As all can tell I'm new to the board. But I have always messed with the cars. I had an original T Max and some other small ones but haven't messed with them in about 10 years. I bought a Slash 4x4 last year and want to upgrade.

A coworker just picked up an Associated Rival last night. So this has given me the bug.

Can someone point me towards a MT that is kid friendly but still very fun for adults. I like the Rival and E-Maxx just from looking at them at the local hobby shop, but that is all he had!

You guys know these more than I ever will so feel free to debate away!!

Hpi Savage Flux HP (or XS if you want 1/10). Great basher. Tough as nails, easy to work on.

Yea I was looking at those online. Is everything congested inside the frame?

Honestly, the Flux XS sounds like the deal for you since you mentioned kid friendly. The truck is not at all intimidating, and is smaller than the usual 1/10 truck, it's more like a 1/12 IMO. Either way, I've personally watched the truck get the crap beat out of it, roof landings from 6+ ft, crashes from flips, etc. and it just always comes out. Plenty fast even for adults, and durable enough for the kids to make mistakes on.

It depends in what you mean by kid friendly. The flux hp is great I have one myself but would not recommend it to anyone under at least 10 years of age. It is a handful even on 4s it is really fast and if not careful dangerous too. Traxxas seems to be the most popular at hobby shops. The flux xs might be a better option for kid friendly. I know it's not a mt but I just ordered an scx 10 kit for my 4 year old son last night from tower hobbies. I felt it would be good for him to help me put it together and it will be slow and durable enough for him that if he hits something it most likely won't break.

I will look into the XS. My son is 8 and can drive the slash 4x4 pretty good! It is just limited to where we live. I'm not always close to a track for us to go to so its mainly used for our gravel road and the yard. So essential I'm want us to grow
Keep coming with the ideas.

Traxxas stampede 4x4. I own one and have beat the living hek out of it.and most slash 4x4 parts interchange. I run a 3660 tacon 2200kv with very old sidewinder sv1 or2 not sure. I'm fast enough on 2s and can strip 12mm hexes and wheel on command. My 6 year old bashes it with me. Tall enough for short grass. Mine has been a pleasant experience.

Slap a set of 3.8 trenchers with plenty of offset on your slash.then get you a pretty mt body that'll fit.adjust gearing to compensate mt tires and boom bash away with what you have

Yea ... I should probably look into the Stampede. Especially with all the interchangeable parts. The Texas mentality of bigger is better got me overwhelmed. I have been working a little on a coworkers Rival... Hard decision when they are all in the same ball park.

I'd vote for the Traxxas Stampede 4x4, too. The brushed version is the best bet for a kid friendly truck, brushless is too fast IMO. My first truck was a Stampede I bought back in 2000 when I was 13, and even back then when they were slower and 2wd only it was loads of fun for me and pretty durable too. A brushed E Maxx would be a nice option as well, it will only do about 30 mph tops in stock form but has plenty of torque for some nice off road action and can throw wheelies too. It's a bit pricier, but an E Revo would be a cool truck to own also. Same basic performance as an E Maxx but with better handling.

E-Revo is a great truck..... Not to mention its Traxxas so the parts are cheap and readily available.

Don't under estimate kids. In open areas my 3.5 year old drives my stampede 4x4 on 2s just fine. I have patiently worked with him on throttle control and he gets better every time. He also drives my brother in laws erevo on 4s. When we are at home though I found I was nagging too much so I ordered a new controller that lets me adjust throttle percentage. I set it to 60% and let him go. I know the traxxas controllers that are iPhone compatible have this feature built in. I even let him rip it off a ramp. I just tell him if he jumps let go of the gas. I only let him land to grass though as its almost always a crash but so what. Nothing has broke yet and if it does parts are cheaper than going to Toysrus. Long story short by what you want that works in the areas you want to drive. Your kid will have no problem learning what you buy.

my 9 year old brother drives my p2de on 4300kv and 3s lipo or my emaxx 2100kv 25/68 gearing on 4s when he aint drivin his sc10 so all comes down to the kid. ive only owned the 2wd stampede but its cheap to upgrade and fun for kids to pull the front wheels off the ground everytime they accelerate. imo the emaxx parts are too expensive for a kid to driver it alot as a first rc

The Savage XS gets my vote. Ton's of fun right out of the box and very durable. Parts are also readily available.

Vid of my 10 yr old driving mine

+ YouTube Video

And me of course

+ YouTube Video

Thank y'all for the response. I'm just going to let him keep driving the RPM slash some more. I would rather have him break something I'm pretty good at repairing. Flou told him how to kind of make it a bigger basher. That way I can more easy talk the big boss (momma) into a bigger basher. I'm really liking the Rival I set up for a co-worker.

So many options...like buying a cheaper Harley.