Beginners Petrol RC car and transmitter?

[Gimpymoo]

Anyone able to recommend a kit for beginner please?

Not after cheapest, just something good for a beginner.

Off road preferred so can run on grass/dirt track etc.

Thanks.

*Sorry if not relevant for here, but the thought of going into GD scares me.

 

[bazzabear]

Sure you want petrol? Electric has come on a hell of a long way in recent years, and doesn't have the noise nuisance angle.

Either way, I believe the HPI Firestorm (either E or not depending on the answer to my above question) is well thought of.

There's a forum and shop called modelsport which is very helpful.

 

[MarkA]

I have a Traxxas - Rustler VXL - with 3cell batteries, meant to get up to around 60MPH.

Its hard to control with the 3cell battery, but can drop down to 2cell if you want more fun and less straight line speed.

 

[lordrobs]

When you say petrol do you actually mean petrol (i.e. big cars with 25CC two stroke engines) or nitro (more traditional 1:10 scale and upwards with tiny engines that run at silly RPM)?

Either way with Lipo batteries and brushless motors it is hard to see the appeal of any internal combustion RC cars these days.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Maybe I being a little old fashioned.

Last I had a RC car, battery powered meant a right pain in the a hole.

The noise is something I had forgotten and would gladly settle for a battery powered if equal power.

What would be recommended then, battery or petrol?

1:10 scale.

 

[Neil777]

For a beginner and just messing about in a field I'd recommend a Traxxas T-Maxx, I personally like the noise and think that eletrics are like watching tv with the sound turned off.

 

[Rilot]

Modern LiPo and brushless powered cars are awesome. Nitro / Petrol is dying these days.

 

[kaptainmarc]

I bought a nitro car for myself at christmas, now I am really annoyed I didn't buy a electric one.

yes the noise of them is awesome but it annoys the hell out of anyone around you. plus you need to faff around bedding the engine in and tuning it. if you enjoy that then its great

i would definatly go brushless though from my experience

 

[Munkyman]

To echo everyone else, battery power is the way to go. Modern systems can be insanely powerful and theres not much in the nitro world that can keep up.

Battery is also a lot cleaner and you don't need as much equipment to get one running.

I race 8th scale nitro and to get one started I use a starter box, fuel, glow igniter, engine heater and tuning screwdriver.

Compared to all that, battery powered stuff is a breeze to use.

 

[Orford]

+1 for electric. Nitro is so much more messing about now the power/speed/torque has gone up and charging times/price has come down with electric setups.

 

[Banny]

I used to race 8th scale buggies a few years ago and it's nitro for me, I used to run a novarossi p5 with tuned pipe the race engines sound so much better than the lame kit stuff you buy of the shelf, used to sound like a mini crosser and was proper rapid.
But electric has come a long way and is easily as fast just to quiet for my liking.

 

[matthab]

Ive got three battery cars and one petrol. The petrol one is nothing but a pain and costs far more to run.

I would choose an electric one any day as the torque and ease of use far out weighs petrol now. I can also go out for a run with 3 batteries and keep going for longer than a petrol car would.

 

[Fuzz]

Surely the car breaks before the fuel runs out

 

[Neil777]

I used to race 8th scale buggies a few years ago and it's nitro for me, I used to run a novarossi p5 with tuned pipe the race engines sound so much better than the lame kit stuff you buy of the shelf, used to sound like a mini crosser and was proper rapid.

Same here, a few years ago my neighbour bought a t-maxx so I went along with him to a bmx track with my kyosho mp777, he was saying afterwards that when I first started up my OS Speed he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with it as it sounded like a F1 car.

 

[davido_labido]

What about something electric for around 100 quid? I fancy a go of something but don't want to spend a fortune as I don't know if I will still enjoy it!

Off road (dirt/grass/gravel) would be preferable. Cheers folks!

 

[Kenai]

I just got a maverick xb evo for 105... Not brushless but to be honest for the amount of time I anticipate using it before it spends a life in the cupboard it's more than quick enough. The maverick brand is HPIs budget range so whilst you may sacrifice quality the support should be there as if it were a larger firm.

100 is very limiting for anything other than a toy though, the maverick has a battery and charger included but it's only an 1800mah with trickle charge so you get 15 minutes playtime for 6 hours of charging.

A bbetter battery and charger soon adds another 40 to your budget.

If you expect to get involved properly, spend more like 250 and it really opens up the options. For 100 just to mess around with though, I can't fault this maverick much at all.

 

[bazzabear]

If you want to only spend £100 and get something worthwhile, I'd be looking for second hand stuff I think.

 

[davido_labido]

Fair enough, Il have a look at some second hand gear then =)

 

[bazzabear]

Actually, it looks like you can get complete systems for about that if you drop down to 1:18 scale ('standard' is 1:10).

Not sure how they compare in terms of fun level - but I guess they'd at least be more usable in smaller spaces.

(Think I'm OK posting this link, as it's not a competitor):
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/rc-electric-models/rc-car-categories/9900/990010&MSAttributeID[82]=9

That should be a listing filtered to electric and 1:18. Might be a good 'entry' option until you find out whether it's enough fun to drop the £200+ you'll need to get a 1:10 brushless LiPo setup.

I bet you'd be able to sell it on without much of a loss either.

 

[kiel367]

thought id weigh in here as im into rc cars myself, electric is defo the way forwards, a litre of nitro for an rc car is around 12-15 quid, more expensive than bloody petrol haha!
i have a hsp flying fish 2 drift car with upgraded motor + esc (brushless) just waiting on getting my lipo charger and battery, even with ni-mh batteries its pretty damn fast, considering my car is set up for drifting you can put normal wheels on it and it goes around 25-30 mph, when i get a lipo and the right gearing setup, it will be mental fast, few mates of mine have em too, we go out regularly, lots less noise than the nitro ones, so even if you fancied playing at midnight you could still get it out in the street and not bother anyone, nitro ones not so much, you would most likely have the fuzz called on you lol, electric ones are definitely easier to use and setup, if you have a brushless setup you dont have to bed the motor in like nitro or brushed motors, its a case of get it, plug it in, and go mental, will try an get some pics up of mine, my shell is battered and i ran thru dog muck so needs a little clean first xD here is my car next to my mates buggy type brushless

this is the only photo i have right now, will take some more soon, cost me 120 quid initially with brushed setup, iv since spent another 150 on bits, i.e batteries, spare wheels motor/esc, chargers, and i need a new shell soon haha