ORIGINAL: Ken448
Before this gets to a flame war, I want to make it clear what I am looking for. I am an experienced racer (25 years) and race a MF2 finishing consistently in the top 3 or 4 in A Mains each time I race. That said, I have little or no experience with Rustler or Evaders, and my sister wants me to get my nephew into racing, or at least some time on the track for around $200. My first thoughts were the Evader because you can get it RTR for about $130 Then I was looking at the Rustler and it can be bought for about $150.
He is a beginner (9 years old)
Full Bearings would be nice
Tires do not matter (this will be ran at an indoor carpet track, and stock tires will not be used)
Motor has little to do with decision (again, beginner, and will be running stock once he works his way out of beginner class)
Chassis tuneability will be important (toe, camber, ride height, shock pre-load etc)
Be nice to have a decent steering servo out of the box
Parts are not an issue, LHS carries both
HE will be using some of my old batteries to get him started, and my pit box for tools and other needs. (ie if he is there, I will be too)
Please, if you are going to state one or the other, list why? I dont want to get into "I own this, and its super duper radically awesome and you should too!" They dont want to spend $500 here because they need to know that he is going to enjoy racing on a track and not just bashing which is why he will not be running a Losi or Associated, that will come later. If you have a valid suggestion for another stadium truck, please list it!
I too have been into RC'ing and racing since the late 80's. I have owned both of these brands for my kids that are learning RC, I would recommend Traxxas for a beginner. They are very durable and parts are plentiful at any of the hobby stores I have been in ( everytime I needed a part for the Duratrax I had to order it or get it from Tower). Duratrax is a OK product, but they don't seem to hold up as well as the Traxxas and they require alot more maintence.
Here are a few examples;
The duratrax shocks look nice because they are aluminum, but they leak like crazy. ( the Traxxas ones don't leak ) The Evader ST we had had a horrible ball diff, that constantly came unadjusted and eventually melted the diff gear. ( never had a single problem with a traxxas tranny) Those are just a few things from my own personal experiences.
I myself probably won't be buying any more Duratrax stuff, that's just my opinion. I have, however purchased 2 Traxxas Slash trucks over the summer and those have been awesome.