Can of worms again (I'm bored at work)

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Mike1970

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Ok so as many of you know, I race - I did bash when I first got my car, back in the day when Marders were one of only a few large scale out there. I've got to be honest, it didn't do anything for me, I almost sold it and gave up but I tried racing and I haven't looked back since. I've been racing in the UK, Holland, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany and Belgium. I've raced against (and been beaten by) the best in Europe but love every second of everything involved with racing (with the possible exception of the wife being there some times).

This isn't a "why do you bash" question because I know most of the answers, it's more of a "have you tried racing in an organised series" such as BRCA or ROAR - and I'm talking large scale not others. Certainly in the UK the vibe is very good at 99% of the meetings with the majority of people getting on and most being more than willing to help out.

Yes racing can be expensive but not in comparison to what some bashers spend on their cars.
Yes there are rules - most are just sensible safety things
Yes there is travelling to do but think of it as a series of mini breaks

Like Dr pepper says - try it, you might like it.
 
I've been racing on road & off road with all different scales on and off since 1986 - 1987 approx.
6 years ago I got into largescale and have never looked back, sure in the begining we used to bash but we built tracks joined / formed clubs and now we have the Australian off road titles in November.
Racing (once set up) does not cost any more than bashing, and one great thing about racing is you get to see your lap times etc and you can improve.
Racing is about learning how to tune - set up your car for your driving style.
Our club caters for 2WD outlaw and 4WD outlaw and you can pretty much do anything to your car but the largest engine is 30.5cc. we also have an efra 2WD and efra 4WD class which would be the same rule you would operate within.
Driving up and down the street or alone will become less exciting over time and that is when it's time to race.

I race in the 2WD efra class and think it's great.
 
And here's me thinking I would just get slagged off for this post.

In the UK we have 2wd & 4wd buggy classes and we also have and outlaw/open/short course class.

We wouldn't turn anyone away with a largescale car provided it conformed to the rules or it could be made to be as close as possible.

There is also a wide spectrum of people who race too, anyone from mechanics to comapny directors.
 
Sounds very similar to our club.

We have 60 members (not all active) and it's great fun.

New guys come and we pitch in and help them get their cars sorted and usually they return the favour once they have some experience.

We also attract all walks of life..... and while we are at the track we all have comon interests which is cars and racing lol.

Most people think that if you race you have to be serious and you have to be an ace driver, this is not the case.

Bottom line, if you want to learn how to drive it's best doing it in a less competitive class and enjoying it.

FYI: my wife used to race for about 2 years (pink baja) and she loved it, now we have so many members as the club is growing and the days are taking longer and longer so she has decided to hang up her transmitter for a while as our kids are still young and not keen on a full day at the track.
 
We are lucky in the UK that A, we're not a massive country to the longest distance I would travel is 700 mile round trip, and B, we have 5 active & permenant clubs/tracks that we use as part of the national series with a couple of new ones we hope to use in the future.

Most of the 2wd cars are hoerman, Elcon, FG and Contrast - of various versions i.e HT1,2,2evo,3 and alike - you get the idea. 4wd we have the MCD's, FTX punisher and next season there will be a couple of FG 4wd's.

Then we have the Losi 5iveT and MDC SC trucks in the open class which is where you could find MT's or Bajas and other cars that don't fit into the 4wd or 2wd class but they don't seem to be that popular.
 
There is a "rumor" goin round here that a track is being built in my area. I told the guy I heard it from that I was pretty excited to try it. I guess I'll have to convert my MT into a wide body truck though.
 
Pity you're not over here, we'd love to see a heat of MT's battling round the track.

This looks pretty good.

 
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Don't be fooled by my Avatar as that FG MT was the one I put on Nitrous oxide and did a full alloy build on this forum a number of years ago, It's long gone now but was a lot of fun.

These days I'm runing the only 2WD 2012 Leopard competition in Australia (so I'm told) and it's been a great car..... highly recommended.

I do kind of miss the truck but my wife would shot me if I kept all my toys.
 
G'day !

To be honest, I've just used that YouTube video as an option on the Modelsport UK Forum of 'what can I do to my motor' .... they thought it was hilarious once the nitrous was flicked on!!

It was either yours, or an identical MT with the same shell!

Al.
 
Atom, that was my car in the Video (part 1 and 2).
A friend offerd to film it and he was good at editing and I built the car and drove it.
Sure was hilarious.
The first vid has nearly 7 million views and the second has just over 200K.

I don't think there is a largescale RC vid with more hits lol.
 
i haven't tried racing large scale, and thats because i have nowhere to race it. we have "track days" where we set up an onroad track and run laps, grudge race, and its a blast. there just isnt a lot of large scale where i am, and offroad takes preference to onroad.

i have raced smaller scale before, and because of the politics, as a new racer it drove me away and everything i bought for racing. im afraid if we get large scale racing going seriously in my area it'll turn into the same thing. the other problem we face here is we cant seem to race anything but electric in my area. 4 offroad tracks (1/10 and 1/8 scale), all electric only. there is talks of another track, the people are working towards fuel powered, however if the city says no, its a 5th electric only. its coming down to if you want to race, you have to run electric. if you want gas/nitro, your destined to be a basher.
 
I have tried racing, only at localish tracks. Not a big organized event. And it was so UNorganized that it turned me off. It seems to be much bigger across the pond. But I do enjoy dirt oval. But there are no decent tracks by me.
 
All i can say we all have our own opinions on "race or bash", if i had the chance i would do/try both, to me its a buzz whether i'm going head to head with someone or just throwing it around a field for the hell of it...

I believe most will start with the bashing and once they see/try a race or two then some will go down that route, i wish i lived closer to an organised set up so i could use it to bash in a controlled way and then i might begin to think i could compete with the racers, i'd like to think i was a decent driver but i'd like to see how i'd get on against a racer with similar set....
 
the cost & the commitment is what puts alot of people off.

don't get me wrong, i like to race when i met up wit friends at our track. But there were no hardcore rules as such, was just race what you bring (including those that brought nitros now & then), which made it more fun tbh as you would have all types racing eachother :)

but cost is the big factor, some engines nowadays cost upwards of £6-700 for a top tuned one, those who have access to unlimited funds where money is no object can just throw money at there cars etc to gain a big advantage, i know its down to the drivers skills but end of the day, to race competatively (sp?) having funds is a big bonus for spares or even spare car(s)!
 
i built a track after bashing got real old: first meeting 10guys showed up, was a blast but unorganized with no lap counter system...since we got one been lucky to get 4 people show up.....usually just 2 or 3 of us a couple of times a year now which is kinda lame.
 
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