Anyone know RC cars well??

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

Ive always wanted an RC car and have decided to get one. I was wondering of peoples opinions and recommendations....

I know zilch about these things any brands, models, cheap places to buy them from new, products, tips, anything would be appreciated......

Ive been looking at a Traxxas' T-maxx and race car lookin one??,

Is the Monster truck funner than the street cars??

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[joshpoints 10+ year member]

I was into it back a few years ago when I had time. Still own a rc truck and rc gas boat.

I personally would get an offroad racing turck or buggy. You can drive them both on and off road and build dirt tracks with big jumps for them. I prefer trucks.

I'd get a team associated T4 (it's a stadium race truck), this company is known for winning championships. You could also get an offroad buggy and I'd recomend the team associated b4. I like Hitec brand radio equipment. It's a decent price and I've had no problems with it. I recomend you get an fm radio because you get a lot more interference when you use an am radio. I'd also make sure you get the 27 mhz radio instead of a 75mhz radio. The 75 has more channel selection but the 27 mhz has greater space between channels and I find zero interference when you use a 27 mhz fm radio, whereas my 75mhz fm radio still gets a little interference. The vehicles I listed are electric. If you want a nitro which may be a little too complicated for a beginner I'd get the team associated rc10gt. There is also Team Losi brand vehicles. Their stuff is supposed to be good too. I liked Tekken speed controls but that companies out of business so I'd get either an LRP brand speedcontrol or Novak speedcontrol.

 

[RangerMan Premium Member]

If you want a T-Maxx, I'll sell you one cheap. It needs a new motor.

 

[Strecker25 10+ year member]

a trucks fun if youve got the yard or trail for it, a cars good if youve got the pavement for it basically it depends on what your working with.

if you want somthing thats ready to go, go for the traxxas. the tmaxx is a fairly easy truck to drive and its quite durable. The nitro 4-tec...which im assuming is the street car youve got your eye on is a different story...you will flip it over and over again and it might get frustrating the thing really takes some skill to drive. but even with that said its a rocket and a hell of a time once u get the hang of it

like josh said associated is a good quality brand to stick with..just be prepared to put some stuff together as with the traxxas its basically gas and go

btw, dont forget to break those little engines in! youll regret it if you dont it wont ever tune right

 

[j521baller3 10+ year member]

I have 3 cars and 2 trucks they are all great and i havent been up on the new stuff for a year but if you want to go fast allways go with a gas powered car or truck. team associated always has good products as well as hpi. when you get an engine go with a novarossi they are the greatest. Are you planning to race??

 

[Twista 10+ year member]

Go with the TMaxx. Great Truck. They are fast and durable, especially with the new motors. I have an older one with the smaller motor, clocked at about 45 mph. So, you still get speed. Although, I do have a lot of upgrades on it.

 

[Strecker25 10+ year member]

duratrax also has some good beginner RTR products...their st pro i believe its called comes slightly "modified" with more durable parts than the original including mostly aluminum drive parts. Good speed out of them too

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Unless you are going to race, I wouldn't bother with the race vehicles. The on-road cars are really cool but again, they are best suited for the racers and are of limited enjoyment unless you have a prepared track.

I raced both on and off-road and have spent a good deal of money on RC gear in the last couple of years. I am not up on the newest stuff as there is no racing here in MT, but a few recommendations:

The T-Maxx is a blast. I have one that has been my project vehicle for quite some time. The newer engine that comes on it is great. The radio gear is OK, not the greatest.

I can't stand Hitec gear. It is not reliable. I have used Airtronics, Futaba, and JR with excellent results, though.

27MHz is of limited use in the US because of the very limited number of available channels (6) as compared to 75MHz. I have both. I have never had interference problems on either band. I would go with 75 and FM. AM sucks big ones. FM is much more reliable.

Nitro requires a little more work to get and keep running and you have to buy fuel. That said, electric cars have a very limited battery life, and you have to let the motor cool between runs and recharge batteries. You are talking about 4-5 min of runtime every 1/2 hour. You will need a good battery charger, which is not cheap. With a nitro car, you only have to pull in to fill the tank back up, there is no cooling off period required. As long as you have gas you can keep going. Electric is easy, and I have one that I have raced extensively, but I like nitro much better. I have more money in my 3 nitro race cars (2 top-of-the-line on-road cars and one top-end off-road) than I have in my car stereo. I have nearly $2K in my T-maxx. It is very heavily customized and almost all aluminum.

I really wish that there were other racers in my area cause I really enjoyed the sport. I have 4 full blown race vehicles still and I hate to see them sitting on the shelf, but I have too much time and money invested in them to get rid of them. I'll move somewhere where there is racing eventually, and I can't forsee these particular vehicles ever being outclassed on the track.

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

Thankyou for all the replies...

Im going to be doing some shopping arounf before I buy one. Now I have a few options....

The T-Maxx seems the likely choice with all th eupgrades I saw when I typed it in on Ebay.

I would really like to get the car or truck new, is there places to get them fairly cheap?

Once again thanks alot..

And, the Nitro 4-tec was the one I was eyeing. I think Ill start with a truck and move to the cars.

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

Whats the top of the line pimp shit.....?

 

[ridered36 10+ year member]

I would recommend gettin a 1/10 scale truck. Start out with electric, and after you feel you understand things, move on to gas. Truck's are alot of fun. You can literally run them just about anywhere from dirt to pavement to grass....etc.

The brands I would recommend would be Losi and Associated. Traxxas is a great brand for a beginner, but spend the extra money on the losi or associated.

Just remember: everything in the RC world revolves around electronics, you get what you pay for.

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

taking notes...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

For what? Engines: Picco, Novarossi, RB and Sirio (all Italian BTW, RB is made in France but it is an Italian design)

http://www.unlimitedengineering.com for the shit when it comes to T-maxx upgrades. Hardcore Racing is only worth buying when it comes to Ti skidplates. All the rest of their stuff is over-rated and over-priced.

The JR R-1 was arguably the best radio out a year ago. I'm sure there is a new model out from them, but the R-1 is still more capable than most anyone needs.

For servos look to JR or Futaba. Airtronics is OK. Hitec is cheap and you usually get what you pay for. I have had terrible luck with them and I didn't race with anyone that would even consider using them. Buy one good servo that is half again as expensive as a Hitec, or buy 3 Hitecs so you have one to use while the other two are in for warranty repair and hopefully one of them will be back from repair (they take their sweet time) before the 3rd one shits the bed.

If you want a great nitro on-road car (only consider one if your plan to race seriously and there is a track nearby) look at either the Kyosho Vone-RR or the MTX-3. I have one of each.

For a nitro buggy the Kyosho MP-7.5 (I don't think that the new one is out yet but I'm not sure) is the most recent version of the car that has won the last 6 world championships. The Mugen MBX-5 is really nice, too. If you are looking at one of these go in knowing that you are going to have to drop $1k to get in the door properly. You will need the car ($400+), the engine ($300), exhaust pipe ($50+) the radio ($300 though you can spend less but why use a marginal radio on a top-shelf car?) servos ($200+, don't skimp here. If they fail, you WILL do some serious damage to a very expensive car), starter box ($100), at least one rechargable receiver battery and a charger ($50), and fuel ($10 per quart and it will take around 1 gal to break the engine in). These buggies are really quick and durable as hell. You will need a pretty big place to run one safely.

Go with a T-maxx to start with. There are custom parts out the butt for them and you can start upgrading it as soon as you get the itch for something more.

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

Try

http://www.towerhobbies.com

THey've gone down hill since the time when I was buying from them but they might have decent prices still. This place will be cheaper than your local hobby shop though.

 

[smokeoff 10+ year member]

where do you get the nitro gas for them?