Percymon

There's loads of options, but there's only you and Mike-o dabbling with 8.4V brushed systems - i'm afraid its a case of suck it and see ! I'd look out for a used Titan on ebay or on a Traxxas forum if it were me.

There are plenty of 550 motors on ebay, some pretty cheap (Losi 12T 550), HPI Firebolt, HPI GT550 You might also want to look at Graupner - theres a 700BB on ebay currently but don't know what the specs are (Graupner have them on their website from recollection) This 'old' thread might also be worth looking at for some other options, although they are high voltage motors.. http://e-savage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8

I've seen posts where people say the firebolt is aptly named. Given the Titan is used in some trucks a bit heavier than your fighter buggy, and its designed for 8.4V its got to be a better option than a firebolt, no matter what the specs say.

Tamiya prices have risen across the board, so anything the store buys in from the distributor now is at the higher prices. Whether the revised price reflects the now rarity of the kit, or just what extra they incur from their distributor you'll never know. They could have applied a general increase across all their stock. I'm sure there are other outlets with limited stock, so you'll have to shop around again - sometimes hitting the buy button immediately is the right option (although not after a load of beers !!). Any store that doesn't have physical stock will either struggle to get your kit, or they'll no doubt have to pay the new trade price for anythign the distributor still has.

Two ways to look at this i think.. Spend $100 on a DT02, or go for a lightweight cheaper ($75) option like the Rising Fighter which with its light weight wont carry too much momentum into a crash. The narrower light front wheels will give the buggy a tendency to understeer which is easier for kids to control and those wheels dont place huge load on the servo when they mash one wheel against a kerb or tree stump. The Its a rigid body, but at least its ready to fit with no cutting or painting required. Parts are cheap and readily available for all current models. Remember though that boys tend to prefer buggies as they are a bit racier, girls seem to love the lunchbox. I'd say the MadBull was a boys toy too.

I bought the simple rectangular block ones, same as Tamiya plastic. Supplied with screws and washersfor mounting to chassis and mounting servo. Racingpunk also sells the slotted ones but since I'd already tried the plastic tamiya ones i knew I didn't need that extra adjustability. Last nights installment... Finished masking and started painting my Clod project shell. Realised fastrax chrome paint is actually pretty good til it's backed with black when it turns more silvery (will back with silver next time!). Painting didn't go so well, I used some sheets of masking a friend gave me, and they weren't as effective as they should have been. Too late now, not too disastrous thank goodness. Got two more layers to add tomorrow and then it's decal time!

Finished masking and started painting my Clod project shell. Realised fastrax chrome paint is actually pretty good til it's backed with black when it turns more silvery (will back with silver next time!). Painting didn't go so well, I used some sheets of masking a friend gave me, and they weren't as effective as they should have been. Too late now, not too disastrous thank goodness. Got two more layers to add tomorrow and then it's decal time! Finally decided to go lipo so bought new charger , charging bag andbattery packs.

I went Spider, but thankfully bought a used but NIB chassis on here. Not sure the Spider conversion is still available either - migth only be the full 1/8th Spioder that uses Gmade axles nowadays. Also look at CPE - their Terminator is a good race type chassis. Importing from Far East / US is prertty much only option for aftermarket stuff. Crawler Store in Italy do some crawler chassis, but nothing 'sporty'

Its no different to 27MhZ, you either move the receiver over from car to car, or buy two receivers. With 2.4Ghz you only have to buy the receivers, as there are no crystals. As an example for 2 cars.. 27Mhz One receiver £22 and crystal set £7 that moves from car 1 to car 2 Two receivers £44, one crystal set £7 - just move crystals from car 1 to car 2 Two receivers £44, two crystal sets £14 - permanently installed in both cars 2.4GHz One receiver that you move from car 1 to car 2 £23 Two receivers, one in each car permanently £46 Given you an buy a Acomms technisport TX and RX for under £40 there's no point staying on 27Mhz !

Here's some data i found - no idea what vehicle this was fitted in, figures from ExtremRC magazine, dyno test.. Motor Data Battery pack used: Reedy X-Rater 3700 6cell Stick pack Motor: Traxxas Titan 12t 550 Wind: 12-Single Max Power*: 40.24W @ 7,772rpm Max Torque*: 72.16 Nmm Peak RPM*: 14,599rpm @ 2.6sec Efficieny*: 52% @ 11,358 Motor Settings Timing: Fixed Brushes: Internal Springs: Internal Acceleration (0-60FT): 3.09sec @ 26.0mph Top Speed: 30.9 @ 210ft Average Run Time: 6+mins Gearing 26/76" I've seen some other home dyno figures quoted on the net for the 12T Titan - 22000 rpm on 7.2V Those figures at 7.2V. The figures don;t look too startling to my eyes, but in comparison a hot Tamiya motor like a BZ would have a torque figure around 40Nmm apparently. A significant shift in torque then !

Clod projects are not cheap ! Neither is a highlift lol!! Custom chassis come up on ebay reasonably frequently, and its not too difficult to build your own with bits from a DIY store. Loads of options, to go racer or crawler !!

A 2S lipo pack is 7.4V as opposed to 7.2V for a NiMH, so shouldn't bother either a MSc or an ESC much if at all. The demand on the ESC/MSC and battery is from the motor. Lipo will give you more instant current, and a more consistent power level through the discharge of a pack. Its not necessarily any faster, just more able to supply the higher current demands. For tame stock motors the difference may not even be noticeable, but on the low turn brushless with high current demand at full throttle the advantage of lipo power delivery is obvious.

I've learnt a lot in the last few days !!

Me too, but recently the Acomms 27Mhz receivers seem to be £21-23 each (last year i was paying about £16) plus crystals, so the move to 2.4 was a pretty easy one. Separate receivers are about £23, which is OK give you don't need to buy extra, or swap, crystal sets from one car to another.

As James says left with the spring set at its lesast compressed state its pretty useless - you need to wind the collar round one, if not two notches to firm it up. Even then it still nose dives and bottoms out. The Hotshot isn't the lightest buggy around either, which doesn't help. You could shave 200g of weight by swapping a big NiMH pack over to Lipo, although that may make things even more nose heavy !

I've done it today - went for the rectangular cased Turnigy packs, good value on ebay. Don't forget your connections for charging and your ESC.

I'm no expert Dan, but even the 21turn Titan will have its limitations on outright speed - it will certainly have a shedload more torque to let fly off the line, but top whack might be little different to any other 21turn motor (even your Ansmann Clash). Lower turns will give more speed (at the expense of torque). I've no data for the rpm of the Titan motors, but a 12t 540 motor would have plenty of speed; and therefore i've no reason to doubt a 12t Titan on 8.4V couldn't get your lightweight buggy a huge leap in speed over the silver can on 7.2V - whether it can break 25mph i don't know. The Traxxas website is normally pretty good regarding downloads, spec sheets etc so may be worth taking a look.

Vapextech 5000mAh 7.2V NiMH 485g Turnigy 2S 3800mAh 7.4V hard case lipo - 267g

I bought the Acoms Technisport kit recently (they do two, one with servos and one without) and have to say its pretty good for the money (under £40) - really easy to set up and the receiver is minute (less than an inch square!) If you want something even cheaper , then end-of-line-rc had a non boxed system, similar tot he Acoms, a week or so back for under £20 !

Yeah racing blue alloy servo mounts arrived yesterday from RacingPunk - great quality, so much better than the Tamiya kit plastic ones (in fact i'll never use plastic ones again). Fitted those last night, set up the steering and tested out fine. Had a play in the lounge, hooking up a single old 1900mAh NiCd pack -was able to get the chassis to hunker down on its springs and spin its wheels at take off. Decided to go LiPo now, so will be running two 2S 25c 3800mAh packs going forward Lexan body is progressing - some more masking off to do before i start the painting. Original clod body needs masking for paint too.

Decided to go Li-Po thanks for encouraguing me, despite my iniital reservations lol!!

Having looked around at Balancer units, it wasn't much cheaper than buying another charger, so i've just bought.. Turnigy Accucel 6 charger Power supply unit Turnigy 3800mAh 25c/35c hard case 2S 7.4V LiPo batteries Charging bag Only reason buying the Accucel over the Imax b6 was the fact Turnigy sellers quoted the type of JST plug (so i knew it was compatible with the Turnigy batteries), and the Accucel has a cooling fan built in. At the end of the day there are to all intents and purposes the same thing. Li-Po here i come - woohoo !!

There are two Titan 550 motors The stock 550 Titan, thats available in normal and reverse rotation for twin motor cars - i have these in my clod project. They are 21T motors that can handle 14.4V Titan 12T 550, which is a 12 turn motor capable of 8.4V Both are 550 sized (30% longer, maybe fractionally bigger in diameter ?) so have longer armature, and a in built cooling fan - the longer armature should produce more torque than a 540 motor of same turn rating. Even the stock ones are pretty torquey - i have 2 hooked up to a single old 7.2V NiCd for shakedown test in my Clod project and they can spin the wheels on carpet, and make the chassis drop on its springs as it takes off. Given the thing weighs in at about 4Kg currently, goodness knows what it will do with twin lipo feed (but i'm about to find out )

Well NiMh might be relatively old hat technology, but it has got to the point where the economies of scale and development costs have lowered prices. A £50 battery 4 years ago is no better than a £18 now, assuming you take a bit of care in selection. You can buy 2 sticks from China for the same price as one in the UK, but you pays your money and takes a chance. I 've bought Vapextech batteries, 5000mAh 7.2V packs, and they appear to be good quality, reliable and seems to be reasonably well thought of on this forum. Whether they are the ultimate batteries for racing i doubt it, but if you are racing then you're probably looking for something beyond their price point and technology beyond NiMH anyway. For general bashing they are absolutely fine. They offer free postage and quick delivery from their website (they also sell on ebay, sometimes more costly then their own website). They do not offer Traxxas plugs so you'd need to change them yourself. http://www.vapextech.co.uk/acatalog/High_P..._Batteries.html Some other considerations.. 1. the greater the mAh the longer the run time, but also the greater the charge time - if you have a 5A charger maybe not too much of an issue, but if you have a lesser charger then waiting 1.5-2.0hrs for a battery might be a bit of a bind, more so when you have a pair to charge. 2. buying 4 batteries will give you overall a longer run rime (2x3000 vs 5000 for instance), but the price difference from 3000 to 5000mAh packs is so small its more expensive to buy 4 packs over 2 3. think about how long a run time you really want - on colder days do you want to spend 30+ minutes bashing ? 4. search for batteries with traxxas plugs and you will have a lot less choice, and you'll pay a lot more for them - buy tamiya plugged ones and change the plug to TRX, a few £ each and 10 minutes to fit.

Titan is a 550 motor do plenty of torque, should suit your needs pretty well actually.