# New at this game.



## D.Goodwin (Jan 29, 2005)

I'm older than most to be new at this game.
I'm a grandfather of 4, and need some new
kind of excitement.
R/C seems to be the way to go.
I need some advice on what kind of car or 
truck I should start with.
I don't want to sink up a lot of money up in
A hobby I'm going to loose intrest in in a
month or so.
Dose any one have any suggestions?
thanks,
Dennis


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## New92 (Dec 30, 2003)

Depends if you want to go off road or on. More than likely unless you live in a city type you will want off road to start.

nitro= Traxxas Revo, T-Maxx, 
Losi LST
Associated MGT

These are all monster truck types that have no problems running on grass, dirt, street, etc. Fun for just playing around with too

Electric = E Maxx....hmmm, not sure what else

Duratrax has some decent electric stadium trucks and buggies too as does Losi and Assoicated


Then there are the mini trucks, the Mini T by losi and the RC18T by Associated

Then you have onraod, HPI, Associated, makes good starter nitro cars and Losi, Associated, HPI have electric cars that are good.

Mini cars, XRay, HPI are pretty cheap too.

Just decide on what types of vehicles you and your grandchildren (or just you) are intersted in and then everyone can help point you in a more specific direction.

Oh yea, you say you dont want to spend alot of money but if you are like most you will get hooked quick and then 6 months to a year from now if you look back and see what all you have spent you will eralize you could have probably bought another full size car lol.

I always wanted an RC vehicle but never could talk my parents into it and gradually forgot about it. One Christmas my neighbors bought one after I was married and had my own house. I went the next day and bought my first car. About 6 months after that I bought a stadium truck...another 6 months and I bought an elcertic car and started racing. In the last year I have bought 4 more cars that I have raded at one time or another and a few months ago realized I have spent about 4 or 5 grand in the past 2 years lol. Still have a ton of stuff I am saving for too lol.


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## DynoMoHum (Sep 25, 2001)

Even if you do live in the city, a off road vehicle is probably your best bet. They handle cracks in sidewalks/pavement much better then your typical RC car does.

They are currently in very short supply but more should be on their way soon... but the Assoicated RC18T is a really nice looking little (18th scale) vehicle. They are selling Ready To Run (RTR) for like $160. They even come with a battery pack and wall (slow) charger, all you really need extra are batteries for the radio (8 AA cells)... 18th scale cars use differnt batteries and motors then their 10th scale counter parts... so if you should get into this further and later go with 10th scale, the 18th scale may not be of much help for your future bigger vehicles. 18th scale can be run in a house, given a 12 x16 foot space or bigger. Not having done much 18th scale, I can't say for sure how much it 's going to cost you in the long haul... I would say that you need to upgrade the charger and get at least another battery pack if you go with the RC18T...

10th scale is the most popular and wide spread amongst your typical serious RC car/truck user. You can drive them almost anywhere outdoors, but are of little or no use indoors, unless it's a facility set up for this purpose. RTR packages can be had for as low as $140, but then you also need a battery pack and charger. (battery packs are $25 or higher, chagers are also at least that much) 


Oh... I am/was assuming you'll go with Electric. I would highly recomend you avoid fuel/nitro vehicles... to much mess and noise for someone just starting out...

For Electrinc... the keys to enjoyment are durablity, and having enough chargers and batteries to keep you going for at least a hours worth of play... A good chager is really a good investment... Unfortunately I can't recomend any charger that cost much less then $100... good batteries can be had for around $30 a pack, but I personaly recomend at least two packs per vehicle, and preferably more like 3 packs. You should NEVER charge a pack that is still warm... It takes at least 30 to 45 minutes for a pack to cool down... You really should not run a pack more then about 3 times in any given week.. If you use them more then that, and/'or don't give them some rest, they will deteriorate faster. A good pack will last hunderds of charges or more if you treat them reasonably well, but may last less then 100 charges if you don't... 

Oh, at some point if you go off road... you'll have to choose Monster truck or 'staidum' truck (or buggy)... Monster trucks are slower, may drive over more obsticles then a stadium truck... but the Stadium truck will be faster, and handle most tarrain reasonably well... (long grass is not ideal terrain for a stadium truck however)... I'd say a minimum of about $250 for a RTR and decent charger/batteries. Plan on at least another $50 during your first 6 months... (broken parts, etc...)


Many of us serious racers spend thousands on vehicles, motors, batteries, chargers, etc... For a top notch race ready setup, my opion is that about $500 is nessasary to get started. You don't nessasarly need to spend thousands like many of us do... but the inital $500 is almost essential for really good stuff... figure maybe anohter $100 to keep you rolling for the first year minimum if you get into it and stay into it... 


One last thing... I personaly would highly advise NOT to get your typical toy store RC vehicle.. or a Radio Shack type vehicle... buy something that you can buy parts for... Those types of vehicles are not easy to get parts for...

Buy Losi, Duratrax, Associated, or something of high quality like these where parts can be found fairly easily...


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## erock1331 (Apr 1, 2002)

I have been into R/C now for about 12 years. What I found is if I dont race it, I lose interest. I have bought the Monster truck back-yard bashers before only to sell them 3 months later cause I grew bored running by myself out in the yard or an open field. Only time bashing was fun was when I was about 7 years old running with my buddies.

Check out the local tracks, many oval pan car type tracks have beginner style classes or Spec classes that you can get into relatively cheaply. Believe me racing allows you to meet some great people and gives you something to look forward to each week. Running around in the back yard for 10 minutes at a time just isnt the same as spending the whole day at the track having fun !! so something to keep in mind !


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## erock1331 (Apr 1, 2002)

Oh and if you go with some of the cheaper kits, you could get a full setup --> car, electronics, Controller, batteries and motors for around $400-$500 and be set to race on a beginner level.


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## ChrisHarris (Feb 26, 2002)

As has been said, you aen't specific as to how you want to use this car/truck. I too think electric is the best way to get started.

My starter truck was a Traxxas Stampede. It is tough, right out of the box and can be made much tougher for not a lot of money. For $150ish (plus a charger) you can have a truck that will give you a good feel for r/c. No, this isn't a race truck- thugh there are those that do race them, it is a basher. It handles jumps and bumps and crashes better than most. Stock it will go about 16-18 mph which is plenty for a newbie.

I like the idea of the 1/18 scale trucks as well. The Associated one mentioned about has a great rep (although it is very new still). It will look screamingly fast because of it's size and it may even be FAST! It probably wont take a hit like the Stampede though.


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## D.Goodwin (Jan 29, 2005)

Thanks for the great info.
This is a great web site . 
You hhve given me plenty 
to think about.but you guys
have narrowed it down for me.


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## wolferang (Mar 18, 2005)

I bought a Losi XXXNT about two years ago. This is a two wheel drive "stadium truck". cost 285.00. Spent a hundred-fifty or so since. Broke tons of stuff because it goes like 30-40 and I hit things hard...but it is almost more fun to fix than to drive. The parts are easy to get and really pretty inexpensive. The guys at the hobby shop know everything and that helps. I have had trouble getting it started from time to time, always some reasonable reason, and I work at it and get it running again. Some say buy electric, but for me, I wouldn't redo it differently because of all i have learned.


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## tfrahm (Nov 14, 1998)

I confess to being a "LOSI guy", but...

I tend to recommend the LOSI RTR vehicles...

I personally RACE losi Offroad trucks -- two electrics (MFE and MF2) and a XXX-NT RTR... My RTR NT ran a full racing season on the original engine -- even the original glow plug! LOL! Parts are easy to find, support from other racers is great, and the upgrade path is wide open... Any LOSI RTR can be upgraded to full grapite/state of the art racer if desired...


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## Ernie P. (Aug 30, 2003)

*Location?*

D. Goodwin; where are you located? Do you want to run indoors? Oval or road course? Thanks; Ernie P.


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