claygees

trying to get in to the rc hobby which brand should i chose ? i was looking at this car in a hoppy shop today wondering if it was a good buy it was a jato 3.3. is this a good by for me beings though iam a beginner is there anothere type of car that is better ? priced at around $450.00

thehuntingterminator

there are many brands out there, although it is always recommended that you stick to the name brand stuff like Traxxas, HPI, Team Associated, and Losi, just to name a few. the Jato 3.3 is made by Traxxas so there is gonna be plenty of aftermarket support for it, but is it really what you want? its made for onroad (although can be made for offroad with a few modifications), do you want an onroad car? its a nitro, do you want nitro or electric? its 2wd, do you want 2wd or would you rather have a 4wd vehicle? these are all questions you need to ask yourself before buying. i am by no means trying to scare you away from the Jato (it can be a very fast and fun car) but i am just making sure this is really what you want. are you sure you want a nitro? they can be alot of fun but require tuning and breaking in the engine. electric on the other hand is more plug and play, but can still be complicated. both can be fun and powerful, but what do you really want? where will you be running? these questions need to be answered before anyone can help to guide you into your first vehicle. if you have any questions, just ask. welcome to the forums, by the way.

nitroexpress

I think you have to decide what scale model you want to run. Also decide if you want onroad or offroad. Will you be just bashing around or racing or a combo. Decide on a type of vehicle and then move on to specific vehicles in the group.

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

I would suggest looking at an 1/8 buggy. Bands like Losi, Ofna and Associated have nice RTR buggys available. Buggies are 4wd, handle excellent, build very tough and are easy to drive. you can take them on and offroad too. Here are a few for you to look at.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBWUW&P=0
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXRUS1&P=0
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXTSA0&P=0
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...-4WD-RTR-Buggy
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...z-Radio-System

The_Shark

i would start simple, get a duratrax evader or a hpi MT2

both are stadium trucks that are tough and work on and off road, AND are easy to work on.

from there after you get your feel for it, either go with a 1/8 buggy (ofna is my fave) 1/8 monster truck or a touring car.

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

Those two are both 1/10 scale. his buget allows for somehting better.
the advantage the 1/8 has over 1/10 is durability. there really is no comparson between the two. I have never owned an evader but I have owned an MT2. I would take any 1/8 buggy or truggy over it. they are just as easy to work on if not more so. A beginner is going to crash (a lot) so having the durability of an 1/8 scale is going to be a huge advantage over 1/10 IMO

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

The 1/8 buggy will be seriously 3 times as durable as something like the MT2, but it also is just as easy (or easier) to work on, and wont break nearly as often so you wont have as many problems. Plus they hold their value much better. Any decent brand 1/8 buggy is probably the best bang for the buck in r/c when it comes to performance, durability, and value.

I have a jato and really enjoy it. Dont have any offroad tires on it yet, but think it'll be good on and off road once i get some on it. Its a lot of fun to drive and pretty tough as well. An 1/8 buggy is going to be more of a jack of all trades than the jato though, and tougher too. Just depends on what you want[8D]

SyCo_VeNoM

3? I'd say my X1x is at least 20 times more durable than the MT2 I own. The MT2 literally broke something every 1-2 runs (usually a-arms, which it broke the last time I ran it last year...think I went through 4 sets of them), and had horrendous steering knuckles that I think were made out of playdoh seeing the screws would fall out so easy(the GPM aluminum steering knuckles are basically mandatory). In comparison the x1x has broke uhhh... errr... nothing... Plus an entry level 1/8th buggy like the x1x is CHEAPER than the soon to be discontinued MT2(this is based on how it was discontinued in europe after the bullet actually hit the shelves). Beyond it being more durable it can do pretty much everything some ST like the MT2 can do, it has almost the same exact wheelbase, and the buggy tires are actually taller than the stock 1/10th ST tires so it has better ground clearance.

Don't think I'm hating on the MT2 cause I'm not its just that the buggies are WAY better designed. The MT2 can be a decent RC, but it requires a fair bit in cash of aluminum parts to replace its weaker areas, but even after the $40 or so in aluminum that is needed you still have (IMO) weak A-arms that break pretty easily. Gotta remember too the MT2 I think came out over 10 years ago, and has had almost no changes made outside making the diffs stronger so the 1/8th buggies should outperform it in every aspect.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

The Savage X 4.6 is not much more expensive, and a better overall truck. The engine is more forgiving of a newbie's tune and the truck is more solid in a bad wreck.

That is ThunderbirdJunkie's recommendation.

The_Shark

i dont know you guys, 1/8 is tougher but in a repair standpoint they are a little more involved when repairing compaired to a 2wd stadium truck, also repairs are more expensive, and honestly my 1/8 OFNA 9.5 scares me a little because of the power and acceleration it has and the weight of it, i would not suggest a beginner driving it in anything but grass and dirt away from people and animals.

when i had my hpi mt-1 i never broke anything on it, and i tumbled that thing countless times, maybe the mt-2 is not-so-good.

i still stand behind the duratrax evader or DT, simple, cheap, durable and fast.

REMEMBER guys this is a new hobbyist, he can always upgrade later, but one bad expiriance can make him leave the hobby.

claygees

Ok went to a hobby shop today and brought an 1/8 ofna hyper 7 TQ sport for $300 it has a mac star .28 engine. Was this a good buy for a starter car

pythonfan

My Feedback: (1)

First welcome to RCU, secondly since you already bought a buggy make sure the hobby shop caries parts. Its all fine and dandy to talk about whats best but by rule of thumb would be to go with a brand your lhs (local hobby store) stocks the most so parts are always easy to find. You can always order parts online but when you can just take a trip to your lhs and get it there why not?

Foxy

It would have been my recommendation. Excellent choice.

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

Excellent choice! I have had 3 of them and they are great buggies. You can't go wrong with Ofna. Congrast on the new hobby!

claygees

Can't wait to get it up and running how fast is this buggy

djyjrlz

this fast  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cwKG...eature=related

SyCo_VeNoM

ironically my one that didn't break much is a MT1, only thing that gave out was the ball end for the tierods which snapped off in the C-hub, and I couldn't find another MT1 C-hub at the time so I scrapped it for now(not really looking for parts either seeing I have enough RC's, and I needed its diff in another project).


To the OP from what I read that is a good buggy. Actually I was torn between that, and the x1x when I was looking for one.

The_Shark

REALLY fast, be careful!!

make sure to break it in!

claygees

Well i can say i really like this buggy had my first crash had to buy a steering servo for $60 and it has metal gears other than the stock plastic gears I have some problems iam trying figure out how to fix them ,

claygees

Got me a new truck.  MGT 8.0.  What ya think about it hope I made a good chose

quietnas1

Good choice. Not a bad truck. A better choice would have been a SAVAGE. I live my Jato and my Savage. A benefit for me at least on both of them is no pull start. I been in this hobby for 18yrs anne found that a Roto Start or EZ Start is extremely convenient. But that's my opinion.

claygees

Is the savage xl a better choice and if so how come ?