christ1

I am new to RC cars and and this forum. I realize that many, many people have asked the "best first car" question, but everyone approaches the hobby differently. I want to begin with electric and move my way into nitro at some point. I want an electric, on-road rc car kit. I want to put everything together myself and frankly, I want a car that is difficult to put together. If I am going to get into this hobby, I am going to do it right and start from scratch. I want a car that has a lot of available after market parts for improving performance.

I know that people seem to have their "ford vs chevy" preferences and from reading the forums, the same several models are recommended over and over. But I would like to hear peoples' thoughts with respect to the specifics of what I am looking for.

Thanks for the input. I look forward to continuing to read the forums and talking to people in the future.

christ1

I forgot to mention that I am looking for a 1/10 scale car.

Checkpointracer

I think you should get a tamiya TT-01.

Dokioto

Look at the link and find a 1/10 scale car that you like- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p?&C=CAD

I hope you know that you will need to purchase the electronics also..

christ1

Yes, I know I need to purchase electronics.

Dokioto

Ok, I was just making sure so you got what you wanted...


I would suggest this- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNZC6&P=0

Dokioto

Do you have a budget?

TIGER76

Yep go with the TT-01 m8 plenty of hop-ups and a good car to learn from

christ1

My budget is around $300 or less for the kit.

What about the Team Losi JRX-S Pro? It looks like a more advanced car but the following [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Team-Losi-JRX-S-Pro-Racing-Sedan-Touring-Free-Ship_W0QQitemZ220104612518QQihZ012QQcategoryZ49217 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]Ebay link[/link] has a seller that sold a few, and possibly more future listings, at $220 which seems like a great price. Am I missing something from the description? Would I be biting off more than I can chew with an advanced car like the JRX-S?

Thanks for your input.

Dokioto

The JRX-S is a good car... You might want to look at this to- https://www.ssl-stormerhobbies.com/c...s&pn=XRA300006

Both are very good for racing... If you are just going to be driving around they may be a little over the top.

magnus213

I'd say that if you're going to move away into Nitro later, don't drop a ton of cash on a race-spec electric. I wish the HPI Sprint was a kit, because I think it'd be perfect for you. To me, half the fun is the building process and everything's moving in an RTR direction. The Trinity T-Spec looks pretty solid for the price, and it'd be a good intro vehicle. Only concern for the T-spec is that apparently it has a drivetrain problem (can't remember specifics).

Best of luck with your search.

christ1

Thanks for the continuing input Dokioto.

One of my main interests with these cars is the ability to optimize the different systems of the car. When I read on TL's site about all of the required adjustments of the JRX-S, that is what I want to do. I am a mechanical engineer and the problem to solve of optimizing all of the different systems to obtain the highest performance sounds challenging.

With that said, the JRX-S and XRAY are a little out of my price range unless I can get a deal off ebay. Also, it seems like the cheaper cars, i.e. the TT-01 that you suggested offer less customization. The [link=http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=58348]Tamiya TT01R[/link] is the racing version of the TT-01. Would this be a good balance of cost vs optimization? The JRX-S website does have excellent documentation.

Dokioto

The TT01R sounds like a great beginner car (I have no experience with it). Here is a link of it on towers- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXKSG3&P=RF

You may want to consider this- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNZC7&P=0
You can tune this car for anything...
It is based on a world champion car- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLBD7&P=0
It was made for racers that didn't want to spend 400 dollars on a car..

There are many tuning options on it.. and you will be able to upgrade to better parts as you go..
Hope this helps..