are cheap....no sense in us trying to drag each other threw the mud.....whats funny is when you take one of these CHEAP cars to a track and not only beat but keep on truckin when their REAL RC breaks...great experience..yall should try it sometime..lol

Ya i get what your saying, but himoto has such good support cause eddie, he can fix orders or send out part and stuff and hes on the forums a lot, which is a good thing. But the redcats guys are pretty busy and we dont seem em on the forum a ton because they cant get to it. They do pop in often and they fix problems. Whenever someone has a problem and they are on, the redcats guys just say to email them and it gets taken care of. So i would have to say support for both sides is great. Its just that you have to email the redcat guys or call em to get a faster response cause they are busy.

And ya we need to stick together, ive never had it happen to me but if anybody said something bad about himoto i would back it up. And it is funny when they get beat, mark was beatin his buddies slash with his vortex, and they dont like gettin beat haha. If i ever race (i gotta get good first) its just gonna be funny to see what they say. But its nice cause now my local track/shop is selling the aftershock, so hopefully the name will get a better rep, instead of just "knowing" they are junk but never seeing em run.

well I've met some great guys on both forums....I've owned both....but yeah...

I will continue to frequent redcat forum until Darin or the mods tell me I'm not welcome..lol....just dont see why I cant help yall over hear if there is something I can help with...I know the older hurricanes fairly well...and although the hurricane xrt is more different then my rxb then what I originally thought, they may handle pretty close to the same...and I'm learning it and the rxt-1's pretty well...

although we may not agree on everything...one thing we can fer sure agree on is we like the hobby and wanna help others

Exactly, im glad you guys come over and chime in, doesnt bother me a bit, cause there might be something i forgot to say, or dont that you guys might know. Too bad we had that scuffle in the himoto forum, i really wasnt trying to start anything, but people didnt like what i said, even though i was just pointing something out, and then it turned south. Ya i guess i shouldnt have said anything but it just kinda bent me outa shape like pede, you know?

done forgoten bro....dont know what ur talkin bout..lol

My first vehicle was a Redcat Volcano. I found RCU and started using the forums for support on a regular basis. Eddie was one of the people that was of great help to me when I was learning. Anyone that has read through the old Redcat threads like the "Redcat Racing Volcano Thread" or the "Redcat vehicle repair/tune FAQ" will see his posts all through them. When he started his own venture as himotoracingusa, I followed him because of the support I had received from him in this forum and because I considered him a friend and wanted to support him. There were several other people like Rich (redharris), Adam (kuppler) and Rod (swamp3r) that had also been very helpful who also went to Himoto. And since then, several other good people have become regular contributors to the Himoto forum like Randy (firebird) and Tom (pede).

When I was looking for parts, I started with Redcat, but often was unable to find what I needed in stock. I have used the dealer network for Redcat successfully. But I have since come to rely 100% on himotoracingusa for parts, and his service has been absolutely outstanding.

As far as the vehicles, I trust Wade's opinion (allaboutfun) since he is the one person I know has dealt with both quite a bit. So they are often but not always the same, and in any case come from the same HSP factory. I have heard about different materials as Wade mentioned, but have not compared them side-by-side. As far as who gets to market first, it seems that some times it is Himoto and some times Redcat. I do know that Eddie is very particular about the vehicles he sells under his name, and is serious about testing them to ensure the designs are good and reliable before release. If you look at the Himoto China site, you will see a 1/5 that has been out for quite some time (years). But it is not being sold here by Eddie yet as he is still working to improve the design before he releases it, and it looks to be coming soon.

For me, it is not a preference of one brand over the other. I support Himoto because of Eddie and the other people that are involved there. If I was up the road from Wade or RCToys, I may very well have come to rely on them for direct support and parts. But for me, Eddie, Himoto and the people in their support forum are what keep me coming back to Himoto.