cockerpunk

hey guys, quick background on me. when i was about 14 year old i used to drive a nice RCbuggie, and we did it for about 2 or 3 years. my brother had a losi truck, the neighbors and made tracks and raced and had a lot of fun. then we later moved on to go karts and RCwas forgotten.

now im 22, getting out of college, looking to get back into RC. as you suspected im pretty good with my hands, i am graduating the a mechanical engineering degree, so i'm pretty technically competent in electronics and machines. i have been playing paintball and involved in the online community for paintball for nearly 10 years, so i have learned a bit about high tech hobbies.

so im looking for some advice -

1. buying used. in paintball i have not boughten a brand new gun for at least 5 years. this is becuase buying used is simply 100 times better in terms of the deals you can get. you can get a couple year old model that has nearly the capablities of the new stuff for half the price. is this true in RC too? if this is true, are there some well known older cars and trucks that are tried and true? in paintball the older bob long intimidators are well known for being great values while performing nearly as good as guns that are 3 years newer. im looking for something like that but for RC.

2. if new is the only way to go, will i need any specialized tools to build and install my own stuff? im half tempted to buy a RTR setup, but back when i did this, the RTRstuff was all junk. if i have to get my own whole steup, do i need any tools beyond allen keys, wrenches, plyers, you know, the basic tools that no man should be cought dead without.


now, what i think i am looking for -

-i want an electric. nitros never seemed to work out too well and becuase of that im more interested in electrics.
-i'd like a truck of buggie that is fast an manuverable. not looking for a monster truck. tall grass is probably the roughest terrain i plan on driving over.
-as for the almighty dollar, i dont have a price range right now. im really just getting an idea what i can get for what price. back when i was 14 a $150 dollar truck was AMAZING to us, now i can spend that kind of money without to much conicquernce.
-im not looking to race or anything, just to have it the trunk of my car to buzz around when im bored
-im a tinker by nature, but i'd like something that isn't a mile of my head (yet)

thanks guys for your responses.

BTW - brushless = win ... thats just cool. as an engineer that is just cool to see.

HJJFFFAA

How big are you looking to go?

cockerpunk

good question - how big should i go?

the cars we played with back when i was young were 18 inches, maybe 2 feet long about a foot wide. i think that equates to 1/10th but i have not run the numbers on that.

smaller would be better for portablity sake, but i dont want to go to small and lose the stablity of a larger vechicle.

rebuilder

"back when i was 14 a $150 dollar truck was AMAZING to us, now i can spend that kind of money without to much conicquernce." ?? Im not exactly sure what that means, but i guess you can spend more than $150? If you can go up to $300-$400 you can get a pretty nice mid grade rig and some good batteries.

Here are some brushless rigs:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXSDB7**&P=ML

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXSDB6**&P=ML

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXWEP1**&P=ML

A decent lipo will run you $40 +

cockerpunk

the rustler is still around?

crazy ... my neightbor had a rustler.

yeah, im really just looking at what kind of money i need to get what kind of perfromance or advantages. are these brushless rigs high end or more mid end? what differencates high end trucks from lower end ones besides power?

HJJFFFAA

Engineering of course, quality of materials, quality of manufacturing.

rebuilder

Traxxas is more mid grade hobby rc, in my opinion...............sort of RC's for the masses, decent quality, great support, lots of replacement and upgrade parts and affordable for the "average Joe" (which i am one of)

cockerpunk

that sounds like what i am looking for.

how are those RTRpackages that are linked? how is the radio gear in them? when i was young the RTRstuff sucked, has that changed a bit?

should i buy new? or is there a used market for this type of truck?

rebuilder

The RTR stuff has gotten alot better...................these rigs have your average 2 channel AM radios, but they are more than adequate for general bashin around. Kinda "mid-grade" , i hate to keep using that line but it pretty much sums it up. Now, these brushless rigs with the proper lipos will astonish you with their speed and power................nothing even close to a ten year old Rustler with a can motor and 6 cell nicad.

cockerpunk

mid grade is about what i am looking for, so keep using the term!

what about some kind of used rig that is comprable to those ones linked? is there even a large used market in RC, i can only imagine that there is.

rebuilder

I added this last line that i put in bold before you read it i believe...............................they are very fast. You can find these rigs on ebay all the time.........however they "normally" bring about 75% + the price of a new one when a couple years old.

Druss

You never actually stated a budget, only that $150 was the low end. The more expensive the vehicle the more you're going to save over new unless it was just released.

I bought a used brushless erevo for about 60% of retail. If you can find one for $400 or less it's a great truck and comes with a 2.4ghz radio.

kistner

My Feedback: (10)

you might check out the firestorm flux too.

john01374

I would say that someone with your skills should look at something like an E-Revo. It's a fair bit more complicated that the standard 2WD stadium trucks holding the degrees you do I think you'll find it enjoyable to work on and will appreciate the quality of the truck. It's also built seriously tough and comes in two versions. A brushed and a brushless. I just picked up a nice used brushed version with a bunch of hop-ups, different motors etc for $300 and a brushless version can be had for a couple of hundred more.

cockerpunk

i have found a backdraft 8e for a pretty good price.

it looks to me like its got everything i could want. the reviews i have seen say its pretty good, anyone herd anything bad about it? 4wd, lipos, brushless ...

it is a little on the large size but manageable.

john01374

That's the new Redcat 8th scale buggy right ? If it's the same one i'm thinking of. I was just looking at that car at the hobby shop yesterday. It looks quite impressive and beefy.

There are a number of people on here that will tell you that Redcat products are crap. I use to believe that as well until I bought their Vortex stadium truck. It's been a very good truck so far with no problems other than a Spur gear getting chewed up. I'm considering picking one of those buggies up in the near future.