Help with RC car choice

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Nottingham
Hi all,

I used to enjoy playing around with RC cars, and still own a Tamiya TL-01 on road that I modified a fair bit and a HPI Savage 25, both are sat in bits in the garage with parts "borrowed" over the years for RC boats.

I've recently moved house right next to a country park with open space right out the front door so want to buy something fun to play around with that doesn't have the faffing around and antisocial aspects of the Nitro Savage.

  • It won't be raced, is just for fun
  • I might do some light modifications but not essential
  • It will be used on grass, country paths (hardcore/gravel) and over hills / slopes

I've a fair bit of experience with RC, including still playing around with RC boats / quadcopter so have plenty of spare kit inc 2.4GHz transmitters and lipo batteries/chargers.

Current favorites I am considering are:
  • TROPHY TRUGGY FLUX 1/8 4WD ELECTRIC TRUGGY
  • TROPHY BUGGY FLUX 1/8 4WD ELECTRIC BUGGY
Does anyone have any suggestions on models to look at or a view on Truggy v Buggy please? Also is getting a £500 RC buggy/truggy overkill for playing around in a country park?

Thanks in advance.
 
Associate
Joined
1 Sep 2013
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1,399
If it's for cross country I'd highly recommend truggy as the ride height is higher also with a budget of 500 I'd highly recommend a 2nd hand kit car as kit cars take more abuse than rtr kits

Also with a kit car there's a decent track in Nottingham called ndor it's across the road from Ikea you'd be pretty much set up for racing I'll be there this Sunday as it's race day
 
Associate
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Watch 'Kevs Rc' channel on youtube his traxxas slash seems almost indestructable. You'll want the 4x4 one which is about £450 if you go that route.

Only problem with the short course trucks are that all the flick up from the wheels goes inside the bodyshells.
 
Associate
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Beds, UK
Ive been through several RC car phases over the years, the last of which was nitro 1/8 buggys and Truggies. the previous "phase" was 1/10th scale electric touring cars and we used to race at a local club.

In my opinion, the Nitro cars were much more fun than the electric cars. assuming we didnt break them, which we did a lot, we could be out for hours with the nitro cars, batteries dont last long (although we were pre lithium so maybe its different now) and are expensive to have multiples of. also, we could keep the radios charged and realy, and go out at a moments notice, rather than having to plan it in advance to get everything charged up.

We used to go out quite far with them, and we found the truggys just used more fuel and were heavier than the buggies. and werent any more fun. plus the buggies were faster.

We went with Hobao hyper 7 tq sport buggies, cheap as chips, pretty tough and parts were very easy to find. the stock engines were good too (there often rubbish) You'd need to upgrade the servos really, and probably the radio.... and now ive just seen you have the lipos and radio already...

I'd still go nitro as i really enjoyed it. but i was perfectly happy with my hobao hyper 7... ended up with 3 of them lol, bought them for spare parts, then fixed them up because building and fixing is part of the fun for me.

i miss it :(
 
Associate
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1,399
Ive been through several RC car phases over the years, the last of which was nitro 1/8 buggys and Truggies. the previous "phase" was 1/10th scale electric touring cars and we used to race at a local club.

In my opinion, the Nitro cars were much more fun than the electric cars. assuming we didnt break them, which we did a lot, we could be out for hours with the nitro cars, batteries dont last long (although we were pre lithium so maybe its different now) and are expensive to have multiples of. also, we could keep the radios charged and realy, and go out at a moments notice, rather than having to plan it in advance to get everything charged up.

We used to go out quite far with them, and we found the truggys just used more fuel and were heavier than the buggies. and werent any more fun. plus the buggies were faster.

We went with Hobao hyper 7 tq sport buggies, cheap as chips, pretty tough and parts were very easy to find. the stock engines were good too (there often rubbish) You'd need to upgrade the servos really, and probably the radio.... and now ive just seen you have the lipos and radio already...

I'd still go nitro as i really enjoyed it. but i was perfectly happy with my hobao hyper 7... ended up with 3 of them lol, bought them for spare parts, then fixed them up because building and fixing is part of the fun for me.

i miss it :(

Most rtr truggys usually have a .28 engine good for lots of torque but poor top speed and run time I race truggys with a .21 engine usually get around the 10 minute mark before pit stops if I'm feeling brave but usually pull in at 9 mins

But yes I agree nitro is far better than electric
 
Associate
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Only problem with the short course trucks are that all the flick up from the wheels goes inside the bodyshells.

I have a Traxxas Slash 2WD and I have to clean it after every use because of this, haha!

Personally, I'd recommend something from Arrmas high-end range (Kraton/Outcast/Talion/Typhon).
 
Associate
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I have a Helion Invictus, 1/10 MT, brush less and takes a beating, I think I've so far had to only replace an a arm.and dogbone and that's with 7 year olds crashing into trees!!! Costs about £200

Another one I have is an Quantum Vandal from hobbyking, it's basically a rebadged FTX Vantage so spare parts can be had locally and it's often on sale for less than £100 RTR, again my kids haven't done that much damage, new suspension after full speed tree crash, but that cost about £8.

I would love a slash 4x4 but I think £400+ for a basher is overkill
 
Soldato
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M28
Most rtr truggys usually have a .28 engine good for lots of torque but poor top speed and run time I race truggys with a .21 engine usually get around the 10 minute mark before pit stops if I'm feeling brave but usually pull in at 9 mins

But yes I agree nitro is far better than electric
nitro is NOT better than electric. They smell, endless tuning, most don't reverse, noisy and slow.
 
Soldato
Joined
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3,602
nitro is NOT better than electric. They smell, endless tuning, most don't reverse, noisy and slow.


There's a lot that have reverse now tbh, not common on the 8th RallyX though.

Had Nito + elec over the years, still have my AE RC10-GT :eek:
Ease of use still goes to electric, Nitro ain't much more trouble, It becomes a pain if you get a bad engine that's just an arse to set, Crap fuel/wrong plug can also cause pains.

Both have plus and minuses at the end of the day.

For me though, Nitro is best. :p
 
Associate
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Every nitro owner I have been around must be doing it wrong then if its just a minute.

Depends on the engine I suppose newer broken in engines are easy to tune once they are at the right temperature some overly priced engines like os never need retuning a good engine heater usually helps especially when the weather's cold
 
Soldato
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Essex
+1 for Nitro. I have a Jato 3.3 (70+ mph) and yes it can be noisy, but the noise makes the car. Electric cars do look good and they are fast, but its the quiet that puts me off.
 
Soldato
OP
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Hi all, thanks for the fantastic responses!

It has however slightly thrown me as I'd got it in my head to go with electric but am now looking at Nitro again.

There seems to be quite a lot of love for HoBao and their Hyper 7 which seems extremely cheap for what it is. I am however still thinking of going electric for convenience then getting the Savage 25 up and running in Nitro. Is the Hyper VS electric comparable to Hyper 7 Nitro?



I've spent some time on the Savage 25 I already have decided to also get this up and running. I think I will unfortunately need a new engine though thanks to my ham-fistedness when I was younger. When I took it apart years ago I damaged the piston liner, the coverplate has a small crack in the corner where one of the screwholes is and the thread for the glowplug on the underhead is stripped. Given this is circa £100 of components I am planning to just replace the engine.

What are your thoughts on this one?
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/trackstar-seg-h-28-two-stroke-glow-racing-engine-for-car.html
 
Soldato
OP
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I've also found an old Kyosho on road Nitro car that I am going to try and get up and running again. I will post some photos later today as I need to identify what model it is.
 
Soldato
OP
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Further update.

It appears that the HoBao VS isn't as good as the Hyper 7 that's only available in Nitro, and considering the VS is more expensive and needs new LIPO batteries I am seriously tempted to just get the Hyper 7.

What is the best motor option, Hyper 21 / Mac 28 / Hyper 30?
 
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