Originally Posted by
HerrSavage
The bigger point is though, this is a hobby, and not a toy. You're going to have to learn to shim diffs, mesh gears, solder plugs, etc.. It's ALL a hobby - electric or nitro. And nitro is not so much harder than electric - not like people say. And I've seen more experienced guys fry ESC's recently than newbs. Nitro did seem daunting to me when I got started, but it was mostly in my head. The engines are more resilient than people make out, and break-in and tuning are not that hard. A lot of people - even some who really do know what they are doing, yet lack a broader perspective - make it out to be a bigger deal than it is. Yes, you have to learn it - but once you do, it's that much more rewarding. There are many things in life which are that way - they're better because you mastered them yourself instead of just buying your way around it, or having it handed to you. Plus, nitro (a good, well-tuned one..) just sounds cool..
Subjective? Hell yes.
But again, it's not rocket science. The vast majority of the supposed "difficulty" is just in peoples' heads - mine too at one point...
But whatever. The main point, already mentioned, is that an 8-year old shouldn't be messing with 8th scale high-performance nitro OR electric - not unsupervised anyway. With the help of a parent, either can be good.. So it's personal preference.. (i.e. subjective..)
Sorry bud I disagree...I wouldent say its a hobby not a toy. that logically does not make sence. a hobby is a thing u do where a toy is a physical object.
The fact is rc cars are a toy, no doubt about it. there only function is to amuse, they have no other purpose.
just because some own a rc car it does not instantly make them involved in the hobby. That is determined by there passion.
The only way I rc car would be considered not a toy, if it was been used as a tool to complete a required task that was not just for amusement.
For some people rc cars are just a occasional thing and they don't consider it a hobby.
I don't know how we got on the subject of high performance 1/8 vehicles, but I don't think anyone is recommending them nitro or electric.
for a child I still recommend something 2wd from traxxas, because they could go years with out having to shim a diff, mesh some gears or even bust out a soldering iron.
there is a whole range of beginner vehicles around, I just used traxxas as a example.