XRAY - Model racing cars

There is nothing wrong with the truck. It handles very well and capable of winnig every race, xray just dont enough good team drivers at the right places. I usually race the 808 and one time i loaned the XT8 from a friend for a race, without even working on a setup for the praticular track and me, and i won by almost 3 laps ahead of other brands trucks. I also work with our drivers and watch them at races, their trucks never seem to be inferior to other brand trucks. Bottom line, the truck design is not the problem, but the lack of drivers.

We have to look at the bigger picture as the XT8 is a great chassis & rates in the top as does the 808 etc its just down to the day. The other teams pay there very top guys phone book number salarys who job it is to just race 3-4 four days a week minimum testing & developing.
We would all love that but there is only so much money in the pot, so us other mere mortals in the real world have to keep a regular job if not two just to make ends meet to afford to race the amount we do, testing also comes in to that for the team.
It can also come down to publicity & how we promote our successes how big or small & a podium is a podium how big or small the event.

Xray / Hudy is its own company & growing fast , its not supported by other multi million dollar companys unlike some of the other manufacturers, so I have great respect in what they achieve & do.

Bren

Spot on and well put Mr. Ralls.

From my perspective, having just gotten into the XRAY brand, most former bashers like me are intimidated by the higher price of the Xrays and most, again like me, do not feel they "need" a professional level race car to have fun with Radio control.
Im the StLouis area there aren't many RC track to go to when you are just learning and not yet good enough to enter races and compete even at club level races.
I feel the like of Losi, and Team Associated have a greater presence at the track because of their low entry level pricing and RTR setups. To a guy who doesn't have a lot of money to start with, these RTR's are very appealing. Some guys have the notion that Xray is like buying designer clothing in that Xray is a name only and not superior equipment. That they can get equal results at the track with a cheaper setup. I disagree.
I let my friend drive my XT8 at the track. He owns Team Associated equipment and does VERY well with it. After driving my XT8 he exclaimed how smooth it was and how great it handled in comparison to his equipment.
So, Xray does have a superior product. I feel it is only the price point that inhibits most new racers from owning one. It took me several years to see the light that paying the extra for the good equipment DOES SAVE in the long run.

The RC hobby in general is sorely lacking in promotion. Every little kid who sees my RC equipment has a thousand questions. Most ending in how much and where can he get one. I have no doubts that the Team Xray drivers are as good or better than any other team out there today. And I am supremely confident the xray product is superior in every way to the competition. I feel more promotion and advertising would greatly increase sales of the xray brand. To include testimonials from the dedicated and staunch users of the xray products.

Glad you liked it.
As a UK team we are as proactive as is possible around the clubs its just hard to be everywhere. Advertising & promotion we do what we can but is often hard writing about a result if your 5,6,8th so is not always a news story but against the field your racing could easily feel personnally as a win. On Xrays defence they always print what we send, i guess we need to do more as team drivers on reports.

I wasn't implying anything towards the team drivers' effort in reporting or promoting this hobby. Just watching you guys is promotion enough on your part. Seeing a proficient driver on the track with just about any RC vehicle is a sight to behold for someone like me who can't yet do it as good.
My ideas for promotion would need to come from the guy who holds the purse strings and who would pay for TV advertisements and perhaps even an info-mercial on the benefits of Radio Control as a hobby for the kids. Agreed that a small company can only do so much. I think the XRAY branding is a total success within the industry. Anyone who knows RC cars gets wide eyes when you tell them you just bought a new Xray.
In order for this brand to be seen more at the track, I feel this brand needs to be on the tip of every enthusiast's tongue. Either for a really cool TV commercial, or some type of giveaway contest that stirs up a buzz in the RC community. I see the ads in the RC magazines, but they do not reach off the page and grab me and demand that I investigate further.
In closing I feel they need to reach those who are NOT familiar with RC and get them interested in Xray rather than some entry level pile of frustration that could inevitably drive them away. Iknow if I had started out with an Xray initially I would have had a LOT more success and TONS upon TONS more fun on the track.

I used to think the same way but it wasn't that long ago xray was off road European champion and thinking back, it wasn't the basis for me buying one.
What I did notice was the 808 got a massive response from just being a great buggy,losi sold great for the same reason (lets face it, it was revolutionary) before any big names were attached.
Hotbodies D8 is world champion yet I see more 808's than D8's at the tracks and I've yet to hear anybody that is on the market for a new kit make price a priority at all, let alone the highest.

I like that xray is determined to put out an honest product and not just market it to appear to be the best by buying up full time drivers and spending millions to put the brand in your face at every turn.

I think xray are striving to have the world beating ride that anyone can drive (not everyone can drive a losi) and has no obvious shortfalls like durability or setup issues. Xrays are already crowned best quality, it's just a matter of time to be crowned the fastest.