paulwrxboro

Im looking for a nitro rc car for my son age 13 my budget is approx £220
is this any good / good value http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

? or can anyboby recomend a good model or internet supplier
and it must be for off road / grass ect

looking forward to replys
cheers paul

LG John

Hi,

I recently went through this in september when my g/f decided to get one for my birthday.

I don't wish to put you off but there are some things you should know. These are expensive toys - they cost a fair bit in consumables and the urge to upgrade is massive! They also use a surprising amount of fuel, etc and you can break them easily if you are careless.

They are also difficult to learn to run initially and you'd have to give your son support I would imagine. It took me hours to get my engine to start at all and even then it ran like a bag of hammers on idle through 2 tanks of fuel. You have to run the engine in carefully through around 5-8 tanks of fuel so you'll need to convince your son not to go daft during this period. You also have to adjust the fueling as the engine runs in. At one point I couldn't get mines to run on anything other than idle - as soon as I touched the gas it stalled. I hunted for hours for the correct setting! Now that its run in it goes well but still takes a lot of looking after. For example, 15-20 minutes bashing around on gravel/wet grass results in at least an hour of cleaning and maintenance. You could risk not doing such maintenance but you'll vastly reduce the life of your model. The engines can be expensive and can also be easy to blow up if you are not careful with them, don't filter the air/fuel correctly or run them too lean.

If you are still interested then I'd get a 1/8th scale buggy as IMHO its the best compromise between a road car and a monster truck. They are fast, robust, can go pretty much anywhere and if you stick some road tyres on them and adjust the suspension settings and height then they will handle well on tarmac.

I note you are interested in an RTR (ready to run). I went for this option myself as the thought of building one of these was daunting. In hindsight I wish I'd built it myself as the RTR put-together quality was pretty poor and I spent most of my first few nights stripping it down and rebuilding it to make sure everything was tight and well adjusted. They are also surprisingly simple despite looking complex. If you budget £200 for an RTR machine budget at least another £50-75 for ancillaries such as fuel, after-run oil, spare filters, spare glowplugs, batteries, chargers, tools, spare nuts and bolts, etc. That said, these would make cunning stocking fillers

They are great fun and I'm sure you'll son would love them but if you feel he's more of a play for 20 minutes then move onto something else kind of kid I'd consider a good electric machine as the nitro one's do need an investment of time and effort and you/your son will have to get into nitro's to learn how to look after them. My knowledge is very limited and probably the bare minimum required yet I've still done hours of reading on the net and talking to my local model shop guy.

As for a particular model I'll leave such suggestions to more experienced posters. I got a Hoboa Hyper 7 TQ Sport RTR but that was nearer £300 if I recall and I quickly added some stuff taking it up to £400 odd.

Just a quick google but for £20 more this doesn't look too shabby HERE
This is also decent looking HERE

One final comment is that if you get him a pullstart nitro model for xmas if you try to get it running on xmas day you'll likely be eating xmas dinner in a foul mood with skin missing from your fingers. Best to leave it until you have plenty of time, are calm and have no other festivities to worry about that day

robby

I agree with Saxo Boy, i'd had quite a few Tamiya battery models in 1/10 scale, i upgraded them with quicker motors, upgraded gears, etc and then decided to get a nitro model.
I bought the first 1 off ebay and tried to get it to run properly over a couple of days, i got the setting spot on and it ran perfect for a few runs then i had to alter the mixtures yet again.
I sold this model and bought a new RTR Cen model (2 speed) - this needed the engine running in which i did in the garage on a stand (neighbours probably thought i was killing a sewing machine in there) - the mixture settings were a pain but i got there in the end.
First run out in a car park and i hit a kerb and broke the wishbone and wheel, these aren't expensive to replace but when the cars do 40mph it does happen often so i bought spares
I got so fed up with the starting process and the refuleing (usually runs out at the other end of the car park) and the cleaning was a pain (brake cleaner does the trick) - i ended up back with the Electric cars.
The good thing with electric (ok not as quick but with upgraded parts can still do 35ish) is connect the battery and it's ready to run, get a couple of spare battery, charge them up before you go out and you can keep going for ages (quicker motor and gears will reduce the running time of the battery).

robby

http://www.morleymodels.co.uk

http://www.modelsport.co.uk

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

I would suggest getting the HPi Savage 25 RTR or the LE model

http://www.hpi-europe.com/kits.php?lang=en&cat=n-off

Models in Motion in Stevenage, Herts are really really nice and helpfull.

www.modelsinmotion.co.uk

Darren

paulwrxboro

CHEERS Theres some good sites there i will be looking at them all

thanks

paulwrxboro

Also cheers saxo boy im thinking along the battery rout now

paulwrxboro

Ok just to let you know i just got him this http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFun...n&ItemID=16520

im looking forward to it coming ...just for a testdrive like honest

beemerboy.

Paul, thats a great deal.
these things are as reliable as nitro can be and the starter makes life much easier.

i have about 6 nitro cars now, and its cost me a fortune over the years.

i give your son 6 months, before he wants a plane or helicopter.

these are great hobbies and will teach him lots in terms of engineering and patience.

i wish you both fun....

BB

alloy

HPI SAVAGE is the off roading daddy , Mine has been 5ft in the air and is still alive and kicking. Get a big engine in there and have a blast!!

Tall Paul

Yup...I had a Savage 25 that I hopped up with all alloy, but got rid of it in the end becuase I was fed up with the cost of fuel (£25 a gallon!) and also the maintenance. As previously said, 45 minutes play with 2 hours after maintenance!

But in saying that, a tankl would normally last 45 minutes and it went like stink. Did a few high jumps as well!!! Very robust but a serious pain when they go wrong!

Worth it if you have the time and patience, if not, ofrget it and go electric.

methodman

thats a good one to start with paul, join the hpi forum ans theyre tons of help on there with guide on how to do maintainance etc,


i myself was bitten by the rc bug, and beemerboy was very helpful!

i know have a hyper 7 tq

mader 1.5th sclae 23c petrol buggy

traxas revo

rc18mt!

once you get one, your mates will more than likely soon be getting one after seeing how much fun they are, and then more of you race/bash!!


my hyper




my marder (with front disc brakes)




my revo



my lil` rc18mt





aaron.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I like the look of the hpi nitro rush in Halfrauds and that's only £200 too

methodman

or £160.00 free post from here mate

http://www.modelsinmotion.co.uk/prod...productid=1446






some vids for you here too

http://www.hpi-europe.com/videos.php?lang=en&cat=action


aaron.

beemerboy.

method man, how do you keep these models so clean????

i got the bug again now, and will dig my models out from the mothballs once more.

i moved into london for a few months so had them in storage, but now i'm back in essex and ready to pollute the parks once more.

first on the firing up list will be the GS Storm !!!!

then, if the last thread of the starter can hold up, the Kyosho Mad Force.

oh, i can smell them now......

bring on the snow!!!

BB

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

wow that's a bargain! Thanks, I have no excuse now

Nathan L

Quite a few of us from here and the Sussex Scoobies have the HPI Savage SS 4.6

We thrash, bash and generally rag the nuts off them and they are great fun

The modding bug does bite though

HPI stuff is generally regarded as being very good and reliable so you wont go far wrong with the Nitro. Just make sure you find somewhere large to run it, as they go like stink

Here are some pics of my Savage

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I bet they're not that shiney now

Nathan L

Err, no

methodman

very tasty, everyone loves the .46 hpi engines, plenty of power & easy to tune,

a mate of mines just got a new .46 engine and sent it off to these guys


http://tntmods.com/?p=main

my new revo engines just been modded by then, i should be getting it back asap!


aaron

EddScott

Can I show you mine too



Kyosho MP777 Special 1, OS VZB .21 engine, KO radio gear. Ran this earlier in the year during our club outdoor season. Now tucked up quietly until next year. Also have Xray tourer for indoors - closer racing but way too quiet!

EDIT - unless your confident you can adjust the settings, I wouldn't go playing with them at all. The engine should be set from the factory and if you break it in correctly you really shouldn't need to fiddle with the settings. Its bound to be tight initially but adjustment really shold be a last resort.

Also try to find a local club who can help you with setup and should you join and become a BRCA member you'll be insured at the track. Legalities of being hit by a nitro RC car are very vague so be careful

methodman

hi there bb, your the reason i got into nitro, you helped me out loads, i used the be "lord of the bling" on here...

get the ol` cobwebs outta the strom dude, & get back into it!


aaron

methodman

ed thats one sweet mp777, those OS v-specs scream & just beg for more..

Tall Paul

I used to have a marder! A stonking bit of kit and it runs on unleaded too!!! Much cheaper than Nitro, but it was a huge car, lot bigger than the savage!

Needed a big field for the savage. Needed half a county for the Marder! Excellent fun all round though....May have to look into getting another Savage methinks!

methodman

yeah the marder is so easy, with the bigger easier to start engine that ticks over all day long!

there quite a few people near me (loughborough)with nitro`s thar meet on sundays at a great bmx track in Derby, so get a savage again & get bashing!


aaron

LG John

It my vary from model to model by my Hyper-7 runs very rich on the factory settings. It's spits fuel oil out the exhaust on idle and loads on throttle and generally runs slow and crap - it needed to be leaned out, no questions

StickyMicky

one of my staf has just bought a new Traxis T-Maxx (sp?)
not sure how it fares in the scheme of things but it looks like it can shift a fair bit, and he was only running it in

methodman

the t-maxx is getting a little old in the tooth as it were, byt at over 40mph with 2 speed and now at £225 its a total proper bargin!!!

http://www.modelsinmotion.co.uk/prod...productid=2436



aaron (trying to covert the world into nitro)

scoobylav

I have the HPI Rush Evo. I don't use it as much as I should but it is great fun. Think I will take it for a spin this weekend.