Is On-Road taking over?

[OldRC10er]

Hi

I am starting to get back into RC (have the time again). I have an old RC10, well the only things left are the shock towers, shock bodies, and a-arm mounts. The cars seems competitive but there just don't seem to be as many people. Is On-Road taking over? I even looked at a couple RC mags lately and they seem to be devoted to On-Road. Is this a seasonal thing with on and off road?

Thanks

[atm92484_3]

The original RC10 has been discontinued for a good 8 years. If you look around, you'll see other, updated versions (including the extremely popular RC10GT gas truck), are popular on these boards. Offroad racing is still popular, but I think onroad/touring car racing is growing in popularity due to less track maintaince, along with the ease of setting up a course in a parking lot, and the fact that they look like real cars.

I've had my GT for 3 years though and I love it; its just a matter of what people prefer.

[redsmurfhat]

It is somewhat seasonal, as it's a lot easier to run indoors during the winter, but there has also been a major trend change toward on-road racing it seems. I myself have never run a sedan, but have seen the races, and don't understand the fascination myself. IMHO off-road is just much more exciting!

[Oyster]

Start your own class! An offroad car is quite fun when set up for on-road. With some small changes, you could be racing on road courses too! Racing is racing!

-jon

[Nutter]

It does seem like on-road is starting to take over unfortunately. :( I'm not a fan of on-road either.. it's quite boring and mundane to me, there just no real action to be had on a flat track.

What atm said above as to reasons are pretty correct, although the maintenance of the cars themselves also seems to plays a big part of it from what people have said here before (not much dirt & dust to clean on on-road cars).
There's also far, far, far more manufacturers of on-road cars, so you have a greater variety & more competition, and this is probably why most r/c mags seem biased towards on-road now - there's more advertising revenue in it for them.


-Nutter

[TRXboy]

You guys havent noticed the Increadably popular T-maxx and E-maxx have you? Or the increasing amount of High quality R2R 1/8 buggys(somthing deemed unsutable for newbies only a year ago) off road is not loseing anything, now with the TTR, Duratrax, And tamiya truck out, it will be Huge.

[Poolboy51]

That's true, but I'm not sure how long this MAXX fad will last.:eek:

[extremetmaxxer]

i think the maxx fad will last a long time but we wont be driving the maxxes, i think the maxx is and will be outdated but it will remain a "maxx" class

as for the onroad thing........i hate on road its boring you cant catch air, if you accedentaly hit some one your considered a hack, every one seems kinda uptight about it too. theres no dirt and im a big boy that likes to play in the dirt!

[WHITESTER1]

Tourning Cars are getting more popular for a few reasons. First they can be raced either indoor or outdoor fairly cheap. So that means they can be run all year long. Second, the tremendous amounts of different bodies that can be purchased. Anything from a PT Cruiser to Honda Civic's. I have seen some really nice NON race Touring Cars, with sideview mirrors, tailpipes, and chrome rims. They look so real as compared to full sized cars. I think Touring Cars (onroad) is only going to get more popular.



Extreme, you better not sell your XXXS until AFTER the Indoor Canadian Nationals. I'm counting on you to let me run it, so I can run both classes! I know you won't sell it on me. No matter how much you HATE onroad. I agree with you extreme, those guys I race with are quite intense to say the least.

[OldRC10er]

There is less cleaning with on road but the set ups seem to take the fun out of it (after viewing a race or two). It appears you pull out a bunch of templates and stuff tweaking every little thing. Actually a bit intense if you ask me. Off-Road seems more fun, you can get away with a basic set up with a tweak here and there and have at it. I go racing as much for shooting the breeze with fellow racers as well as race. If you spend all your time tweaking the car you seem to loose the interaction IMHO. As all things there are exceptions. I suppose you could have a group that spends all their time at one track therefore wouldn't need as much tweaking till the course is changed. But, if Off-Road dies, guess I'll have to get a TC3 or something.

[Fafnir]

I started first racing off road and now I do both and really do enjoy both. I think off road racing is a lot more fun to watch, but both are equally as fun to drive.


**my opinion - do both, it means more time spent driving and more race classes to enter :)

[MaxRC]

Last year I raced both off road truck with my RC10-T3, and on-road with my RS4 Pro.

This year I'll be racing with my RS4 Pro3 for on-road only. I'm putting up my RC10-T3, and may even consider selling it.

For me, I can identify with on-road racing a lot more. I've always enjoyed watching touring car races on SpeedVision, and love the concept of high powered 4WD cars tearing through some corners.

On-road cars seem to be a lot more sensitive to the conditions, as mentioned previously. When I used to race my RC10-T3, you essentially found out what the hot tire to use is, and ran that for the entire season. As long as your suspension isn't too much out of whack, you got around the track fairly well. The main thing seemed to be having the right motor, gearing, and enough juice. Driving, of course, makes up 70% of the equation.

With on road it is a lot more complex. I spent 1 hour last night dialing out the tweek in my chassis. Turns out one of my shocks was built .02 inch than the other three. I had to use a caliper to do the measurement. After I was done, I almost laughed at myself for how rediculous it seemed. But it does matter, and I've got the tire wear to prove it.

As for why on-road cars seem to be gaining popularity in general, I think it has a lot to do with how quickly new kits are offered, and the number of offerings on the market. How many competitive stadium trucks and buggies are there on the market? Two manufacturers and 4 models covers it. But when you look at touring cars, you have HPI, Associated, Losi, Yokomo, Schumacher, Serpent/X-Ray, heck even Tamiya and Kyosho have a decent design or two out there.

And the rate of new vehicle release is also faster, with a new car released every 6 to 12 months. How old is the RC10B3/T3 and Losi XXX/XXXT?

Another point that I think can't be ignored is the ease with which a shop can setup an on-road course. It takes a lot of time and money to maintain an off-road track. I am lucky enough to live close to a really nice one. An on-road track can grow outof a parking lot. Many shops can have "agreements" with the mall or plaza management company to use a "non-frequently-used" section of the parking lot to hold races during off-peak hours.

Lee Cao

[Got Speed]

I don't think that on road is at all pushing off road out. The maxx's I don't think will be one of the biggest selling trucks for very much longer. All though I do think that the monster truck class will last forever and that the maxxs started a monster truck class that most tracks didn't have before.

On road is nice because of lower track and car maintanence.
IMHO off road is more fun though.

[extremetmaxxer]

forgot to say ultimate class 1/8th buggy! last year i didnt race cause im afraid of those things! the raw surging power slides. the insane rooster tail fromt he start. the utterly monsterous jumps they can take!

well theres that and then even better .21 supermaxx class! lol

also (IMO) i think that onraod r/c is boring but put your self in a real car and go racing now that excitment!

[fmolzer]

I don't get it. Why does one form or racing need to push out another, different form of racing? Do the different categories compete in any shape or form? I like both, I race dirt more for fun. Anyone, even the most hardcore sedan racer can't deny the thrill of jumping and racing an off-road truck. And to you off-road purists, have you ever tried true on-road racing before you judge it? The speed, the precision that goes into these machines and the driving itself, to me it is the purest form of racing. And unless you have tried it, don't hack down on it. (And I mean really tried it, not just bash a sedan on the local carpet track during practice). Off-road might be more entertaining to watch, but go to a real on-road track the next time they hold a larger event in nitro sedans or 1/8 scale On-road and then tell me honestly that it is boring to watch these cars do battle at speeds of 70 Mph or more.

Guys, just learn to get along with each other, if I race off-raod that does not mean that your interest in on-road is challenged in any way. (And the other way around) Just keep having fun and do what you like, OK?

My 0.02$

[Fafnir]

Well said fmolzer, I do both, I think it is fun.

[redsmurfhat]

Are we not getting along? I thought everyone was being very civil towards one another! I myself have never raced on-road, and said so in my post, so I don't have an opinion on that. I think that there is room for every kind of RC racing, including boats and planes! From what I can tell, everyone is just doing their best to answer OldRC10er's question.

[WHITESTER1]

Yeah I don't understand what fmolzer was saying. I thought everyone was acting in a civil manner. I race both onroad and offroad, Losi XXXS, XXXT, XXXNT, 1/8th scale and Tmaxx. WOW! That's alot of racing HUH? LOL. I constently lap extremetmaxxer. It is quite fun. Naw seriously, we have some good battles when his tmaxx is running. LOL

[fmolzer]

Sorry guys, did not mean to fire you up. I just read these threads about people endlessly being more obsessed with hacking on what other people likes to do and thought that I could sense some of that within this thread too, I just saddens me that there seems to be so many out there that don't get that the coolest thing to do is just go do your own thing. Focus on your fun and don't tell anyone else what he or she should think is fun. I did not mean to jump on anyone in this thread as much as I wanted to express my own opinion that all R/C is fun. I am into planes too for that matter, love the park flyers.

Over and out.

[redsmurfhat]

Yeah, my wife does the plane thing and I got "stuck" with the cars ;) . I'd like to get a nitro boat one of these days as well, since I'm moving to Hawaii soon, but I imagine that a lake would be MUCH better than the ocean. That salt water has got to wreak havok on metal parts, plus it would have to be of a fairly large scale to handle the waves! Yeeee Haawww!

[Poolboy51]

I think they should start doing river boat racing! that would be fun!:cool:

[extremetmaxxer]

yea me and whitey always have good battles! like the time up at niagra on the lake that was pretty cool.

you know starting to think about this and mabey im starting to not like rc all together. its scary btuthe more i think about it the more im starting to distance my selffrom my cars.

mabey i need to se an rc shrink? oh well ill always have my supermaxx to jump over me.

whitester are you gonna go to the micro racing? i need to force my self to go. mabey i can bring a micro jump?

also i thought we were being civil. actually i havnt seen a thread being this civil before! lol