[Closed] Decent RC cars for the kids.

We have FTX Surge.

It's great -fast enough, handles easy enough, batteries last ok, surprisingly grit and water resistant (good, as I've had to rinse it a few times...)

But.

When then start to get interested in 'more', you will need a stockpile of driveshafts and suspension parts as jumps and bumps do break them.

Tamiya lunchbox, it’s fun for lots of wheelies and till overs. Easy to build and critically has a big enough set of wheels and motor to run on grass.

When my lad was small I’d just set the trims to stop full throttle. Then he was safe in a small garden. Of course dad will need a clod buster...

Yes setting the throttle trim is something I will be doing if possible. I think the FTX has that feature.

I like the smaller 1:18 scale as they seem more manageable and less able to destroy everything in their path (plant pots, flowers, cats & dogs)

Ohh and the Lunch Box is over budget I think. 🙁

no idea how this compares, reviews seem ok on Amazon and crucially under £50

SZJJX RC Cars Rock Off-Road Racing Vehicle Climber Truck 2.4Ghz 4WD High Speed 1:14 Radio Remote Control Buggy Electric Fast Race Hobby Black

no idea how this compares, reviews seem ok on Amazon and crucially under £50

I had one of these for Jnr FD last year.  It was brilliant, until it broke.  It is huge and can climb over loads of stuff.

Its ability is also its drawback.  Because it can do so much the temptation is to batter it more than perhaps you should.

In ours the steering broke.  When I took it apart, most bits of the steering are metal, but then a flimsy piece of plastic is used, which broke and couldn't be replaced.

I'd be tempted to forego the 1:18 scale and go straight to 1:10 if you intend to run it on grass.

I've got a 1:10 Tamiya Neo Fighter buggy and on long grass it drags itself around a bit. With hindsight I should have gone for a truggy style car for a bit more ground clearance.

My nephew has got a Maverick Strada, which is decent enough & good value. Only downside I found is the mounting point for the front bumper is very vulnerable to damage & once the plastic has cracked there is no way to mount the bumper without doing your own mods. He ended up having to get a new chassis - although on the plus side, swapping the whole thing over to the new chassis took <30mins and spares are readily available with all part numbers listed in the manual.
Great value for around £130 and not THAT far off the pace of my Neo Fighter (on grass at least).

My lad has a Ripmax Jackal, I paid about £55 at Christmas time but it seems to have gone up since. Nice car, decent speed without being crazy fast and most importantly you can get spare parts when you need them - note I said when, not if 😉

thanks for the comment FD.  could you fab something yourself to repair it?  I'm expecting the boys to trash it, so maybe something like a tamiya is a better idea...not too much more and lots of spares and mods

That’s the advantage with tamiya, you can buy any part and modify it to your hearts content.

Me and my stepson (7) have just built him up a Tamiya DT-02 Sand Viper. Easy straight forward build, runs on short grass fine but gets bogged down on long or wet/freshly cut grass. Had it jumping over the parking bunds at Hamsterley at the weekend no bother! Going to get him the speed tuned motor for xmas as hes getting used to the speed now but I'd rather take him on a big field/car park whilst he gets the hang of it rather than send it straight into a fence/shed/swing/bbq in the garden...There's a local RC club near us that run 1/10th indoors on carpet with jumps in winter and outdoors on grass in summer, so that was a factor in what I got him as he really wants to get into racing with me (I've just picked up a Schumacher KF2 and K2 set up all second hand to get back into it as I used to race as a kid too) so a truck style was out as they don't run those. He sits and watches the Euros/US/Worlds 1/10 and 1/8 off road races on Youtube and loves it, he's desperate to learn how to jump it like on the american tracks 🙂

Not sure how much faster the speed tuned is. We have a 21t in our midnight pumpkin. Much much cheaper to order from HK.

I have a rock crawler which my girls (and all their friends) love to play with - as they are designed to crawl, they are very easy for kids to use and they also have a much longer run time than fast cars.

I couldn't recommend mine as it is very expensive (a big birthday treat), but I would suggest you search for rock crawlers rather than rc cars.

This is mine 🙂

Hey guys..

After lots of searching I was sure of 1:18 was the best fit for a 1st hobby car.

I decided on a Ripmax Dingo. It fitted the budget, I can turn the throttle down and seems to get good reviews.

Spare parts are easy too.

I think anything bigger or faster would just be overkill for now, if they get into it then a bigger one will be on the cards for birthday.

Thanks for the ideas and advice.!

Did you get nitro mate ?

I used to be right into it but it’s like a bug you keep wanting to get bigger and faster :).  I had a few different ones and the ones I wished I kept were the Hobao Hypers as they were solid.    I bought a Schumacher Havoc and it was rapid 50mph but I always broke it and parts were a pain.

I also went to two stroke and had a Hpi Baja .  I fitted a race engine to it and it would wheelie but I don’t think I got to use it more than 10 mins at a time before I broke something 😂😂.

In the end I got that sick I flogged it for 250 which is only slightly more than i paid for a race exhaust for it lol.   I then regretted selling my fishing gear to by RC stuff.    

.  I think that is the longest I got to use it honestly as I record the shocks at end of vid.