SA80/L85A2, ICS or ARES?

[I love Airsoft]

hi there wondering which one of these is better and in what way. Would be very useful to know every ones thoughts and experiences on them such as range, rof, features, quality and feel. Thanks for looking

[timski]

Re: SA80/L85A2, ICS or ARES?

To be honest i use a ICS SA80...i LOVE IT!!!! its just bomb proof...only mods i have done to the internals is putting a M120 spring in it. The range an accuracy is amazing (use heavy weight bb's like .23 or .25)..the ROF is good on a 9.6v but i use a 11.1 lipo and it makes it that extra bit awesome. Quality is incredible and the feel is like the real steal. On the other hand, Ares new L85 with the metal gearbox has some great write ups on it, it is more realistic than the ICS in terms of build, and also feels like the real steel (although it feels to be missing something). It all depends on what your looking for, if you want a good all rounder with amazing internals go for the ICS but if your after realism for that "gucci" look, go for the Ares. Hope that helps

[Darkmikey22]

Re: SA80/L85A2, ICS or ARES?

i currently own the ics but did own the ares (star) version too. i found that for looks etc the star version is better, but if your wanting to *afghan* it i.e the rail at the front then i suggest the ics as it takes sum modding to fit it to a star l85. plus ive never had a problem with my ics one were as for my ares, i loved it at first but then after a few monthes found little niggly things going wrong with it then the gearbox snapped as it was the old plastic one. plus the ics takes seconds to get to the gearbox and seconds to change the spring etc. all i can say really is, is it depends on what you want to achieve with it. if you want box standard then i would say ares specailly now it has a new reinforced gearbox and its high quality externals. but if your looking at modding it internally and externally then i would highly recommend the ics.

just my 2ps worth

[tisane]

Ares

Accurate in every way extremely good replica of the RS and shoots very well too.
Won't take anything but RS or Hornbill RIS
Take down is the biggest pain in the chuff in an airsoft gun I have ever had the displeasure of owning.

ICS

Nearly as accurate as the Ares, but not quite.
Takes all makes or RIS RS (with hornbill adaptor) Hornbill and Madbull.
Takedown is as simple as removing the two TMH pins and splitting the reciever.
Horribly noisy Turbo 3000 motor right next to your ear
And certainly benefits from a barrel and hop rubber upgrade.

Other than those differences the two are about the same in terms of their overall quality.