Im a newbie

[elilewis2007]

Hey fellas.....
As u can see, Im completely new to the RC thing. I have a friend that races the RC-8, all decked out, andIm not sure what he spent bt I know its alot, and he usually places fairly well in the A-mains. He has been giving me some ideas, but what do you all think about what I should get. I know RTRis gonna be the most affordable, and the easiest for me to learn and get used to, but as far as the brands and what to look for, Im completley lost. HELP. any help with this will greatly appreciated. Thanks to you all.

[johndeerekid]

well it all depends on what you want to do. do you want to race or do you want to bash, or both? do u want to go nitro or electric? do you want something big like a 1:8r something smaller like a 1:10? heres the types of vehicles and what they are specifically made for-

monster truck- a monster truck is speceficly made for bashing and goofing around because they have a higher ground clearance. and they can be pretty decent racers with a few modifications. most monster trucks are 1:10 but some are 1:8. they mostly come in 4wd and there are electric and nitro monster trucks.

buggy- a buggy is more made for racing because of there great handling low ground clearance and great speeds. buggy are also really really tough and wold be great bashers but there not because of there very little ground clearance. the main sizes of an elec buggy are 1:10 and most nitro buggies are 1:8.

truggy- the truggy is the best of both the buggy and the monster truck. it has high ground clearance like the moster truck, but its really fast and handles great just like the buggy. truggies are the only one that come in only 1:8 and they are only nitro.

staduim truck- there is also the staduim truck which is a 2wd truck, that is usually low to the ground and specifically made for racing. staduim trucks mostly come in 1:10 and i dont think there is a 1:8 staduim truck. staduim trucks come in electric versions and nitro versions

there are also nitro and electric versions of these types of trucks. personally i would go with a truggy, because they are super durable, fast and big so they are easier to work on. -Wes

[Gt-bone]

Wow! That was a good response John. I agree with all of it and just wanted to add a little something about electrics and nitros and stadium tracks.
If you plan on going fast electric is NOT cheaper in the long run,but the power band is better on a electric.
A stadium truck (or 2wd buggy) is probably the best to start with if you plan on racing for several differant reasons: teach you to drive better, parts are cheaper, you can still race them in competition, and you can bash with them with decent tires.

[elilewis2007]

Well, Im not really to sure yet. I know that my buddy is into racing pretty hardcore with his rc-8 that he has dropped hundreds if not more into. But, as for myself......I, at least to start, want to just bash, and maybe eventually race when I get the hang of it. Ive been looking at the buggies, but i also like the truggies. They are pretty cool lookin. And also 1/8 scale i think is the size i want. And I know for sure that i am gonna want an electric, cause my buddy tells me they are faster, and just plain out more fun. I know its an expensive hobby to get into, but he told me RTR is the way to go for a newbie, but i want to put one together so bad. But than the rdio/servo's and the like aren't included right? If i could find a build it yourself kit that comes with all the necessary stuff to get going, that would be cool, bu he tells me thats hard to find. Can u tell im a newbie to all of this.....LOL
Thanks

[Gt-bone]

I told myself I was just going to bash until I got the hang of it but as soon as I went to the track I was hooked so if you think you are going to race in the future make sure you get something race worthy so you dont have to start all over agian. 1/8th scales are alot of fun but I dont think anybody makes electric 1/8scale buggys or truggys. There is however a company that makes conversion kits but if you plan on making a fast electric 1/8th scale that will run for more than 5 minutes you are going to drop some SERIOUS coin. Nitros arnt that hard to tune and maintane as long as have some general mechanical understanding. Your buddy can help ya with the motor. Besides do you really want to charge batterys all the time. NITRO fill it up and GO

[elilewis2007]

Thanks for the help.....I just got back from a nite of racing with my buddy. He won His A-Main, so he was happy. But after seeing his 1/8 nitro RC-8, w/mods of course, im hooked. Eventually racing will happen....but, what would be a good starter RTR to at least get started with. Upgradeable to race form just in case would be good, but i want to get a handle on it first. I'd go with a kit, but i dont have the money for all the stuff i would need(reciever, servo's, motor,etc...), and exp. with this stuff would prob help before i go to a D.I.Y. So, wht you think for RTR? My buddy tells me traxxas aint to bad, but, arent relly worth the money. We just saw a RTR RC-8 like his for about 500, and thats a new thing, cause he said he never saw a rtrrc-8 before. Thanks again for all the help

[Gt-bone]

I would get the rc8 rtr if you can afford it b/c Im sure its a good starter b/c AE knows what they are doing for sure. One of the biggest things is your buddy has one and is obviously very good with it as far as driving and set up so if you ever had a question (set-up,hop ups,and driving) about it he would be right there.

[Ultrakd]

does anyone know anything about the Muggy I started looking at it but dont know much.Im a noob to

[rcdriverjboy]

Hey Elilewis2007, Don't worry about building a kit so much! You have to work on these things as much (if not more!) than you drive them. After a couple of months, you'll feel like you built it anyway! I've been in the hobby a few years now and I think that if I bought an RTR tomarrow the first thing I would do, would be to tear it down, just to check how well the guy at the factory did his job! LOL

This might be a good thing for you to consider when choosing your first ride. Download the manual if you can and check out how well it would help you with a complete disassembly and reassembly. I tear all of my cars completely down at least once a year just so I can see em shine like new again! Lots of guys do this after each race weekend.

I have quite a few RC's but I race a Hellfire SS Truggy with a Picco P3 .28. I really like it but I know that the Losis and the mugens are quite a bit more nimble on the track. I think I have quite a leg up on the other brands as far as durability but nobody really considers the Hellfire a serious racer. I also had some serious steering issues that HPI shouldn't have let happen. It's all fixed now but I had to grind clearence into the top plate for servo travel. No big deal but it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't turn as sharp in both directions. I started looking in all the usual spots for clearence and even began to suspect that I must have built the kit wrong. When I finally figured out that it was just poor design I was really annoyed and a little disappointed.I was like you, and wanted to build a kit. The Hellfire SS was pretty much the only "build it yourself" that I could afford. (400 NIB on fleabay) And even then, once I bought the Picco engine, two servos, and talked myself into a Nomadio and reciever (also cheaper than most 2.4 systems), I was in for about a grand on just this one car! Now that I've worked out the kinks though I really like it. I lack the time to practise as much as the guys that live near the tracks I race at, so mst of em are all better than me. But with that .28 in that Hellfire... they know better than to give me a holeshot, cause if they do, I'm gonzy! Now if I could just learn to stay calm when I get the lead and not wipe out and lose it! LOL

Now since your talkin about your very first RC, I'm gonna throw a little more advice at ya. I have become some what of a RC guru to the guys at work and I have helped a couple of them get started in the hobby. I rebuilt a TMaxx for one guy that he got at a yard sale or somethin which was little more than a pile of parts. He was lucky cause he needed a minumum of new parts to get him up and running. The next guy got an old RC10 off of fleabay and wasn't so lucky. (you can read the whole story on the AE forums in the RC10 GT threads...pics too!)

http://www.aeforums.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=646

Actually I should say that "I" wasnt so lucky cause anything over the 100 bucks he wanted to spend on a car came out of my pocket. To get it up and running cost me more like $200. Anyway the reason I'm tellin ya all of this is cause now theres another guy at work that wants to play. he says hes got $200 to spend and wants me to get him a used 1/8 scale truggy that we can fix up like I did for the other guy. After all of these nightmares with Ebay, I have been tryin to convince him to get a Himoto. Yeah They should be on the poster for "knock-off RC cars" and yeah they are far from high end racers but I started with a 10th scale Himoto Cyclone buggy and not only does it still run after four years but it's still the easiest to tune engine that I own. For real!

They call them Redcats these days and Himoto USA and I don't know how many other companys are sellin em under some other name. But bottom line is that you can get 1/8 scale for under three hundred bucks, NIBon Ebay. I still say that you can not beat the Himoto line as far as getting started in the hobby. Replacement parts are as cheap as they come and everybody and there brother now adays is a distributer of these products. You might look into it! (Or you might not cause somebody will most assuredly post right behind this telling you that I'm crazy just cause I said "Himoto".)

Anyhoo thats my two cents... or maybe more like 40 cents! It's raining here so I'm stuck inside. LOL!

Good luck and above all... Have patience with your RC's and you will enjoy the hobby!

[Mouse4666]

you should get an RC8RS because it can be upgraded to an awesome machine