HPI firestorm

[Sarah]

Hi,

I was thinking of breaking into the world of nitro buggys and found the HPI
firestorm which looks like a good starter buggy.

I'll be only "bashing" it on gravel\grass not racing it.

I was just wondering how good a starter buggy it is ?

Will it be expensive to maintain ?

on my list to buy with it is:

glow plugs (os)
glow starter
nitro bottle
nitro
after run oil
some form of rechargeable battery ? for recevier ?

is there anything else I might need straight away ?

Apologies for all the questions but would be thankful of some advice.

Also I was thinking of making it rotostart as opose to pull is this a easy
modification ?

Thanks

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

The Firestorm "will" go in grass but wont be the best thing if you plan
on riding in grass quite often. Its only 2 wheel drive plus lacks ground
clearance. I would go the little bit extra and get like the AE Mini GT
3.0,4wd, has good clearance, plus has reverse and a good top-speed.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

OH just DONT buy traxsux product the parts on most of their stuff is
weak they just good at marketing and buying the writers at RCCA. Ive
owned all major brands traxsux being the worst.

[Black Dragon]

This is my first post to this newsgroup, hi folks!

Post by QUAKEnSHAKE
OH just DONT buy traxsux product the parts on most of their stuff is
weak they just good at marketing and buying the writers at RCCA. Ive
owned all major brands traxsux being the worst.

Care to substantiate that claim?

I just got back into Nitro RC after nearly a decade and a half out of
RCing. My son and I both purchased Traxxas 2.5 T-Maxx's recently. He has
run a couple gallons of fuel through his and just I ran half the break
in procedure last night before it started raining on mine. He's pounded
on his pretty hard his and has yet to break anything, it is still totally
stock.

Seeing how my boy is a two year apprentice in the plastic mold making
industry and I'm a well seasoned veteran CNC machinist and journeyman
tool maker in the same industry as well as being highly mechanically
inclined, we're both more than qualified to identity what and what not
is junk.

Although the Traxxas T-Maxx's are lacking in some areas, they surely
don't suck by any means. Out of the box they are a great truck for the
price. Being out of it for such a long time after having a few Kyosho
1/8 scale 4wd buggy's (Turbo Burns / Infernos - early '90s) I was fairly
impressed by the quality of the components and workmanship of these
reasonably priced RTR trucks.

If someone is thinking about taking a stock T-Maxx out and racing it
of course it's going to need much improvement in reliability and strength
and there are plenty of aftermarket as well as Traxxas products available
for the task. For just kicking up the dirt for the sheer fun of it, I don't
see the T-Maxx's needing much beyond aftermarket control arms / steering
blocks, drive shafts and shocks. And the FIRST thing that needs to be done
is add a fuel filter ASAP.

Do I think there are better products for the money available? Perhaps.
Just getting back into the hobby I haven't found them yet, however, the
local hobby shops seem to support Traxxas and Duratrax very well so it'd
be pretty difficult for a noob to go wrong with those products since
support is more important than the product itself for a beginner.

Now, again, care to substantiate your apparently erroneous claim? Or are
you just going to spit more sour grapes? With you being a webtv subscriber
I believe I know what to expect...

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Re: HPI firestorm

For just kicking up the dirt for the

sheer fun of it, I don't see the T-Maxx's needing
much beyond aftermarket control arms / steering blocks, drive shafts
and shocks.

See you just proved my point. For just "kicking-up the dirt" a person
shouldnt need anything extra. For comparison my Duratrax truck didnt
need a thing aftermarket wise to be able to routinely jump 10-12' high
to flat landings. T-maxx shocks are known to pop the caps so Big-bores
are in order. They too are known to have weak arms thats why RPM arms
are the prerequisite solution for that area. The original Maxx was
plagued with weak bulkhead braces.

HPI Savage & AE MGT & MMGT are a few that, strength wise, are much
better than the Maxx line.

As far as my ability to judge vehicles I base that off of having been
CONTINUALLY in this hobby since 1986 with hundreds of hours racing,
thousands of hours practicing and just kicking-up the dirt. Seeing
thousands of collisions on the track what brands can take a hit and what
cant. Running On-road, Off-road, Nitro, Electric.
Owning AE, Kyosho, Tamiya, Duratrax, HPI, Traxxas, XTM, Losi, Monogram,
OFNA brands.

Many former traxxas owners agree once they try other brands. Ive seen
it quite often. One is going from a maxx to Savage the Savage is so much
stronger able to be hit harder bash without breaking. Then many disagree
have great experience with traxxas thats just fine.

[Black Dragon]

Then many disagree have great experience with traxxas thats just fine.

I'm one of those people who thinks Traxxas offers a fine product for the
money and it's unlikely my opine will change. So we agree to disagree.
Such is life on Usenet. :)

[igotit]

ive been bashing since 1988,ive owned plenty rc,just about every majo
name brand out there,my first traxxas was in 1992,it was a great truc
then,great truck now!
i agree with you about the 4wd option.sarah i also recomed extra ai
filters with any nitro you buy.nitro need a lot of attention,if you
climate changes a lot,you will have to frequently adjust you fue
settings,to compensate for air temperture,and humidity levels .im a
electric man myself,but i enjoy running nitro from time to time.nitr
engine also require a ventilated inviroment ,no indoor use,also you can
run it a 3 am unless you have no one living close to you...lol

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[igotit]

you have any proof to back up that claim QUAKEnSHAKE

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