Tornado 3 – GT Race – Xxtreme Apexx – MG Areo

Which race buggy do I choose? (2012)

The Question was raised on a https://www.racekites.com/ UK Forum,

I answered the question with:-

  •  With the GT Race , MG Areo and Apexx, you (can) buy the whole package, ie race boards, 3D mudguard and as many extras as you want to go
  • With the T3, GT and Apexx, you are getting a made to measure buggy, the Areo comes in two sizes and is a production buggy.
  • With a T3 you are supporting a UK buggy builder, and if you are able to pick it up save a fortune on shipping costs
  • The T3 is standard mill finish, (as the stainless comes from the supplier, the side rails are shiny though, and 50mm diameter but thinner wall.
  • The Apexx is ceramic bead blasted for an all over matt finish
  • The GT is also bead blasted, but has an option for an electro polished version too
  • The Areo is electro polished

 

The most expensive is the Apexx, but behind that you have a guy with years and years of perfecting the race buggy as we know it today, and most other race buggies out there today and copies of the Apexx in design. He has made well over 400, and you rearly see one for sale on the secondhand market…if you did buy a 2nd hand Apexx, unless you are the exact size of the orignal pilot, you will not have the benefits this buggy offers, it would be like wearing someone elses suit. When you order an Apexx, you will be asked how you ride, all sorts of measurements will be wanted, the chassis will be built to your frame….not just adjusting the inside rail dimension, the swan neck will be made for your height….a 5’5″ pilot would not want the same swan neck a 6’8″ pilot would need…..these are the details that XXtreme put into their made to measure buggies, more so than other buggy makers. That is why when you recieve a Apexx made for you, it will already be almost perfect….if you buy a 2nd hand prodution buggy, to get that buggy to a similar balanced state, you will have to make many adjustments to fine tune it.

When you hear pilots say, oh I tried this, and I tried that buggy, and this one was better, that is not a fair comparrison as those buggies were all not made for the same person….the one that he says is best, may have been best suited or fitted to him, the other one he tried may have been someone who was 3 stone heavier than him, so of course the buggy will handle totally differently.

I hope you get the point I am trying to make here…..there is a world of difference between a truely proper made to measure buggy and one that isn’t, and anyone who says otherwise has not experienced the difference…..put it this way, I have built 50-60 buggies I perfected the frame around my body, yet I am riding a made to measure buggy by someone else and very happy to do so

  • The GT is very strongly built, again Martin Faber knows his stuff, and is continually pushing the boundaries
  • The T3 is a proven race buggy mainly used by the UK pilots, I know Trikbits well, and he has provided a superb service to the UK racing scene for years with affordable race buggies.
  • The Areo, is also a strong race buggy, has everything, and the cheapest option out of all the quality race buggies out today, less than £1500 delivered.

 

That is all you really need to know, the balance and feel of a buggy is a personal thing than can be adjusted to suit to make all three wheels brake the same and run a good line…..I will say this though, Look at the top 10 places from previous world championships….see if one buggy stands out more than another.

See Tuning and Tweeks
I am not biased to any of the above buggies, I am not sponsored by or sell any of them either. I am just giving my unbiased opinion