Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Land Models / February 2005

Go with Mugen, easy to drive, work on, robust and the spare parts are
cheaper than Kyosho or Serpent, oh and unlike the Serpent the handling won't
go to pot as quickly as the suspension wears. The current car is MRX4 but
you can get some great deals on second hand MRX3's, a friend of mine got a
rolling chassis with engine, pipe and enough spare parts to make another car
and still have spares to run them all through the whole season all for
£200GB, no the engine wasn't dead, it was just rebuilt with new bearings and
rod.

There are a few cosmetic differences between the two cars but mainly the
changes were to give the car a bit more turn in and reduce drivetrain drag,
which is why the Serpents and Kyosho's shone over them in corner speed last
year (it took Serpent and Kyosho two years to get there!).

BMT aren't in the market anymore but there is Picco(seems to be mainly
Europe) and a few other manufacturers that seem to stick to the states and
the Pacific area (China, Hong Kong Japan etc.) I have no experience of them
and the only Kyosho I have seen running was Dave Spashett's. It goes well
enough but I have no idea of what Joe Public would make of the build
quality/handling and strength of the car, knowing Kyosho it should be easy
to build but given the quality of the Readysets (RTR cars) that i've seen
Kyosho may have lost their way.

Oh and for an engine don't get a Sirio, I reckon they still need another
year of running to get longevity out of their motors, they produce good
power but at the expense of the engine lifespan. When they first came out
(2002) they would produce good power for about 40 minutes of track racing
time and then require rebuilding (not just bearing and rod but usually
piston and liner as well) they also used some nasty fuel that was specially
blended (turned black in the tank after 30 secs of running!), we tried one
on Tornado and Runner-time but it just couldn't produce the power. Novarossi
are a good known brand as are Picco now they have got their carbs sorted,
Serpents' Novamega range are rebadged and tweaked Novarossi's and JP is
another good make derived and built from Novarossi parts.

Chris

there is only ONE >>Serpent<<  that's worth a damn. stick with what you know!
IMHO Serpent's are the way to go @ the 1:8 scale on-road level!