Boost is ready for its close-up...

[i_r_beej]

I just purchased a body in an older colorway for half-price so I thought I'd doodle on it. Bonus point for you if you spot the reference to a DARPA Grand Challenge competitor. This is just prior to heading to a local indoor track for practice. It looked considerably less Shiny afterwards!

But hey, every gouge, kink, bend, and tear tells a story, right?

 

[WoodiE]

Good looking Boost body!

 

[rob5059]

It look good

 

[groove]

Very nice

 

[Austxhorn]

Looks good

 

[Turtle24]

Looks amazing man !! Nice doodling

 

[Turtle24]

How do you like the boost i am considering getting one, how is it for handling a track?

 

[i_r_beej]

@Turtle24 In the 80's I tarted with a Grasshopper, then moved to a Tamiya Fox, and finished my First Phase of RC on a Losi Jr2. So I've only ever driven 2WD buggies. For my Second Phase of RC I chose the Boost because it was one of the very few inexpensive 2WD buggies. I did plenty of research on the available cars but I favored what was available in my local hobby shops so it really came down to three: Helion Criterion, ECX Boost, and Arrma Raider. The Criterion and Raider seemed to have limited parts availability and the Boost, being a Horizon Hobby car had the best local parts availability in my area. Plus the car only ever got good reviews, seemed VERY durable, and had the best balance of features (speed, handling, etc.). The Spektrum DX2E radio and SR310 3-ch receiver were also a nice touch. Spektrum equipment seems bountiful (no doubt to it also being a Horizon Hobby brand) and the systems always seem to get solid reviews.

Bottom line? I LOVE my Boost. I've been to a local indoor carpet track a few times and have had a blast. The Boost is a typical 2WD, rear-motor buggy in that it has a very light front end and thus tends to push/understeer in turns. Take some time to experiment with suspension tuning (a little more spring pre-load at the rear) and change out the tires to something best suited to your track and you'll have a blast.

 

[Aiden]

@Turtle24 when people talk about cars in this price range, at least here in Australia, there's discounted Tamiya XBs for which you then need to go out straight away and buy bearings and maybe a couple more hop-ups, as well as a battery and a charger; and then there's the Boost, which comes with everything you need in one box and is ROAR legal, meaning you can start out bashing and progress through to club-racing, all on the one car.

They probably don't resell for super high prices but then I haven't seen any listed yet; but for the price you can't beat 'em. The Spektrum DX2e is a nice transmitter (very nice in fact, for a basic) and the stock gear is pretty decent. They have an excellent online community both here and elsewhere and ECX as a brand seems to be moving from strength to strength.

I mean if you aren't after a buggy, there are other options out there. But if you want to just cut your teeth, I don't think the ECX Boost is anything like a mistake. It's pretty darn fun!

Edit: And, in stock form it's bleedin' bulletproof. I have made so many n00b errors, and I was so sure it was going to punish me for them - - nope! It keeps coming back for more.



Edit 2 (answer the dern question edition):

...how is it for handling a track...

So far it's been great! It jumps flat (really flat) and it's good through the corners, the stock steering geometry helps out there. Although I will say, BigSquid joked that you could measure the stock servo traverse time with a sundial, and they're not wrong. It's slow. I mean, it turns well and fast enough for bashing, but there's a lot of pre-empting involved if you're going to drift successfully. It'd need upgrades to be a stock-class racer but not too much more than 17.5 brushless and ESC, LiPo, turnbuckles and a servo.

 

[i_r_beej]

Update since my last post: I used to think the stock settering servo was not responsive enough until I recently switched out the stock steering bellcrank/servo saver assembly for the RPM "servo saver eliminator" steering bellcrank and bought some AKA slicks. At my local carpeted "off-road" track the car would always understeer and push towards the outside of the turns. Now I can consistently take the inside line-- in fact, if I'm not careful the car will flip over! The stock steering servo has a claimed transit of .23 second for a 60-degree arc. I've got a Turnigy 1258 titanium geared servo with a .10 second transit on order. I have a feeling that it take me some time to get used to that!