jtf8751

Hey guys, i'm kind of new to the RC hobby when selecting new technology RC cars. I used to be in the hobby when I was younger but its been a long time since I've had an RC, so with that said I'm looking for some advice. I've got up to around $700 to spend on a nice rc car and basically what I'm wanting to know is which scale do you guys think is the most fun? I would even be interested in the gas powered rc's. Just want to hear from some of you guys out there that have different scale cars. I am an avid car collector so I tinker in different things so it can be either nitro or electric but I am a speed fan and like to go fast. Let me know what you guys think. Send me your favorite cars in any scale and I'll take a look.

piddlefoot

Speed freak ay, well its brushless all the way buddy, everyone else knows what lm gunna say !

Get an Team Assosiated Truggy !
LOL
Or an E-Revo, blistering speed, just crazy, get 11.1 v batteries, now your doing around 100klm/h .....and will own any nitro out there......</p>

jtf8751

THanks for the info, but was wanting to know from other people also what the most fun scale is to buy. You saying the 1/8th scale from team associated? Anybody else?

firebird78

my favorite scale is 1/8th....my favorite platform is buggy....and I prefer nitro (like to tinker and love the smell of nitro)

everyone has their favorites for their own reasons...and everyone has a good legit reason for their favorite...the hardest part of picking A rc is deciding which one..

I mostly run on not so rough terrain... my buggy handles grass and sand fine but a truggy or truck would tackle tall grass, fine sand and rougher terrain better...lately my buggy sees track duty way more then anything else...I own a revo and a 1/8th truggy as well but they do more time sittin on the shelf then they do running...actually my truggy is basically still brand new (maybe 3 tanks through it..lol)...

I also own a 1/10th truggy and a 1/10th onroad....the 1/10th truggy is nice and less expensive but not as durable as my 1/8ths....the onroader I'm limited to smooth flat surfaces and all I got to run on is the street in front of my house...its fun to run at times but would get old if it was all I had to run

I've thought about buying something electric to play with in the winter months but it would never take place of my nitro...

jtf8751

Hey thanks man, appreciate it. I was looking at the 1/8th scale pretty hard but just wanted some opinions. I like to tinker also but I also like big speed so not sure if i will go with electric or nitro yet. I'm not a real big fan of the truggy's though they are nice. I like the fast cars and trucks I guess. But I can run on either surface, dirt/grass or flat asphalt surfaces. Probably get more speed on asphalt. Keep the opinions coming guys.

firebird78

if your looking for just speed and like nitro a traxxas jato is freakin fast right outta the box....I dont know about their durability first hand, I do know people that own them...they dont beat on em real hard so its hard to say how durable...one thing I dont like about the jato is you havta do some tinkering on it to keep the front wheels on the ground...I think its the fastest rc out of the box there is out there....but thats just a straight line drag race....a 4wd truggy or buggy should eat it up on a tight offroad track, but then again it depends on the drivers...

anything you buy you will need supporting equipment...so if $700 is your max budget I would look for something in the neighborhood of say $500 to $550...supporting equipment isnt that real expensive indevidually but it adds up fast

nitro

starter kit (a couple tools, fuel bottle, ignitor, ignitor charger)...I recomend getting a 5 cell reciever hump pack, and rechargeable transmitter batteries...after run oil, shock oils, air filter oil, diff oils, tire glue (comes in handy for alot of things)..a charger for the reciever pack (you will prolly want a fast charger)...spare glow plugs..misc tools, and of course fuel..

electric

spare battery packs, faster charger, rechargeable batteries for the transmitter...shock oils, diff oils, tire glue

SyCo_VeNoM

1/8th Off roading and insane jumps Savage X (or XL) Stock the Nitro goes around 40ish
there is also the Savage Flux which is brushless and I think goes around 50 or 60
I've landed(one of MANY bad landings) from a 25 foot tall jump front end 1st into concrete and broke nothing It actually just fell back on its 4 wheels and kept going. I've yet to break a part after around 40 REALLY bad landings. A savage will take a royal beating and keep coming back for more. It has the tendancy to wheely VERY easy if you slam the accelerator, it also rolls over pretty easy when turning (lower the suspension to help it out). The Savage X costs $409 at tower only part I'd say to add in is a skid plate made by RPM that costs $13 (side note do not look at the Savage X SS it is $50 cheaper but the included engine sucks, and is very problematic, I should know I got the X SS...)

Stadium trucks or a truggy (not a really huge difference) would be your best bet though if you want speed onroad and the ability to go off-road.

1/10th scale Nitros MT2's (they are Stadium Trucks despite being named MT(also some consider them truggies)) are pretty nice, 4WD, and can hit around 45 MPH or so (or if you look in the MT2 thread ppl modded em to go 70 at half throttle by putting a 1/8th scale nitro engine in ) there also super easy to work on and have a fair amount of room under the hood for tinkering. Costs $329 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSMG2&P=7 only things I would add in are the aluminum steering knuckles by GPM ($15 off ebay), and some onroad tires cause the offroad ones will get eaten up fast.


I'll be honest though I like 1/10th more mainly do to the vehicles being a tad smaller and easier to store. 1/10ths fit on my shelves vs my savage sitting in the middle of the floor till I can find a spot to store it. Also parts on 1/10th are generally cheaper if you need to replace em.

piddlefoot

Yea 1/8th is the tougher scale in general, and the most popular. Truggies. Cross between Monster Trucks and Buggies, Truggies, very popular, very fast, well the electric ones are...hahaha
Anyways, theresa heaps to choose from in the 1/8th scale.
l got hypers, team assosiated's, kyosho's etc, all good, my fav is the assosiated but...
Very tough and the assosiated have such a great steering geometry set up, very very rarely does it bind or stuff up.most impressed with em.

jtf8751

Awesome, thanks for the advice guys. Keep them coming. Do any of you guys have any asphalt race cars that you use onroad only? Just wondered about those. I like team associated stuff also.

jtf8751

Anybody else want to chime in? I think I will probably go with the 1/8 scale, but I haven't decided on electric or nitro yet. Also don't know what type I will go with, truck or car. Thanks guy.

jtnktz

My Feedback: (4)

I would honestly not depend on what epopel say online. There are many different types of R/C. From 1/18th scale to 1/5 scale. From RTR (Ready to Run) to Kit.
I own a 1/18, 1/10, 1/8, and a 1/5.
They are all fun in their own ways and is more of a personality thing.
If you like tinkering, DEFINITELY Nitro powered.

I would recommend going to an LHS (Local Hobby Shop) and talk to them. Ask if you can try some cars out. Take a look at them then you can decide.

It sucks to spend 500 dollars on a car to find out that you do not like then sell it for 300.

You want to make sure that you know what to buy.

Jeremy Z

I run all 1/10 scale, but I admit it is due to cost.

1/8 scale can handle taller grass and rougher off road better, but costs easily twice as much. Still, $700 is a good budget, and you could get into 1/8 scale for that.

In my opinion, electric is better than nitro for every reason. Speed, reliability, lack of noise, lack of pollution, no need to buy fuel @ $30 a gallon, no tuning needed. But I drove electric all my life, and I'm an electrical engineer.

Your best bets in my opinion are the HPI Savage Flux or Traxxas E-Revo brushless. They're both 1/8 scale monster/racing trucks, and are both capable of 60+ mph with 3S Lithium Polymer battery packs.

One thing I'd like to mention is that these high speeds seem really great to start with. But 60 mph is REALLY fast. At this speed, it is not fun for long. You're going so fast, all you can do is run up the street, slow down, turn around and run down the street. In other words, you'd only do speed runs. It gets old fast, and crashes are catastrophic. Plan on major damage to your vehicle, and maybe major damage to the vehicle you ram into. (e.g. parked cars)

If you really want to do this, you're probably better off with a brushless touring car. Something with a really low center of gravity and precise steering.

What turns out being a lot more fun is bash-racing at 30 mph max. Set up an offroad course somewhere and either compete with buddies or try to get the best time and best control over it. Put in a couple jumps to keep it challenging.

The beauty of the Savage Flux and Brushless E-Revo is that you don't HAVE to go 60 mph. You can gear it down a bit and use 2S LiPo packs for a top speed of maybe 40-45, but with a lot of torque and a lot of control. You can go on road or off. Grass doesn't slow them down much at all, as they have big wheels and great ground clearance.

The Savage Flux is a better value, but the lay-down shock design of the E-Revo is a little better.

In 1/10 scale, you get a lot more for your money, at the cost of a bit of offroad prowess on rough terrain. I went with the HPI E-Savage on sale for $210. Spend $200-300 more, and you could have a great charger and several sets of LiPo batteries for lots of run time. Plus some money left over for repairs, RPM bumpers, etc. Still very good offroad, as it is pretty big and 4WD. I was blasting around my mom's yard and street in the snow today, and literally stopping traffic. Everyone just had to see what it was, and it is just sporting the stock cheap brushed motors and cheap 6 cell NiMH battery packs.

Spending $680 in the 1/8 scale brushless E-Revo leaves you with no budget left over for extra sets of battery packs or spare parts.

SyCo_VeNoM

well Jeremy Nitro does have one huge benefit over electric. Run times a 5000mah battery lasts me about 15 mins. My nitro MT2 on a little fuel bottle will run for over a hour.

I'm not going to say ones better than the other there both a blast to me.

Nitro also is more for people who like tinkering. one major plus to me is when people see the nitro(or hear it) they usually stop and go WOW MAN THAT THINGS DAMN NICE. I've had people drive around the block and ask me about the nitros when they were driving by and saw it. I've yet to get that with a electric most times they don't even notice them.

But yea agree with most the other stuff you say.

Main reason I started with electric was due to winter coming , and me not wanting to risk damaging/screw around with my nitro engines

dudecat

Yep electric has its benefits so does nitro. I own both now but have yet to run my nitro. My mighty bull electric does awesome for a 2wd truck. Playing in the snow today was fun. I just need to get my starter for my nitro so i can try it out in the snow. Batteries are killers to either trucks. Fail safe are a must on trucks and i wish mine had them. No fun when your radio dies and your truck goes on its own warpath and you have no control over it. 1st timer i would say go for a electric truck. Most of them are cheaper and have alot of hopups. Brushless is the new thing so i would buy one of those. Motor last longer and run faster. Tamiya,traxxas,hpi,losi are great brands of trucks and have alot of hopups for most of there trucks. Really depends on your taste of trucks. I love monster trucks as they are big an can be fast. They also go pretty much where you want them too. Just my 2 cents.

Jeremy Z

Well, 1 hr. run time at 100% power is pretty damned impressive. Maybe worth some amount of noise & smoke.

jtf8751

Thanks guys, this is awesome, love hearing from most of you. Keep them coming. I don't mind going 1/10th scale if I like it. So tell me, how does brands like Team Associated, Losi, etc . compare to the E-revo and HPI savage? Are they worth spending the extra money on? Which trucks would you so go for with those brands or no? I love hearing the differences in electric and nitro, keep it going guys, good thread.So most think I should go with electric first? Well Jeremy does have a point about going fast in these things unless you really have a need for it on asphalt. Maybe I need to look into more of the off road car/truck. I really do like trucks though, cars I only like on the road. Any other opinions?

firebird78

I wouldnt totally depend on online opinions...but I would look into them....by going to your local lhs your not only going to be limited on what they mention and or carry...but you also risk the person behind the counter trying to sell something they make the best margin on...people at the lhs dont always shoot straight with you...and by asking for opinions on here you get multiple opinions...

yeah sure you need to support your local lhs (if you have one)...but that doesnt mean you havta buy everything from them...no matter what you buy you can shop a lhs for some things...

if I was to go to my lhs (which is 90 miles round trip)..I would be limited to traxxas only...sure there is alot of happy traxxas owners out there, I'm not one of them...not only do they only carry traxxas, but they are also super high priced....a gallon of fuel is $35....I can make a 250 mile round trip and pay $22 for a gallon, and save money on other shopping as well...thats just fuel, everything else is super high as well...

SyCo_VeNoM

Well the hour is off the 250cc tank fill up bottle on my 1/10th scale HPI MT1.9(MT1 heavily modded with MT2 parts), which has a 75CC tank that I can easily fill up 4 times and each tank lasts 15-20 mins with a nitro star t-15 engine(not a speed demon but it hits around 32-35 MPh which is perfectly suitable for bashing). A gallon of nitro fuel can easily keep it goin for over 12 hours. (side note I find the NitroStar T-15 extremely easy to tune, keep the tune, and highly reliable)

Now my savage X is a quite a bit more nitro hungry with its 4.6 and gets around 15-20 mins for a 160CC tank. It eats through Nitro at a little over 2X my MT1.9 but hell it is like 5X the fun though

But still I can keep it going as long as I got a nitro with a few seconds of downtime in between tanks. no pre-planning how long you want to run and how many batteries to charge. (unlike most I use AA's in my nitro's RX's so no pre-planning even there) When I usually run my nitros I usually run till my arm starts hurting from holding the controller

jtf8751

Well I love to tinker on engines and such but I'm not dead set on nitro or electric. I like to be able to change to bigger engines and see where I can create hp. But my lhs is about 50 miles from me and they are extremely high. We don't have any race groups here or tracks so I'm basically limited to racing with friends and such. But I do have access to parking lots and such. But i'm starting to think the monster offroad trucks and buggies are my way to go, probably more fun. With that said, should I stay away from the real competitive brands like team associated, etc? Keep the opinions coming guys. I want something that I can keep modding with engines, suspension, etc.Also, still think 1/10th would be better than 1/8? Also, what about RTR versus a kit? Thanks guys. Can't you buy nitro fuel online also? Hope you guys can answer all of my questions.

lez1troubles

((((KYOSHO)))) all the way if you've got the cash(which you have) try the mp7.5ve brushless(115KM/H out the box) or if you like to tinker and mod engines then try the MP7.5 MK3 with the GX21 engine, the engine can easally be tuned to become a racer(which it already is but can go alot faster). Seems how your old school you'll probably already know that Kyosho is world champion, and still is. Money wiselly spent is money spent on Kyosho,[8D] but then again if you just want to hand with the pack buy something from Losi or Mugan but what ever you do go for 1/8 scale. There tough as nails and really fast.
For the rest just have fun with whatever you get.
You could also just read all the info here on rcuniverse and get the first hand xperience from the different people here on RCU.

Straick

I have a HPI MT2, and it's a good car. Handles pretty good if you take your time to set it up right, but that goes for anything. I also have, and routinely beat up a Revo 2.5. More durable than the MT2 and able to conquer rougher terrain, mostly due to a torquier gearing and bigger tires, which give better ground clearance. I also run my Revo in the snow every year. All I have to say there is AWESOME. Been through kneedeep snow without getting stuck(at least until I ran out of fuel).
Also run an Evader ST(when I don't want to deal with nitro), and that's also a lot of fun. Upgraded the rear suspension mount the the pro version and the hubs and knuckles to aluminum. Now, runnint a 27t motor, it's darn near indestructable(have tried to break it a few times, and failed every time).
Every truck has it's pros and cons, and you have to weigh them yourself, taking into account where you plan on running them at, as well as support at your LHS. Good luck and keep us posted with what you choose.

Jeremy Z

Check out this thread:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9337359/tm.htm

I wrote a long post in it yesterday which answers some of these questions.

jtf8751

Thanks man, good info, thanks for writing something out like that. I think I want to go with a kit if I can. I prefer building my own car and I will know whats going on with it. But I haven't decided on electric or nitro yet, I'm not a total beginner, I used to be in the hobby years ago. I do want a good built, rugged, car. I don't mind paying a little more for a really good car but if I can save money then thats fine by me. I will be using offroad probably more, but may go to the street a little. Thanks guys. I don't mind choosing a Team associate, hpi, or losi, or even kyosho, just want some pros and cons of each. So lets go kit now, see your guys recommendations.

jtf8751

Anybody with other recommendations for kits?

jermainezey

when i run my nitro cars and truck i always use u the whole gallon of fuel every time i start the engine i drive and bash them the whole time i re fuel when the tanks get real low and i just refuel while the engine is running so i never have to re start the engine and they just keep going and going most time i end ready to bring them end because i been had so much fun that it be too dark to see em