Hello, lately I have been getting the itch to get back into playing with the RC world again. A few years back I was heavily into 1/8th scale Nitro and raced every weekend locally. It got to be way too expensive for me and once money started getting tight I sold off 90% of my stuff to someone who was trying to get into it. All I kept was a 1/10 scale short course truck to play around with. The one thing I loved about my previous start was building my car so I want to go with a 4wd kit. I swore off electric back then until I saw the speed and power of the newer buggies people were racing. This time around I don't plan on racing and plan on keeping it casual as something to play around with. Hopefully it will be slightly cheaper. Luckily there doesn't seem to be all that many kits available but I have no idea what is the best. My nitro was a Losi 8 and I'm hesitant to go down the Losi or TA path this time although available parts and upgrades are always around. I know some of the other brands had really great cars. So does anyone have any suggestions for car and then possible motor/esc? I read the descriptions and they all tout their strong points but I'd like to add others experience with that. Thanks in advance!

Well, where do you plan to run? Do you have a dirt lot to run on? Cuz tenth scale isn't so good on grass. That's where your eighth scale nitro had the advantage. With tenth scale you're going to want fatter tires and you will want to gear down so as not to overheat the motor. That's the standard answer. What sort of vehicle excites you? Still have the short course truck? What's your budget? I'd look at truggies. Fatter tires, three diffs, fast. Kits might be difficult to find. I love my HoBao Hyper TT truggy. Available as a "80% kit" for $200 it comes mostly assembled, minus electronics, and a clear you-paint-it body. You install the ESC, motor, and receiver of your choice. I'm running a Castle 4-pole 5700kv motor and 120Amp ESC. Running on 2S LiPo. Love it. Its weak points? Not many. Mainly, it needs a good aftermarket bumper set. T-Bone Racing makes a front and rear set that really protect the car. I also installed the aluminum front upper plate and aluminum steering knuckles and aluminum steering rack.

For the time being I plan on running on my street unless I decide to go out somewhere. Since I stopped racing both of the places I used to go to closed up so not much around here anymore outside of just finding an area to run outside. Nitro was great just about anywhere except for the noise. My neighbors would flip out with that thing screaming all over the place now. I definitely want to go with a buggy. I still have my truck (Traxxas) but waiting for batteries to arrive since they sat idle for too long and are no good now. I also want to stay with a lot because half he fun for me was the initial build. I'm currently looking at the HB D413. Guess the good thing is my choices are definitely limited there.

How old is the old Traxxas electronics? You could upgrade that with an inexpensive brushless system and have a good beater. On the street tho, it'd probably traction roll like a pig, unless you rebuilt it on the LCG chassis.

The only thing I'd caution you about a buggy is that if you flip it on the street, the shocks and shock tower are just hanging out there, no lexan body to cover it. Street means curbs too. Buggies look kinda funny with bumpers. Truggies can pull off that look better. Jus' sayin'.

Edit: After reading OP's thoughts, and title of thread, I take it TpaBrad wants a 1/10 scale 4wd buggy kit. I was thinking TpaBrad was looking for a 4wd SCT. I got nothin' to add to the D413, other than it looks fantastic. I normally don't keep up with 1/10 4wd buggies. I guess the reason why is, if I were to pick up a new kit, I'd have to buy shorty or saddle packs...I'm not ready to do that.