hank03

OK... I haven't had an R/C car in about 15 years, I am thinking about getting one for my kid for Christmas but I don't want to get him a piece of crap from radio shack... he's only 5... OK its for me as much as him (I want something I will enjoy bashing around)... Will I ever race it? probably not competitively... He may when he gets older.

I have it narrowed down to the Traxxas Rustler VXL primarily because the ESC has the 50% "training" setting... If out of the box it does 35 mph, will it actually cut it back to under 18mph?... and can he destroy it at that speed?

What does the controller look like?... Is it "durable"?... Is the antenna replaceable?... He has a couple other remote control devices and they have either bent or broken antennas (he's 5, what do you expect).

Thanks in advance for you guidance...

jatoman1992

iTrader: (4)

the VXL is the way to go. 20 MPH is my guess but if you want it to go slower just get a smaller pinon gear.

he wont "destroy" it unless he hits a brick wall head on at even high speeds.
the normal rustlers are tuff, the new VXL is even tougher.

the antenea is easily replaceable. u just unscrew it and screw in the new one. the stock remote would be fine for anyone.

losiboy

I took my boy racing for the frist time on sat he has a xxxt that I add rpm front bump to to protect front of the truck an the truck came back with no broken parts I all so use a M8 for his radio (ebay 100.00$) gives more control good luck

LosiSpeedDemon

my first truck was a stampede and i drove the wheels of it litterly remember to glue your tires if there not pre glued and i dont know much about the new traxxas stuff but if its anything like my stampede was its almost impossible to break and when/if you do its ussually pretty cheap to fix i think the most expensize parts are the electronics and maybe the chassis
have fun and good luck

hank03

Thanks guys... I think Traxxas and Rustler are the way I am going to go, but would you do the VXL or the cheaper XL-5 (I bought a real car a few years ago and opted for the cheaper 4cyl, regretted ever since)...

Is tower hobbies the place to get it from or is there any place that may provide excellent service at the same or better price?... Tower's website seems easy to use and there "recommended accessories" section makes it look idiot proof (good for a newbie like myself).

glassdoctor

iTrader: (4)

You won't regret spending extra to get the VXL. The brushless is more efficient (better runtime) faster (more fun for you) last "forever" in r/c terms. Buy it.

It's MUCH better than a stock Traxxas Titan setup.

kavvika

iTrader: (16)

If you can afford it, get a VXL without a doubt. And whatever you do, don't get the Tower Hobbies recommended NiCd battery and timed charger.

party_wagon

iTrader: (29)

Yeah, if you get the vxl you will need to spend a good $150 on a charger and lipos.

kavvika

iTrader: (16)

^ No you won't. A quality 6-cell NiMh like an EP4200 or GP4300 will be just fine! Make sure it's SxS or rebuild it on you own.

hank03

What Charger do you recommend?.... and I hope its not a stupid question but what does SxS mean?

NiMH is fine for now... I don't need LiPo... in the end this is still for my kid (I'm "trying" to slow it down a little)

jk racing

iTrader: (20)

SxS means side by side, versus a "stick" pack, where 3 cells are lined up head to tail. For your 5 year old, and bashing around the house, stick packs are fine, no need to go side by side.

streetracer745

i would say the VXL is the way to go. amazing power for dad. and tune it down for junior. and is it durable? yes. amazingly. you can do basically anything to it and it wont break. radio. they arent too expensive if he does break it(which i doubt he will) and the antenna is replaceable. only cost like $3 maybe?

party_wagon

iTrader: (29)

You will want to go with lipos as they are the most cost effective long term investment. If you purchase nimh cells expect to spend money on a balancer, charger, and batteries if you expect them to last. When you put these packs in to hobby grade r/c cars you demand a lot out of them so you have to take care of them in the right way. The most frustrating thing in electric is when you have worn out batteries or motors that don't work. Lithiums and brushless fix pretty much all of these problems. If you don't want to invest $450 or so in to one of these then this is what I would do.
Pick up a kyosho rtr mini inferno//half 8 off of ebay, you can find these for $100 shipped. It has been a while since I ran one of these so i am not sure of what hop ups these cars need to be durable, but you can invest less then $60 into these cars for these hop ups. Right now you are sitting at around $160. Then drop a bl system in it which runs for around $110. Then pick up a lipo & charger for another $75.
You can find out a whole lot about these cars at this site.
http://halfeight.com/
These cars are very durable, will provide you with long run times, you can adjust the throtle trim on the controller so that your top end is as much as you want. With a milder li//bl setup these cars will go 30 m.p.h. I would think you could get a complete setup for under $350 new.