my 2 cent...
After playing around with the cup racer for last 2 weeks, I can confirm with Ching above
As standard it's good for fun, and having just finished a TA05 the quality of material and finish of hpi is way better than starstar.
Spec:
Hwing 9T BL motor
35A ESC,
Sw**p 40R tires,
210mm wheelbase,
4mm wheel offset.
First I know the 9T is way too fast for the car, manual recommend a 30T but you never know until you try. I've only tried the the can at Jordan valley, which by the way is amazing. I can't tell you much about the handling as this is my first 1/10M, and most thing is adjustable as standard, so you can set it to what you like understeer, oversteer and extreme oversteer like me But as with most M cars its turn in is sharp...may be too sharp for jordan valley...
Parts wise, I haven't had any problem finding replacement parts. I know there isn't much parts for the cup racer at KWS, but I use a HK online store and all replacement part I need is there. And if you've seen me at jordan valley, you will know from my crashes I needed many parts And as for upgrade parts...its very limited, unless you go to the US sites. Like many Ching said before, if you want a real racer go for a vmii or 211 whatever. But you are looking at paying double the price of the cup racer (kit to kit, no body), I got mind at KWS for $8XX without body. I couldn't bare seeing the 240z being destroy
There is only one problem I see wrong with the cup racer, that's the silliest thing I've seen in rc design...that's to mount everything on the top deck ??? Everything means Battery, servo, radio, and esc. And there is no way to mount it any other way, this makes the C of G so high it wants to roll over at every corner (note w/ a 9T motor). I've tried stepping down to a 13T but still roll roll roll, I have just put a 540 motor in today so we'll see.
In conclusion, my opinion is that this is a great car to start with if you never played rc car before or just starting to getting into track driving like me. It can teach you a lot about car setup, as most angle are adjustable as standard. There is also many bodies you can choose from, the kit give you a million different options for mounting body post as standard, also you can switch between 210mm and 225mm wheelbase to suit. Yes the M05 is cheaper, but since I haven't had a chance to play with a M05, I can't compare the two. (maybe some kind Ching is willing share) My cup racer has got me so fired up, I've just bought a T3 which has about a million more adjustment to play with. |