CurlyCucumber

Hi everyone!

I bought a Traxxas Rustler a very long time ago.. as in 8 years ago. It’s the brushed version, cheapest you could get. I’m ready to buy something new.

I’ve got a budget of 500$, more or less.

I’ll be running it off-road. Very small amount of usable pavement around where I live, so I’ll be taking it through grass, dirty sand, rocky places.. etc. northern Wisconsin, really.

What do you guys recommend? Obviously I’m looking for a brushless motor. I’d like good aftermarket support so I could customize it a lot with some fancy RPM parts and aluminum stuff. 4x4 isn’t a necessity, but it would be nice for climbing and stuff.

I’d also need a new charger if I run Lipo.. so I need some advice there too. I’m asking for a lot, but I’m coming to you guys as a relatively “new” owner, and any advice is good advice.

nismoflip

iTrader: (57)

For $500, an ARRMA Kraton or Outcast is tough to beat for an RTR brushless rig.

fredygump

iTrader: (1)

The "best" one is gonna be a used. And you're gonna struggle to stay under $500, if "best" means what I think it means. You say "truggy/ buggy", which by definition are 1/8 scale 4x4 vehicles, which is what my comments are directed towards.


With luck you might find someone selling everything all at once, and that's about the only way you'll stay under your $500 for everything. Without a package deal, you gotta figure you're spending $70 for an okay charger, $50+ per battery (you want atleast 2), and you'll spend plenty on tools and maintenance stuff. If you aren't careful, you'll go way over budget before you've ran the car once!

Scratch the "upgrade" thing right away. I'm serious! It's like a disease!

Buy something that doesn't need upgrades. RPM parts are for traxxas and other entry level RTRs that are built down to a price. If you take the amount you spend on a car, plus the amount you end up spending on "upgrades", you end up paying as much or more as you would for a higher quality car, but the upgraded car is inferior to the better car in every way. The better quality cars, especially 1/8 buggies, rarely if ever break. It's a completely different world from a cheap traxxas..

billdelong

iTrader: (33)

Not sure how much longer ARRMA is gonna be in business, I haven't seen any announcements yet of anyone buying them since they went bankrupt and folks are already complaining about poor parts support already for ARRMA.

I'm not a big fan of Traxxas either, they tend to nickle and dime you on upgrades ultimately costing far more money than if you simply bought a quality race grade that already includes all the necessary aluminum and carbon upgrades in the first place.

There are tons of inexpensive off brands out there to choose and most are hit and miss, but I would lean toward a more reputable brand.

For me, I would limit my selection to HoBao, RedCat, ECX or Losi as far as RTR's go.

If you already have electronics and just want to know the best basher kit that money can buy, then without a doubt you can't beat a Tekno MT410:
https://www.teknorc.com/shop/tkr5603...ter-truck-kit/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2k0KdSOpk

AJH387

iTrader: (5)

Ya this, honestly.

For what you are wanting to do, the Arrma vehicles will be more than enough. You really don't even need to upgrade much, if anything.

DJ1978

iTrader: (3)

Emaxx

rustyus

iTrader: (1)

Need to narrow down things a bit. Like I said before, and fredygump touched on,....scale of "truggy"? Most everyone has the mindset of 1/8 scale 4wd truck when the word "truggy" pops up. Go to a online hobby shop, something like AMain Hobbies, and they have a filter on there to weed out what you don't want. That's where I would start to see what's available to me. If you really do have a maximum $500 limit to spend, a $499 RTR platform will end up costing you more.

Just remember, a "best" RTR will not have the "best" gear. You can certainly go all out and load up on the very best gear for a RC. Also lots of great moderately priced gear to outfit a kit. If finding something that is needing electronics, a safe number for that would be around $240 ~ $280 for good lower budget radio, ESC, motor, charger, battery, and servo. All depends on scale of RC, and how much power a person is gonna want/need.

ljl23

iTrader: (11)

The New E Revo 2.0 looks great. Even though it is $50 over your price tag, It has tons of aftermarket support and endless amounts of upgrades.

rcbuggy88

Although I'm going over on the price, the Traxxas Slash 4x4 Platinum is a great deal because then you can buy a better remote like the Futaba 3pv. It comes with most of the stuff you need, just add a remote/receiver, a battery, charger, paint, and tools (optional). The car is standard brushless Traxxas 4x4 Slash, with all the aluminum upgrades. This adds bling and will improve durability. These include aluminum shocks and hubs, some must-haves. Most RTR Radios aren't the best, and the 3pv is a good budget starter radio. It includes features such as an LCD display and has endpoint/expo adjustability. Not that you would use all the features immediately, it has room for growth and you could link multiple cars. For the battery, Gens Ace, Lectron Pro, and Duratrax/Onyx make some nice batteries while the Traxxas ones are a little overpriced. Hitec makes a decent charger called the X1 for $50 and will charge lipos. For paint, there are so many options and colors. Tools are not necessary but can help when you break stuff (happens to everyone). I would then recommend MIP as some nice ones.

Although you're looking at more of a 620$ range, It's going to be a lot faster and has a lot more room for growth than some of the cheaper cars out there.

If you have more questions you can PM me or if you're in the norcal area, you can come visit norcal hobbies in San Jose!

Fate0n3

iTrader: (13)

x2

Hands down pick you one of these up! If you want to do tricks and lots of wheelies go for the outcast if not grab the Kraton. Picked up my kid a Kraton and he put the thing to use they are a beyond tuff truck. The only thing you hear people talk about needing upgrading is the servo mount. If you do large large jumps grab yourself a chassis brace but this is needed on any Truggy doing big time jumps.

If you do go this route try and find yourself a V3 of either model they have quite a few upgrades that have been done that do help somewhat. For the same price also why not get the newer model. With being tax season it might be hard to find one in-stock.