pflowers

Hi, my 13 yr old son has on his Christmas list a remote control car, he's being looking in the argos catalogue but clearly I would like to buy him something a bit better quality.

So as I know nothing much about them I am looking of recommendations as to what to get. It needs to be rugged and capable of going on gravel, grass, mud etc. I don't want it falling apart the first time it gets crashed! Ideally with rechargeable batteries?

Any advice appreciated!

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

hpi savage x 4.6

urban

iTrader: (1)

I understand your request for this, but you'll find it provides 20/30 minutes of fun, followed by several hours recharging.

ScoobyDoo555

Yeh, HPI stuff is good.

I've also got a nitro racer too.

Yokomo is quite nice too.

Do you want it pre-built, or the father/son event of building it together?

Also, don't discount the Tamiya stuff either - ready-to-run as well (most of it)

Dan

Dale17

Savages are beasts, fast little things and can take a beating too lol

pflowers

Thanks for all the info, to answer the points-

Ok sounds like rechargeable batteries are not a good idea, don't want anything nitro powered so electric motor and yes ready to go rather than a build.

I just want something he can turn on when he wants to use it, and stick in his room when he doesn't.

Budget ideally £150 -200 as he already has some surprises bought, please put me straight if we will get nothing for this price.

Matteeboy

I'd recommend something with a brushless motor (I have one) - not far off nitro fast with a decent battery but MUCH quieter.

Mine does 40+ mph and lasts about 20 mins per battery. I wouldn't recommend mine as I've had to mod the hell out of it (it's not great but it's been a massive mission getting it that way) to make it last more than 10 seconds before destroying itself - I'm talking custom moulded parts, many speed controllers, two motors, etc. What was a cheapish car has ended up costing me a lot!

I'd recommend a brushless motor car from someone with a reasonable name like Kyosho or HPI. Schumacher are great but expensive!

4WD is good but I'd say 2WD can be more fun.

Dale17

Savages are beasts, fast little things and can take a beating too lol

Graz

Have a look on www.modelsport.co.uk, plenty to choose from.

For a kid I'd rule out Nitro, the engines are a PITA to keep in tune and the fuel is just dangerous.

Electric has come along way with Li-Po battery packs and brushless motors. At some point you'll want to budget for a decent battery charger and several packs so you can run for longer than 15-20 mins between charges. If you have a good enough charger it can fast charge a pack in around an hour so if you several batteries you can have a fair few runs in a day.

Be warned though these cars are not really toys, will break at some point if regularly crashed, so budget for spare parts

urban

iTrader: (1)

Man many years ago I was bought a Tamiya self build repsol escort cosworth for Christmas.
Took a long time to build the damn thing, but rewarding in the end.
One day I let my son have a go with it - bad mistake (he was about 10 by the way)
Within the space of maybe 5 minutes it was just looking sorry for itself after hitting something pretty solid.

pflowers

Seen this one-

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-carn...products/40397

Does this look any good for the money?

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

pflowers. do you want to be my dad?

pflowers

I have enough grief from the three I have ( and a fourth due in January )

Matteeboy

Not heard of FTX but it looks like a good truggy. Big motor too so it'll be damn quick!

pflowers

Out of interest how much do others spend on their kids? We budget £300 each for the two teenagers and £100 for the 3 year old.

I wouldn't think that's excessive in this day and age?

Matteeboy

Ours are only 4 and 1 but we don't add it up, just get what seems right. £300 is definitely a lot though!

Refuse to be drawn into the "you must spend x amount on your kids" lifestyle.

pflowers

Yes I agree, we tend to get one main present (which this would be) then a few little ones.

The only exception was last year when my daughter needed a laptop for school, she got it as a main present so we ended up spending a little more.

My kids are generally good and expect nothing, both the teenagers have to work in the family business for their pocket money so hopefully this teaches them something - unlike some of their friends who seem to get endless iPads, phones, clothes etc without lifting a finger. Unfortunately we have to work for a living, no benefit money here to flash around

SirFozzalot

Traxxas do some great Ready-to-run electric stuff. Can be pricey though.

cjquicksilver

iTrader: (23)

You can get a electric 1/5th hpi baja now too!!!

R1 BADBOY

iTrader: (-1)

Traxxas I got my lad one for his first one u can upgrade them loads run 2 batts can get spares easy my son loves it and for 170 the price is right

I had the savage not cheap but loads of fun until u drive it in to a pond it went down like the titanic

craigyp

iTrader: (5)

traxxas nitro rustler is a good 1st time one

Stevesbluewrx

iTrader: (4)

What's the car going to be used for?
On road or off road?

Loads of options out there.

Tamiya stuff is a good starting point.

Graz

I like the look of that 2.4GHz Radio, Brushless motor, Li-Po battery and charger, and looks well made. Half tempted myself

pflowers

Mainly off road use, gravel, grass etc.

pflowers

Yes it almost seems to good to be true compared to others of similar price.

There are some good videos on you tube, seems more than capable.

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

I had one of these as a nipper http://www.tamiya.com/english/produc...rnet/index.htm

Probably a decent place to start. I would think it is better to learn to control it before buying something that'll hit 40mph and have it get smashed up. Power is nothing without control and all that.

Plus, I won a couple of races at the indoor RC club with one of these so not that slow. The quicker stuff never had the time to get up to top whack on small indoor tracks.

Stevesbluewrx

iTrader: (4)

+1

I've recently just got my 5 year old in to RC cars. Mine had been sat around at home for almost 10 years.

He was using a old Ansmann Mercedez CLK GTR (1/18th) scale but the ride height isn't great and when we went over to a big car park it would become lodged on stones etc.

I've allowed him to use my old Schumacher Big 6 which I have now put a Tamiya 540 (Silver can) with 95T and 16T gearing in.

It isn't fast but gives him an idea of how to control it first.

I have some other motors waiting for him to upgrade to once the times comes he has got used to it.

Without going off topic, the above is really advise. If your lad isn't used to controlling a car best start off at the bottom and work his way up .

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-r...products/31173

Steve

Graz

Tamiya Frog was my first proper RC car, essentially the same as the Hornet shown in the link. Good thing about Tamiya cars is they come in kit form so you learn a bit about it when you build it & more importantly how to fix it when it breaks.

Remember spending Boxing Day building it, then started messing around with it indoors (mistake #1). Managed to break a suspension arm within about five minutes, was gutted as I hadn't had a chance to run it outside. Had a regular order with Beatties after that for spares

LVC

"The revolutionary 1984 2WD off-road buggy is back and more fun than ever before!"

I've got an original from 1984 one of these and also the F150 Truck bodied one in the store room here - had it new for passing my exams as a kid....god that makes me feel old. Still got the original ACOM (I think that's how it's spelled) 27Mhz transmitter with it - probably worth more as a collectors item than it was when new.

Matteeboy

The only problem was, it has an RS380 motor, the Hornet had an RS540 and the difference was enormous!

But otherwise very similar.

Agree though, top cars just go too fast for kids (or us grown ups!) to handle. If I accelerate my brushless 4WD buggy at full whack, it flips over backwards. If I steer hard at full pelt, it flips. It literally tears up the grass and it's nowhere near Nitro power.

This vid is very poor quality but shows a flip (at our old house on rather bumpy grass!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cqGOPosN_0&list=UL