fortashby

I used to fly RC airplanes and helicopters. I want to re-enter the hobby with RC trucks. I want a truck that is nitro powered and easy for a beginner to adjust, and work on. I will not be racing. I need a truck that will do well in gravel, dirt and more importantly grass, as this is where most of the driving will be done. In others words, I just want a fun to operate truck.

robwiljas

What's your budget? If you not wanting to spend much a Losi Aftershock would be a good choice. If you can afford it an LST2 would be great.

fortashby

Budget is $300 - $400.

Thank You for your reply.

robwiljas

The Aftershock would be perfect for you then. It's $319.99 at Amain. Oh yeah, welcome back to the hobby. [sm=teeth_smile.gif]

fortashby

Thanks you. What if I wanted to go the electric motor route? In other words, which is more difficult for a beginner?

keeblerelf

The Mega Baja is another good choice. It's pretty much the same as the Aftershock, but with some upgrades here and there (includes the losi spin start). It runs around $400.

HPI_Savage_RC

Savage 4.6X

black mamba

Any of the big name trucks are great. HPI, Traxxas, Losi, AE and soon to be, Kyosho all have cool monster trucks.

MadManAndrew

iF YOU ARE ARE GOING TO GET A NITRO (srry bout the CAPS) you have to get a Svage X4.6 or Savage XL. The savage are known to be the toughest mt's around and are quite fast...

if you do decide to go electric, which to answer your question is much easier then nitro (just pop in the batts and go), id go with the Traxxas E-Maxx.But electric MT's arn'tn near as fast wich equals not near as fun...My Savage X4.6 averages around 52mph (47t-20t gear ratio, and for you that say that would have terrible low end, your wrong, it still has wheely popping action runnin 20% nitro.) and my emaxx averages around 30mph.

novakmaxx

electric is way faster that nitro. if I geared my e-maxx to 66-22 it would go 60+ MPH. electric is a lot easer than nitro. and you send more time running. go with a e-revo. they cost more but well never break.

robwiljas

That's only if it's brushless, which is going to cost the OP a lot more than $300-$400 for the complete setup.

novakmaxx

I got a BL set up for my e-maxx for $150. buy a roller and put BL in it. I think the fastest MT is a e-maxx that goes in the 70s with 2 BL and 2 lipos.

HPI_Savage_RC

Bull*****.

novakmaxx

this says I would go 67MPH. http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_top_speed.html

robwiljas

Well I agree, especially not with a Novak HV system and NiMh packs, but I didn't want to be rude....lol

robwiljas

You can't go by gearing alone. That's assuming your motor will reach max rpm, which at that gearing it can't, it doesn't have enough torque.

Edit: According to Novak your E-Maxx with your packs (listed in your models) should be geared at 70/12 or 76/13, which would produce a gear ratio of 5.83:1 or 5.85:1. At 66/22 you'd have a ratio of 3:1 which is WAY too high and would burn up your motor in no time, plus it wouldn't have enough torque to reach max rpm and would therefor be slower.

HerrSavage

I would forget electric.. Whatever its advantages, you need practically hundreds of dollars in good quality batteries and charger for it to be worthwhile.. Plus electric IMO is like watching an action movie on mute..

If you have the chance, go to a LHS - which hopefully has a big selection - and look over the options.. The Aftershock or Baja, MGT, and Savage would all be good in that price-range.. Saying which one is best is kind of impossible.. Try to look at, pinch and poke, sniff and fondle each and see which jumps out at you... Of those I would think the Savage would be the toughest for big jumping and bashing, and the Losis the fastest.. An Aftershock with RPM arms(or even just a set of backups..) and a new pipe would be a nice starter ride..

If you can't get a chance to see them up close, just go to youtube and watch some videos of each..

raze44

My Feedback: (1)

The Aft/MGB/RAM would all be good, thats what I bought, and I upgraded it along the way, but if you are just going to do some easy bashing you dont need to. An electric would be way easier, but you have to poor in alot of money to get the same performance you get out of nitro. If you arn't into the whole "high speed" scene, an Emaxx or Erevo would be fine.

El Burro

The E-Revo is a little outside the $400 price range isn't it? maybe im wrong, i can't remember. All i know, is the e-maxx is an excellent candidate for jumbo kongs. E-revos are nice though.

raze44

My Feedback: (1)

Its about 450, but it would be alot better than the Emaxx.

HerrSavage

I like the looks of the E-Revo, I must admit.. But for me, I'd want at least THREE good sets of batteries for it.. What would that cost?

raze44

My Feedback: (1)

[link]http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVBD0&P=0[/link]
These are what I would use. I dont think you would need 3 sets right off the bat, you could get away with one set. I dont know if you are familliar to electric or not, but if you bought a charger that can charge two batteries at a time, like a Duratrax intellipeak ice(110-130$), you will only have to wait about 20minutes in between runs. Hobby grade chargers aren't like receiver pack chargers, or crappy radioshack rc's which take hours, if not all day to charge.

robwiljas

I would definately not use those packs in a new e-maxx or an e-revo. They're designed for 7-cell packs, those are 6-cell packs. You'll get much better performance from a set of 7-cell packs.

HerrSavage

I would still want three sets of packs.. Yeah OK, twenty minutes to charge, but.. First off, I don't have a good charger like that - OR anywhere to charge them if I'm out bashing somewhere.. And secondly, so you run your truck til the bats are dead. Then they're hot, so you have to let them cool for ten minutes right?? Then charge twenty minutes - they're hot again.. Then cool ten minutes more, then run.. Minimum 40 minutes between runs is retarded IMO..(no offense or anything - honestly, just saying, I don't see the sense in electric..) I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about the necessity for cooling.. But even if, from my E-zilla experience I know that for electric to be sensible for those of us without portable chargers or great bashsites outside the front door, multiple battery sets are needed, and they're not cheap.. I.e. unless you're just really into electric or have a ton of money for batteries and a good charger, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for everyday bashing..

raze44

My Feedback: (1)

I didnt know that the Erevo/maxx was made for seven cell. The reason why I linked those was because I thought they would only fit 6 cells. Duratrax has batteries the same price that are 7cell. They are 8.4v, and I think 4200Mah. I guess it makes sense- Emaxx 16.8v (16.8/2 =8.4). With that aside, it would make sense to buy more than one set, I just meant that you could get away with only 1set. Most chargers have aligator clips, so you can charge them on your car, or bring along a 12v battery if you dont have a car.