R/C Car advice needed

Crispy

Crispy

Crispy

Associate
Joined
25 May 2003
Posts
243
Location
Co. Durham
I'd appreciate some advice from any of the R/C car buffs on here is possible.

I'm looking to get a cheap R/C Car kit to build / drive with my son over Christmas.

Budget is approx £150 (less if possible) and I'm looking to get the following if possible:

"buggy" type car
kit form as we want to build ourselves
radio gear
2 x battery packs
fast (ish) charger

Was looking at a Tamiya (gravel hound), as I used to have a Big Foot in my youth and a lot of friends had other Tamiya's, but after looking at some threads on here thought I would investigate some other manufacturers, and I've come up with the following:

Academy Neo Griffin
AC1565 Academy Neo Griffin £59.99
ACT1 Acoms Techniplus 2 Channel 27Mhz Radio Control £39.99
ACX2 Ansmann ACX2 Delta-Peak 2 Hr Charger £17.99
2 x TRC1772 Tornado TRC 2000mAh 7.2v £23.98

Total (inc £10 delivery) £151.95

So question is, does this look like a good deal? Is this a decent car? Am I better off sticking with the Tamiya cars?

It's not going to be used for racing or anything like that, just for me and the boy to race up and down the road etc at weekends.

Pricing is from here.
 
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If it's for roads and fine gravel then look at getting a 1/18th scale rc car. Much better value for money. :)

Unfortunately you won't get a kit really, so it will be RTR but the car itself will be so much better.

http://www.microtechracing.com//pro...H+BUGGY&ID=9241&Pcat=KITS&cat=1/18TH+OFF+ROAD

I have the stadium truck version of that car, once you get a 7 cell pack into it, it will do 30mph according to my mates passat. ;)

The batteries you want are the 7 cell Elite 1500's. Don't bother with the pack upgrade as they dont need it and keep the connector as the hpi micro.

http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/ma...=superlisting&type=car&manufacturer=2&model=2

Each pack should last roughly 25mins of use, and 30mph is fast enough for that size truck. Though I still wouldn't mind getting mine to do 50mph...
 
TBH, I really want a kit - half the reason I'm getting it is as a "father/son" project, so the kit is really important to me.
 
Have managed to get the price down further on this now:

LRP71011 LRP Sport Pack 2200Mah 1 £13.29
Electric Package Deal 3 1 £64.00
Y1565 Academy 1/10th Neo Griffin 2wd Off Road Buggy 1 £58.00

Sub Total: £135.29
Next Day Delivery: £4.99
Grand Total: £140.28

The electric package deal includes:

# Acoms 2 Channel Radio Set
# 240/12V 30Min Quick Charger
# 2200Mah 7.2v

all from here

So as long as the feedback on the Academy kits vs Tamiya is OK I think this looks like the one to go for.
 
Crispy said:
Have managed to get the price down further on this now:

LRP71011 LRP Sport Pack 2200Mah 1 £13.29
Electric Package Deal 3 1 £64.00
Y1565 Academy 1/10th Neo Griffin 2wd Off Road Buggy 1 £58.00

Sub Total: £135.29
Next Day Delivery: £4.99
Grand Total: £140.28

The electric package deal includes:

# Acoms 2 Channel Radio Set
# 240/12V 30Min Quick Charger
# 2200Mah 7.2v


So as long as the feedback on the Academy kits vs Tamiya is OK I think this looks like the one to go for.
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They are not bad, but the one you are looking at is very much a beginners car and is very slow. Pop over to the tamiyaclub forum there for more advice on tamiya.

For your budget a Traxxas RTR rustler or stampede would be much better or even a bandit if you want a buggy. I know its ready to run but the quality and speed way surpasses the academy kits and imo some of the cheaper tamiya kits.

The rustler is a stadium truck for around £110 , the stampede is a very good monster truck for £115 and the bandit is a capeable buggy for £100 and you only need battery and charger to add.
 
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mrk1@1 said:
They are not bad, but the one you are looking at is very much a beginners car and is very slow. Pop over to www.tamiyaclub.com and the forum there for more advice on tamiya.

For your budget a Traxxas RTR rustler or stampede would be much better or even a bandit if you want a buggy. I know its ready to run but the quality and speed way surpasses the academy kits and imo some of the cheaper tamiya kits.
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The expensive stuff is the radio gear and battery's. So I would say a cheap car is not a problem, motors can always be upgraded and the car changed at a latter date. Buy a reasonable radio gear, battery's ect and they'll last the rest of you're life.

They still make the stampede :o i've got one must be a good 10years old.
 
AcidHell2 said:
The expensive stuff is the radio gear and battery's. So I would say a cheap car is not a problem, motors can always be upgraded and the car changed at a latter date. Buy a reasonable radio gear, battery's ect and they'll last the rest of you're life.

They still make the stampede :o i've got one must be a good 10years old.
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Yer they are on the new versions of the stampede and rustler in the usa which are pretty awsome. (9T 550 motor and esc +other upgrades) The UK is clearing out all the old stampede and rustler stock.

The academy basic spec is not worth it imo. Not really designed for upgrades.

To the OP I know you want a kit but you will be very disapointed with the academy. For your budget I would really look at traxxas especially since getting spares is very easy. They come with full instructions so you can always strip it and rebuild it.
 
OK, I've discounted the Academy then ;) .

The one thing I really don't want to move on is the kit - it really is a large part of the reason for buying this, so that as far as I can see, discounts traxxas?

So I'm back looking at the Tamiya Gravel Hound or similar - is this any good / are there any better alternatives for the money?

If we really enjoy this, and my son and I are still playing with it 2 months down the line then I may look at a more "serious" model but until then it's just for fun.

Thanks for all the input so far

Crispy
 
Tamiya Rising Storm - Excellent buggy and great to build!

get an upgraded engine and ESC later on, as well as extra more-powerful battery packs. Good fun!
 
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For a good cheap buggy the Baja Champ is a good place to start. It was my first buggy and i still have it 5 years on! It can take a lot of abuse and is easy and reasonably cheap to fix.

Buggy

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=236

Radio

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=11188

Battery

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=20640

Charger

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=12722

Just a rough base on what to buy, the charger is overnight which is probably too slow for you but all of that only come to £120 so you could always splash out on a better charger and battery, even an ESC.


784
 
That Modelsport UK Electric ESC Starter Plus Pack

looks very good, just add a buggy of your choice and it's a good starting place.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys - ordered the following as I want it before Christmas!

MDESCPP Modelsport UK Electric ESC Starter Plus Pack 1 @ £73.00
58221 Tamiya Baja Champ 1 @ £66.00
MAX3300 Modelsport UK Max 3300 1 @ £19.00

Total £158

Crispy
 
The only to add is to budget for spares, you'll need them. Mainly wishbones and driveshafts. Tamiya spares are usually plentiful and cheap, others may not be so, so check this out.
 
AcidHell2 said:
I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Next you need to get your self one and find a local R/c club to take your son to.
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hehe, didn't make myself clear - it's a Christmas present for me! I'm sure once we have built it and he has had a go that my son will want one as well though!

Might even try and get his Grandad into it as well (he's a bigger kid than me) so we can get some racing across the generations going :D
 
Crispy said:
hehe, didn't make myself clear - it's a Christmas present for me! I'm sure once we have built it and he has had a go that my son will want one as well though!

Might even try and get his Grandad into it as well (he's a bigger kid than me) so we can get some racing across the generations going :D
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Now that sounds cool. All strat with the same buggy see who can mod it the best :D
 
Crispy said:
hehe, didn't make myself clear - it's a Christmas present for me! I'm sure once we have built it and he has had a go that my son will want one as well though!
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I wouldn't count on it - he may want an xbox 360 instead claiming he can just use your "buggy" when he wants ... ;-)
 
Dr_Evil said:
I wouldn't count on it - he may want an xbox 360 instead claiming he can just use your "buggy" when he wants ... ;-)
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still struggling to see the downside of that.........xbox 360 + R/C Car........ :D :D
 
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