General

[Falcon16]

for RC stuff can't beat a good HPI, Associated or Traxxas product.If he's into stuff that's loud uses fuel and makes noise. Go and look into an HPI MT2 G3.0 it's an RTR 4WD 1/10 scale stadium truck. Easy to maintain and use and great fun. If you want the fun of building you can buy the MT2 18SS which is the kit version of the same truck comes with a nicer. .18SS motor and a bunch of upgrades (steel driveshafts on the wheels among other things) look into a good quality radio I recommend Spektrum radios as they are 2.4GHz and not subject to inteference from fellow RC guys in the immediate area. If he's into Electric I'd go for something like an HPI E-firestorm or a Traxxas rustler VXL (has a brushless motor so even faster than some nitro powered stuff). Lastly if you have deep pockets you can get an HPI Baja 5B it has a 26cc 2 stroke motor that runs on gas and 2 cycle oil comes RTR with an FM radio system just gas and go no tuning required no any real break in either unlike nitro.

Hope this helps

[fivestring]

Originally Posted by RealtorTommy

I would go gas...if he's interested in the bigger stuff...If not go electric...



Buy one RTR, when you get it...take it apart.....leave the motor and tranny on but take the wheels off, suspension, exhaust, carb, servos and whatever is easy....

Then build it together and go run it.....Dad will have fun running it too!

I bought my son a DuraTrax years back.....easy to run....

Colin,

This is the best advice I have seen here. I completely agree that you should look into getting him a nitro truck. I have had a couple. I had a Team Losi XXX-nt which was a two-wheel drive stadium truck and did not like being bashed....I broke something every time I had it out.

For the money I found the best investment was a Traxxas T-maxx. They are virtually indestructable and parts are readily available at most hobby stores. Like paintball parts and what not are cheaper online.

The drawback to nitro is that it is flamable and can be tempermental depending on weather. You basically have to work on tuning every time you drive it.

The electric T-maxx is equally indestructable but runs on dual motors and dual batteries (as I recall). The trick w/ batteries is that they run out quickly (10-15 min with good batteries). Even with a great peak charger you are still looking at around a 20 minute charge time from dead.

Now onto the next and neates truck I have (still have). It is a Losi Micro T. This thing fits in the palm of my hand but it is a Hobby truck. It is 2-wheel drive and meant for indoors. Basically you can build an indoor track in your garage and go nuts. Since they are so light it is hard to break stuff and they are wicked fast.

But if you guys want something that is loud and stupid fast and that can be ramped off your roof and survive....go w/ the nitro t-maxx.

Good luck my friend,
Nick

[fasteddy]

Don't get a Duratrax if you decide to go Nitro. The engines aren't up to par with the rest of what is being created out there in the nitro R/C world.

[RealtorTommy]

I value eveyones opinion....But I never had a problem with the engines....We run it with more expensive RC's and unless it's 4wd....It says up with them...
If you are going into racing then that's another story....plus

DuraTrax is so confident in the quality and durability of Stress-Tech parts that we'll replace any Stress-Tech part that breaks during the first 12 months you own the Evader ST RTR. Just send the broken part to DuraTrax and we will send you a FREE replacement. See the instruction manual for mailing address and details.

I'm glad to have taken advice from my buddies to get the Evader for my son as a first time RCer....

The Traxxas T-maxx is a great choice also...Friends also have many Team Losi XXX-nt and they like them very well....Anything Rc will need to be tuned, fiddled with or beat with a large hammer...Just the nature of the beasts....But they are a blast to play with...

[fivestring]

Originally Posted by RealtorTommy

Anything Rc will need to be tuned, fiddled with or beat with a large hammer...Just the nature of the beasts....But they are a blast to play with...

Hammers is there anything they can't fix

[Chemical-X]

Aside from the warranty of duratrax I cant reccomend them. The parts I have broken took very little effort on my part and was disturbing to have components give way. I understand the free parts warranty but I really dont want to hassle with mailing out broken parts as it means the eitehr I need to stock up on parts so I can swap in a usable part wihile the broken is out getting replaced or the whole machine is down for the count until the part is replaced.

I will definitly stand behind the two products that I have used, abused and generally trashed only to have them come back for more every time.

HPI MT
Traxxas Tmaxx.

If I had the money to I would upgrade to a revo 3.3 but for now I will have to wait.

In all honesty the HPI was my first truck so I didnt treat it very well at first. A few broken A arms later and I had it down and was jumping with the rest of them. If you decide to go that route dont get the 2 speed transmission. Well that is if you plan on going off pavement or a smooth track. I burnt out a ton of gears not following that advise.

The Tmaxx was a monster. I raced and ramped and throughly beat the crap out of that thing. I never ever broke a part, not so much as a missing piece or the like. I even wondered if it was destructable at one time so I started ramming it into things and making bad jumps with it. That truck took all that I could dish out. My only mangled part ever was the body from my bad jumps but bodies are cheap and made to take hits so I didnt feel bad about it plus they are tons of fun to paint.

If you decide to go the RC car route I would reccomend gas over electric as you can run for much longer on a tank of gas than you can on a battery.

Also no matter the decision you make be sure to get rechargable batteries and a good charger. I would suggest NiMh batteries as they dont need to be fully drained to be charged again and seem to keep their charge and output life much longer than nicads.

If you go with teh gas route make sure to get break in gas as well as regular(RC) gas for that engine. The break in period is boring for sure but it will incredibly extend the life of your engine. That along with producing more range on the engine as well.

There are tons of break in reccomendations from various people and manufacturers. If you want solid advice just go with whatever the instructions say.

Also traxxas has an engine upgrade and trade in policy so along with being nearly bombproof they will help you make them tons faster and cheaper too.
I will admit that the starting price was higher with my Tmaxx than others but its durability has made that extra price worth it well that and the electric start with an actual reverse.

[fivestring]

'nother thing I thought about last night. If you can find a truck w/ digital radio (i.e. Team Losi products) you can digitally adjust the end point of your throttle. This in essence is like a little governor for your son so he can drive it at 45mph into the side of your house