I am currently into Helicopters; however, I am looking to introduce my son to the world of RC and I was hoping I could get some recommendations on a first car. I thought I liked the Tmaxx(But reading the forum gives me the impression that users aren't too happy with the Tmaxx). I would like something he can use on Mulch, Grass and Hills. I would also hope that the engine isn't too hot and he can use it at slower speeds without engine trouble.

Any recommendations would be appreciated?

For a Beginner I would go with Electric..

I Like the Kyosho Twin Force but it may be a little too Complex for him..


On the Entry Level Side, I would look at a HBX Tiger, they are a TL-01 Based off roader truck and are easy to work on and being TL-01 Based there are a tonne of Aftermarket Parts if he Does Break something
.

The traxxas stampede (electric) would be a great choice for a beginner. RTR with an electronic speed control for $160 from tower. They are almost indestructable and easily upgraded when he's ready to go faster. The traxxas rustler is basically the same truck, just with less ground clearance. It would also be a good choice. They are both very hard to break.
Me and my dad both have stampedes.
Good luck with whatever you guys get [8D]
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVK75**&P=ML]link to Traxxas Stampede[/link]

I think the E-Maxx would be a great choice here, it's similar to the t-maxx, but is electric.

i agree with gunnut or a rustler

Well My 2 started with cheap radio shack one's and my old RC10 and x-mods (lots of mods in them) that they got for x-mas (gen1's)

They both now have rc10gt's (nitro's) (they earned the money themselves) and i have been helping them learn to tune thier engines now that the break-in's are done

As a Dad i would say if he 4-8 i would really recommend eletric as a first one let him get use to 20+ mph speeds of a eletric (they are even faster with hop-up's) as he gains a better ability to handle the car let him pick from there if he wants the next BIGGER toy weather it be brushless super speed electric or a nitro

with what was said above the rustler/stampede or any other eletric for that matter alot of it is choice get him involved in it as well goto the LHS & the web,,,my kids and i spent almost 3 weeks doing research before they decided on what they wanted after talking with people here and at hobby shops

Start with electric . I`d get a Traxxas Stampede , Traxxas E-maxx , Traxxas Rustler , or a Team Losi XXX-t RTR 2 . If you want to build a car look at Tamiya Blackfoot , Tamiya Clodbuster , or Losi and Associated make kits but cost a little more.

I want to thank everyone for the opinions. My son and I will research the reccomendations, and move forward on his birthday.

Thanks again!

Hey Phil, How old is he, that would be a good bit of information to know as some are tougher while some are faster ETC....
If he's young, 11 or under the stampede or rustler would be a good choice. If he's older then 11 the XXX-T, T4, or e-maxx would be a good choice.

Another set to consider would be the 1/18 scale. They're smaller, lighter, and you can run 'em inside on days when the weather's not so great. There's plenty of hop-ups available for them, too.


-K

for 1/18 the losi mini-t would be the best first car IMO. to me, the MLST is a complex little machine (gimme a break I'm used to wrenching a stampede fer cryin' out loud)

I'm 20 years old and my stampede is still my favorite. Just depends on what you're looking for I guess.

I am also starting my son in RC for his birthday, he will be 11 the end of April. I have already purchased a Stampede with some hop-ups including the bearings. What I need now is a motor and batteries (already have charger that will handle Ni-Cad and Ni-Mh) and I am looking for some advice on what to get. My son is the type that would prefer to have 3 batteries that lasted 15 min each (just picked a number for an example) with some performance loss rather than 2 that lasted 15 min each with better/great performance. If he really gets into the hobby we will look into upgrading what ever is needed at a later date just want to get him started with something that will give him decent performance and run time. This will be used strictly for bashing.


The truck has an 18t limit ESC. I have a $100 to spend on batteries and motor. I don't need great speed (wheelies would be nice), but want higher total run time.

A Reedy quad mag 19t or a team checkpoint would be good. The checkpoint delivers alot of runs between reconditioning, definately a +. You may want to look into some IB 4200 or GP 4300 mah battery packs, they will deliver the most run time, besides lithium polymer.

Thanks for the info. The motors look good but the problem with the batteries is on my budget I would only be able to afford one pack. Unless you know some place I can get them cheaper then what I have found. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for but some times you have to compromise. I would like to be able to get him at least two battery packs.

What would you estimate the run time on the two non LiPo packs you recomended would be?

It really depends on the motor, gearing ETC....
But you should be able to get at least 25 minutes stock.

Thanks I was not thinking they would last that long. Any suggestions on where to find them the cheapest? I watch E-Bay but don't see a lot of assembled packs of that size. I may not be searching correctly either, not sure.

Really any 3000mah and up battery pack will work fine... Like you said it's just for bashing. I think the reedy quad mag is a great motor too. I had one in my stampede.

for starting some one in rc and since you already do helicoptors (nitro i assume), i would recommend a nitro to start with. as long as your son can be very carefull when playing with it (wont burn himself while supervised) you can just adjust the throttle so it will only go to 30% or what ever you feel he can handle. the benefit to it is that you wont have to buy a whole lot to support it. you have the glow and fuel stuff you wont need to stack up on batteries. just my .02.

Thanks gunnut, I have been wondering about that. I realize the IB and GP batteries are considered some of the best but I was not convinced they were worth the price for a beginner that is just going to be bashing. Fusion has some deals on E-Bay, 2 - 3800 stick packs for $37 or 2 - 3300 stick packs for $27. Do you know anything about these and do you think 3800 are worth the extra $10? I have found some posts on Fusion batteries but they were all talking about the IB or GP versions nothing on the other packs they sell.

Gold Point and Intellect Brothers are what you want for real performance and runtime.

I am not doubting that one bit, but as I said before if he shows real intrest in the hobby we will look into upgrading for better performance but for now I am just trying to get him started.

I started out with piranha 1500 and 1900 packs and honestly they were enough to get me hooked on RC. They perform good but the runtime is less. Now I have a duratrax 3300 nimh pack, and it's been good to me too. One important thing to note is that a nimh pack will require a more expensive 'peak charger'. For the cheaper nicad sport packs you can use a less expensive timer charger.

yeah if you don't have a peak charger than don't buy nimh, buy a charger first. As for a motor the quad mag is supposedly awesome and is a very popular choice. The $60 checkpoint is a bit expensive limiting your battery budget. For batteries I would get these: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCUH3&P=ML

they are a very popular choice among bashers and I own 2 sets of em. They don't have amazing punch or runtime but it will deliver over 15 minutes of runtime in a pede. (I run em in my emaxx and get maybe 10 min) Besides who can deny the great price?

if u want a car that he can thrash and not worry about breaking parts the orignal rc10's are great and can be gotten on ebay for under 100$

witch should free up some money for bats and a charger

rc10's are 100% tougher than the rustler/bandit/stampede and can be raced in stock form unlike the traxxas cars witch require a lot of moding to make them race worthy(that is when hes ready to race)