RC Car recommendations

[fourstardan]

My son is 2 in a few weeks and obsessed by his cars already!

Thinking about buying a remote control car that's something we can also do together (it really is).

Are these ones from china on amazon any cop or not likely to last long? I was also looking at waterproof options.

[rolo0151]

I got my son (then 4) an air hogs stuntshot. Cracking little thing it is. I'd recommend for a youngster

[Dan_1981]

Ftx tracer.

Maybe a little too much for a two year old but our 3 year old was fine with it eventually.

[Max5476]

I've recently inherited a 90's Tomy Big Fun Little Rc and would highly recommend it as a first car for a 2 year old.



Firstly it has survived 30 years, and multiple kids already, but additionally they have put on very good lock and speed, so it becomes manageable to use inside by young kids.

No idea if anyone makes anything similar today, but there are some on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204088463229?chn=ps&amp...

[fourstardan]

Im thinking i will go with a toy type device like the tomy. Id rather he learnt how stuff works.

Thanks onto shopping around

[blueST]

rolo0151 said:

I got my son (then 4) an air hogs stuntshot. Cracking little thing it is. I'd recommend for a youngster

Once he’s 3 to 4 the Tracer is the gateway drug you want. If he gets one of these he’ll be wanting £1000+ Traxxas XMaxx 8s by the time he’s 7

[Davie]

blueST said:

Once he’s 3 to 4 the Tracer is the gateway drug you want. If he gets one of these he’ll be wanting £1000+ Traxxas XMaxx 8s by the time he’s 7

I've banged on about the FTX Tracer plenty times before but my 5yr old has one, it'll be two years old come Christmas and it's probably done about 20k in that time... most of it in the air off huge ramps at the local skatepark and I'm genuinely astonished that nothing has broken, failed, bent or melted yet. The shell is in tatters but aside for that, it appears to be immortal!

[miniman]

Vanessa’s Lunchbox (with a few choice upgrades) is a great starter RC.

[blueST]

Davie said:

blueST said:

Once he’s 3 to 4 the Tracer is the gateway drug you want. If he gets one of these he’ll be wanting £1000+ Traxxas XMaxx 8s by the time he’s 7

I've banged on about the FTX Tracer plenty times before but my 5yr old has one, it'll be two years old come Christmas and it's probably done about 20k in that time... most of it in the air off huge ramps at the local skatepark and I'm genuinely astonished that nothing has broken, failed, bent or melted yet. The shell is in tatters but aside for that, it appears to be immortal!

Ours suffered a snapped shock recently, but at £5 +p&p for a pair of replacements it was hardly a big deal. He really enjoyed the being shown how to fix it too. I have noticed that the shock on the opposite side has gone a bit stiff after the last run, so might be a bent shock shaft one that one too.

[blueST]

miniman said:

Vanessa’s Lunchbox (with a few choice upgrades) is a great starter RC.

I've been thinking about a lunch box for his first "big" RC but the unstable handling really puts me off. Looks like it will spend more time upside down than on its wheels. What are they like for off road jumping, bashing etc.? Concerns it might be a bit of backward step from the Tracer.

[Dan_1981]

blueST said:

Davie said:

blueST said:

Once he’s 3 to 4 the Tracer is the gateway drug you want. If he gets one of these he’ll be wanting £1000+ Traxxas XMaxx 8s by the time he’s 7

I've banged on about the FTX Tracer plenty times before but my 5yr old has one, it'll be two years old come Christmas and it's probably done about 20k in that time... most of it in the air off huge ramps at the local skatepark and I'm genuinely astonished that nothing has broken, failed, bent or melted yet. The shell is in tatters but aside for that, it appears to be immortal!

Ours suffered a snapped shock recently, but at £5 +p&p for a pair of replacements it was hardly a big deal. He really enjoyed the being shown how to fix it too. I have noticed that the shock on the opposite side has gone a bit stiff after the last run, so might be a bent shock shaft one that one too.

We've also got a jammed shock on ours I assumed it was because he insists in using it on the beach and it has remained a bit wet, sanded up.

Need to take it out to have a proper look at it.

Great fun on the beach tho, deals with sand Brilliantly.

[miniman]

blueST said:

miniman said:

Vanessa’s Lunchbox (with a few choice upgrades) is a great starter RC.

I've been thinking about a lunch box for his first "big" RC but the unstable handling really puts me off. Looks like it will spend more time upside down than on its wheels. What are they like for off road jumping, bashing etc.? Concerns it might be a bit of backward step from the Tracer.

Great for jumps and generally crashing around but you're right, not brilliantly stable. Controller for ours lets me turn down the speed which was useful for the kids getting used to it. They also each have a Maverick Quantum truck which are decent.

[blueST]

miniman said:

blueST said:

miniman said:

Vanessa’s Lunchbox (with a few choice upgrades) is a great starter RC.

I've been thinking about a lunch box for his first "big" RC but the unstable handling really puts me off. Looks like it will spend more time upside down than on its wheels. What are they like for off road jumping, bashing etc.? Concerns it might be a bit of backward step from the Tracer.

Great for jumps and generally crashing around but you're right, not brilliantly stable. Controller for ours lets me turn down the speed which was useful for the kids getting used to it. They also each have a Maverick Quantum truck which are decent.

What I really want for him is a Tamiya equivelent to a Quantum or an FTX Carnage, but they don’t really do anything. I’d much prefer a Tamiya quality kit to a RTR.

[Jetblackonetenth]

Didn’t want to start a new thread but this just popped up
A good RC car shop I know is selling off all their Arrma stuff
Didn’t know if it was useful to anyone

https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/arrma-electric-powered...

I have no connection to the shop other than have used them with great service and they have an excellent reputation in the Hobby

[Prawo Jazdy]

Our 6yr old would like an RC car for Christmas. Do people think this is too young for a Tamiya buggy? I had a Tamiya Escort Cosworth when I was younger, as my father won it through work, but I can’t remember how young I was. I’m tempted to get Tamiya because you can replace anything which gets broken, instead of something cheaper and non-repairable.

My old Taico 4WD car still works after 30+ years. Annoyingly the controller has a couple of dead spots in the travel for both the speed and steering, which make it a bit awkward - if I had it with me (it’s at my parents’) and had time to see if it could be fixed, he could inherit that. He has played with it before though, so it doesn’t quite have the novelty it would had I kept it a secret…

[bristolbaron]

Prawo Jazdy said:

Our 6yr old would like an RC car for Christmas. Do people think this is too young for a Tamiya buggy? I had a Tamiya Escort Cosworth when I was younger, as my father won it through work, but I can’t remember how young I was. I’m tempted to get Tamiya because you can replace anything which gets broken, instead of something cheaper and non-repairable.

My old Taico 4WD car still works after 30+ years. Annoyingly the controller has a couple of dead spots in the travel for both the speed and steering, which make it a bit awkward - if I had it with me (it’s at my parents’) and had time to see if it could be fixed, he could inherit that. He has played with it before though, so it doesn’t quite have the novelty it would had I kept it a secret…

The answer, as above, is an FTX Tracer. Incredible value for money, replaceable parts and speed adjustment between father and son modes.

[blueST]

I would say 6 is ok for tamiya, if you're going to help build it for them. Stock motor is not too fast. Something like lunchbox or Blitzer Beetle. The key attraction of Tamiya for me is just that it's a kit and you can enjoy building it.

But, the advantage of something like the Tracer is it is a lot cheaper, a bit faster in stock form and much tougher. If you wanted something a bit bigger FTX do the Carnage/Bugsta and others. FTX parts are plentiful and cheap as it's a UK brand under CML. They don't feel as good quality as Tamiya, Kyosho, Arrma or Traxxas though. You get what you pay for.

I've just bought and Arrma Vorteks Boost which would be another good beginner car. It's based on their 3s brushless platform so a lot of potential to upgrade. It's big for 1/10 but not very fast on supplied motor. The Granite and the Senton use the same basic platform.

Give some thought to where it is going to be run and pick a model to suit. Touring car/rally look cool, but they don't like grass, and the underside gets trashed on rough surfaces.

[BaronVonVaderham]

bristolbaron said:

The answer, as above, is an FTX Tracer. Incredible value for money, replaceable parts and speed adjustment between father and son modes.

+1 to this. I have both, and whilst I love building the tamiyas, the FTX tracer is superior in every way performance wise, and crucially comes built and ready to run. Also has upgraded parts available like better motors and shocks.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Thanks for the replies. I wasn’t going to buy a touring car style Tamiya - something with chunky tyres and longer suspension travel like the Grasshopper.

A Tracer looks like a good option though. One thing I can’t work out though - can you transfer the receiver, speed controller, servos etc into another model in the future? That was something that appealed about a Tamiya setup.

[Jugosaurus]

Blackzon Slyder
Have just got one each for my 5 and 7 year old boys.

Looks just like the mentioned FTX tracer, plentiful spare parts, adjustable speed, great fun!