"OFFICIAL"Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

This Post is for anyone who owns a Himoto or Redcat Racing BUGGY (preferbly 1/8th scale). They are the same models just different names.

The smartech cars have their own thread have proven to be a very cheap and good car. (servos are bad but no RTR is perfect)

I know many people tell you to "get yourself a real hobby grade RC", but they don't understand that these cars make it easy to get into and not fear ripping these things apart and learning on them. I would not so quickly have torn into mine if I got a $500+ vehicle, and would not have driven it as hard (aka, had as much fun tearing the hell out of).

So Please post your questions, experiences and suggestions/tweaks on this thread so that others can learn or make an educated decision on if this car is a possibility for them.

For those reading this - if you see posts that say "had one - it broke and was a piece of..." just know you can go on any thread for any brand car and see people saying the same things - so take it all with a grain of salt.

NOTE: THERE WAS ANOTHER THREAD THAT WAS STARTED ORIGINALLY FOR BUGGIES, AND GOT TAKEN OVER BY BAD REPORTS OF THE TRUCKS. THE TRUCKS SEEM TO NOT PREFORM WELL BUT THE BUGGIES SEEM TO BE HOLDING UP TO REVIEWS SO FAR.

IF YOU WANT TO POST ABOUT THE TRUCKS PLEASE FOLLOW THIS THREAD [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3705430/anchors_3705430/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#3705430]Trucks Thread[/link]. IF YOU SEE SOMEONE POST ABOUT THE TRUCK PLEASE POST THEM TO THE TRUCK THREAD. HOPEFULLY WE CAN SHARE SOME GOOD INFO.

Keywords: Himoto, Redcat Racing, red cat, bazooka, team infinity, torpeda, syclone, tornado, hurricane, nitro buggy 1:8 1:10

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I am going to start with my experiences so far with them. Also - if you have already posted in the abandoned thread about yours please be sure to restate your experiences with the buggies here if you can.

So far mine has been a pleasure (Himoto 1/8th scale .27 motor FM radio Hurricane I guess or Torpeda). I'm only just done breaking it in after a week becuase I've been busy - but it starts right up and seems VERY solidly built. The FM radio gets really good distance and I like the analog controls because I can quickly turn up the throttle a bit to help with starting, and as soon as it's on cut it back down.

I have a used OFNA that I've had problems with. I'm finally getting it to where it's doing ok, but so far the Himoto has been awsome. Starts on the first pull (if left indoors) where as the OFNA I'm pulling and pulling. The needles are easy BUT BE AWARE... the LSA (LowSpeedAjustment) is usually on the outside side of the motor on the ofna and it looks like it is on the Himoto, but leave that one tightened. On the Himoto the LSA is on the inside of the car where the throttle comes to the engine (on the valve). This is what you want to screw.

I have taken a lot of photos of both to give everyone an idea of what I've found and like of both the Himoto and OFNA.

The Ofna is more used for sure though.

Here's the side by side

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

The OFNA has blue aluminum and yellow wheels

The Himoto has purple aluminum and green wheels

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

The wheel linkage is similar but not the same. Anyone know which of these is a better system?

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I like the servo box better on the Himoto. Nice and big and single compartment to mess with.

Also a single pin rather than 3

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

The center braces on the Himoto are aluminum while the Ofna is plastic. This is the OFna 9.5 by the way



But the front arms seem to have additional support by a metal rod on the ofna that is not present on the Himoto

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

lastly - the rear arm systems seem very similar overall


Hope these have been helpful to some. If you want a shot of something in particular or comparison let me know and I will try to take a shot for you

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hello, I am the owner of Redcat Racing. It is great to see some action on these forums regarding Redcat Racing. If you have any issues let me know at [email protected] or you can review our FAQ here. www.redcatracing.com/faq.html

We will review these boards and answer questions as best we can.

Darin
Owner Redcat Racing

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I have worked on my 1/8 buggy all morning fixing some "quirks". Some were self induced.

First I was have radio troubles, not with the RTR unit, my 3PK!! Found out that I was overdriving the servos and it was shutting off, I think some sort of current sense on the Hi-Tech servos I installed. Now that I have that all fixed this car actually goes WHERE I TELL IT!!

I also tore down the rear diff to fix some "notchy-ness" if that is even a word.

Now I am trying to get this thing to take the jumps w/o nosing in. I am just trying to get it done in the "out-of-the-box" form but I fear I may not be able to accomplish this. I think that the rear end is squatting too far and bottoming out causing the front end to pitch down.

What weight oil do you guys run in the shocks? I know it changes with weather and track conditions but what is a good starting point? BTW -- I have no idea what it comes with.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I'd like to offer my help to anyone in the UK with this buggy.

Known as the Speed Bazooka of the Kimax Rally X here.


I raced at my club all season with a stock Kimax RallyX and only broke the steering servo. Other bits are now bent and need replacing, but it did last the season. You can now get these for less than £200.00 in the Uk rtr which ain't bad.

I finished 6th out of over 80 buggies and most of them were worth close to £1000.00[8D]

Read all about it here [link=http://rckingdom.co.uk/mam/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemi d=70]season 2005[/link]

Some pictures here http://www.rckingdom.co.uk/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=34


we also have a review of the Cyclone [link=http://rckingdom.co.uk/mam/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=24&It emid=114](reviews)[/link]

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Whoops, forgot to add the race video

[link=http://rckingdom.co.uk/mam/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Item id=25]video[/link]

It won't work unless you are a site member though, to help protect bandwidth

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

does anybody know where i can find himoto parts in or near new zealand? I have a bazooka and require a couple of parts for it and it now appears that the himoto parts are compatible with the bazooka parts

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hey Laughing potota. Thanks for those links. I think that shows that this buggy may very well be better than most people think. Looking at the photos I posted they are the same thing, no?

PS - I joined on that site to see the video but it still wont' show. Are you sure it's working right?

Thanks

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Make sure you are logged in on the main site [link=http://rckingdom.co.uk/mam/index.php]here[/link] and it should work fine:D

Yes, its the same buggy

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hey L.P.

Love the intro music! :) So are all the videos on that site yours?

As far as the car - have you driven others? How would you compare it to the OFNA 9.5 or Hyper 7? Are they in the same class?

Also - where do you get your replacement parts from?

Oh - one last question - taking jumps mine seems to nosedive. Is there anything I can do about that? I'm wondering if reving while in flight will keep the nose up more or if there's things I can do to balance it.

So far - mine has been very good. I haven't had any problems breaking parts etc and it runs quick. I need to tune it but I'm having trouble feeling it out. When I hit full throttle at the take off it's wanting to die on me like it's too rich. I'm not sure if it's the LS or HS needle. Also - I don't know if I could have one lean and one rich and get this effect.

Anyway - Mine's doing well.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

OH, I found this site for parts. It looks like they have most but not all. But they are all cheaper than other places I've seen. Not sure what shipping costs though

http://www.rcworldwide.com/prodlist_v2.asp?cat_id=225

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Why does it say the parts are for the Kyosho?

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Trpastor, if you hit throttle in air, it will help level it just dont keep the throttle pushed when the car lands back down. Or you will have a problem stripping out gears like my son lol... Hit the brakes in the air if your rear is dropping...

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

SManMTB-

I think they are trying to play out the Kyosho similarity. I'm not sure how interchangable they really are, but the parts they have are for the Himoto / Bazooka / Redcat 1/8 buggy

Hey Chubbys - thanks for the advice on that. I will give it a try and be sure to keep from spinning when I hit.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

We just placed another order for 1/8 buggy parts. We should be pretty well stocked for them by weeks end.

trpastor -- I was haveing the EXACT same trouble. I tried putting a ton of preload in the front, ya know make a change ;) , no help. So I though I might be bottoming out on the rear, when coming up a jump the rear of the chassis hitting the ground causing it to pitch. Nope that was not it. It was all me, my driving and the approach to the ramp.

I found, with this car at least in OOTB form, it would fly real nice if I blipped the throttle it would go up and land nice and smooth on the landing side. It does take practice and alot of it. If I had some shock oil, I think I would try putting in 30 or 40wt in the rear and seeing it that helped.

Oh yeah, when I had the front end with tons of preload, the shocks would not compress so it would not take the bumps well. It also pushed like a dump truck.

One thing I am doing is ordering a .21 engine for it. The track I am running the .27 is WAY TOO much!!

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Have any of you guys figured out what this engine, Team Infinity, is compatible with? I am wanting to get some rebuild parts for it. I love to experiment. ;)

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I just posted this in our original thread but wanted to stick it here as well....

************************************************** ************************************


WOW!!!...so much has gone on in here since I haven't been around for a few days...how is everybody??

It's absolutely GREAT to see the owner of Redcat posting!....thanks Darin...it's nice to meet you!

Like I stated in my first post my brother has a Redcat dealership (ATV'S and Dirtbikes) out in Washington state and has recently started stocking the nitro's...I was out there for X-mas and I brought a 1/8 Hurricane XP buggy with the 27 motor home with me...


The first thing I did before even trying to start it was to switch out ALL the electronics....I went with the JR digital FM...(Suppose to have a range of up to 2000 feet I'm told)...it came complete with receiver and servos and even comes with an EXTRA receiver!...I bought that and a gallon of fuel (Traxxas Top Fuel 33%)...all for about $235.00 at Hobbytown U.S.A)

I switched out all the electronics today and decided it was time to fire it up and test it....it fired up fairly easily (just a few pulls after priming) and didn't take long to dial it in so it was running quite nicely...it would bog for a momment if I nailed the throttle so I know I have it somewhat rich for now..

Let me tell you....after dinking around with the first tank of fuel I cheated and nailed it a few times..( I know I know!!) and OMG do these things SCREAM!...I can't WAIT until I can run it like that for longer periods of time!

O.K...here is the bad news....does Redcat make aluminum FRONT upper and lower control arms??......LOL!!....YEP!!...you got it!...I CRRRRRRASHED!!....but it's my own stupid fault for running it in the somewhat confined area of the street in front of my house...I went flying down in front of my neighbors driveway...didn't react fast enough and caught the corner of the curb...( I also flipped it and broke one of the wing adjuster mounts...pavement & plastic don't mix!) )...but OMG before I broke the entire left front suspension I was thrilled with the performance!...these things tear up grass like nobodies business and even on clean/ dry pavement at a dead stand still you can crank the wheel one way and nail the throttle and they'll spin a cookie on a dime....surprising considering it's a 4-wheel drive!

OH!!...and yes I too had a wheel nut come off the left front wheel...but luckily I was going pretty slow and turning around so I found it in the street...I checked the others and found 2 to be loose so I definitely recommend checking all wheel nuts and everything that is screwed or bolted before you run the car...

Overall...even though I only got to run a couple of tanks of fuel before I crashed I am very happy with the buggy so far and if I can upgrade the front suspension and steering components to all ALUMINUM I think I will have me one killer buggy for almost half the price of the bigger names!


Glad to see all the feedback....good or bad...lets keep it going!!

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Yeah they are all mine, it's my site.

I have driven other buggies, and to be honest they have al been easier to drive. This buggy is very light and a little tail happy, but the stock engine could certainly power it :D One thing that annoys me alot though is that this buggy is always advertised as being able to do 80mph[>:] This is daft, 45mph tops so please alter the details Redcat Racing. It must put people off as it just doesn't hold up, and if they do beleive it, boy will they be upset when they find out it doesn't do 80mph!!!

On the jumps, lift of the throttle just before take off. Then in mid flight blip the throttle. This worked 8/10 times for me.

[link=http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Smart-Logic_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm]these[/link] sell loads of parts, but the postage is a rip off[:o]

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

This is a copy of my post in the other thread, I havn't done any driving over xmas holidays so don't have anything new to add right now. Thanks trpastor for pointing out this thread, very useful.

I will try to find the notes I made for my suspension settings and post them here.


Bazooka has been great for me. I have given it some severe thrashings for about a month and it is still a1. I gave it a complete rebuild before ever starting teh engine, RTR-ready to rebuild. As for ebay style claims like 90mph while jumping a 4 storey building, just use common sence it is just an ordinary buggy.

The only part I have replaced is a front cv which I replaced with eb4 ones.
The engine vertex .21 feels lame to me, but I normally use high end os engines and don't have experience with typical stock motors to compare.
I was impressed to find ball bearings everywhere on the bazooka including brakes and steering.
Front and rear tower braces look crude but have not failed.
Diff cases are plastic but none have failed.
After duplicating suspension settings from my hyper7 it now handles just like the hyper even with the poor tires it came with.
Body paint is very poor and easily chips off in small chunks around the edges.
If you doughnut in the dust, get a better air filter.

I just bought the bazooka out of curiosity on ebay, it has turned out to be a great muck around car. It's strong and reliable, probably not a race winner but one day I'll stick a v-spec in it and take it to the track.

This is a good buggy

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hi, new to the buggry RC world, got a Bazooka for Chrimbo, what a blast, however having problems tuning it only to find the mid range needle is winding itself in when running, no wonder I have been chasing my tail, arrgggh. Anyone help with a fix to stop it winding in, dont have any manufacture settings for the Vertex engine (none came with buggy) any suggestions for a starting position for the mid range needle ?

Cheers

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

We are looking for writers of technical info sheets, beginner help for the Redcat Racing product line.

As many of you have read in other posts, Redcat Racing is fairly new in the RC Nitro biz but have had great success with Redcat Motors which is a large ATV importer in the US with over 600 dealers nationwide and sales of over 50,000 ATV's in the last 2 years.

I have always been an avid Nitro guy and began Redcat Racing about 6 months ago.

If anyone is interested in creating these types of information sheets, please email [email protected] with the subject line being: "Info Sheets"

We would be willing to pay for the info sheets or swap for Redcat Racing product.

So, if you have the ability to use a digital camera, technical and or basic writing skills, please shoot me an email if you are interested.

Darin

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

zymurgy

I was doing the SAME thing but I think I mentioned somewhere else (maybe in the other thread) to be aware that the low speed adjustment is NOT the screw you would think it is. The big screw on the muffler side of the engine should be screwed in. THe adjustment screw is actually on the oppisite side on the flange! :) This should solve that issue

As far as basic settings - I woudl love to know this too if anyone happnes to know. I'm not sure if I may be too rich on both or possibly on one or the other right now.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Darin...I would love to write up some tech sheets for Redcat...we really need to get some better and more detailed info out there!....I'll e-mail you.



For anyone else....what are these Bazookas you guys are talking about??...I thought this was a REDCAT thread?...or is that a Himoto??

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Ok - well here's the story. Apparently there are several names for the same car depending on where you are at. I think mainly in AU they are called bazooka

In the UK (Correct me if I'm wrong Laughing Potato) the Kimax Rally XX

In the states Redcat racing

Ordered online (and perhaps the original manufacturer name?) Himoto

This is for the 1/8th buggy.

There are 2 versions - the .21 and the .27 engine.

Bazooka only has .21 as far as I know. Perhaps the Kimax only has .21 also?




Now Himoto also has some 1/10 scale buggies and cars which are available thru redcat also.

Confused :)

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Yep!...clear as mud!...LOL!!

Actually I think I follow you.....thanks!

I ordered my replacement parts last night....got doubles on the front control arms...I have absolutely no clue how long it will take to get them....Redcat says nothing on their site about shipping dates or anything of the sort....

Darin...that would be a good thing to add to your on-line store..(expected shipping dates)...if and when you can nail it down better.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

We ship within 24 hours of payment made. When item is shipped you will get an email with tracking information etc.. I am in China right now and also know they are moving warehouses this week but that should not hold up the order but could hold up shipping by a day.

When I get back I will get with our programmer to give more info on the order confirmation page and website as to how long it takes to ship.

Darin

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Just shoot me an email if interested in writing some docs for us.

[email protected]

Darin

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hey all-

Just wanted to report that today I really ran the hell out of my 1/8th. I flipped it numerous times ran it into the garage, etc and so on. One time it flipped end over end about 4 times, landed up right and kept right on going. Most of the time it flipped back up actually.

The temp was about 290 at it's hottest (maybe 280 I think my temp gun reads a little hot). Do you guys think this is a little to hot to keep the life of the engine up?

Also - I cannot get this thing to jump well without taking a nose dive. I tried messing with the shock adj abit but do I need to maybe put different oils in them or seomthing?

If there's anyone out there thinking about getting a brand new 1/8 buggy and want to pay less than the $400-700 for a good buggy I would highly recommend this one.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

I was always told 245-265 to be safe. Thats what I do and have had good luck.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

As easily as people are saying they are breaking, I certainly DO NOT think it wil make them more brittle. I'm betting it makes a night and day differece. I'm betting that this plastic is made very strong but inflexible from what I've seen from other makers. I'm betting boiling them will soften it up a bit and allow some bend so it is not snapping once it goes past the point of no return but rather gives s bit.


BTW... I RAN THE HELL out of my 1/8th buggy today. It is running GREAT. I don't own a truck and I can't belive how much trouble most are having with them when I experience the quality that the buggy is.

I jumped it about 20 times off my rounded curb. I was able to usually jump it from the curb to... over the patch of grass, over the sidewalk.. and into the main grass. (so about 8ft). This was on a small curb. The jumping was great.

I adjusted the shocks so that the rear shocks were at ZERO tension with the adjustment ring. I put the front rings down about 1/2" (to tighten them up a bit) and it was jumping very level. When I first was jumpin it it was very nose heavy and softening the back and tightening the front seemed to really cure it.

It also seemed to keep if more flat on the ground on tight turns on rough ground.

Doing the jumps I flipped it SEVERAL times. Probably 12 or more times. All but about 2 times it landed back on it's tires. And these weren't light rolls. One time I cartwheeled it about 6-7 turns over the course of 15+ feet. Another time it flipped end over end over and over. NOTHING BROKE. It is still running like a champ.

I have heard very little negative feedback about the buggies. I don't think ANY on the 1/8th. If you guys want to give a try on another cheap vechile try the 1/8 buggy. You can do a submit offer on ebay for about $230 for the .21 (at least a few weeks ago).

I compared it to the Kyosho mp 7.5 in the LHS and it was just about exactly the same except for the front arms. The plastic looked very similar, the layout was almost identical, the aluminum was the same thickness (ofna uses thicker shocktowers but the Kyosho was the same).

Anyway --- I give this 1/8th buggy a 9 out of 10. There's nothing I can think of off hand that I don't like about them but I hesitate to give a 10 out of 10 rating.

Anyway - I'll keep you posted but so far this thing is great.

I still want to go in and see what parts will fit on it from the 7.5 but the LHS is reluctant to do it. I don't think the front arms will fit but most of the other stuff might.

Later... PS I'll post this in the 1/8th buggy forum too found here....

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hi, I'm new to the forum but signed up to post when i saw the redcat thread. I've had the redcat hurricane XL for about a week and I'm having a bit of trouble with it and wondered if anyone else has encountered the problems i have. Here goes. I went through the break in process heat cycling the engine, keeping the piston at bdc after each run when cooling. After finishing break in i began running in a somewhat enclosed area always keeping the motor slightly more rich. Last night i went out for a while to run and first tank of gas was fine, car ran beautiful. second tank the engine stalled somewhere between mid and high rpm during full throttle. No hesitation at all it just cut off. restarted it and tried again, same thing happened. I'm getting a good amount of blue smoke and no blubbery sounds nor excessive heat from the engine. I took it to a shop today and the guy said its acting as if theres a clog in the carb or fuel lines but the carb is clean and so are the fuel filters. It seems to idle fine but cuts off at random times, usually after i let the engine warm up. I'm out of ideas as to how i should go about troubleshooting it since it seems making needle adjustments showed a change in performance but the stalling continued no matter what adjustments i made. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

One other thing i noticed was the needle on the muffler side of the carb was screwed in about 1 turn from flush, I backed it out making it flush which im pretty sure where it was out of the box. I'm not entirely sure what this screws function is cause it isn't labeled in the book that came with the car.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

Hey Buggygovroom


I know exactly what is going on (hopefully there's nothing else). That screw on the muffler side should actually be FULLY tightened in (no hard necessairly but full in). I put another post about it earlier, but it's a little decieving if you've seen other nitro engines. Most nitro engines have a screw there (as this one does too) BUT there is no screw on the throttle side (where the rubber flange is). On this one there is also a screw on the rubber flange side, but you only want to adjust the one on the rubber flange. The one on the muffler side should be in (to reitterate)

I'm not sure how many turns out the screw on the flange side should be but I"ll check into it later if you need help on that.

What's going on is the low speed adjustment is way to rich but it doesn't necissairly give you audible ques like the HSN does.

Reset your settings (idle is probably fine). Main needle (HiSpeedNeedle) Turn in all the way (not overly hard) and then back out to about 3 turns.

The LSN turn in all the way and try about 1 1/2 to 2 turns out.

If you need to know for sure what mine is at let mek now and I will check it for you.

Let us know if this was it. ALso - how is the buggy preforming for you overall

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

There are no general rules for how many turns to adjust the carburetor needles to. It can change several times in the course of a day. There are many factors that influence tuning like temperature, weather (sunny or overcast), atmospheric pressure, elevation, humidity, fuel type, plug type, how clean the air filter is and probably a million others.

The best thing you can do if you are new to tuning is pick up an infared temperature gauge (can be had for as little as $20.00) and use it to help get your engine properly tuned. Here is a link (once you have the gauge) on how to tune your engine:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=3455189

EDIT: That link has a rather abbreviated version of the process. If you are not sure what adjusting the screws does here is an easy way to look at it:

Clockwise = leaner = more air, less fuel = hotter
Counter Clockwise = richer = less air, more fuel = cooler

Your high speed needle is the one that makes the biggest changes to engine temperature. Adjusting this clockwise will cause the temperature to go up, and adjusting it counter clockwise will cause the temperature to go down.

For the step that talks of pinching the fuel line, you want to adjust the low speed needle clockwise to make the engine die sooner, and counter clockwise to make the engine die later.

EDIT AGAIN: For the idle adjustment, adjusting the screw clockwise will increase the idle, and counter clockwise will decrease the idle. You will probably notice that when making changes to the low speed needle, it will often change the idle, and require you to adjust the idle screw as well.

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

On a side note, my overall experience with the buggy it is excellent and especially for the price. The past few days ive been running it with a friend who has a Kyosho with a rossi gold motor in it and it gave him a serious run for his money. I noticed that they were almost identical except i paid half the price and got a radio! :) untill his ran away on him and hit a car tire at about 50 mph. Now my car is truly better :) Im thinking i should have spent the extra 30 bucks or so and got the hurricane XP instead of the XL for the larger motor and misc upgrades but i have had no negative experiences with this buggy whatsoever. I believe out of the box, with exception to maybe a better radio system, this buggy is a better choice than some more expensive models. The only down side is part availability but ive been told a lot of the parts are similar and interchangeable with some non/import models such as kyosho and some ofna 1/8 buggy parts. I couldnt be happier with my selection overall!

RE: "OFFICIAL" Redcat Racing 1/8th BUGGY thread (not truck thread)
 

We have been talking about boiling plastic front suspension parts in the truck thread (where this post originated from) so I felt I should explain the beginning of my post HERE so no one is confused....

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Well...the parts DIDN'T float so I was a little concerned about maybe melting some on the bottom of the pan but the boiling action seemed to keep them moving around enough but I still stirred them ocassionally...

I only boiled the stuff for about a 1/2 hour just to be a little safe and conservative and it seems to have made some difference in the flexibility...also...one thing I noticed..and this sounds weird but the boiled parts even make a little different sound when you tap them on a hard surface....the unboiled ones made a little higher pitch and "sharper" sound...weird?..maybe..but if boiling changed the molecular structure of the plastic and made it more flexible and possibly increased the density a bit then it's really NOT so weird....sheesh...I feel like I should be on "Mythbusters"..LOL!

O.K...so...the good news is that mother nature decided to cooperate today and we have some really nice weather right now (sunny and temps in the 50's) so yes...I have finished my break in (about 5 tanks at low and mid speeds with a few blips on the throttle for good measure) and I have started to try and fine tune this thing and run it harder....man does this thing SCREAM!

I am having a little bit of a hard time tuning it right but I'm sure it's probably due to impatience more than anything....the main thing I am having trouble with is getting rid of the initial bogging when I hit the throttle from dead stop to WFO...if I ease into it...no probs....also I have been having a bit of difficulty with top end...there are times it seems to just lay down when it gets close to top speed...also there are times it wants to die when I hit the throttle or it will just die suddenly at idle...these are minor irritants and I'm sure with enough patience (and HELP from people who know more than I do) I will get it tuned right...

I have been running it pretty hard this afternoon and have had no breakages yet...and hey!..I even ran into my foot once and it didn't even break! ;)...lol....actually I had some pretty hard flips a few times...several cartwheels of varying degrees of intensity both on pavement and off...I spose the only TRUE test to see if the boiling works would be to re-enact the wreck that I had the first time it broke..(hitting the end of that curb)...I thought about this but couldn't bring myself to just DO it!...however...at one point I pretty much DID...same spot...same ending of being on it's top in the street...etc and it seems to be holding up fine...although I don't think I was going QUITE as fast as I was the first time...CLOSE though!

Anyways...I am going back out to run some more before it starts getting colder out...

*Arnold Schwarzenneger voice*...."I'll be back".:D