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Noob needs Christmas help

Noob needs Christmas help

Old 10-10-2009, 10:52 PM
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Default Noob needs Christmas help

OK, I'm a bit of a research-a-holic. I've already been reading quite a bit on the forum and on the manufacturers sites, downloaded many videos. Here's my goal, let me know how I've done. My kid has a toy RC car, and loves it. Picked it up at a yard sale and he immediately started thinking about jumps and speed and all sorts of fun things to do with a new toy. Talking with the wife about Christmas presents, I'm looking to get two inexpensive quality cars. He's never had a real RC car (and neither have I for that matter).


We live in MI and it's bound to snow soon (maybe we could run them on the packed snow and ice), but we have laminate floors over the entire house.

We've got a fairly large yard that's full of grass, and a long (150 ft) asphalt driveway.

In the summer we frequently go to the beach.

Oh, and we live on a dirt road.

So...I'm not looking for a street car, I'm looking for something more robust. Monster or Stadium Truck.

I'm considering on of the Losi Baja's. Seems nice that they come fully packaged. However, I've also noticed that both baja's are discontinued. Why? Were there problems with them. They can still be found online, but I'm yet unsure if that will void any warranty or if there's a better option available now.

From the videos I've seen, they should hold up to jumps. Will the both hold up to medium height grass and weeds (we don't have any dirt patches, but there's a corn field out back we could use before they plant)?

Can I get the sand tires for the monster and stadium versions? Will they both hold up the same.

I'm not looking to upgrade soon (don't laugh...I don't have the bug yet), but have read that there's an abundance of upgrade and replacement parts (this is important to me).

Will I have any problems with the controllers if I get two identical cars?

What other brands/models should I consider???

For a father an his 7 year old son, how many batteries should we have for 2 cars, and be able to play for quite some time? I've read that the batteries only last about 10 minutes.
And that a charge takes about 2 hours. Yikes....

What's the top speed on these cars on blacktop?

What spare parts should I get...weak spots? I'd rather be prepared.


THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP...I'll warn you in advance...I really appreciate the assistance, but it's probably going to spark more questions.
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Old 10-11-2009, 02:41 PM
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Researching is never a bad thing! I'm the same way.

Losi discontinued the Bajas because VW went after Losi for making VW Bug bodies. I'm not sure which Baja you are talking about though because there was the Micro Baja, Mini Baja, and the Mega Monster Baja.

For indoor fun 1/18th or 1/16th scale is the largest you can run and still have fun. And even that is too big for small rooms. At the same time these smaller vehicles are horrible for grass and extremely rough off-road like an unplowed cornfield. Even low 1/10th scale trucks are bad in these conditions.

So first you have to decide what is more important to you - running inside or running outside on grass and rough terrain.

For indoor fun and outdoor asphalt and dirt fun 1/18th is the way to go. Losi's Mini-Ts, Duratrax Vendetta or Vendetta ST, or Team Associated's RC18T or RC18MT are good choices. I have to say I have a Mini-Baja (like a Mini-T, but with a different body and body mounts, faster motor, and better electronics, and an included rechargeable battery) and I love it. I like it even more than my Vendetta ST.

Traxxas 1/16 E-Revo and Slash are also awesome minis, but they're not the cheapest or smallest. And the brushless versions are way too fast for indoors.

And then there is also the Tamiya Tamtech buggy series. They are very fun and awesome looking, but they need a few upgrades (motor and suspension) to make them fun. For your son he wouldn't need a new motor right away. The good thing about these is that you can get them on eBay for about $70 and the only things you need are AA batteries for the trasmitter and a rechargeable battery for the car.

If you want to go for extreme off-road and grass then you will be looking at 1/10th scale. I don't know how much you want to spend, but there aren't as many inexpensive options here. You can look at the Losi High Roller or Traxxas Stampede.

Let us know how much you want to spend and we can help you much better.
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Old 10-11-2009, 03:54 PM
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your looking at a $700 to $1000 christmas.....
with 2 decent trucks chargers and batteries....
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Old 10-11-2009, 04:11 PM
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Well, I would recomend the losi high roller. Losi makes very high quality products. There are also hop ups for them and parts are usually readily available as they are an american company. these in a rtr package, less battery and charger is 159.00. You will be able to run these together, just make sure you get different frequencys when you buy them. A duratrax onyx 430 charger they are 89.00 each and will charge 2 batteries at the same time. a 3000 mah battery will charge in about 20 min. I would recomend several batteries a piece becouse constant recycling of a nimh battery REALLY cuts its life span down espically if they are constintly warm. Or if you pm me I know of a place that is having a special on these high rollers, I am not affiliated with them, just my lhs.
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Old 10-11-2009, 04:27 PM
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Yikes....This hobby takes a lot of research. $700 - 1000 is about the total I spend on everything for everyone. While I know I'd get some descent cars it's out of the question.


As far as priorities....I'm still talking this over with my wife. The current line of thinking is to get a cheap car that will move in the grass and be sure that he's going to like the hobby. Having said that, Bermbuster...you're absolutely correct. If I were to do this "right" I'd spend about $500 on two cars and accessories and I'd be fully aware that I'd be spending more later. I learned a long time ago that it's important to purchase quality. In this case though, I've got to cut a few large corners to be sure that my son is going to keep playing with RC cars/trucks.

JatoTheRipper...great information. I'm glad you feel the same way about research. I was up way to late last night, and found out today that there's still a LOT to learn.

My mother is coming up from STL on the 21st of this month. When I was young I had a crappy toy that ran off 5 AA's. Maybe it will be slightly stronger than the cheap toy my son's got now, and I'll cut the grass. Hopefully this will give us a better idea of how long he'll stick with the hobby.


Ugh...I didn't even think about the 1/10th being to large for indoors. Our living room/dining room is about 28x20, but we'd need room for all the couches and things if we made a track. The game room down stairs is about 20x15 same story.

If I had to guess, our order of priority would be...

Grass
Dird Road/Asphault
Beach
packed snow/ice ?
indoors
Corn Field

As I write this though, the corn field is empty from about September till May. Though it's covered with snow for a large chunk of that depending on the year. That might be our largest source of excitement.

Is it even possible to get into two worth while cars for "cheap." Keeping in mind he's 7. I'd be more than willing to get a better car in the future once we've worn out or broken most the parts on the first cars

I was looking at the Mini Baja, and the Mega Monster Baja, and more recently the Traxxas Rustler or Stampede seem more in my price range since I'd like to get two cars. I've still got to look into the differences in the VXL models. The High Roller might be an option too.

I'm glad you mentioned the brushless being to fast for indoors, I didn't even think of that.

Would the 1/16 E-Revo even do well in the corn field?

Is this the correct Tamiya buggy? How long are they going to hold up, and what would the suspension and motor cost?

Can't post URL's yet. Ebay Item #360183939124 is that the right Tamiya?

THANK YOU!!!
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Old 10-11-2009, 04:48 PM
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you know a great deal to be had is the pro pulse vehicles.....
they go for brand new rtr w fm tx s for $50.....
look for them on ebay.....you can hop them up w rc18 parts (drivetrain)
check them out on ebay and look at all the cheap hop ups....
they will break but all 1/18th scales do......
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Old 10-11-2009, 05:00 PM
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For indoors strictly, and a little outside like little dirt piles and stuff, a Losi Mini-T would do well. The 1/16 Traxxas trucks are a bit much for indoor, but fun things to mess around with around the house. By a bit too much, that's probably even an understatement. The thing will do backflips from a stand-still! If you want strictly outdoor, a Stampede would be a nice choice for what you want to do, but would be too large indoor.

Would the 1/16 E-Revo even do well in the corn field? It wouldn't do as well as a 1/10 truck, but it's still a quick truck and it'd still move. For that purpose, you'd want the 1/10 truck. I'd have to say your best bet would be the 1/16 trucks. They may not be too great indoor, but you have a lot of outdoor stuff.
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Old 10-11-2009, 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by chem_fun
Yikes....This hobby takes a lot of research. $700 - 1000 is about the total I spend on everything for everyone. While I know I'd get some descent cars it's out of the question.


As far as priorities....I'm still talking this over with my wife. The current line of thinking is to get a cheap car that will move in the grass and be sure that he's going to like the hobby. Having said that, Bermbuster...you're absolutely correct. If I were to do this "right" I'd spend about $500 on two cars and accessories and I'd be fully aware that I'd be spending more later. I learned a long time ago that it's important to purchase quality. In this case though, I've got to cut a few large corners to be sure that my son is going to keep playing with RC cars/trucks.

JatoTheRipper...great information. I'm glad you feel the same way about research. I was up way to late last night, and found out today that there's still a LOT to learn.

My mother is coming up from STL on the 21st of this month. When I was young I had a crappy toy that ran off 5 AA's. Maybe it will be slightly stronger than the cheap toy my son's got now, and I'll cut the grass. Hopefully this will give us a better idea of how long he'll stick with the hobby.


Ugh...I didn't even think about the 1/10th being to large for indoors. Our living room/dining room is about 28x20, but we'd need room for all the couches and things if we made a track. The game room down stairs is about 20x15 same story.

If I had to guess, our order of priority would be...

Grass
Dird Road/Asphault
Beach
packed snow/ice ?
indoors
Corn Field

As I write this though, the corn field is empty from about September till May. Though it's covered with snow for a large chunk of that depending on the year. That might be our largest source of excitement.

Is it even possible to get into two worth while cars for "cheap." Keeping in mind he's 7. I'd be more than willing to get a better car in the future once we've worn out or broken most the parts on the first cars

I was looking at the Mini Baja, and the Mega Monster Baja, and more recently the Traxxas Rustler or Stampede seem more in my price range since I'd like to get two cars. I've still got to look into the differences in the VXL models. The High Roller might be an option too.

I'm glad you mentioned the brushless being to fast for indoors, I didn't even think of that.

Would the 1/16 E-Revo even do well in the corn field?

Is this the correct Tamiya buggy? How long are they going to hold up, and what would the suspension and motor cost?

Can't post URL's yet. Ebay Item #360183939124 is that the right Tamiya?

THANK YOU!!!
You could get one RC and share it with your son. That's another option.

Grass is about the worst thing for RCs. It saps power to begin with and you need a large amount of ground clearance to prevent the chassis from dragging. About the only RCs that go well in grass are large monster trucks which are on the expensive end of the RC scale, except for something like a Stampede or High Roller which are relatively inexpensive.

At this point I'm thinking you should get one of the 1/18th scale RCs I recommended. The winter is coming and soon you'll want to be able to run them indoors because there are lots of days you'll be stuck inside. If you get the larger RCs they'll probably largely go unused during the winter because of the snow and you might be bored with them before you even started unless you get a big 4WD monster truck like a T-Maxx or E-Maxx. But any RC, including the 1/18th scale RCs, will run on hard packed snow if it's smooth.

Plus, you have a large driveway where you can run these 1/18th RCs. And the initial cost will be much cheaper than going 1/10th scale if you stick with a Mini-T or RC18T. You can probably get the RC18T dirt cheap since a new version (the SC18) is coming out soon. And Mini-Ts are cheap to begin with. But motors will be something you'll want to upgrade on the Mini-T and shocks will be things you'll want to upgrade on both. A cheap, but faster motor can be had for about $10-$20 while shocks will run you about $25 if you go with 3Racing. If you can find any of the Mini Bajas or Limited Edtion Mini-Ts they come with faster motors and better electronics so they're the way to go. The limited edition Mini-Ts are like the Mini Bajas in that they have a faster motor and better electronics, but with a truck body. One thing to note - Mini-Ts are rear wheel drive while the RC18T and MT are 4WD.

The Stampede would be a better option than the Rustler because the Stampede has more ground clearance. Both would be great first vehicles. VXL is Traxxas's name for their brushless motor system. You can buy the brushed version and upgrade to the VXL or similar brushless system down the road if you feel the need. Your 7 year old doesn't need brushless power!

I doubt the E-Revo or any other 1/18th scale would be good for a corn field. They usually have pretty deep plow marks or tractor tire tracks in them.

Yes, that is one of the Tamiya Tamtech buggies I was talking about. The Hornet, Buggy Champ, Wild Boar, and Hotshot are also offered. I think the Hotshot is the only 4WD one, but they will be more expensive. The rest are rear wheel drive.

The motor and shocks for these should be similar to the prices I listed about for the Mini-T and RC18T - about $15 for a motor and $25 for shocks per vehicle.
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Old 10-12-2009, 08:54 AM
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Reading through this I get the feeling you'd be happiest with the RC18T's as well. We have (or have had) one of almost every major brand car out there and the 18T is the only mini that's still fun to bash with outdoors. Mini-t's are too fragile, 1/10 scale are too big for the driveway.
The 18T seems to get through everything but tall grass with ease and I like the complete package deal for what, about $189? The chargers they come with are really slow so plan to get at least one decent charger and a couple extra packs. 2 packs per car should be fine, running the same area for 20 minutes gets old.
As a bonus they work really well on ozite carpet tracks with a simple change of tires to foam, in case you ever decide to go racing.
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Old 10-12-2009, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by RC Dad
Reading through this I get the feeling you'd be happiest with the RC18T's as well. We have (or have had) one of almost every major brand car out there and the 18T is the only mini that's still fun to bash with outdoors. Mini-t's are too fragile, 1/10 scale are too big for the driveway.
The 18T seems to get through everything but tall grass with ease and I like the complete package deal for what, about $189? The chargers they come with are really slow so plan to get at least one decent charger and a couple extra packs. 2 packs per car should be fine, running the same area for 20 minutes gets old.
As a bonus they work really well on ozite carpet tracks with a simple change of tires to foam, in case you ever decide to go racing.
You really think the Mini-T is fragile? I have to say I have found the opposite to be true. My Mini-B takes a beating as good as any mini RC I have. It's certainly been more durable than my Vendetta ST which has snapped the plastic axles and smoked two ESCs with very little use. The Vendetta is great, but I've found that you need throw money into it to make it durable. I have never driven an RC18 so I can't compare it to that.

I do agree that 4WD is probably the way to go especially since he has slippery, laminate floors.
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Old 10-12-2009, 12:39 PM
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WOW, great information.

The traxxas e-maxx looks cool but is a bit steep in price compared to the Stampede.


RC Dad, I was beginning to think that a 1/10th size would be better in the corn field. I forsee only using the driveway for speed runs and jumps, as the driveway is really just a straight shot with a small turn around. Though, you're right. They are more inexpensive.

I'm leaning toward a Traxxas Slash or Stampede. Partially due to the fact that they're waterproof. I'm thinking that it would be better in the hardpacked snow? The also look like they'll have enough clearance for the corn field.

The High Roller looks fun, but the waterproof feature seems like a good idea (comments welcome).

Granted, I'm thinking all this w/o having seen a 1/18th in person (in quite some time), they might work out if they've got the clearance.

On another note...does a crawler go fast? ie; Could we build a jump in the driveway and have a good time? Or are they just slower moving climbers?
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Old 10-12-2009, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper
You really think the Mini-T is fragile? I have to say I have found the opposite to be true. My Mini-B takes a beating as good as any mini RC I have. It's certainly been more durable than my Vendetta ST which has snapped the plastic axles and smoked two ESCs with very little use. The Vendetta is great, but I've found that you need throw money into it to make it durable. I have never driven an RC18 so I can't compare it to that.

I do agree that 4WD is probably the way to go especially since he has slippery, laminate floors.
If you add the upper plate and the wide bumper the Mini-T's are OK. I pop a lot of ball cups more than shattering parts since those easy mods. My T would never survive the stuff that the 18T's go through at our house.

chem_fun, the Slashes are pretty popular and durable and I'd recommend that over the 'pede if for no other reason than resale value. Plus - if you get the itch - the Slash is actually raceable at most tracks with few mods. However the Stampede might do better in corn stubble unless you spring for the 4WD Slash.

Crawlers are very slow, great fun for a very specific purpose only. They can be geared/motored up but they really don't handle speed well.
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Old 10-12-2009, 05:25 PM
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Originally Posted by chem_fun
WOW, great information.

The traxxas e-maxx looks cool but is a bit steep in price compared to the Stampede.


RC Dad, I was beginning to think that a 1/10th size would be better in the corn field. I forsee only using the driveway for speed runs and jumps, as the driveway is really just a straight shot with a small turn around. Though, you're right. They are more inexpensive.

I'm leaning toward a Traxxas Slash or Stampede. Partially due to the fact that they're waterproof. I'm thinking that it would be better in the hardpacked snow? The also look like they'll have enough clearance for the corn field.

The High Roller looks fun, but the waterproof feature seems like a good idea (comments welcome).

Granted, I'm thinking all this w/o having seen a 1/18th in person (in quite some time), they might work out if they've got the clearance.

On another note...does a crawler go fast? ie; Could we build a jump in the driveway and have a good time? Or are they just slower moving climbers?
I think the Slash has less ground clearance than the Stampede. Double check this, though. Again, this could present a problem when running in grass or in a rough field. Both the Slash and Stampede are only rear wheel drive, though. But you can't beat a Traxxas vehicle for your first. They're inexpensive, include nearly everything you need to get running, and they can take a beating! Slashes are known for being virtually unbreakable and insanely fun.
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Old 10-12-2009, 06:00 PM
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Since it seems like most of the advice has been 1/18 scale you might be interested in the Losi Mini-LST2. Over at Amain you can get the Limited Edition (2.4ghz, alum shocks,upgraded motor, losi lipo & wall charger) for ~ 175 without code discounts. It will be bigger than the Mini-T, 4wd, already comes with many of the hopups that you would want and has a 2.4ghz radio. With coupons, you can get 2 for ~325 and have quite a bit left over for a charger/batteries and spare parts. They are on sale so I don't know how much longer they will be around at that price though.

Last edited by tiamatu; 10-12-2009 at 06:01 PM. Reason: Forgot 4wd
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Old 10-12-2009, 08:44 PM
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the rtr is going to be 150 -250 per vehicle
chargers are $50-up
packs will be $20 and up
Your still looking at least a $500 investment.

AE will be releasing a new platform SC18 something to consider.....
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