Wanted - proper RC car for my nipper

[jeffsy]

Hi

My lad (10) has loads of RC cars but none of them with any decent poke. Im looking into getting him a battery powered fast RC car (are they called hobby cars??) which doesnt cost the earth as he tends to get easily bored!!

Can anyone suggest one or a decent webshop I can go to? As I say Im not looking to spend the earth - Im sure I saw them starting at around £40 somewhere....

Any advice?

cheers

Graham

[BigMansZetec]

For £40 you are only going to get a basic remote control car from Argos or somewhere. Getting in to proper electric RC cars will cost considerably more, with basic models costing about £70, and that is without control units, batteries etc.
A proper RC car will require you to build and maintain it, however it will be fast.
eBay is always worth a look for a bargain.

[tjdixon911]

Are you looking for on or off road? If you have a local club It would be good to get him racing perhaps as that may keep his interest in it for longer??

My freind has a Losi xxx-s which he is looking to sell, its a 1/10th Touring car ready to run. i've raced one for a few years and its always been quite reliable.

If interested let me know.

[vdubbin]

A proper hobby grade Ready to Run setup will set you back about £100 - £150
Here's an offroad buggy,
http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecific...
And a Rally Scooby
http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecific...

This will include the radio, assembled car, but you'll still need to get a battery and charger for the car and the radio. These are listed on the bottom of the page.

Another good place to look is http://www.goldstarstockists.com/playtime/tamiya-x...

If your budget is tight, then you might find something similar on ebay, though often these used examples will have bits that need to be replaced. They might seem expensive, but everything can be replaced or repaired, whereas most Toy grade RCs have to be binned once anything goes wrong. And at £40 a pop, if you've already bought a few of those, then you'll really be saving money by buying a repairable model instead!

[jeffsy]

cheers guys - I'll give it some thought and do some research

[jeffsy]

tjdixon911 said:

My freind has a Losi xxx-s which he is looking to sell, its a 1/10th Touring car ready to run. i've raced one for a few years and its always been quite reliable.

If interested let me know.

errr...might be, but (excuse my ignorance) what is it??

[11110111]

you should be able to find loads of tamiya's on fleabay for around the same ball park figure, many of the ones on sale are from people who have bought them and then get bored of them

i've found for a budget, tamiya's are great, easy build, spares are plenty, easy to repair and upgrade whilst still have that poke

another thing you may want to think of is where he will play the RC, if its in large car parks, then it would be worth getting a road car replica, if its the local park with not to thick grass, then maybe a rally car. If its thick grass, look for a off road buggy style RC

hope some of that helps

[tjdixon911]

jeffsy said:

tjdixon911 said:

My freind has a Losi xxx-s which he is looking to sell, its a 1/10th Touring car ready to run. i've raced one for a few years and its always been quite reliable.

If interested let me know.

errr...might be, but (excuse my ignorance) what is it??

http://www.losi.com/Products/Features.aspx?ProdId=LOSA0285 this is the latest version of the car from the web site. Its runs different gear to this as it was an earlier version. It does have some upgrades to it and a different body shell.

[jeffsy]

Bought this off fleabay....

TAMIYA TL-01 SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 4WD 1/10 REMOTE CONTROL

its second hand but should be good enough to see if the nipper wants to get into proper stuff. Comes with loads of extra bits too....

Any good as a starting point?

cheers

Graham

[BigMansZetec]

jeffsy said:

Any good as a starting point?

Perfect starting point, I bet if you asked most RC racers what there first 'proper' model was it would have been a TL01.
Pretty solid with enough speed for a begginer, good choice.

[jeffsy]

Cheers

Does anyone know where I can download an owners manual for this (if there was such a thing)? If not does anyone have one they could photocopy for me?

Also the body has some cracking on it - can you buy spare body shells?

I'd appreciate it

Thanks

Graham

[sgrimshaw]

jeffsy said:

Also the body has some cracking on it - can you buy spare body shells?

Plenty of bodyshells to choose from, take a look here - you need a 190mm wide shell for a TL-01. Give the shop a call to check clearance for the shock towers if you have any doubt.

Simon

[sgrimshaw]

Full manual here:

http://www.modelflight.com.au/manuals/tamiya_subar...

Simon

[jeffsy]

sgrimshaw said:

jeffsy said:

Also the body has some cracking on it - can you buy spare body shells?

Plenty of bodyshells to choose from, take a look here - you need a 190mm wide shell for a TL-01. Give the shop a call to check clearance for the shock towers if you have any doubt.

Simon

Cheers Simon - I got the manual

With this message though there wasnt a link...could you oblige?
cheers

Graham

[Langweilig]

Check your local branch of WH Smith. They should have an RC Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren in stock for £24.99.

[sgrimshaw]

Sorry Graham,

Link for bodyshells here :

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=Category...

Your local model shop (if you have one) will also stock a range.

Simon

[jeffsy]

sgrimshaw said:

Sorry Graham,

Link for bodyshells here :

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=Category...

Your local model shop (if you have one) will also stock a range.

Simon

Cheers Simon - this is a great help

We'll see how we get on over the Xmas break and take it from there...I reckon on quite a few bumps and bangs whilst he gets used to it anyway so perhaps it wuld be a good thing to wait for a bit!!

Graham