idler

I'd like to get my 8 yr. old son and I a couple of good quality buggys for Xmas (I want lowered Mini- he wants stadium truck- so a compromise). We fly electric and have lots of homemade packs, including A123s and chargers, so we won't need those. We have a large driveway and interesting lawn terrain to race on but, these first cars need to be durable rather than blazingly fast. I used truck and buggy motors in planes fo a few years, before going brushless, so I can change brushes and turn comm's. 2WD is OK and just enough ground clearance to navigate mowed grass would be good. I think a reliable ESC and proportional steering sound good. What other features are good at the novice level? I would like to get into this at $250 or less per car with XTMR. Thanks!

idler

Thanks RCX. Re batteries: A123s are 3.6 V - somewhat over C size and 25-30C is no problem. Drag boats and cars use them; 1/10th scale; Kits are OK. Re bashing- not sure what that is in the car context. In planes that usually means hacking a kit into something more scale or tricking out for a specific mission. We'll do lots of mods once we get going, but the stock rig should be usable. I've read the stickies so I'm looking more for specific rigs that have worked well or have a good rep. I see buggies in ads with varying amounts or adjustable ground clearance- since our whole running area is fairly smooth an inch or so would be enough. 2WD (and reasonable tire width) seems to be more challenging to drive well so I thought that would be the way to go.

rcxboy

I'm not sure about the plane batteries, remember they have to be Sub-C size. And you'll be wanting at least 3000mah nimh batteries which are brand name cells to get decent performance.

Now onto the buggies. I take it it's 10th scale?

RTR is cheaper, but there isn't many good durable RTR buggies suitable for bashing, more racing. The Losi XXX-CR, Duratrax Evader, and Associated B4 are all in that price range RTR, but those are track racers, so not that great for bashing. And they are 2wd, which is even worse for bashing, especially in grass. I personally wouldn't get a buggy for grass, the low ground clearance isn't fun sometimes, because buggies are made for the track. I say get something like a stadium truck, maybe a T4 or XXX-t (associated and losi) or the TRUE bashing trucks, the Traxxas Rustler or Stampede.

Also, considered a kit? The Losi and Associated come in kit form, though i'd recommend a Dark Impact, which is a fairly decent 4wd buggy from Tamiya, and pretty good for bashing.

slink1

Bashing in cars & trucks is just non racing driving.For example just driving around in your yard/driveway.While its already been said I'm going to repeat it,Buggys are not very good for bashing(In most cases).A buggy can be setup to do several things well however there is no way to set up a buggy to do very good on grass.(Even cut grass unless perhaps its like a putting green)

Something to consider is when going from one type of driving surface to another tires will play a huge role.Offroad tires generally will wear out in just a few minutes on pavement.On road tires wont provide decent traction for offroad.There are some tires that will do both on & off road OK but wont be great on either.

Traxxas Rustler or stampede would be decent choices.Team associated T4 would be another good possibility.

The good thing about stadium trucks is they can be setup to run great more surfaces than a buggy can.