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Electric car for kids

Old 06-30-2014, 05:29 PM
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bradjones
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Default Electric car for kids

Hi I'm into my rc monster truck and have a son of nearly three, I think he would really like a rc car and I want to get one which he can grow with, if you know what I mean.

i was thinking something electric, and which I could limit the top speed on and make faster as he gets older. also be able to repair if he manages to break it? Looking to spend around £100

so far just looking quickly I like the losi 8mini and traxxas stampede, can these new brushless cars be limited to say 10mph or am I going to have to keep buying the toy spec cars which only last as long as the batteries before they break.

any info greatly appreciated

thanks
Old 06-30-2014, 05:47 PM
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zackS30
 
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U could gear it low and get some NiMH batteries and it would go very fast.
Old 06-30-2014, 06:39 PM
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brushless generally doesn't like being limited to 10mph. you would have to get a really low KV motor, and in 1/10th scale those usually don't work too well(unless sensored)

For a child I'd go brushed. Tamiya has a pile of kits that are relatively low cost

Personally though I wouldn't bother with one RC he could grow with cause 1-2 years down the line the model could be discontinued, and parts could dry up fast. Only ones think I would say if you REALLY want to do that which would have parts support for a LONG time is the traxxas vehicles like the pede as those have been virtually unchanged in 14+ years.

But in your budget I've looked in UK hobby shops online before, and can't say I seen much outside the bare basic tamiyas
Old 07-01-2014, 07:11 AM
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It's a little out of the price range but my 3yo learnt to drive with a SCX10 Honcho when he was 15 months.... And at the age of 2 he had it mastered. Now at 3 he is better than some adults and can be trusted with unrestricted brushless cars.
here is a old video of him when he was 2 with a brushless slash... To be honest he has more fun driving in the garden with the slower vehicles
http://youtu.be/qedJ2LObI4s

here are some good points to consider.
extreemly durable
its slow
goes over anything
Hardly ever gets stuck
and the roll bar on the back makes for a good carry handle for young kids

Old 07-01-2014, 08:19 AM
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EXT2Rob
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Fifteen MONTHS?! Hoo wee! That's startin' 'em young. He does seem to be pretty good with that Slash. Cripes, at that age, I could barely pick my own nose much less drive an RC with any kind of aplomb. Way to go max!
Old 07-02-2014, 01:45 PM
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Fair play too little man! Ye I'll look into the axial honcho see if I can get one second hand £150 around that will get me Sumat decent hopfully, I'm all about nitro so don't really know how the brushed systems work can they be slowed down just on the controller like end point? Cheers brad
Old 07-02-2014, 07:03 PM
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End Points, exactly. So if kiddo's transmitter has 'em, that's the way you limit his max top speed.
Old 07-02-2014, 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by EXT2Rob
End Points, exactly. So if kiddo's transmitter has 'em, that's the way you limit his max top speed.
taping a piece of foam behind the trigger works too
Old 07-02-2014, 09:42 PM
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Oh well sure, if you wanna go real cheap...




....but it does work. Simple is good.
Old 07-03-2014, 12:03 AM
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he he, ive used a crayon behind the trigger.... yeah, don't do that it makes a mess lol

something like a scx10 u might not have to slow it down as they are relatively slow

A lot depends on the child. one of my boys needed it to be restricted at first because he is a lot more hyperactive but my younger boy in the video is a lot more sensible and listens, so rather than limiting it I was able to teach him to only pull the trigger a little bit and remind him every few minutes if he started to get silly.

Rc cars can be very exciting to young ones. if u can get them to calm down and listen they will have a better chance of successfully driving the car with out getting frustrated

one thing that I found that helps familiarize themselves on how a car works is let them push it around and play with it with out it been switched on.
my boys spent ages doing that studying how the wheels turn when u push it, I think it really fascinated them discovering the wheel.

girls are the same. my 1yo loves to push a Losi 8ight rolling chassis around, I must admit its on hell of a push toy lol

Just be warned tho, kids do brake thing. but the thing they brake are totally unpredictable.... U would never guess what my boys broke on the SCX10... apart from every scale accessory ive ever tried...any guesses? there has been 3 things over the years
Old 07-03-2014, 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by phmaximus
Just be warned tho, kids do brake thing. but the thing they brake are totally unpredictable.... U would never guess what my boys broke on the SCX10... apart from every scale accessory ive ever tried...any guesses? there has been 3 things over the years
Rim, body, and a light bucket?

Agree though the SCX 10 probably doesn't really need any slowing up, and if it does just fling a 35T motor in it
Old 07-03-2014, 08:12 AM
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Originally Posted by SyCo_VeNoM
brushless generally doesn't like being limited to 10mph. you would have to get a really low KV motor, and in 1/10th scale those usually don't work too well(unless sensored)

For a child I'd go brushed. Tamiya has a pile of kits that are relatively low cost

Personally though I wouldn't bother with one RC he could grow with cause 1-2 years down the line the model could be discontinued, and parts could dry up fast. Only ones think I would say if you REALLY want to do that which would have parts support for a LONG time is the traxxas vehicles like the pede as those have been virtually unchanged in 14+ years.

But in your budget I've looked in UK hobby shops online before, and can't say I seen much outside the bare basic tamiyas
generally syco you and I are on the same page...however my son is 4 and he has been driving my SC10rs a lot. the sc10's radio has throttle end points, so I just turn down the high end point and I can limit speed to 10mph. everything runs cool and battery runtime is crazy long.
If you were referring to limiting a brushless model's speed by gearing it down, in that case I agree with you. that could cause it to overheat. But if you buy a model with adjustable throttle endpoints you can tweak the top speed (as well as acceleration) quickly and continue to adjust it as he gets better at driving. my son is getting good enough I have been upping the speed to 15-18mph.

All that said, for a young one there is nothing wrong with getting a brushed model. The wheelyking or crawler king can be good 1st models....they take a bashing, are not that fast out of the box and can be geared down more if you want them slower. and $200 for a RTR with battery and 2.4 radio isn't bad, expecially since it is 4wd and can drive most anywhere.

models I like for a kid:
sc10rs...the brushed version has the same radio and could work just as well.
HPI wheely or crawler king.
ECX torment. no adjustable throttle on the radio, but good price-durable-drives over most terrain.

those would be my top 3.
Old 07-03-2014, 07:24 PM
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Originally Posted by nitrosportsandrunner
generally syco you and I are on the same page...however my son is 4 and he has been driving my SC10rs a lot. the sc10's radio has throttle end points, so I just turn down the high end point and I can limit speed to 10mph. everything runs cool and battery runtime is crazy long.
If you were referring to limiting a brushless model's speed by gearing it down, in that case I agree with you. that could cause it to overheat. But if you buy a model with adjustable throttle endpoints you can tweak the top speed (as well as acceleration) quickly and continue to adjust it as he gets better at driving. my son is getting good enough I have been upping the speed to 15-18mph.

All that said, for a young one there is nothing wrong with getting a brushed model. The wheelyking or crawler king can be good 1st models....they take a bashing, are not that fast out of the box and can be geared down more if you want them slower. and $200 for a RTR with battery and 2.4 radio isn't bad, expecially since it is 4wd and can drive most anywhere.

models I like for a kid:
sc10rs...the brushed version has the same radio and could work just as well.
HPI wheely or crawler king.
ECX torment. no adjustable throttle on the radio, but good price-durable-drives over most terrain.

those would be my top 3.
I was more thinking of the cogging which is why I said sensored at the end. I dunno the motors I have pretty much cog like crazy in my vehicles when I try to go slow but then again they are all sensorless.

Agree about the WK pretty good vehicle as I owned one(well sorta still own as I kinda used it for parts for 2 other RC's), and enjoyed it I would say it would be the top option IMO(unless he could get a SCX10 cheap) as its a friggin monster truck, and we all know kids love monster trucks specially one made to pop wheelies . I would have said it originally except I was trying to stay near his original budget which is the main reason I said Tamiya as the kits are cheap
Old 07-04-2014, 08:32 PM
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my boys managed to brake the...

front Bumper mount..... (picking it up from it)
Rear Shock hoop.....(droping the car on the back end)
Rear left shock cap.....(it got caught in some weeds and they literally pulled on it until it was free)


thats a good idea with the HPI Wheelie King.

and another option is the Redcat ground pounder

Last edited by phmaximus; 07-04-2014 at 08:51 PM.
Old 07-05-2014, 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted by phmaximus
my boys managed to brake the...

front Bumper mount..... (picking it up from it)
Rear Shock hoop.....(droping the car on the back end)
Rear left shock cap.....(it got caught in some weeds and they literally pulled on it until it was free)



thats a good idea with the HPI Wheelie King.

and another option is the Redcat ground pounder
having owned the king and a ground pounder.....for kids, the king is better. the ground pounder is much heavier. And since the links are all metal, there is no give. so what does break, are the link mounts on the axle.
The chassis on the GP is much cooler IMO. And last night I saw the new transformer movie and I could swear the robot-dog thing the main character had built was sitting on a ground pounder!

I know I have broken a king's shock before. Ive had a stock ESC fry. Ive broken a steering knuckle as well as a front driveshaft. But the frequency of breakage was no worse than any other decent basher truck. And when it comes to kids, you can always gear a king down which will help limit breakage.
Old 08-08-2014, 03:42 PM
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I will look into the hpi wheelie king then.

he had a go steering my tmaxx 3.3 while I hold the throttle he steers it in a big open field, hasn't quite got the hang of turning but I let him push it around or I do while he steers it left and right, when it's not hot of course,

he's defiantly a hyper child absolutely loves the "monster truck" so I wanted something strong, I was thinking a brushed traxxas revo might be a good truck because they are strong, not very fast, May or may not have a endpoint or ziptie some pipe insulation behind trigger and also would beable to upgrade it as he gets older

what's your thoughts on the revo?
Old 08-08-2014, 06:38 PM
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Originally Posted by bradjones
I will look into the hpi wheelie king then.

he had a go steering my tmaxx 3.3 while I hold the throttle he steers it in a big open field, hasn't quite got the hang of turning but I let him push it around or I do while he steers it left and right, when it's not hot of course,

he's defiantly a hyper child absolutely loves the "monster truck" so I wanted something strong, I was thinking a brushed traxxas revo might be a good truck because they are strong, not very fast, May or may not have a endpoint or ziptie some pipe insulation behind trigger and also would beable to upgrade it as he gets older

what's your thoughts on the revo?
much heavier, more complicated and more expensive than a wheely king.
I just got a wheely king for my boy...he drove it for the first time yesterday. Tested out how waterproof it is as well. Truck performed without a hitch. Its not super fast out of the box, but plenty quick for jumping and bashing over rough terrain. And enough torque to pop some wheelies.

The nice thing about the WK, is the tuning potential. When snow comes, I plan to install diff lockers, for full time 4wd. When his control increases, I plan to increase top speed with a 15 turn motor upgrade.

If he wants to in the future, we can install upgraded links, lengthen the wheelbase, upgrade the steering, install a high turn motor and make it a rock crawler. Or I could buy a set of redcat earthquake 8e wheels and tires which are taller and wider (biggest tires I know of that have a 12mm hex) and make it an even bigger monster truck.

as you can see in the video, a fully stock wheely king makes a good over-all basher. And the plastic links, steering links and beafy driveline can take a beating without breaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93LjAB0CuYQ&list=UUvwHY0wHFW3a5QFqQRkaKGQ
Old 08-09-2014, 01:08 PM
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Looks like he's having a lot of fun haha my boy is a little younger than him just coming up to 3, you think the wheelie king may be abit to fast for him? Is there anyway to slow it down to say half that speed,

also I've heard that rock crawlers are slow would that be a good ideA? And if so is there any which are nearly bullet proof with a slow top speed, I really like the scx10 but they are very expensive £300 bit too much.

Im im now thinking my budget is abit unrealistic so would like to spend abit more for something idea for him, say around £150 give or take new or second hand

thanks brad
Old 08-09-2014, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by bradjones
Looks like he's having a lot of fun haha my boy is a little younger than him just coming up to 3, you think the wheelie king may be abit to fast for him? Is there anyway to slow it down to say half that speed,

also I've heard that rock crawlers are slow would that be a good ideA? And if so is there any which are nearly bullet proof with a slow top speed, I really like the scx10 but they are very expensive £300 bit too much.

Im im now thinking my budget is abit unrealistic so would like to spend abit more for something idea for him, say around £150 give or take new or second hand

thanks brad
ive had a hard time finding a used wheely king at a good price...many of them get upgraded to be much faster, or turned into rock crawlers.....even used ones seem to go for $200 and up.(US)
The stock wheely king has a 27 turn motor. you could certainly install a smaller pinion gear (or larger spur gear) to reduce the gearing. This would make it pop wheelies even easier and lower the top speed.
Another option is to install a 35 or 55 turn crawler motor.
Or, you can get a HPI Crawler king....which is the wheely king with a crawler motor, jeep body, different tires and a longer wheel base. There are a few other minor differences, but the key parts are all the same.
But the basic answer is yeh, you can slow down a stock wheely king pretty easy...either a gearing or motor change. Then...when he is ready for more speed just change it back to stock. Then, when he is ready for more speed than that, install a 20t or 15 turn motor. A nice thing with the wheely king is there is MASSIVE upgrade and tuning potential. You can build up to be a even tougher, bigger and faster monster truck.....or change it to a full on rock crawler, or perhaps some mixture of both.

I took the WK to a kids party today....ran 2 packs threw it, let anyone who wanted to drive it. It hit many trees, table legs, logs, the house and other solid object. Body has some new scrapes on it, but that's about it. It is a truck that you can give the remote to just about anyone without having to worry about them damaging it.
Old 08-10-2014, 09:44 AM
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Wow sounds good to me then I will have a look around for one, do they still sell them new? I like the sounds of it not breaking and hitting everything haha, it will be for Christmas of Santa as long as he's a good boy lol, think he would really like the wheelie king the revo idea was stupid of me they are too fast even the brushed ones,

also so does the WK come as a kit or they rtr?
Old 08-10-2014, 11:39 AM
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Originally Posted by bradjones
Wow sounds good to me then I will have a look around for one, do they still sell them new? I like the sounds of it not breaking and hitting everything haha, it will be for Christmas of Santa as long as he's a good boy lol, think he would really like the wheelie king the revo idea was stupid of me they are too fast even the brushed ones,

also so does the WK come as a kit or they rtr?
yes, you can buy them new, they still are making them. The one I just got is the more recently updated one (waterproof electronics and 2.4ghz radio are the updates)
They come RTR, with a battery and a basic charger. I highly recommend getting a second battery. The stock battery is 2000mah (mah refers to capacity and thus runtime, the higher the better) and it does the job but a higher mah battery will provide better runtimes. towerhobbies has some 3000, 4000 and 5000mah packs between $20-$35. If you have the cash, a onyx 200 battery charger is a nice addition as well, as it can charge the batteries much faster than the included charger.
But, you will get everything needed to run with the wheely king, even the AA batteries for the radio are included. You pull the truck out of the box, charge the battery, install the AAs in the remote and off you go.

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