arino

My son is 6 years old and I bought him a grasshopper about a year ago because that was the first RC I ever had. He still crashes it a little but I want to get him an upgrade so he stays interested in the hobby. I am looking something that's more versatile and can take a beating from a 6yr old. Any suggestions?

SyCo_VeNoM

how much do you want to spend, how fast do you want it to go, and how do you want it powered?

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

Gonna go out on a limb here and say Traxxas Stampede. Kids like monster trucks, and Traxxas cars are pretty durable.

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

I don't think you're going out on a limb at all, but maybe attracting some Traxxas haters! Lol. The Stampede 2wd is a good choice. Pretty durable stock, plenty of upgrades available, easy to work on. Ironically it should also be better in grass than the Grasshopper with it's larger tires and higher ground clearance.

If you want something more high performance that could even be raced later on have a look at short course trucks. They look like real trucks and do well on a variety of surfaces, all except the roughest ones. Something like the Team Associated SC10, Traxxas Slash, etc.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

We need to know what you're comfortable investing into the new car as that can drastically limit your options. Additionally, I like to ask folks where the vehicle would be driven and if there's a style that has interested them or they are curious about. For example: maybe you would be driving in an open dirt area that isn't groomed with lots of dips, holes and rough ground but you like the look of buggies. In that instance I don't recommend a 2wd buggy and a 1/8 scale 4wd could be out of your budget. Additionally I don't encourage a 1/8 vehicle for a young child anyhow.

But, trucks are always a solid choice whether they're monsters, open-wheeled stadium trucks or short course. They can handle rough terrain compared to smaller cars and tend to jump better. Short course trucks look cool and there are lots of choices on the market. Without recommending any particular model I generally suggest the short course trucks for a few reasons:

They have decent sized tires for rough ground and wheels / tires options are plentiful from many different brands. Their long suspension helps here too and allows them to handle bigger jumps. They have large bumpers and nerf-bars to help protect the chassis from hits (good for a driver with less experience). The wheelbase is typically longer than most 1/10 scale cars and trucks which makes handling a little more forgiving and tame.

From there you get into the type of motors, batteries, support equipment and, of course, the brand of vehicle you choose. Give us some more details and we can steer you in a good direction.

SyCo_VeNoM

Well as he didn't say a budget or anything here is from my experiences of what my nephew liked at 6 to drive
He loved my Axial SCX10 Honcho
He also liked driving my HPI Wheely King as its a big MT, but pretty reasonable (around $220 RTR), one of my Tamiya DF-02's(this I modified to make more rugged though, and had Stadium Truck tires on so it was kinda far from stock)

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

That's a good point because it's easy to assume that most people want a "traditional" fast RC car. I let my 3 year old drive my SCX10s because the speed is mellow, they're practically indestructable and she can't really hurt anything or anyone for that matter. Back to the budget issue, to get an RTR from scratch with battery, etc. is about a $400 deal. We don't know what the OP wants to invest. $400 might be acceptable, especially if he wants to be involved with it himself. A Wraith is a good option too since the RTRs have a reasonable balance between speed and a slow crawl. Plus, there are lots of option parts available. The downside, if you will, is that the cage and body make accessing the interior of the chassis cumbersome compared to the open pan of a 2wd car or truck.

arino

Thanks for the input everyone. Someone also suggested I look in the the ECX line of stadium trucks. Any thought on these?

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

We sell lots of ECX vehicles at the shop. I'm the "RC mechanic" on Friday evenings after I leave my regular job and I have had my hands on virtually every model they produce. I also own a 2WD brushed Torment and use it as my main "smasher" vehicle. My thoughts are:

They are a relative bargain among well-known hobby-grade RC brands. Overall I believe they are built with beginners in mind and as such they simplify the construction. There are very few, if any, mechanical adjustments on the suspension and steering components and all the plastics are flexible rather than rigid composites. This creates a vehicle that can take the hits a new driver will likely subject the car to. Current generations use waterproof electronics and are supplied with Spektrum compatible radios. They include a basic battery and charger in the box, as well as AA's for the transmitter. It's truly a complete package. A 2wd vehicle is well less than $200. Not too bad.

The down sides I've experienced are:
The servo-saver in the steering is very soft which does protect the servo but it "numbs" the steering and under certain conditions, the servo may not be able to turn the wheels. There are not aftermarket parts to replace them with but, 90% of the time it won't be an issue for a new driver. I have experience with many different types of vehicles so it is something I notice.

The slipper clutch is too basic of a design and the gap between the inside plate and the transmision case is barely 1mm. Possibly less. With a brushed motor this isn't an issue. Normally. If you have a brushless vehicle and adjust the clutch to slip under normal conditions the friction heats the plates enough to soften the spur gear causing it to strip and even soften the plastic of the transmission case. Especially if fragments of the spur get wedged between the clutch and the case then it chews up the case and needs to be replaced. The part is $5 but it takes an experienced guy a good 20-30 minutes to tear the @$$ end apart and swap the gears over to the new case.

I tend to tighten the clutch to slip very little and sacrifice the spur for owners of brushless trucks. The other quirk with the 2wd vehicles is that the clutch pads are stickers that adhere to the spur. You sometimes can carefully scrape them off and reuse them but, not always. So, replacing a spur gear also means new clutch pads. Maybe $8-$10 worth of parts but an oddity none the less.

Don't let these points discourage you necessarily because they make good beginner cars. Your upgrade / customization options are limited as there are virtually no aftermarket parts available. You can, upgrade standard parts like bodies, wheels / tires, motors & speed controls, radio, servo and batteries. If you want to be able to throw on aftermarket parts and customize more then maybe look at a Traxxas. But, ECX offers "bang for the buck" that's tough to beat. Other brands that I would consider with similar features are Duratrax and Arrma.

Arrma has some unique features not usually found on beginner level vehicles such as fully adjustable suspension, hex-drive hardware and a twin vertical plate chassis. I had a Granite and compared to a Traxxas Stampede it was hands down the better truck in regards to design, appearance, handling, jumping and overall performance. Speed varies with motor and battery choices but I liked that it wasn't wheelie happy and didn't want to turtle-over on its lid in high speed turns.

josh h

My nephew is almost 7 and I'll be getting him his first hobby grade r/c for Christmas this year if I have enough cash to spare. I am going with the 2wd brushed stampede. A friend of mine bought one a couple of years ago as his first rc and I was impressed. The thing was just plain fun. It's fast enough to have fun with but not so fast that it was uncontrollable or always breaking. It took a beating and kept going. And on top of that, if something were to break, I have yet to find a lhs that did not stock parts for it. I don't think there would be a more perfect beginner truck. It can be slowed down with the foam behind the trigger that is easily removed. So later on when he get's the hang of it, he can have it full speed and hit some jumps with me. I don't really have a lot of experience with a lot of the newer r/c cars other than the ones I have and what a few friends have, so I can't tell you how a lot of them handle or their durability. But I know for sure the pede would be awesome for a beginner. I think the only thing I did to my buddy's pede was put softer springs on it and it handled great for a basher.