r/c vehicles


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danieljardim

New Member
Anybody into R/C vehicles here?

Looking to buy something to play with my son. He is 5 years old, all the remote cars at the toy stores are fun to him but boring to me (too slow).

I was thinking about a buggy so I can play in the grass too.

Am i gonna be able to find something fast (electric) or gonna have to go to the gas car route.

Anybody?
 
vkamnev

vkamnev

New Member
I had quite a few back in the days. If this is your first - buy electric. It's much easier and funnier for beginners. Carbs need time and neighbors don't like them. Also, electric are, generally, faster but to get there is more expensive (check youtube, electric car was clocked at 200 km/h).

the larger you'll go - more fun your are going to have as larger models have more customization options. Have fun!
 
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ajskillz13

New Member
Talk to Jon Kerr... he raced 'em.
 
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pincushion79

Member
I have a Nitro Traxxas Revo and a Nitro Traxxas 4-Tec. The Revo is an on/offroad 4x4 truck, jumps curbs with the best of em. Used to pulled my kids around on skateboards with it. Done a few mods, titanium push rods, new suspension, air filter. Can do around 45-50. And it comes with a 2 speed transmission and reverse. Hauls ass in the grass, dirt, anything. Have taken it to a dirt bike track and it really likes to catch some air.

Now the 4-Tec, it is only a road racer. And a spotless road with no rocks. BUT, it is very fun and scary fast. Can reach 75mph. Only a 2speed tranny, no reverse. AWD.

I love both, but nitro is an EXPENSIVE hobby. With the price of the cars themselves, mods, and repairs... I've probably dropped a good 3K.

I've also had hot bodies, tamiya, and losi. But Traxxas won my heart. They are so user-friendly. Swapping out clutch, changing brake pads... so much easier. And you can find parts everywhere.

Fun fun fun though.
 
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RoadTrip

New Member
Traxxas Stampede with battery and charger runs around $200, parts are readily available. Be warned these things are very fun and you will jump them and break them, but that's the hobby fixing them back up.

I agree about the gas powered, they are really cool, but break easier (engine problems), and are noisy as hell (cool, but can bother others).
 

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MichaelInVenice

Lot of Class, Mostly Low
Elite Member
Friend of mine drives this one.

Not all that speedy and definitely nothing to race it against, but he's been training on it for a while and apparently it's been a good week.
 
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JonKerr

Senior Member
Elite Member
If you're looking for something to beat around and that you can kind of have him grow into, you can't beat some of the ready to run short course trucks. Things like the Losi TEN-SCTE It's expensive but it comes with pretty much everything you need except a battery and charger, and they're fast and can be raced if you decide to go that route. Plus 4wd is going to be easier for a newer driver to learn. These things in 2wd are hard to control if you make one fast.

I've raced off and on since I was 10. I got back into racing in 2001 and got pretty serious about it at one point. Mainly racing touring cars all over the place from San Diego to Riverside to Las Vegas and everywhere in-between back then. I ended up driving for Schumacher in 2004 until 2007. I've raced pretty much anything and everything. 1/10 scale touring cars on asphalt, rubber tire carpet, foam tires on carpet, 1/12 scale on carpet, 1/18 scale on asphalt and carpet, 2wd electric buggy off road, 2wd electric trucks, 2wd electric short course trucks, 1/8 scale nitro buggies, etc... I've probably had anywhere from 40-45 cars since 2001. Currently all I have is a Losi 22 that I've been racing once in a while at the local indoor off road track. Here's a few pics.

My current car. TLR 22.


My last touring car. AE TC5 just before I bought my bike in 2009.


AE FTT4.


My first touring car after leaving Schumacher in 2007. Serpent s400. I loved that car. But having to pay for stuff when you're not used to it sucks. Especially when you pick the most expensive car on the planet. lol


My last Schumacher car - MI3 and my Losi 8ight 1/8 scale buggy.




2007 JBRL in Palm Springs


2007 Reedy Race of Champions. My complete choking in qualifying stuck me in the E main. 43rd out of 100 was a horrible result in that class. :mad: But I got to take my picture with a hot girl. :D


This was the 2005 KO Propo GP




This was a test session @ a small carpet track in Oceanside with my 1/12 scale CRC Bloody Knife.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGUyfMj9kNw]Oceanside R/C Practice - YouTube[/ame]
 

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UselessPickles

New Member
+1 for short course trucks. They're a lot of fun. The 2wd Traxxas Slash is a fun and very sturdy truck. The entry level version of this truck (brushed motor) would probably actually be a better option for a young kid to learn on. It will be much more forgiving on the throttle than a brushless 4x4. It's also a very popular truck for racing, even in completely stock form.

Get a truck with a 2.4GHz radio. No more worrying about whether someone else is using your same radio frequency.

If your budget and skills can handle it, look into a 4x4 with a brushless motor and use lithium polymer (lipo) batteries. Lots of power = lots of fun = lots of opportunity for broken parts.

Don't get caught up in thinking you need something super fast. Realistically, 30-35mph is plenty fast. Much too fast for a small child learning to drive R/C. Above that, these off-road trucks become increasingly difficult to control, and more likely to break multiple parts when crashed. My truck is actually unstable above 40-45mph due to lift created by the body. It just flips over at those speeds. On most 1/10 scale race tracks, you'll never get above ~30mph anyway.

Unless you get something quite big and powerful (like the traxxas E-Revo), don't get your hopes up for running in the grass, unless it is very thin/low grass. Thicker/taller grass will slow you down a lot and overheat the motor. That said, a short-course truck will be able to handle more "off road" stuff than a buggy.

Your best bet for a fun place to drive is to find a local off-road R/C track. Driving an R/C car is much more entertaining (to me, at least) when you have a well-defined track to challenge your skills. My local track only charges $2/hour or $5/day for practice on non-race days: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L_-bNm2Wrs]Traxxas Slash 4x4 - First time at the track - YouTube[/ame]

Also be prepared to learn all about proper maintenance on R/C cars. They are miniature vehicles with wear items, pivot points/bearings that need varying amounts of maintenance depending on how rough you are on it (how dirty you get it, etc.), and screws/bolts that can work loose over time. You will break parts. You will be tempted with blingy anodized aluminum upgrade parts, but you need to realize that some parts should remain plastic so that they will break in a crash instead of something else that is more expensive or more difficult to replace. The initial purchase price of your R/C car is just the beginning. Be prepared to keep spending money if you want to keep driving it :)
 
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JonKerr

Senior Member
Elite Member
All very good points. The main reason I suggested 4wd is that I've seen some young kids get the idea of getting the fastest motors they can and throwing them in a Slash and not be able to control them. If they did that with a 4wd, it's a little easier to control. But running the stock brushless motors in a Slash is great for a young kid to learn with. Working on the cars is also a great point to bring up. That's the biggest reason I'm not a fan of the RTR trend. When I started back in the late 80's and early 90's (I was 11 when I got my first car) there were no RTR cars. You had to build a kit. I built my first car @ 11 years old and I learned so much building that first car and it's what hooked me into the hobby. I got most sponsors by being a setup guy and knowing how to build a car and build it well. Some people getting into racing now get RTR's and never learn anything about them. I've had guys who've been racing for a year on the same shock oil! That's something that a racer changes every couple of race days.
 
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danieljardim

New Member
Thank all you guys.

Phew, lots of information.

I don't plan to turn this into a money pit hobby. (too many bills to pay at this time) but if I can get a starter truck that I can beat up and down on the grass and driveway and make my son have a blast will be awesome. It doesn't have to go 50 mph but I can't take the Toys r us 5 mph battery cars.

I remember back in the days (in brazil) they had 3 remote control cars there were very expensive, very popular and kind of fast comparing to toy cars nowadays.





 
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roundhouse

New Member
traxxas short course truck. i still have my brushed 2 wheel drive and i got a brushless 4X4 also bought a couple of cheap knock off chassis from ebay and built a truggy and a buggy

look on "craig's list" for lightly used short course trucks. good starters. traxxas have everything you need, are tough and parts are readily available.
 
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danieljardim

New Member
looking online.

first noob question. what is a brushed and brushless motor?


what is a good size scale?

1/10 1/16 1/18
 
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danieljardim

New Member
ohkno!!!! now I want one of those.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfaPkfuYPFI&feature=related]Rc bike world 2010 - qualification serie 1 nitro - RACG - YouTube[/ame]
 
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bigddy263

Member
1/16 summit is the one ive been looking at, (for my kid...ahem). 1/16th scale, fast, 4wd, and should be able to handle some grass.
 

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JonKerr

Senior Member
Elite Member
danieljardim said:
looking online.

first noob question. what is a brushed and brushless motor?


what is a good size scale?

1/10 1/16 1/18
Click to expand...
1/16 and 1/18 scale are OK but they tend to break more often and you can run into electronics issues with servos that small. I would suggest 1/10 scale for sure. Like others have mentioned the Traxxas Slash is probably your best bet. Parts are everywhere, it's pretty bullet proof, and it single handedly took R/C Racing to a whole new level of exposure. As recently as 3 or 4 years ago, you NEVER saw "real" R/C Car commercials, and rarely saw them advertising on anything that got TV coverage (Team Losi sponsoring an Indy car about 20 years ago being the main exception.) But when Traxxas came out with the Slash and started sponsoring some of the CORR trucks, it took off like it never has before. Now Traxxas, Losi, Team Associated, all are sponsoring trucks in the Lucas Oil series, Supercross racers, even NASCAR. I was floored when I saw Kurt Bush with a Traxxas paint scheme on his car. :eek:

For the motor question, short answer:

Brushed - Old school technology. Lots of maintenance, (rebuilding the motor by pulling the motor apart, putting the armature on a lathe and turning the commutator, replacing brushes, etc...) Cheaper initially but they don't last as long and like I mentioned, they need a lot of maintenance to keep them running properly.

Brushless - Newer tech, almost no maintenance, use much more sophisticated electronic speed controls to handle the much more abrupt power delivery. More expensive but they last way longer.

Pretty much everyone uses brushless now. I actually did some of the test driving for Novak back in 2004 and 2005 when they were trying to get their brushless systems more racer friendly. If you want to long answer, I can give you the basics but even that is more than you probably need to know. ;)
 
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danieljardim

New Member
found this website with some really affordable stuff. I don't know if they are good or not. what you guys think and what should I get.

BananaHobby - 1:10 4X4 High Speed Electric Powered Radio Remote Control Monster Truck

BananaHobby - 1:10 Rally Monster Pro Radio Remote Control Electric Powered Off-Road Truck

BananaHobby - 1:10 HSP 94107 XSTR RTR High Speed Electric Powered Radio Remote Control Off Road Buggy

BananaHobby - 1:10 Red 4WD Rally Team High Speed Electric Powered Radio Remote Control Off Road Buggy
 

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UselessPickles

New Member
danieljardim said:
found this website with some really affordable stuff. I don't know if they are good or not. what you guys think and what should I get.
Click to expand...
Don't buy any of those. They don't even specify a brand name. Good luck finding replacement parts for them (locally or online)!

Find a local hobby shop (or a couple), go visit them, and see how many parts they carry in stock for various brands. When something breaks, you want to be able to get replacement parts. Also, when you just need a couple small parts, it's rarely cheaper to buy online due to shipping costs. Even if it is a few bucks more at the local shop, you get your new part today instead of waiting 3-5+ business days.

I bet you'll find that Traxxas parts are very easy to find locally. They are most popular for people that just want to have fun with R/C cars, while some other brands are more focused on racing. That means that Traxxas vehicles are often more durable than some other brands, because they're not focused on making the lightest/fastest racer at the expense of durability.


As for the scale size to go with, I would recommend 1/10. Any smaller than that, and you'll probably be disappointed at how easily the car gets stuck on terrain that you want to drive on. Also, smaller vehicles are more twitchy and require quicker reaction time. This is due to the fact that while you can scale down the size of a vehicle, you can't scale down the effects of gravity. Gravity not only affects how the car flies through the air, but also how it interacts with the ground (traction, suspension, steering, etc). The result is that a small vehicle looks like a scaled-down vehicle in fast-forward, which is what gives it the toy-like appearance in its behavior, and requires lightning-fast reflexes to correct problems before they turn into a crash.
 
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