Hi Neil,
Good to hear that your intrested in RC Racing again!
...........HRCCC always makes New Racers very welcome!
No one tends to Race Off-Road Buggies over the Indoor Winter Season, as many prefer to save them for the Outdoor Summer Season.
The Classes that Racers generally run through the Winter are Mardave V12's, 12th Pan Cars, F1's, Stock Touring & Pro-Stock Touring Cars.
......GOING BACK TO BUGGIES
HRCCC has become a very highly regarded Buggy Club through the Summer Months(we're going to be holding 2 Mid-West Regional Championship Meetings this Year!), with High Turnouts of Racers on a Weekly basis, with 3 Different Classes of Electric Buggies, they are :
RETRO RACERS CLASS - For 1/10th Scale Vintage 2WD & 4WD Off-Road Buggy/Truck up to the Mid 1990's!
2WD COMPETITION CLASS - For ANY 1/10th Scale 2WD Off-Road Buggy!
4WD COMPETITION CLASS - For ANY 1/10th Scale 4WD Off-Road Buggy!
As Buggy Racing has become very Popular again over the last few Years, there is now quite a good choice of Kits available. The majority of Racers at HRCCC run 2WD's, mainly Associated RC10 B4's, but you do see others like the Kyosho Ultima RB5, Losi XXX & Mardave Cobra's.
All of the Buggies above are Rear Motored, but the Craze currently seems to be Mid-Motored 2WD's, as many are finding them easier to Drive.
As you mentioned, the New Schumacher Cougar SV is out very soon(just after the Toy Show in February, I think?), which is of a Mid-Motor/Stick Battery Format.............we'll just have to wait & see if this goes well! There will also be a Completely New Mid-Motor 2WD from Durango, called the DEX210, but I dont think that will be out til the end of the Year!
Other Mid-Motored Cars are out there, like the X-Factory X6(Stick Battery) & Atomic Carbon S2(Saddle Pack Battery), but unfortunately you still need an Associated RC10 B4 as a Doner Car, as these are just Mid-Motored Conversion Kits!
There is also a Mid-Motor Conversion Kit available for the Losi XXXCR Buggy now, called the Atomic Carbon CR2(Saddle Pack Battery), which seems pretty good.......obviously these Mid-Motor Options are More Expensive though.
As for Radio Equipment, most Racers run Brushless Systems now(usually with either a 6.5T or 7.5T Motor), as there more Reliable & less Maintainance! Saying that though, you do still see the odd Racer running 'Brushed'.
Most have gone to Lipo Batteries as well, due to them giving slightly more Power, without the hassles of Discharging/Equalising, like you usually do with NiMh Packs!
I'm sure that you'll really enjoy Racing your Off-Road Buggy at HRCCC!
