Help Me Pick My 4wd Offroad Buggy

[nakedsv]

Does the parts supply for the re-releases dry up when the car is eventually discontinued, or do they keep making them for a good while?

[nakedsv]

Thanks for all your advice.

I finally wound up ordering a Brat last night. Should be a really good street and mild off road basher.

I think I'll come back and get a Fire Dragon, if they're still available in a month or so.

[pastimesteve]

The Brat is a fantastic choice! I've been following this thread and the other one over at RCuniverse. Even though the Brat isn't 4WD, I think it will provide a lot of fun. I prefer the nostalgia models over the newer stuff, and I've had both.

Steve

[Pavster]

I have an original Fire dragon which i stopped using because I couldn't get the parts, but then found a guy called Tony's Tamiya Parts on ebay. He was very useful and had every part needed. He was very knowledgable regarding old stock. i assume that once they stop producing the rere's parts will start to dry up, but this guy knows if there are other parts that are interchangable. Hope that helps.

PS go for a DF-03 (MS if you can still find one) it's better than the stock DF-03

[Yuley95]

Been a while since I've read this thread... I think your plan is a good one. The Brat will be great to start with and I recommend picking up a Fire Dragon down the track. I have both a DI and a Thundershot and I definitely enjoy the Thundershot more for general bashing. The high ground clearance soaks up all the small stones bumps etc and lands beautifully of medium jumps. The high centre of gravity and short wheelbase make it a little 'flicky' in change of direction and probably not brilliant for racing but if fun and reliability are what you are after then the Fire Dragon (same as Thundershot but with duel shocks on the front) will be perfect.

Enjoy.

[nakedsv]

Been a while since I've read this thread... I think your plan is a good one. The Brat will be great to start with and I recommend picking up a Fire Dragon down the track. I have both a DI and a Thundershot and I definitely enjoy the Thundershot more for general bashing. The high ground clearance soaks up all the small stones bumps etc and lands beautifully of medium jumps. The high centre of gravity and short wheelbase make it a little 'flicky' in change of direction and probably not brilliant for racing but if fun and reliability are what you are after then the Fire Dragon (same as Thundershot but with duel shocks on the front) will be perfect.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

Regarding the high center-of-gravity of the Fire Dragon, remember: I'm driving a Stampede and a Lunchbox now. I bet the Fire Dragon would feel pretty tight in comparison, hehehe.

Heck, I bet even the Brat will feel low & tight!

[Henk4Focus]

Wow a nasty reply from someone like HPI!!! That sucks big time.

We do not have a lot of HPI products here in SA. The Savage and the Wheelie King is about it. What I've gathered is that their cars are tough and durable but I can say that I gave a Savage a hiding that it will never forget with my TNX. The guy with the Savage was shocked to say the least. He was told that the 5.9 Savage will thrash anything. The big Cen 7.7 can also go and lick its wounds.

The Savage might be more durable but it must still try to keep up with my TNX. Yeah I know that there will be different stories but on the day I was running 20% nitro on a near fatory setup compared to 25% nitro and it didn't matter how the other guy tried to lean out the mixture on his Savage he just couldn't keep up. Accelaration, straight line speed and general handling he was no match at all. When I leaned my mixture a little and the TNX started running on it's rear wheels under acceleration the guy just packed up and went home.

Only HPI's I would so love to have is the new 240Z and the 510. Absolutely stunning.