sbdave

Hi all... 30 years ago I got a Frog for my bday.... two years later an RC10. Never got into racing, just liked to tinker, and bash around.

Flash forward to today and I'd like to get my kid a car for Xmas. While a kit would be FUN... I'm not sure he'll be all that interested in building one just yet. I'd rather just get the best car for him, kit or not.

From the research I did, I was leaning towards a Traxxas Bandit... however i do believe in buy-once cry-once, so I was thinking a Bandit VXL. But he's 8, and I'm not sure whether he'll get into the hobby or not. Then it seemed like people like Rustlers or Slashes a little more for bashing. I also started looking at the RC10b4, as that seemed pretty well liked.

And now I'm going back and forth between them all and can't decide. Ideally I'd like to keep it around $200... but could stretch to $300+ if it really made sense. We'll probably be driving it mostly on asphalt or at a local park (short grass and dirt thanks to the drought).

So, for an 8 year old... is VXL overkill, and i should just start with brushed? I'm leaning towards a buggy, as it is smaller, easier for him to carry himself, and it's more reminiscent of my childhood... though i could be talked into something larger if that made sense. I'm sure the RC10 is built better... but I doubt he'll ever get into tracking it... so would the traxxas be better for bashing?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

sherbs

I think if you were to buy a RTR in the $150 to $200 range from a major maker, Associated, Losi, Traxxas, HPI, you can not go wrong. Good parts support and able to take on a track day if wanted. Brushed would be less $$ and cheaper batteries but less competitive on the track. Brushless carries a less user friendly battery for a 8 year old if he or she is going to run it and charge it with out an adult to oversee.

krokodyl

I think that brushed will be plenty for a 8 year old, brushless lipo might be too fast, plus lipos do have to be taken care of. Not to say brushless is bad, it's great but probably not needed in your situation. Instead of vxl, I would recommend a brushed model, and spend the extra on a few extra batteries and a decent charger.

I'm not too sure the bandit is a great choice. It's 2wd, a buggy and with brushed not super powerful, so it's very likely that it will struggle alot in any kind of grass. I don't own one though, so I could be mistaken.

Hubert

RustyUs

All great advice above.

I have to say that I wish I had a stadium truck or a short course truck when I started with the hobby. I started with a Frog. All I knew, and all I saw around me was mostly buggies. A Wild Willie or Big Bear just didn't appeal to me, or my RC buddies back then .

Short course trucks would probably be a great starting place with the extra large bumpers and bodies to take some good beatings. Ground clearance being greater than buggies... more terrain options to run on. Tire selection is far greater for SC trucks than it is for buggies. I'd have a hard time telling someone what platform to get. I love them all.

Get out there and throw some dirt!

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

As others have mentioned Traxxas is a great choice simply for their quality and support directly and through dealers.
Traxxas has the learning/training mode so a fast vehicle can be set to run at 50% of it's top speed. Perfect for new drivers and when their driving skills improve it can be set back to normal.

The Bandit is a fun quick buggy in brushed form and can be very fast in brushless(remember it can be turned down) but it is more at home on gravel. dirt, sand,blacktop, surfaces. If you want to run through grass then you should look at a monster truck platform like the Stampede.

Good Luck!

Basher67

2wd slash rtr with the brushed motor. These things can take a heap of abuse without breaking and parts are cheap and plentiful when you do manage to break something. Plus, you can upgrade or transform it into anything you want. The aftermarket is flooded with slash parts. Down the road you can transform it into everything from a monster truck to an onroad racer and anything in between.

SlashMaxx4x4

+1 on the slash.

sbdave

You guys talked me into... ordering a brushed version to start. Figure if he loves it, we can get a race buggy down the line.

Question now is... what charger and batteries.

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

Just use the NiMh pack that comes with it. The charger is a 12v car charger but a 110v ac adapter is $20.00.
If you want to go with LiPo packs then figure around $100.00 for a 2-cell pack and a good charger.

SlashMaxx4x4

If you're going lipos i would go for SMC, and if you don't like waiting around for your battery to charge for an hour, just get a good NIMH/Lipo charger. It wont exactly be cheep, but its worth it.

krokodyl

Yeah, I'd use the nimh battery, but get some extras and a charger. Lipos need to be tooken care of, stored at proper voltage, and in a safe place.

For a cheap charger, the hobbyking reaktor looks like it might do the trick. No idea how well it's calibrated, but lot's of people say that it's quite good. I have a hitec x2, and really like it, but it is more expensive.

Basher67

I agree with slashmaxx. A good quality charger is a sound investment in the hobby. I upgraded to a Venom Pro Charger this year and after a learning curve with how to use all the features, I don't know what I ever did without it. Before that, I had a prophet sport plus that did the job without fail for a long time and cost considerably less. My experience with both of these have been great.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

I would NOT recommend SMC Lipos. No way. I bought two 7200mah 60C 2S2P packs from them and within 6mo, the packs puffed and would get REALLY HOT. That is the sign of poor quality and mis-matched cells. They got the salt bath and were tossed. I emailed SMC about it, and they said that the 4wd SCT I was running them in was "too much of a car for the battery". Oh, really? Then how come my three year old Gens Ace Lipo packs have NO problem whatsoever in the same truck? I also learned that those SMC packs I got were 2S2P rather than 2S1P. What's the difference? 2S2P packs actually have FOUR cells inside instead of two. The problem? You can only balance two. If the cells are mismatched, they can get out of balance, and eventually a cell dies. The other issue with the SMC packs were that they obviously were not 60C cells either. Otherwise, they would not have gotten so bloody hot. No, I would NEVER recommend SMC. I ALWAYS recommend Gens Ace Tattu. Reasonable prices, excellent quality. Cannot be beat for the money.

sbdave

I went with the Hitech x2 AC Plus.

Interesting that you had so many problems with SMC Lipos... they seem pretty highly recommended throughout the forum.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

Maybe their 2S1P packs are ok, but I certainly wouldn't get any of their 2S2P packs. And I believe I made a mistake: the SMC packs were 70C 7200mah. Not 60C.

I ran the SMC packs I specified in a HoBao Hyper 10 SCT with a Novak Ballistic motor off a generic 120 Amp ESC. Gens Ace 5000mah 50C packs have no problem. The SMC packs melted down. What conclusion would YOU draw?