Suggestions for a beginner RC Car?

[LM Spec]

I want to get into the RC hobby and would like suggestions on what to purchase. The only brand I am sort of familiar with is Tamiya. I would like to stick to battery power as well for now.

Also I see a lot of cars/ parts for sale on Craigslist.

[vee'snuts]

What are you going to do with it ? Just basic entry I would say Traxxas Slash or Stampeed both tough trucks that that most hobby shops keep parts for .Also simple to work on .

[norman]

i agree on the slash. they are tough, pretty fast and have a huge aftermarket so the truck can grow with you.

[-teknien-]

Just got my stepson into RC cars with the traxxis ken block/ rally 1/10th car! its bad ass!

[VegasJetta]

I just picked up a Traxxas Slash as a 'first' car (I played with stuff in the 80s/90s when I was a kid) to get my son into it. He's two, and LOVES it.
I just (literally 5 minutes ago) picked up a Traxxas Rustler to play with as well.

[-teknien-]

I will be picking up another VXL rally (i dont need the ken block livery) to play with, Im jealous everytime we take out his car and he runs the batt down and I dont get to play!

[koston.]

Totally depends on where you want to use it. I reccomend the Slash as a good starter RC car. Easy to work on, can get parts at your local hobby shop and tons of aftermarket support (some great, some total Chinese crap)

Offroad - Slash is a very solid options. Once you upgrade to RPM arms/diff cover, it's nearly indestructable (30 foot bmx jumps, no problem). But basically any Traxxas will fit the bill here. 4x4 has more moving parts. Stay away from the 1/16 stuff if you want to go over jumps/not have to replace the hub carriers every month because of the ball joints...

Onroad - whole 'nother can of worms. Drift (OTA-R31, MSD MS-01, Yokomo anything, TA-05 etc..), grip (Xray and schumacher seem to be popular), scale VTA (any 4wd on-road woudl work here due to slow speeds) etc...

Tamiya makes great stuff, including build instructions. But it's hard to get locally...

[1.8t67]

another vote for the slash. bought my son a 2wd for his 9th birthday. awesome truck. beats all the tamiya's i had when i was running rc cars (80's-90's too). he jumps it alot, and it soars level, lands and boogies. the traxxas support (upgrades) and aftermarket is incredible.

[MRA3S]

I'm going to play devils advocate here and say that the Slash really isnt all that great for a beginner. The reason i say this that while is a very simple and pretty robust vehicle, it is not the most versatile. Its designed for racing on a dirt track. Its not great on road (even lowered with on road tires and sway bars), and you pretty much cant drive it through grass either since it has smaller tires on it.

Id recommend a rustler or a stampede. I'd also look at some of the offerings from HPI like an E-Firestorm or E-Savage. HPI is usually pretty easy to get at your LHS, not as common as traxxas though. Traxxas used to be the low cost, hard to break beginner product but lately they seem to demand a higher price than what a similarly equipped HPI can be had for. I recently traded my Slash 4x4 for a Savage X 4.6 and man that thing is ROBUST!

[VDuBPL]

If I was you i'd buy my baja 5b

it barely breaks
its cheap to run reg gas and 2 stroke oil mix
runs for 1.5 hours on a tank of gas

fun and parts are easy to get too

http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...i%20Baja%205b/

[VegasJetta]

If I was you i'd buy my baja 5b

it barely breaks
its cheap to run reg gas and 2 stroke oil mix
runs for 1.5 hours on a tank of gas

fun and parts are easy to get too

http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...i%20Baja%205b/

My friend has one of those for sale locally, $550. I want it so bad, but my wife would KILL me.

I agree with what MRA3S says about the Slash in the grass. It doesn't go NEARLY as good as my Rustler in the grass.