Speed917

Hey all been looking around the site and looking to get into a brushless RTR for a while now.(worried about the maintenance of nitro) At this point im looking to spend no more that $400 on a RTR brushless. Im thinking 1/10 or something close.(I was also looking at the 1/16 E-revo but unsure about its wooded area capabilities) This will be used in backyard(wooded) and on grass with little on road use. I want it to have some clearance but not too tall for fear of rolling.

So far i have looked only at Traxxas since they seem to be most popular to start with. Rustler VXL is probably what im most interested at this point but not sure it will be able to do too well in the yard or grass for that matter. I know i can get bigger tires which i would gladly do it it made it work better.(where is the best place to buy wheels/tires)

Basically im asking what other brands and/or vehicles are available with same or better quality than the Rustler VXL

Thanks

Also what charger should i get and what battery for long run time. Not too worried about it being crazy fast, this will be the fastest RCi will have owned or driven(besides some nitros i have tried)

stoya789

well there is the stampede. of course there is 1/10 revo. for lipos you can get zippy's from hobbyking, i know they are very popular w/ r/c heli guys. for charger, i don't have much advice,i only have experience w/ thunder power 1010c. although i have heard good things about the cellpro line of chargers from fma. their lipos are also good (revolectrix) i know the heli guys use them. traxxas is a god choice, you basiclay cant go wrong w/ them.

sloppyG

anything but the rustler, $300 is way too much for that RC when you can get a brushless SC10 for $260

the HPI firestorm flux is a better buy than the rustler as well,

anything traxxas and 2wd is overpriced by about 60-80 bucks

Speed917

Stampede i read a lot about it flipping during turns pretty much anywhere and for that reason i was turned off it. Ill look into zippys TY



Wow i had no idea everywhere i look ppl claim that the ruslter was one of the best RC out there, for covering almost all terrain and performace wise. I didnt know that they were over priced i was looking at the RTRsetup for 300 shipped?

Glad i came on here i would have gotten robbed after hearing that.

HPIwas another choice i was looking at but i couldnt find very much on the vehicle as far as reviews ect.

TY

sloppyG

rustler is a very beginner RC, it's not bad, but it's bad for how much they charge for it

it gets a lot of glowing reviews because it's often people's first RC,

look at the team associated T4, B4, SC10 as well

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Buying a Rustler is generally a bad idea. Firestorm Flux for a bit over $300 (that leaves a bit of dough to go battery/charger shopping at HobbyKing's USA warehouse) or an SC10 or RC10T4.1 brushless RTR. Alternatively, you could pick up a Losi Speed T and a Desert Truck diff and put some off road tires on it, but that may be more work/expense than you're willing to expend.

Alternatively, you could look into the Stampede 4x4 or Slash 4x4, which are actually genuinely decent trucks, but those are knocking on the door of $400 by themselves and the charger/battery they come with are better used as paperweights or throwing at Freezetron when he's unruly.

SyCo_VeNoM

man that was good

sloppyG

I usually just pen a letter to sinclair oil to complain about their sponsored driver's poor behavior

then his sponsor usually grounds him and makes him pull weeds in the backyard

Speed917

Will do i know nothing about Team Associated, besides i see the name a lot. Im almost scared to admit that i thought Team Associated was an actual team not a brand :/ haha
Ty


Why is the Ruslter a bad idea? Im unsure how hard these cars really are to put together mod ect? from the appearance of them they seem pretty simple until i start seeing all the available parts.

I was looking for 2wd bc i was unsure about the difference in AWD when it comes to these vehicles i guess that would be a good question ?


So out of all these Rc's do things tend to break and how often. Which company has the better availability of parts and im pretty sure once i get into this i will want to upgrade.

sloppyG

team associated and traxxas both have great parts availability, they're the two biggest ones in most locations

the associated stuff in general has more adjustments available, and is a newer design that'll be easier to work on. The traxxas stuff has been around in one form or another since the early 90's, and it's still basically the same RC but now it has a pretty body on top of it.

with any RC you're going to break a-arms and some other random bits, you never really know what you're going to tear up until you start using the thing. A good rule is, that if you break a part, buy 2 of the replacements so that you'll be able to fix it next time it breaks without a trip to the hobby shop or waiting from the online RC store.

the traxxas stuff isn't so much bad, as it's way overpriced. I've owned a rustler, it was a lot of fun.. but after owning a team associated B4, I realized how much of a pain it was to make any repairs on the traxxas. (and my associated RC's don't have shock caps that love to pop off randomly, spewing shock oil all over the place)

FahrtAutoRC

Aluminum shock caps, $7 a pair, and its fixed

sloppyG

or just buy associated, it's cheaper in the first place and you won't need $14 worth of shock caps to make it function properly

stoya789

or just wittle your own out of wood.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

It's nicewhen thingswork the way they're supposed to.

I've seen some good suggestions in this thread; my 2 cents are:

Associated:B4.1 or T4.1 or SC10 Brushless RTR. There are other options but you'll be clipping your price cap.

HPI: Firestorm Flux or Savage Flux XS (if you can find one)

Traxxas: 1/16 Summit or Revo VXL (I think the Summit over the Revo for more off-road capability) These can be found online for $300 or less. Stampede 4x4 but then you're closing in on your price limit. Stampe 2wd VXL, though I feel it's a bit overpriced.

All of these have great aftermarket parts support and are popular choices in the RC community.

Speed917

I probably should have said that $400 is my limit for the RTRsetup. Batterys parts ect are Not included it that price. Iplan of getting something to play with out of the box then coming to you all for parts and upgrades

. I never been on a site with such Fast and Great help ever. Im sure you have all had this stupid question b4 and b4 that and b4 that haha

Thank You all

The SC10,T4.1 or the FireStormFlux. At this point this is where im heading.... Only concern is 2wd or 4wd? And what tires/wheels can i upgrade to? Im thinking i will need a set pretty much right out the box i would like something larger. Will larger wheels/tire fit on the SC10?

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

2wd will teach you how to drive. Stick with 2wd.

Firestorm Flux will be the bigger power monster, the T4.1 Brushless/SC10 will be less powerful, but better trucks should you ever decide to hit the track.

Speed917

Now when you say more powerful do you mean faster or more TQ or both?

Also can these things go on beach?

Thanks

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Salt water and electronics don't mix, period.

Speed917

Well thats a good point. Iwas just watching some cars on beach with sand paddles, looked like fun.

Ok so what are the best places online to order these things? Also what shoudl i upgrade first

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

The local hobby shop is the best place to buy anything. You may wind up spending an extra 20 bucks on the car, and another 50 cents per part, but HAVING a local hobby shop is the most important thing, so it's good to support them.

If you don't have one, RPP hobby is great. Good prices, fast shipping, always a decent selection of parts...

Speed917

There are about 5 in a 20 mile radius. Iguess i should take a trip and see what they have i just figured online you reach more people with more experience and people know whats what. Kinda like you :-) . OK tom ill go to one and see what they have. Do they have ones Ican test ?

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Not normally, but occasionally you'll find one that does. LHS is the best place to buy stuff, unless they're one of the rare, super crappy brick&mortar hobby shops.

Scottgir

Also with 5 LHS's around you, visit more than one. For every REALLY good hobby shop that will guide you properly into the car that you'll love, there are bad ones that will guide you into the car they want to get off their shelf.

My list for back yard bashing brushless RTR
1. SC10 brushless - AWESOME price for a truck you can use anywhere and if you do eventually race, you're not buying a new vehicle
2. Firestorm Flux - Might be TOO fast for your first truck (higher rated motor than the associated models) and IF your local track has stadium trucks, it is capable at racing
3. Stampede 4X4 - Awesome basher, and for tooling around, probably the one you'd have the most fun with. The issue on this one is if you ever want to race, you're buying a different truck. This is ONLY a basher, but the best basher of the group

The great thing about the hobby the way it is now (versus when I started). The difference in performance from the low end, like a rustler, to a high end, like a associated T4.1 is a MUCH smaller gap then back in the 80's (when you're picking between a grasshopper and a JRX2).

Speed917

Visited 2 of the local hobby shops today and basically both said Traxxas is the superior vehicle to own. They said the SC10 was not the best for off road use, more of less its a track vehicle and the Firestorm Flux was good but they don't carry many of the upgrade or replacement parts.
One shop was trying to push me into Nitro and the other im not sure what he was doing besides charging $370 for an Firestorm Flux. On one hand though i found that one of the shops has 2 indoor tracks in the back.

Now i was told the SC10 and the HPIBLand no where near as good as VXL? The HPI come in for more parts that any of the Newer Traxxas vehicles, that concerned me. I think i may need to try another hobby store.

Scottgir

DEFINITELY stay away from the one pushing you into nitro and let me guess, it was a nitro rustler LOL (shops have them and they dont sell). Nitro should never be your first RC in my opinion.

Now, if they don't carry the HPI parts, then don't get it. Traxxas is the modern day tamiya. Every hobby shop has their stuff, but it's not the best.

PS the SC10 will do anything the slash will do, and do it better. Also the SC10 IS AN OFFROAD VEHICLE!!! LOL, now if you're talking about bashing through the grass, the higher the vehicle the better it will do, so yes, a stampede will do better than a sc10, but a rustler wont.

Oh and there's nothing better about the VXL than the Associated or the flux system. Actually, the VXL esc would probably fail sooner than the other 2 escs (although not for a long time) Motors, you're looking at 3300 vs 3500 vs 5700 KV. All sensorless (the higher the KV rating means more RPMs per volt of energy but that can be obtained through gearing too). I'm a big fan of 3100-3900KV for 1/10 off road.