PA BEN

I want to buy my kid an RTR, car, truck or what ever, for Christmas. My question is how long does the batteries last, run time? Like I said, I have no idea at all. I fly R/C airplanes, is it better to go glow fuel or stay electric?

rclugnut10

My Feedback: (1)

for you kid get him like a rustler, (not vxl), a stamped, both made by traxxas, on HPI e-firestorm, not flux, or a duratrax evader, all good trucks, well priced and all, idk about the traxxas servo's stock but the duratrax and HPI are really futaba s3003's so i'ld get like a 3305 or a tower ts 140 both will work fine, for batteries you can get ~25 on a high end 4200 mha pack, so cheek out www.cheapbatterpacks.com, use their custom pack builder make a 6 cell side by side eleit 5000, with 12 gauge wire, and upgrade the pack, and put some deans on it, you'll also need to put those on your charger and speed control. the reason i say get above batts is because they are great cells and at those specs $40 per pack, a great deal imo

the lug

PA BEN

So how long do batteries last? Running time?

electricrcdude

Depends on how many maH your battery has. A 2000maH battery does not last as near as long as a 5000maH. With the battery the lug mentioned, you will get 10-20 minutes of runtime depending on driving style.

supercharged347

How old is your kid ?

PA BEN

She's 9

Chris_RC

For a 5000mAh battery flooring it the whole time it should last about 10-15 minutes. If your not going full speed the whole time I would expect 15-25 minutes.

kistner

My Feedback: (10)

tamiya makes some good ones too. they are pretty durable and loads of fun. Lunchbox, hornet, etc

overrev

I suggest you buy the rustler or stampede vxl this way you won't have to upgrade later. You can set the esc. to half power to begin with to let her get use to driving it. You will also get longer run time with brushless motor. The 5000 should run 25 to 40 minutes. If you do buy one just get the traxxas connectors on the batteries. Some people don't like them but I haven't had any problems with there connectors.

hkenvy91

do like i do, buy a few packs ,even just 2 and run one while the other is charging!

MuggyDude

Rustler VXL with 3300 mah 6 cell battery: 25-30 min

Rustler XL-5 with 3300 mah 6 cell battery: 15-20 min

Rustler VXL with 4200 mah 7 cell battery: 30-35 min

Rustler XL-5 with 4200 mah 7 cell battery: 20-25 min

Cheap Guy

I'd say get the cheapest XL-5 you can find (probably for less $150) and get a good charger and batteries for the difference in price between the XL-5 and the VXL. If she gets hooked, you can sell the XL-5 for a good price and use the charger and batteries on the VXL. Plus, if she doesn't get hooked, it's a lot easier to sell/trade the XL-5 because it's cheaper.

MuggyDude

+1

Fr33ze

Or you and your daughter could upgrade an XL-5 rustler/stampede/slash/bandit to handle a brushless system later on after owning it for a bit and getting use to it. Or buy an e-firestorm flux if you would would prefer a factory warrantied, brushless RTR truck. Personally, I don't trust the quality of the Traxxas VXL brushless speed controller enough to recommend their brushless RTR trucks... You can build one that will take more punishment, and run more reliably then a VXL model.

Batteries are your biggest investment, don't go with anything less then 4200mah 6 or 7 cell nimh. Buy a "peak" charger to make charging simple, the older timer style chargers can quickly overheat and kill a battery if your not monitoring it often enough.

Take some time and do a little reading around here on the RC's that others, as well as myself will recommend, it's good to know what your getting into with some model's.

Cheers.

overrev

Most people who burn up traxxas brushless esc. and motors are over gearing them. you can do that with anything. You should always check temps before and after changing setups.

Mule5292

+1 on traxxas ruslter

supercharged347

Doing the VXL and setting the speed control for 50% power is a good idea.

PA BEN

This is the one I'm looking at.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXNJJ0**&P=0

overrev

That is a good choose for a beginner. Get some good batteries, 5000 mha at cheapbatterypacks.com. you should be good to go. you will needed a good charger if you don't have one.

MuggyDude

I would get the Rusty Xl-5, much better handler and a little less expensive.

overrev

Actually at tower the stampede is cheaper.

RMPROB

I highly recommend this battery, I have had it in an xl5 for about a year and it is still going very strong

http://www.all-battery.com/tenergypr...onnectors.aspx

RMPROB

Or because of their sale this battery would give you more run time and more punch for 5 bucks more!

http://www.all-battery.com/tenergypr...connector.aspx

PA BEN

I see a lot of batteries without the hump, will it fit? BTW, this has been some good info. Thanks

overrev

Those are seven cell packs you want the six cell packs. The seven cell pack will burn out the motor quicker. www.cheapbatterypacks.com look under find packs by model, buy the 5000's longer run time. Hope this helps.