Avante 2001 VS Topforce

[bomba]

G'day all, I have an Avante 2001 with carbon decks, titanium screws, Hi-cap dampers and lightweight wheels. A mate of mine has a standard Topforce. He swears that with the same motors in each car that the Topforce would beat it. Is this true? I don't mind if it is the case because I like the Topforce aswell, but I am very impressed with the 2001. He lives a long way away and I doubt that we'll have the chance to do a test

Cheers, Chris

[funkual]

Well... I've got the original avante and a topforce but the avante to be fair has not got the titanium screws or carbon decks just the carbon steering upgrade. When I've put the same motor in both the avante as standard seems loads quicker but I think its to do with the gearing. I'd assume that with the same gearing and motor the topforce would be quicker though as its a lot lot lighter than the avante. Both are fantastic buggies though.

Al

[mud4fun]

I have an Avante 2001 as a daily runner/basher car and it is indeed quite quick although mine is modified to run 8.4v packs and runs a 13t dyna run super touring motor. We have clocked this with a radar gun consistently in the 35mph range. HOWEVER the supension on the avante2001 is pretty awful for an off road buggy so we had to drive on very flat tarmac surfaces to do that speed test or the car just wouldn't get enough traction. We ran it with super soft pin spikes (despite being on tarmac) and the gearing was very high which meat the motor got stinking hot after a minute of so but we were only doing straight sprint runs anyway.

The avante2001 with a 19t Reedy spec motor and more appropiate gearing makes about 27mph.

I'd say the Top Force would still be quicker because in my experience the Avante2001 is still quite heavy even with the lightweight hop-ups (Egress spec), the top force would also be a definite winner on a rougher track where its better suspension would allow better traction.

Both are extremely quick buggies though the Avante2001 is the more fragile, especially its front hub carriers.

[ideal2k]

I used to race both these cars years ago.

As far as speed is concerned there is little or no difference.

In (sometime around, my memory tricks me) 1994-1996 I won a finals with a Top Force Evo, where the runner up had an old Egress still, and he was only about half a lap behind me.

So I would say that in competition these cars would be equal as long as the track is fairly flat.

When the terrain changes it would be different, but then there are all sorts of variables.

I also don't think the carbon decks matter at all.

I think you should hook up with your friend, and race like mad

[Jabba1]

Hi ,

I have a avante 2001 and have added hi-cap dampers,as you guys are some serious racers what would you reccommend as worthwhile upgrades as ideal2k reckons the carbon decks not make any noticable difference,i've been told to get a ballrace kit but according to the manual it already has them except for the steering??I'll be getting a top-force when it's re-released so it will be interesting to see how they compare but for me the avante will always be no 1.

[mud4fun]

The steering on the Avante2001/Egress (and hop-up available for Vanquish) has 4 x 850 bearings in the steering plates/arms mounted inboard on the chassis. Mine already had ball bearings fitted here when I got it but it is only a 10 minute job to replace the brass bushings with bearings if needed. I'd hardly say it was necessary as the steering is already extremely quick on these cars!!

The carbon decks will be significantly lighter in weight than the FRP ones that were standard on the Avante2001. I'd guess at between 50-75g less weight. Doesn't sound much but every little helps.... The main advantage for me with the FRP or Carbon decks is the ease of access to the motor and servo. If you have ever experienced trying to remove a motor from a vanquish with its plastic bathatub chassis you'll know what I mean. The vanquish is lighter than the Avante2001 however. If I get the chance later I'll go and weigh them as I have both cars.

The Avante2001 did indeed come with ball bearings as standard and in fact they were very high quality ones with rubber/plastic dirt shields (little blue rings around the inside edge of the bearing. These are excellent bearings and seem to last forever compared with the cheaper 1150's you get off ebay - especially when racing on dusty tracks! This isn't to say that you won't need new ones as all bearings no matter how good will eventually wear out and start to cause binding and loss in performance.

[Jabba1]

thanks mud4fun,saw your video,good stuff!!The avante i have hasn't been used much so i think the bearings will be ok.Like you said the steering is very quick and doesn't seem like it needs the bearings although i probably will do them.Whats the crack with these diffs?one way etc??thanks for the help.

[Toykid]

Well you really have to define what you mean by "beat it". As the other guys have mentioned here with the same motor and same gearing you would probably find the top speed and acceleration on a smooth flat surface to be comparable. But these are off road buggies and both do have different handling characteristics. Most people that have driven a avante series chassis on an off road track would conceed that it doesn't handle the choppy or very rough sections as well as it should. But at the end of the day the better driver makes all the difference. A better driver can drive a car at 80% and still win whist another driver with exactly the same car driving it at 100% could be 2 or 3 laps down if they can't be smooth and consistant.

I have driven both and whilst I love the feel of the avante I would pick the top force for racing as it is easier to tune, hard to break (compared to the avante 2001) and generally a more neutral handlng chassis.

But I bet there are plenty of racers out there who could beat me racing an Avante 2001! (plus I think it is better looking).

Just my 2 cents,

James.

[bomba]

Thanks guys, that about clears it up! I have an avante aswell and know all too well about it's track performance You just cant go past that marvel of engineering though! I got out of the sport before the top force came out so have had know real experience with it. I do know it to have been a worthy racer and am actually considering getting a re release to race when they are available! My mate races him dynastorm re release and it holds its own against the losi's and asso's at his track (it'd do better with me driving! hehe)