RC cars

Looking for recommendations please.

We got our 11 year old son a £40 RC car for Christmas, it got great reviews on Amazon but once he started using it I was a bit disappointed tbh. Obviously this was my fault due to higher expectations for what was in the end a 40 quid budget RC car. Within half an hour it became apparent that it had an intermittent steering fault so was returned and I told him we'll get another.

So I've raised the budget to approx £120 and would appreciate any recommendations, we live next to the beach so not sure if that's an option (does the sand destroy them?), we also live near to plenty of hard standing and fields.

I've had a quick look but it's a minefield, I even looked at nitro.
£120 isn't a target, if £80 will get a nice model then great but if £150 is going to get something far far superior than I'll look at that.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
chipperhead said:
So I've raised the budget to approx £120 and would appreciate any recommendations, we live next to the beach so not sure if that's an option (does the sand destroy them?), we also live near to plenty of hard standing and fields.
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getting near salt water probably wouldn't be ideal at all, you'd not want sand in the motor either

I've had a quick look but it's a minefield, I even looked at nitro.
£120 isn't a target, if £80 will get a nice model then great but if £150 is going to get something far far superior than I'll look at that.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert here but I'll just comment that I had a fairly entry level* RC buggy as a kid, built it from a kit with my Dad and had to spray paint the body etc.. IIRC it cost around £120-130-ish at the time, it was a Tamiya Bearhawk

looking on the net I think you can get various Tamiya models for a bit less than that these days, kid down the street form me had the midnight pumpkin monster truck variant... you just need to make sure you have a different crystal for the RC controller and you can race/use them together etc..

a quick google shows you could pick up the model my friend had for £99 - it is only 2WD despite being a monster truck

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-112-midnight-pumpkin/

or indeed some of their other classics like the lunchbox, monster beetle etc..

think you'd need to order the controller etc.. separately so do budget for that

I can't see the bear hawk I used to have on there but this 2WD buggy is pretty similar:

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-110-the-hornet/

or there is this 4WD buggy:

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-110-rc-manta-ray-2018-model-kit/


anyway here is a youtube clip with an example of the same model my friend had:


*entry level in terms of the 'proper' RC buggies rather than the naff ones that used to be sold in the likes of Argos
 
chipperhead said:
Looking for recommendations please.

We got our 11 year old son a £40 RC car for Christmas, it got great reviews on Amazon but once he started using it I was a bit disappointed tbh. Obviously this was my fault due to higher expectations for what was in the end a 40 quid budget RC car. Within half an hour it became apparent that it had an intermittent steering fault so was returned and I told him we'll get another.

So I've raised the budget to approx £120 and would appreciate any recommendations, we live next to the beach so not sure if that's an option (does the sand destroy them?), we also live near to plenty of hard standing and fields.

I've had a quick look but it's a minefield, I even looked at nitro.
£120 isn't a target, if £80 will get a nice model then great but if £150 is going to get something far far superior than I'll look at that.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

For your price range I would look at something like this -

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-va...uggy-2-4ghz-waterproof/rc-car-products/379131

You can get spares easily enough if it breaks or upgrade it to a brushless for more power at a later date. There are obviously better models out there but they will cost you a lot more, these are very good for trying the RC hobby out with. Add some extra battery packs though if you do get it, they don't last long.

I would not recommend nitro for an 11 year old, its messy and can be a pain to get going as well as noisy. Nitro has its place but for going out for a bit of fun with the kids battery is way easier.
 
chipperhead said:
Looking for recommendations please.

We got our 11 year old son a £40 RC car for Christmas, it got great reviews on Amazon but once he started using it I was a bit disappointed tbh. Obviously this was my fault due to higher expectations for what was in the end a 40 quid budget RC car. Within half an hour it became apparent that it had an intermittent steering fault so was returned and I told him we'll get another.

So I've raised the budget to approx £120 and would appreciate any recommendations, we live next to the beach so not sure if that's an option (does the sand destroy them?), we also live near to plenty of hard standing and fields.

I've had a quick look but it's a minefield, I even looked at nitro.
£120 isn't a target, if £80 will get a nice model then great but if £150 is going to get something far far superior than I'll look at that.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

As you can see from comments above yours I was also in the position of sourcing an Rc car for my 11 year old daughter.

I went for the BSD Racing Prime Desert Assault V2 which is a bit of a buggy/truggy cross. So more ground clearance than a buggy but less width than a truggy. It has a brushed motor and comes with Nimh batteries. I would recommend ditching the nimh and getting lipo batteries. You can get 2x 4000mah for £30 delivered and then pick up a battery charger for £36 new or about £20 second hand.

I also bought myself a second hand older BSD prime assault, which is a buggy, so we could race. The Assault is better at jumping and turning but the Desert Assault is more rough and tumble.

You can run in the sand as all the important parts are enclosed and the drive shafts are sealed. Just make sure you clean it after every use. I use an air compressor and a paint brush. Then smother the whole car in wd40.

Don't worry about sand in the motor. You can clean the brushed motors out in a jar of water and they are only £10 for a new one.

Loads of spares easily available and quite cheap too.

I have some youtube videos of my 2 cars if you want to see a comparison of the 2 models.

HPI Maverick Strada models are another one worth looking at too.
 
I've just found this thread. I used to race RC cars back in the day. I think my car was a lazer zx (i think made by kyosho?).

Its been probably 25 years since I raced.

There is indoor and outdoor racing.

Does anyone else race them?
 
Picked up a XTM Terminator XT2 from Ebay for £90 and its pretty good fun.

I found a local BMX track that is pretty good fun, what sort of places do you guys normally take yours?
 
BowdonUK said:
I've just found this thread. I used to race RC cars back in the day. I think my car was a lazer zx (i think made by kyosho?).

Its been probably 25 years since I raced.

There is indoor and outdoor racing.

Does anyone else race them?
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I've raced for about 10 years and been into RC on and off since I was 7.

My club races touring cars and trucks inside and buggies outside. Current steed is a Yokomo YZ4 SF

Have a bit of a collecting addiction though and have about 30+ odd cars ish.
 
EddScott said:
I've raced for about 10 years and been into RC on and off since I was 7.

My club races touring cars and trucks inside and buggies outside. Current steed is a Yokomo YZ4 SF

Have a bit of a collecting addiction though and have about 30+ odd cars ish.
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That's awesome, and a big collection :)

Are there many clubs still around these days?

If anyone on the thread hasn't been to a RC club I recommend going. My first memories of going to a club was in this school hall. They had a big indoor track and at the back of the hall all these people with their tables fixing their vehicles and buying/selling parts. Plus there were races too. So you can test your skills against others.

It's a great hobby for kids and adults alike. A real community.

This is the governing body site that you can get membership too and also find any clubs near your location: https://www.brca.org
 
Hello guys dug out a old Traxxas T-Maxx that i have had in the shed a few years. Was given to me to fix up but i never got round to it. Decided now to see if i can get it running again.

Not really knowing anything about RC cars, i need a bit of help on what might be missing.

Pics:

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First question, which engine is it? The 2.5 or the 3.3?

Few things i have spotted i might need to get it started:

Airfilter
Starter pack and glow plug and lead
Battery pack (for the car)
Fuel

Is there anything else i will need? I have the controller, so hopefully that still talks to the car.

Most important question... Do you think it is even worth trying to get it started again or am i just better off selling it and just getting a cheapo one. Its only for my son to thrash about and break it again lol.

Thanks
 
Engine will want a full strip down and a clean and bearings inspected for rust and reoiling

But I imagine gaskets on the carb and exhaust corroded by now so may need replacing that's just the engine as for the chassis check for stripped gears and seized bearings and replace where needed shocks re oiling then check if electrics will work

Its possible to save it but I'd hazard a guess the engine might be saved with a bit of tlc
 
Usel said:
Look into converting it into electric. A goolrc motor and esc is about £30 and then according to this you need to change some gearbox parts.

http://www.how2rc.com/The T MAXX conversion to Brushless Electric Power.html

Probably cost about £60 in parts and then £20 to £30 for some lipo batteries and another £30 for a charger.

Nitro is noisey and hard to find places to run it without upsetting people.
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I did this to my old t Maxx. How 2 rc mount and forward only conversion. it's so much better. If your engine doesn't work I would strongly recommend it
 
Brutal biff said:
Engine will want a full strip down and a clean and bearings inspected for rust and reoiling

But I imagine gaskets on the carb and exhaust corroded by now so may need replacing that's just the engine as for the chassis check for stripped gears and seized bearings and replace where needed shocks re oiling then check if electrics will work

Its possible to save it but I'd hazard a guess the engine might be saved with a bit of tlc
Click to expand...


I'll just sell it :p

Thanks all
 
Long time bump for this thread!

Got myself a 2nd hand Losi 8ight-t 2.0 RC Nitro Truggy - not been run for a while but overall in excellent condition.

Comes with everything I need and despite having a reasonable background with drones/engines etc - I can't get the thing started on the starter box. Starter box is aligned well but the blue flywheel on the bottom of the engine/chassis just won't turn over at all. Starter box wheel spins up but just won't turn the flywheel on the Truggy. Seems very solid.

Would heating it with hairdryer work?
 
I would take out the glow-plug and put some wd-40 in there and leave it for a while - the longer the better. Try it again on the starter box, without the glow plug, hopefully it'll free up.
 
Out of interest are there any nitro to electric kits for an old HPI Savage SS? I built one years back and it only had a little use (still in very good condition). Wouldn't mind getting it up and running again with my lad but don't fancy messing about with the nitro side of things again.
 
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