Nickarla

To put it bluntly, yes. When I used Bugsta wheels I was breaking the drivetrain all the time. When I used Carnage wheels I didn’t. For the price of the carnage wheels you can’t go too wrong.

The brushless set up is ok, many people use a kv similar to that.

There is a brushless version of the Bugsta, I personally don’t think FTX should be selling the car with wheels that large. The Carnage wheels are about perfect, smaller and light so less momentum and damage caused to pretty much everything from hexes to the gearbox gears to the spur gear is much less.

The hexes wearing out does happen but I never had it once in my Bugsta or Carnage which I too ran a brushless system. The Carnage is one of the most popular models and this isn’t a common problem. The jigsaw wheels mentioned are also FTX (FasTraX). It was not the servo I was referring to when I mentioned the drivetrain. The FTX drivetrain gears front and rear that are houses in the gearbox have too much slop. This chips teeth if you have wheels that are too big. I learnt the hard way that the Bugsta wheels are too big for the FTX range and will give you all sorts of grief on Brushless. I would strongly advice going for a smaller wheel, the Carnage wheels are lighter and smaller so you’ll be less likely to damage the hexes and the drivetrain.

The prolines are bigger and heavier than the standard Bugsta I believe, which means your drivetrain will get destroyed. Why not look at the Carnage wheels? People haven’t really had issues with the FTX wheels so for the price I would try to preserver.

It stinks too. I never had an issue with the grease though to be honest. I see they are still persisting with that crown gear/gearbox set up 🤦‍♂️

Thanks, these are CVDs for the front wheels though.

That’s strange, I never had any hex issues with my Bugsta. Did the wheels fill with water and become heavy? I soldered 4 holes evenly into the tyres so that the water could escape. It drove so much better after that and the reduced weight increased longevity.

Thanks for the update. Presumably this was due to the body shell? I wonder whether a buggy body shell could be found to fit?

Sway bars are a good upgrade. I forgot about them when I was mentioning upgrades. Tightens up steering response well.

What are the top Hyper 7 CVDs? I’ve just taken them out of my Hyper 7 that I bought second hand. The style I’m familiar with is below it (taken from my Hyper ST). I need to find a replacement but this style has confused me a bit.

Can you just use the rear dog bone set up in the front? That will be the toughest, cheapest option. Ive just had my Hyper 7 cvds break as well. Looking at it (top one) they look totally different to what you get now (bottom one). Anyone know what they are?

Sorry, the car itself is, yes, but looking through the spare parts, there are a lot that are out of stock other that in the global warehouse.

Yep. Only problem with Hobbyking is they’re shipping price is OTT. Theyre also having a bad patch with stock for the Vandal/Vantage in the UK warehouse. When I had my Carnage I bought a load of spares from there to reduce the postage hit, spare arms, front, centre, rear gears, arms holders etc. Probably only used about 1/4 of what I actually bought over 2 years.

The main chassis plate might be worth upgrading to aluminium due to the added rigidity but don’t get caught into considering other aluminium parts. Aluminium doesn’t flex so you’ll end up breaking more and paying a lot more for it as well. The Vantage is the most robust of the trio (Vantage, Carnage and Bugsta). Stick to standard parts and you’ll be fine. Electrics on the other hand, if you’re running brushed the esc will fail very soon, it’s rubbish. Good news is the HobbyWing 1060 is an excellent upgrade and cheap. The servo is ok but you can get better. Power HD 20kg waterproof will outperform and outlive the Vantage. £20 from Hobbyking (£30 from most other UK sellers). I used it in my Carnage and then swapped it over to a very heavy Hyper ST pro with a big, heavy, very fast motor and it’s performing flawlessly.

Standard parts. You don’t really get ‘hop up parts’ for the FTXs. Search for Quanum vandal, it’s the same car only cheaper.

That’s interesting, these aren’t usually what brakes.

I think the most important question here has been missed. What are you intending to do with it? If it’s off reading then stick to brushed, the brushless cogging will frustrate and cause more damage. If it’s on grass/flat with hills or gravel paths, car parks etc then brushless will be more entertaining all day long.

My brushless Carnage ran for 50 minutes. My Brushed Carnage ran for 40 minutes. Most go for 4000kv, I went for 3200kv and found it fast enough. One major downside for brushless is the loss of smoothness at low speeds. Cogging is noticeable unless you get sensored but then they’re not waterproof. I didn’t need a programme card for my HobbyWing brushless combo. I’ve used the programmer for my Max 8 and Max 6 combo and it makes small adjustment but nothing major.

Totally get your point about keeping them charged. Often I want to spontaneously take them out but can’t as the lipos aren’t charged. By the time they’re charged the moments gone.

Why stay in nimh? Lipos are better in every way, longer battery life in particular.

I had pmd at the start about those knuckles. Was told they’re not for sale separately

This is all you’ll need. Amazing value. Shipping get be a bit expensive though but the good thing is the Vantage is the same car as the Hobbyking Vandal so parts are much cheaper. see what you need and order at the same time to save on postage. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/quanum-vandal-1-10-4wd-electric-racing-buggy-arr.html parts You’ll find the shock shafts for £1.26 so can stock up on a few bits. Just make sure you get them from the same warehouse otherwise postage will increase. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/catalogsearch/result/?q=vandal

@capri-boy I don’t work in a school but I know people who do. As you say anyone who thinks that teachers have it easy with all their ‘holidays’ time off during covid etc don’t really understand what the reality is. I wouldn’t be a teacher and take my hat off to those who are.

Thanks Nick. I haven’t worked in retail but I fully sympathise with those who find themselves offering free advice to people who then go and buy cheaper elsewhere. It grates me so I can only imagine what it must be like for those whose actual business it is. Covid times aside I have had nothing but a 1st class service from Modelsport which is why I continue to keep them as my main rc retailer.