Even 1/14 are not great off road. A groomed track is different. But they are not good for real world off-road. A 1/14 truggy is better than a buggy or SCT, but still not ideal.
For "Around the yard" bashing, and small playgrounds, I really like the 1/16 scale. And I have 10's and 8's to choose from too. Will they handle really rough stuff? Construction lots? No, but I don't need them to.
For yard bashing, I find that about 20mph is the best speed you can use - any thing faster than that is wasted (too small a space) and the big cars (10SCT's and 8's) either outrun the space, or you end up driving them so far below their abilities, they are not fun. 1/16 and 1/18 scale cars fit this perfect.
To the OP, I have several, but can't really recommend any. My current two favorite are my Hobbyking Mini-Trooper (heavily modified, truggified) and the Hobbyking Mini-Monster Truck. The MMT, I have only had a few months, so far the jury is still out on it's reliability, but it is showing signs of eating spurs...
As for my SCT-turned Truggy, it took me over a year and way too much money, and a few custom solutions to finally make it mostly reliable.
I a Remo 1/16 SCT "Rocket", and while it is durable, it handles like crap.
I have a HBX 1/12 Truggy (2wd) that I really like, but it is close to toy grade, brushed power. And with 2wd, grass is not good. But it is tough, runs about 15mph-18mph, and my kids can't break it.
If I were to buy a new mini, I would look at either the 1/14 Tacon cars, or the Losi Mini-8 DB.