Getting into electric, any suggestions?

[ChiefGeek]

I've been doing nitro for a few months now and find it a bit frustrating that I never have time to devote to learning and working on my cars so I'm going to sell off a couple of them, keep one or two, and get something that's always ready to go for when the wife gives me a day off I can run to the track without worrying whether my rigs gonna perform. I have no experience and very little knowledge of electric but doing alot of reading. Seems short course trucks are the rage nowadays but I really like the looks of the Losi short course buggy, looks like a load of fun and seems can be upgraded to brushless rather easily. But I don't want to make the jump untill I have explored some options.

I will be doing most of my running on my street and in my yard and of course anytime I find a construction area that's broken ground with dirt mounds and such. We have a local short course with small jumps (appears to be a typical short course) that I hope to be able to run on occasionally. So what I have in my head for innitial setup is:
XXX-scb
2S Lipo
light and tune kits

then upgrade to the sidewinder sct & 3800 kv kit once I get a feel for the truck and know I will be able to take advantage of it.

Any suggestions for the above or alternatives to it?

 

[slowngreen]

I know nothing about those rigs, not sure how durable they are. Even though everyone has one, a Slash is a great rig for bashing. If you can afford to step up to 4wd, its a night and day difference. 2wd gets old not being able to ever hook up.

 

[Jacknifejuv]

slash is an awesome truck for bashing had mine just over a month now and pi**** all over my t maxx , aint fired the maxx up since I've had the slash and just gone brushless I'm even more impressed I'm really impressed at the amount of abuse this thing can take aswell, just my personal opinion as havent run another sct rig , ( as of yet ) lol

 

[ChiefGeek]

I definitely understand the benifit of 4wd as my savage is nearly unstoppable. But something I'm looking forward to is simplicity. Kinda coming at this with KISS mentality. Will check out the slash too.

 

[robmob]

I think the Slash is a great rig. Mine has the velineon setup and I use it at the beach all the time. One upgrade I highly suggest if you get a Slash is the Proline steering kit. The stock servo mounted saver is a garbage setup.

 

[HPIguy]

ChiefGreek, I was in the same position as yoruself, looking to simplify my setup for maintenance reasons. The Slash is great, even in 2WD form with brushless power. But as mentioned above, without the right tire you'll never hook up, and with the right tire, it becomes a throttle management game to avoid wheelies all the time. If you're going to be racing a lot, the 4WD Slash is the hot setup. They're tough as nails too. I don't race anymore, so I have a Stampede VXL that is extended to 1/8 scale wheelbase / width. It's the ultimate bash toy IMO for just goofing off. Tough, easy to work on, tons of power on tap, waterproof, and wheelies on command never fail to make me giggle like a school girl.

 

[ChiefGeek]

I like the slash, cool truck, but that SCB has just grabbed my attention and desire. If I like this whole electric thing I may make that the next car to get. I have the cash on hand to buy the buggy so I think I will, but then have to produce the lipos and charger. Will likely just offer up my xxx-nt and gt2 project cars for sale or in exchange for a castle sidewinder SCT and a couple lipos if I can find any takers. Gotta get them off the shelf and snap some pictures and prepare the goodbyes.

 

[savagefan04]

I love my slash...simple and tons of fun. Best of all....cheap to maintain. Look for sale threads. Rollers are about 150-175 hopped up. Toss in a brushless set up and you have tons of fun.

 

[Chucksolo69]

I have an alternative, although the XXX-SCT is great out of the box, and the Sidewinder SCT will be as awesome in that as it is in my XXX-SCB buggy, I just bought an Associated SC10 RS for the same price as the brushed XXX-SCT and it comes with a brushless system already installed. Just a thought.

 

[ChiefGeek]

I have an alternative, although the XXX-SCT is great out of the box, and the Sidewinder SCT will be as awesome in that as it is in my XXX-SCB buggy, I just bought an Associated SC10 RS for the same price as the brushed XXX-SCT and it comes with a brushless system already installed. Just a thought.

I'm seeing $287+SH making it $300 ish. I do like that its brushless. Know of anywhere that's a little cheaper.

 

[CheckMyBrain]

I got my SC10 RS at towerhobbies.com It was $250 with a promotional deal that I am almost 100% positive is still going on and free shipping. And I used easy pay and made 3 easy payments on it. I don't want to start a slash bash or anything like that. I love this truck over my slash by far faster and more nimble on the track. Only thing I think needs upgrading out of the box is the axle pins in the hexes are not a solid pin, they are a hollow roll pin. Factory Team solid pins are only $4. The JConcepts Subcultures on the rear are great on both my local tracks, the front tires suck but they will get you started. I have just been amazed at how well this truck has held up through all the nasty crashes I have put it through.

 

[ChiefGeek]

I got my SC10 RS at towerhobbies.com It was $250 with a promotional deal that I am almost 100% positive is still going on and free shipping. And I used easy pay and made 3 easy payments on it. I don't want to start a slash bash or anything like that. I love this truck over my slash by far faster and more nimble on the track. Only thing I think needs upgrading out of the box is the axle pins in the hexes are not a solid pin, they are a hollow roll pin. Factory Team solid pins are only $4. The JConcepts Subcultures on the rear are great on both my local tracks, the front tires suck but they will get you started. I have just been amazed at how well this truck has held up through all the nasty crashes I have put it through.

cheapest i see there is the 300 one, maybe I'm missing something

 

[CheckMyBrain]

There is a promotional discount on purchases depending on how much you spend. It's $50 off purchase of $300.
Edit: Bah, it looks like the $50 off is no longer going on. That sucks, I wanted to buy an RC8 kit this week.

 

[ChiefGeek]

is this a good battery to get started with?
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl3300-2s1p-40c-2222-hardcase.html
Sky hard case 2S lipo 40C 3300
77P-SL3300-2S1P-40C-2222-HardCase

 

[CheckMyBrain]

We have a few guys that run the sky lipos and they like them for the price. I run gensacearespammers in my SC10, like most the other guys at the track. But a lot of them are switching to the Turnigy nanotech from hobbyking.com, cheaper than gensacearespammers and still ROAR approved for sanctioned racing. I am sticking with gensacearespammers. I like how you can unplug the charging leads out of the battery. I put 4mm bullet clips on my esc so it plugs directly into the battery

 

[ChiefGeek]

No idea about the clips yet, that'll be a whole new one to figure out. Think I need an ec3 plug or something but dont see that anywhere. Still trying to make sure I dont mess up and buy the wrong battery! Think I'm going to go ahead and order the SCB tonight.

 

[slowngreen]

Congrats. Post pics.

 

[CheckMyBrain]

You wont find a budget battery with the right connector on it. They usually all have a weird banana clip or whatever they call it. Soldering on new connectors is a piece of cake though. Battery selection is pretty easy. If you want a 2s lipo any of them will do. Your mah rating is your runtime. A higher rating will last longer than a lower rating. It will not hurt the esc. Going to high on voltage is what kills an esc, well that and heat. For bashing you will want a higher mah rating so you can play longer. Constantly monitor the temps on your motor and esc when you first get it to make sure they are not getting hot so you can get an idea of how long you can bash before needing to cool down, if cool down is ever required. My rustler needed a cool down every 15 minutes with a 3s lipo and never required any with a 2s. My sc10 never gets hot since I swapped out the motor and gearing. If you get your esc too hot it will die. If you overheat your motor it will lose its magneticity (is that a word?) and start losing bottom end power.

 

[ChiefGeek]

Spent hours reading about different batteries and by the time i ordered I wasn't paying attention and ordered a damn nmhi battery. Atleast the charger I ordered will do both. Ohwell, it'll do the job till I order a couple 2s lipo or maybe I'll wait till I get the coin to order the sidewinder SCT kit and order 3S. Regardless, the XXX-SCB is ordered, gettin the rockstar body. I called every damn LHS within 100 miles and no one had any. HobbyTown knuckleheads told me that losi high roller was the same thing. That and the fact that most stuff I buy there is over MSRP and weeks to get anything for my savage in means I'm done with that place. The people are usually nice (till you tell them you want a refund after a month of waiting for a part). Got an awesome place down town though that stocks insane amount of losi parts just very few vehicles so I should be set. I feel like a child waiting for xmas morning to come now. And I know since I ordered the battery, charger, and truck from 3 different places that I'll get them in days apart making me wait forever for one of the components.

 

[Jacknifejuv]

i was the same wen waiting for the slash was like a little kid lol , at least youve done it the right way . I've bought a decent nimh charger 3 high mah nimh batts now I've bought a brushless system and now need to buy a different charger and lipos lol