Bashing V Racing

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I rarely take my offroads out unless it's going to a track. Bashing just wears crap out and breaks things. I drive rc's to run against others on a track. it doesn't have to be an actual race but there has to be the competition. our on road club sets up a track 2-3 times a month and we just burn laps but we try real hard to catch and pass each other and the smack talk is half the fun.

if there was a mock track setup on whatever terrain, then I'd be all over it if there were other cars to race against. to drive haphazardly around without purpose to me is boring though. tagging each other because we get to close passing or someone spins out is accepted practice. getting smoked because some guy is driving like an ass and just runs in front of you and breaks your $2000 investment pisses me off. when we make a track, then please drive the direction of the track or go somewhere else... why else would you come to a track if not to drive the track and not over the lines or backwards against traffic.

I buy mostly parts to strengthen but some are just for looks too. colored fuel lines don't improve performance but sure makes the race theme look better. and who doesn't like a nice polished aluminum piece?

I almost prefer tinkering on my rides to make them better, tuning, tweaking etc than driving. I like to make my own parts out of carbon and even aluminum (though dremmels are better on carbon). The carbon rear dif upper suppert was aluminum and I made one from carbon. aluminum was probably stronger but the carbon breaks up all the aluminum nicely. there's another frivolous thing.
 
dwarfy said:
That is the bottom line for me - cost. You can bash on a budget but to race and be competitive you need to spend big bucks. I couldnt compete at racing with my £450 ebay Marder but it makes no difference for bashing. Also, I can imagine my wife's reaction if I asked her if she and the kids minded going without for 12 months whilst I spent £3500 on what is essentially a toy car :lol::lol::lol::lol: If you can afford it then great but the masses cant and that is where bashing comes in and why the clone market is hitting the big time.
Click to expand...

The figure of £3.5K is A for a full season B buying the best of everything required but you can't tell me that there aren't some bashers out there who don't spend this kind of money.
Most people race for a hell of a lot less, myself included. There are people who race £450 ebay special and have a ball doing it, a mate of mine races a standard HPI baja and finishes in the top 10/15 most times.

I started this thread to ask what you got out of bashing and why you added certain mods that to me - as a racer didn't make sence - I've had your answers and for the most part I have a better understanding of what you get out of it.

It was never the point to say bashing is a poor relation to racing or racing is just for those who can afford it!

It's all about having fun and asking questions to improve your car, driving and maintenance skills.

Mike

@pipeous Did I show you the videos of indoor truck racing in Holland (possibly on another forum)

p.s My little boy or wife never go without anything due to my racing.
 
Last edited:
you might have but post a pic. we all love pics anyway.

you don't have to have the best of the best to race, not by any means. you just have to have a good setup and practice. racing is like playing a guitar. you work on the things you need to polish up when practicing. try different lines. when it's time to get serious you are trying to run clean perfect laps, avoid the accidents and knowing you have someone chasing you down waiting for you to make a mistake. you drive right up behind the person in front of you and shadow them, they crack under pressure and bobble... you make the move and overtake them... sometimes you can even hear their expression on the stand... the chest swells a little but you have to keep pushing and focused...

I've won races with rtr vehicles out of the box and placed last with top of the line rigs LOL. I do like just meeting up with the motorcycles and running around. that's about the only rc I will go out with by myself for any length of time as well
 
After all of this, I'm definitely not a racer, so by the limitations of the posting title, that makes me a basher by default, BUT, I spend a bloody fortune on hopups, so I don't think extreme expense is limited to racers.
They're probably more selective of which parts, their relevance and thus application.
Al.
 
Just an observation, but nobody on this thread has got really mad and shown themselves up to be a little tw#t as would happen on most other forums. Think that proves that all here are more interested in the hobby than one upmanship.
 
BrawnFG said:
Just an observation, but nobody on this thread has got really mad and shown themselves up to be a little tw#t as would happen on most other forums. Think that proves that all here are more interested in the hobby than one upmanship.
Click to expand...

But my car is better than yours !!! and i bet you can't put a roundtrees fruit pastile in your mouth without chewing it!!!!


Sorry I though this was RC Un----se :lol:
 
Mike1970 said:
The figure of £3.5K is A for a full season B buying the best of everything required but you can't tell me that there aren't some bashers out there who don't spend this kind of money.
Most people race for a hell of a lot less, myself included. There are people who race £450 ebay special and have a ball doing it, a mate of mine races a standard HPI baja and finishes in the top 10/15 most times.

I started this thread to ask what you got out of bashing and why you added certain mods that to me - as a racer didn't make sence - I've had your answers and for the most part I have a better understanding of what you get out of it.

It was never the point to say bashing is a poor relation to racing or racing is just for those who can afford it!

It's all about having fun and asking questions to improve your car, driving and maintenance skills.

Mike

@pipeous Did I show you the videos of indoor truck racing in Holland (possibly on another forum)

p.s My little boy or wife never go without anything due to my racing.
Click to expand...

I was getting at bashing being more accessible due to the low cost and its probably more of a casual hobby than the more competitive racing scene. You can bash once a month, once a week or whenever fits in with your schedule. It doesn't matter if you are a crap driver either (like me!!) you still have fun :D I would feel like a right tool turning up at a race meeting with my plastic marder and a pit box consisting of a couple of cable ties and a tube of superglue!!
 
Maybe but you wouldn't be on your own (I don't mean you're a tool) but like I said, there is no pressure and loads of people to help just like there is with the bashing scene. Yes the national series has people who take it seriously but there are many who just go for the crack but lets not forget there are always club meetings to go to which are just as much fun but things are more relaxed.
 
*bashing* to me is a much more relaxed atmosphere, theres no pressure & we have a laugh, then at the end of the session we figure out who came out worse for the day :D

But its also pushing your RC to the limit, A well designed off road track built for racing will not push your RC to the limit, all you want to do is get around it as quickly & safely as possible & the track was built with this as priority... Lets face it what fun would it be racing when almost every jump the RC's decided to olympic style cartwheels! ...(Mind you, i guess it would be kinda funny) :D

Bashing is FFA, theres no time limit & when you visit different places (parks/forests & the odd BMX track) theres always summit different & 9/10 you will spot summit in the distance & think "omg i r iz gunna launch my RC off that!!11" in the hope that you land it square :D ..& when you pull it off without writing off your RC, well.... its rewarding :)

Each to there own i guess, but to cut a long story short, Racers do it for the excitement/adrenaline rush & the rewards. Bashers do it for the same reasons... except we just have a different approach to the home straight :)
 
When I was racing serious tenth scale electric offroad, I used to use five sets of new tyres per meeting (to ensure the sharpest spikes, which was measurably worth it in terms of laps done in the time), and used to wash out and re-oil all bearings, and remagnetise the motor for every five minute run, AND would drive up to 500 miles for a State Championship event.

To make the equivalent effort with fifth scale would cost me something around $500 per event. I can put my full-size Subaru STi through my club's Supersprint Championship (at real racetracks) for less than that per event!

So I do it for fun, just like I retired my Subaru after spending 30 hours of track time (interestingly, of which only about 4 hours were competitively against the clock, and the rest for the fun of it.)

I too detest the word bashing, as it has such negative connoitations.
 
I don't think what I do would be considered bashing I don't like to jump mine simply cuz I just got it and want to spend my money on beefing up the drive train and suspension. not a arms and broke stuff.


But I don't race. I would love to race I enjoy trying to stay within the confines of a track and perfect the skill of driving. so If I am out and "bashing" I still find a little track I try to run even if I am the only one who sees it.lol

Here in TEXAS which is huge state I have yet to find a 1/5 scale track. Even in Houston the 4 th largest city in the U.S. NO TRACK. I want one so bad here I might just do something unlike me and try to get club going and build our track.



Basically Racing or bashing = fun
 
there was a Tx track in the houston area, not sure if its still up or not. but it could be. if i find any info, i ll pass it along.
 
there is a homemade track in retention pond that is cool and alot of people go there but no actual track with driver stands and set races. the home made is awesome. I want some competitiveness (not sure that's a word). There was a track that let us run one day for like a trial run to see how it worked, but it rained on the scheduled day and was set up again for the next weekend and no one showed except 4 or five people, and that was the end of that, to make it worse everybody from Houston ran at the home made track on that day instead (kinda b.s. if you ask me we had a chance and we messed it up.(I did not have my ss yet so I was not there either) In defence of the h-towners I heard the track was not really big enough for 1/5 scale.
 
I love racing, but I love bashing too. My major problem is that our track has huge jumps, so I want to find huge jumps to bash on too. Makes for a lot of repairs, but it's also a lot of fun. Here's a little video of our local track. It's not made for 5th scales, but it's still a blast.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would fall into the "Basher" catagory myself these days...just like to go find a new place and let her rip. I was in the 1/8 scale race scene a few years and was fun for the most part. I ran a Mugen MBX4 and a good friend was a Mugen rep and sponsored driver...he really knew his stuff too, showed me allot of little tricks and he went to national a few times...I on the other hand am just average in driving/racing circles...but as long as your having a good time it's all good! I think I got out of racing because at the higher levels it just taken way too seriously for me :P
 
"Bashing" is relaxing and racing is for the people that like ulcers...

When I go out and "freestyle" I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. I don't have to stay to a confined area. If I flip my vehicle over, I walk over and flip it back upright, I don't need to scream at the top of my lungs to the half retarded turn marshall.. I was into racing for about 10 years. I used to race an RC-10 and moved up to the Losi JRX2, I still get those buggies out once in awhile and destroy the local "Racing Scene" but I would rather just have a nice relaxing run with my largescales. It's my meditation. I can "Bash" with a beer in my hand, while half-drunk... Can't do that at the track!

All racing ever did was make me spend too much money on poop I didn't need and if somebody couldn't drive and clipped my wheel that put me into the wall, I would grab his control and throw it on the ground while saying something nasty about the things I did to his wife and mother... I just didn't like that side of me.

When I picked up "Bashing" as you put it, I quit beating on idiots and started helping people. Sure I still would break stuff, but it was still fun. I break a lot less parts and spend a ton less money on this hobby after I quit racing and just "Bashed." The alloy stuff that you mentioned is on the "racers" rigs, not on the bashers rigs. The bashers like plastic because it bends back. Albeit the Alloy stuff is stronger.

Some people need that racing and competitive stimulation, I looked at it as stress, but others thrive on it. Some people take themselves WAY too seriously. These are toys, just toys. You have to have been on both sides of the fence to be able to make an educated decision, disliking something that you don't understand it called bigotry.

Racing is fine and "Bashing" is fine too, but insulting something that you, by your own admission don't understand, is just idiotic.
 
Last edited:
you see at racing I was the guy that would push the guys like you then trip ;)
I never lost it on people or turn marshalls. it's not the marshalls fault if you flip, it's your fault. and I felt I had to educate other drivers of the racing ettiquette side. and as a corner marshall I busted my arse to set an example. the veteran guys need to set these examples, good examples, not bad ones. it's what makes racing fun and keeps people involved.

racing is fun once everyone is on the same page and we take the time to educate. the guys that scream at corner marshalls and swear and crap could even get penalized laps for the main. who wants to hear that when you come out for a day of fun? we certainly don't want kids and mothers to see stuff like that. it's a family hobby and we race toy cars. there's no payday for a win at the end of the day, just a little pit racing smack talk with your buds (while you have a wobbly pop carefully concealed in a coffee mug hehe) after the day is done.

I know one local driver who is now one of the top guys. he used to lose it bad at times and I saw his son even picking up the habits. He was also becoming a goalie for hockey, which I had done for many years (and he even backed me up for a while). I had to explain if he didn't learn to control his temper and outbursts, he'd never be a good goalie cuz you lose focus. driving is the same thing. you watch the big name guys racing. they bump and crap but are always smiling or just focused on their racing. Now this same guy I would gladly call a friend, but there was a time I had to say, dude, I will be courteous to anyone, but until you start showing people some respect and calm down, you are going to find it hard passing me hehe
 
I had problems with the hacks that would come in too hot and blow the corners, then try to use me as a guard rail... If that's the way you drive, you wouldn't have lasted long at our track! Very rarely would I flip my car on the track unless some hack slammed me.

Once when I was racing my Modded Savage, I had some noob fly into me in the middle of a corner with his 40mph T-Maxx and got in between my "Big Joe's," my front tire grabbed his truck and tossed it about 20 feet in the air and destroyed every piece of Integy junk on his rag. I didn't even budge, I just bounced off the wall and kept going. I didn't smack him, though he deserved it, I just laughed and won the race. The stupid thing was, he was lap traffic and had a chip on his shoulder.

Now I bash, hill-climb and mud, because it's relaxing.
 
Back
Top