For Next Sand Car - School Me

dunesteve said:
Wow ^ that sea grass thing was so inspirational. Have to check it out.  🤗  Not.
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They aren't all this tight; but you get the idea.  Fast forward to around 55 seconds.  Again I apologize if this got OT; I will bow out now to keep it on topic.....

 
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dunesteve said:
Funny thing is, I spent my entire career playing by the rules and law and not spending more than I made . And paying my fair share of taxes . Now for years the /our government has been spending recklessly. Spending more than it takes in. By the tune of 34,000,000,000 that's trillion. 

I guess no big deal. We own the printing press. 
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This is why old guys shouldn’t drink and internet at the same time. I can only imagine what he’s done on Facebook today🤦🏻‍♂️. 

 
dunesteve said:
Funny thing is, I spent my entire career playing by the rules and law and not spending more than I made . And paying my fair share of taxes . Now for years the /our government has been spending recklessly. Spending more than it takes in. By the tune of 34,000,000,000 that's trillion. 

I guess no big deal. We own the printing press. 
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You forgot a few 000's! 

34,000,000,000,000

:lol:   :dunno:

 
On 1/26/2024 at 2:40 PM, Dockmaster said:

I really want to find a reason to go to Funco. I love the way they look, the quality reputation, etc. But I don’t know if I’m buying the whole, “you have to make it wheelie argument” . Every video I see out there is like this one. Every time you see him hit the throttle the front end comes up:

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That's Mike.  I've duned with him, and he REALLY likes to wheelie.  It will still put the power down without pulling a wheelie...

He just chooses not to. :biggrin:

 
Rockwood said:
That's Mike.  I've duned with him, and he REALLY likes to wheelie.  It will still put the power down without pulling a wheelie...

He just chooses not to. :biggrin:
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Thanks for bringing it back on topic, and confirming what I was saying about Funcos.  When you see one doing a wheelie it's because the driver *wanted* to.  When you want to put the power down, they do...

-TJ

 
IMHO Alumicraft is money well spent (a bit biased, but you'd be surprised how unbiased I am). Ive never driven a funco but have sat right seat in a couple on a few rides. High dollar 2 seat cars with giant piston punishers on them making north of 1200hp. It really showed me what those cars can do in the dunes. They turn on a dime, slide very well, and are a blast to ride in. But they will not drive through a brick wall like my Alumicraft will. They aren't meant to. All comes down to what you want to do with your car. My car handles extremely well in tight dunes, but can run whoops the size of a medium child at 90mph. It can't do 360 wheelie time, nor do I care for it to. In a perfect world, I'd own my car for baja/dirt and long runs in the dunes, and a small 2 seat funco hustler with a K24 or J35 and a big nagasaki noisy boy on it and an S4 for fast dune runs. One Day

DSC_9817.JPEG

 
tjZ06 said:
Thanks for bringing it back on topic, and confirming what I was saying about Funcos.  When you see one doing a wheelie it's because the driver *wanted* to.  When you want to put the power down, they do...

-TJ
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LOL. Funny part is even when you go to race him at the drags, he'll wheelie and wave at the crowd. :rofl:

We were swapping a belt on a downed SxS and he spent the entire time pulling wheelies off a lip in the middle of a dune.

 
acefuture said:
IMHO Alumicraft is money well spent (a bit biased, but you'd be surprised how unbiased I am). Ive never driven a funco but have sat right seat in a couple on a few rides. High dollar 2 seat cars with giant piston punishers on them making north of 1200hp. It really showed me what those cars can do in the dunes. They turn on a dime, slide very well, and are a blast to ride in. But they will not drive through a brick wall like my Alumicraft will. They aren't meant to. All comes down to what you want to do with your car. My car handles extremely well in tight dunes, but can run whoops the size of a medium child at 90mph. It can't do 360 wheelie time, nor do I care for it to. In a perfect world, I'd own my car for baja/dirt and long runs in the dunes, and a small 2 seat funco hustler with a K24 or J35 and a big nagasaki noisy boy on it and an S4 for fast dune runs. One Day

View attachment 95542
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I think I mentioned earlier in this thread my Potter was basically a copy of an AC.  It was a 2 seat, big cube NA LS and PBS car.  Anybody that ever drove it was always shocked how well it handled and how fun it was to dune.  It could also charge the whoops and really take a beating.  For a do EVERYTHING car I don't think an AC can be beat.  For a pure duner, Funco.

-TJ

 
Rockwood said:
LOL. Funny part is even when you go to race him at the drags, he'll wheelie and wave at the crowd. :rofl:

We were swapping a belt on a downed SxS and he spent the entire time pulling wheelies off a lip in the middle of a dune.
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Sounds like my buddy with that little Buckshot Bullet with the Turbo Ecotec.  The dude just can't sit still at the hill, or on a beverage break etc.  When everyone else stops, he's always finding something to jump/wheelie/slide around the whole time. 

-TJ

 
tjZ06 said:
Sounds like my buddy with that little Buckshot Bullet with the Turbo Ecotec.  The dude just can't sit still at the hill, or on a beverage break etc.  When everyone else stops, he's always finding something to jump/wheelie/slide around the whole time. 

-TJ
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He will learn the way.

 
Great to see this thread back after douchebag hijacked it. I was hoping mods would have removed his posts but no big deal, moving on now. 

So after much input from many, including the info here, I've gotten off the notion that I have to have a mid engine to avoid a wheelie machine. This is good as it opens up my options. So my list is currently Alumicraft,  Funco or possibly SU. My only slight hesitation with Funco now is that some have suggested they can have challenges in the whoops. I'm told with the right shocks and tuning this is likely not a major issue. I'm not looking to run the Baja or spend lots of time blasting over whoops. However, we do have some transition roads in the Oregon Dunes that are a mile or so long that are all whoops. You have to use these to transit from one dune area to the other so I can't avoid them. I am also curious about the advantage or disadvantage of the rear width on a Funco. Do you gain that much with the 102" width over the 96" or 98" wide cars? I would like to stay 98" or less to avoid having to get an over width trailer. As a comparison, the newer AC cars are 98" wide. It looks like the Funco GTF/GTX is either 96" or 98" depending on shocks. A GTF might fit the bill and there is one currently for sale that is on my list of considerations. 

I'm not interested in owning multiple cars so I'll find the best all around car that suites my needs and go with it. If that means it is not ideal for some situations then so be it. 

I am currently planning on going to G for a day in the middle of the week after Pres. weekend. Some folks on the Board here have graciously invited me to hang out with them and let me ride in their cars. I'm very much looking forward to doing this. 

I have inquired on a few cars for sale but nothing that I've pulled the trigger on yet. I'll wait until after my trip to G. There are obviously more Funco's out there for sale which is good. I have talked to a few AC owner's considering selling but have not yet come across a later model car for sale. Building a new AC or Funco is still an option as well. I inquired with SU if they are building new but haven't received any reply as of yet. I did locate the current owner of that off white SU we discussed about earlier. The one with the single large turbo. He said he would sell but based on a brief exchange it sounds like he wants way more than I would be willing to pay. It's not really what I'm looking for anyway so no big deal. 

Please keep the input and suggestions coming!

 
I am a big fan of both Funco and AC; but I would still check out SCU.  The new owner is producing some fabulous cars IMO.

 
1newbie said:
I am a big fan of both Funco and AC; but I would still check out SCU.  The new owner is producing some fabulous cars IMO.
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OK I'll have a look. I know I looked at their website or FB page or wherever they are listed and there wasn't much info there. I'll have another look. 

 
Dockmaster said:
So starting to think about my next sand car build or purchase and would like some input please. I’ve owned two BFD Revo mid engine cars. Great cars, no complaints. I’m ready to move up into a higher level car but my first issue to decide is do I stay with a mid engine car? I’m thinking I should as I like the slot car handling feel and more importantly I have no interest in a wheelie machine. I’m sure there are rear engine cars with awesome handling but what about the wheelie issue? I’m thinking somewhere in the 700-800 hp range likely so are most rear engine cars going to be difficult to keep the front end down? I only a need/want a 2 seater if that matters.And I’m referring to both on flats and when pulling a larger hill. 
 

And if the answer is to stay with a mid engine, why are there so few mid engines offered? 
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Mine makes a little over 700hp,  

468 CI,  NA, is no maintenance

 
Dockmaster said:
Great to see this thread back after douchebag hijacked it. I was hoping mods would have removed his posts but no big deal, moving on now. 

So after much input from many, including the info here, I've gotten off the notion that I have to have a mid engine to avoid a wheelie machine. This is good as it opens up my options. So my list is currently Alumicraft,  Funco or possibly SU. My only slight hesitation with Funco now is that some have suggested they can have challenges in the whoops. I'm told with the right shocks and tuning this is likely not a major issue. I'm not looking to run the Baja or spend lots of time blasting over whoops. However, we do have some transition roads in the Oregon Dunes that are a mile or so long that are all whoops. You have to use these to transit from one dune area to the other so I can't avoid them. I am also curious about the advantage or disadvantage of the rear width on a Funco. Do you gain that much with the 102" width over the 96" or 98" wide cars? I would like to stay 98" or less to avoid having to get an over width trailer. As a comparison, the newer AC cars are 98" wide. It looks like the Funco GTF/GTX is either 96" or 98" depending on shocks. A GTF might fit the bill and there is one currently for sale that is on my list of considerations. 

I'm not interested in owning multiple cars so I'll find the best all around car that suites my needs and go with it. If that means it is not ideal for some situations then so be it. 

I am currently planning on going to G for a day in the middle of the week after Pres. weekend. Some folks on the Board here have graciously invited me to hang out with them and let me ride in their cars. I'm very much looking forward to doing this. 

I have inquired on a few cars for sale but nothing that I've pulled the trigger on yet. I'll wait until after my trip to G. There are obviously more Funco's out there for sale which is good. I have talked to a few AC owner's considering selling but have not yet come across a later model car for sale. Building a new AC or Funco is still an option as well. I inquired with SU if they are building new but haven't received any reply as of yet. I did locate the current owner of that off white SU we discussed about earlier. The one with the single large turbo. He said he would sell but based on a brief exchange it sounds like he wants way more than I would be willing to pay. It's not really what I'm looking for anyway so no big deal. 

Please keep the input and suggestions coming!
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Those slow whoops transition roads suck in ALL cars if you are doing them at a safe, reasonable speed.  Even an AC is going to suck on a whoop road at like 20 MPH... and you're a McPen@s if you're doing 50+ down those narrow transition roads so you just have to deal with it.  

The type of whoops like you get between Roadrunner and Duners my Funco does great, I can run 5th pretty hard the whole way down.  Even the whoops at the bottom of Olds are fine if you're willing to run them hard 'nough.  Still occasionally you get the "Funco hop", it just happens.  

I believe @Grant@Funco offered to meet you in the dunes and give you a ride/rundown on the cars.  That is your best bet, TBH.  I spoke to Grant before about narrow vs. wide cars, but I'll let him speak to it than go from my recollection or opinion. 

-TJ
 

 
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