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alford78

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Little about my interests in the hobby in general. I like high power helis and just about any ground vehicle. I have two tracks within 15 minutes from my house that I use my losi 8ight 2.0 highly modded on and really enjoy the buggy the most out of all my rc collection. I am actually paying to have a medium sized track built at my house for it because of the enjoyment I get out of it. I have the equipment for upkeep so rather than do it all by myself, my best friend and general contractor of my home addition will be building the track for his costs and time.

Ok so on to why I am here in the large scale forums! I was very very close to pulling the trigger on a HPI Baja SS 30.5 for a pretty good price with a ton of hop ups until I was introduced to FG series vehicles. What I am looking for is a buggy that will be very very quick! I don't really care about 60-80mph top speeds but want the grunt to get around a track with the squeeze of the throttle.

From what I've been able to read HPI and FG run very similar stock engines, but what I cant seem to find is their speeds. There is the obvious price difference between the two brands which I am sure is worth it as far as build quality. But then goes the drawback! I'm not affraid of spending money on hopups to increase the quality of the vehicle. Two wheel drive vs 4wd are apples to oranges comparrisons. I'm looking for a instant throttle response application with well rounded handling whether it be stock or upgrades. Are there any setups for this type of application which would merrit buying one brand over the other?

Now for those that skimmed to the bottom. If the goal was to have a 1/5-1/6 scale buggy to perform at extremes on a medium track (longest straight=35-40 yds) what would you do? Build a HPI baja and use low gears plus $1,000-$1,500 in other upgrades, or buy a FG buggy in the $1800-$2500 range then throw more money at trying to achieve the high torque medium speed buggy?

Sorry for the rambling but have been into smaller scales and don't really know much other than what I have seen on utube and searches over the past few days.
 
Hello and welcome to LSF - don't forget to update your location....

If it was my money and had that kind of budget, with a track in my back yard, id go for the 4wd FG and throw on a high end pipe.
:D
 
speed wise, I have a FG Baja 2WD. I have run this with the stock can, and two different tuned pipes. In all 3 cases I have had a GPS onboard logging speed and I have done some number crunching to work out the acceleration.

All three cans gave bang on 40mph top speed. I think that the only way to get above this is to fiddle with the gearing, or to start upgrading the engine (lighter crank/conrod/piston, porting etc).

The big difference the pipes made was to the torque curve and overall power of the engine. So far I have found the JetPro to be best, but I have not tried the DDM, Melkie or Victory pipes.

As far as I can tell, out of the box the HPI and FG have similar speed/acceleration. The big difference is in the handling style of the two (HPI being longer wheelbase).
 
Ok. Thanks for the responses. But. What about quickness, lots of low to mid power setups. Is there a particular setup for either of these in an application like this. Say a bigger motor plus pipe and gearing?
 
Pick an RC first based on what you will use it for (bashing or competitive racing), your budget, and availability of parts where you live. Then run it for a while and try to work out if you want more speed or more acceleration from it.
When you know that put up a post and someone will be able to help you pick an upgrade path to get what you want. My guess would be to put a mid range pipe on it and lower the gearing a little.
 
You need to update your location: https://www.largescaleforums.com/showthread.php?t=5865

It really makes a difference. If parts are not readily available then its worthless to get one or the other.

30 yards is 90ft. Depending on the turns and what not the FG will turn sharper IMO. Heck with stock tires you can flip it right over due to its wheel base. That can all be adjusted.
The Baja will stay a bit more stable (Less chance to flip) but will lumber more around a corner due to its wider stance.
4WD will give you a quicker take off due to traction and will be alot better on a track for turns and what not - From what I have seen.
Thats usually the reason why tracks will keep 4wd and 2wd separate.
As far as speed they will all be fast in the low end. Heck, my FGMT can keep up at take off with my baja and buggy, but lumbers around turns due to its tires and height.

Guess, I can't help ya...:laugh: :o
 
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