Readers Choice Awards 2001

Radio Control Car Action, Jul 2001

YOU CALLED IT!

The people have spoken, the votes have been tallied, and the 2001 Readers' Choice Awards results are in!

This year, we've divided the vehicle categories into "Nitro" and "Electric, and there's a new category-fuel. This is the logical outcome of the growth in popularity of nitro vehicles; you can't run a nitro car without fuel. Familiar brands have returned to some of the top spots while others have been dethroned. Did your picks win?

ASSOCIATEE

Even before we divided our Truck category into Electric and Nitro, Associated's T-machines reigned supreme in your voting. It's the T3's third term in office as your favorite, and it shows no signs of slowing down. With Team Built and Factory Team editions now part of the T3 line, it's clear the Associated T-series still has legs as the most consistent vehicle-- category winner.

2 Traxxas E-Maxx Team Losi Triple-XT

TRAXXAS T-MAXX

Right now, the Traxxas T-Maxx is nitro trucking. The only thing the T-Maxx flies off faster than big jumps is hobby shop shelves, and it seems everybody has a T-- Maxx. The aftermarket took notice almost immediately, and the T-Maxx has become so popular with the option parts guys that you could build an entire T-Maxx with only a few original Traxxas parts left in place! From "out-off the-box" beginners to seasoned racers running modified trucks, everyone has embraced the T-Maxx. First place in the Nitro Truck categoryanybody surprised? prised?

2 Associated Factory Team RC10GT

Team Lost Triple-XNT

ELECTRIC BUGGY

TEAM LOSI TRIPLE-X

Last year, Team Losi dethroned the Associated &series buggies that had ruled our Readers' Choice Awards since its inception in 1996. The Triple-X is back in the top spot this year, but more than one machine now wears the "Triple-X" badge: Team Losi has added Dirt Spec and Kinwald Edition models to the line, and it's the Kinwald Edition we show here. Can Losi hang on to top Associated's four-year run? Only time will tell, but in the here and now, the Team Losi Triple-X is your choice.

2 Associated RC10 B3

Traxxas Bandit

ASSOCIATED TC3

The TC3 is the first touring car to hold down the top spot for two consecutive years. Given the numbers of them we see at the track and the huge aftermarket support for it (need proof? Check out the Ultimate TC3 in this issue), it's no surprise that you voted it number one again.

2 HPI RS4 Pro 2 Traxxas 4-TEC

KYOSHO INFERNO

Does an IFMAR 1-scale World Championship victory-wait; make that five world champi

onships-affect Readers' Choice votes? Can't hurt. But even if those Worlds wins aren't why "MP 7.5" was penciled in more often than any other nitro-burning buggy's name, it's easy to see why it came out on top. The solidly constructed, race-proven, innovative Inferno series is the benchmark for 1/8-scale performance and your choice for number one.

2 Kyosho TR-15 OFNA Ultra GT LX

TOURING/ON-ROAD

HPI NITRO RR4 Rc4-RACER

Nitro touring cars owe much of their popularity to the huge success of the Nitro the Nitro RS4 Racer 2 is the most race-ready kit to roll out of HPI. Features su( length suspension arms, Pro 2-style upper braces, purple-anodized chassis witt screw holes, graphite upper deck and fiber disc brake make it easy to see why favorite for piston-powered touring action.

2 Traxxas Nitro 4-TEC IGS Racing Sonic

MOTOR

TRINITY D4

Surprise! ... well, not really; you guys pick Trinity every year! Last year, the D4 won the "Innovation" category while the P2k took the motor win. This time, the D4 moves into the motor slot. It's definitely feature loaded: replaceable matched magnets, pure copper endbell, triple surface-mounted capacitors, wind-specific armalures, crinkle-finish heat-dissipating can ... you get the idea; in fact, you get the idea so well that you voted the D4 number one.

2 Trinity P2k

Trinity Green Machine 3

AIRTRONICS M8

Most of us buy a radio and stick with it for a few years. That probably explains why the M8 has won for four years straight! Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's logical and easy to program, stores more models in its memory than you have on your shelf and allows you to adjust everything on your car except the paint job.

2 Hitec Lynx 3D

Futaba 3PJ

TRINITY MONSTER

This is the first year for the favorite fuel category, and you voted Trinity's Monster Horsepower as the top lifegiving liquid for your nitro rides. According to Trinity, Monster Horsepower fuels are blended with 99.9 percent pure methanol and nitromethane and include a 12-percent blend of synthetic and castor oils for long engine life. All we know is it makes our nitro engines run well, and apparently, you feel the same.

2 Dynamite Blue Thunder O'Donnell

TIRE

PRO-LINE MASHER

Yawn ... another year, another Pro-Line off-road tire in the top spot. Hey; this category might not be exciting from a who'sgonna-win standpoint, but the tires are always cool. This time around, the Masher series in general (and the Maxx Masher in particular) pulled down piles of votes, and that makes sense, since RC these days is all Maxx, Maxx, Maxx. ProLine's revamp of the old Masher tread has brought new performance to the bar-tread tire concept, and if you have a monster truck, a set of Maxx Mashers or Masher 2000s is one of the hottest upgrades you can make.