electric RC's from walmart.

[nitrodriver]

hey everyone. just wondering if it's worth it to buy an RC vehicle from walmart or were ever and then upgrade to better quality rechargable battery packs? i all new to this so any help would be great.
P.S. this will be my very first RC.

[Evil3]

No, you are better off getting a hobby grade car.

[DaveC]

Now don't be too hasty to dismiss WalMart cars....didn't they carry Nylint crawlers? For the $60-70 they sold them for, those are decent values.

[DavidB]

What is your budget? If you are serious about getting into RC I would suggest a trip to your local Hobbytown. I am sure we all have suggestions if we know what you want to spend.

[nitrodriver]

well once i sell some stuff i can spend up $500 CDN. also once i get started i do plan on racing it.

[WrenchHead]

Most things at Wally World are considered toy grade R/C's not Hobby grade.I would recommend you go with something buildable,repairable and upgradable.Don't get me wrong there are things at WalMart and the like that can be used in our hobby. I would say you should be able to get a very nice R/C for that amount of money.Just remember you get what you pay for. If it is a $30 R/C how much went into it? If it is a $500 R/C how much went into it in comparison.Are you looking at Electric or Nitro? And if you want to race I say go to your LHS and see what they stock the most of.Most R/C companies have comparable models that perform on the same level. Or you may have to wait days if not weeks for spares to arrive.I have missed races and lost points and possitions in the standing waiting on a $3 part to show up. Hope this helps you out. Have any more Q's just post away and We'll try and help you the best we all can.Good Luck and happy shopping.Later,Wrench.

[nitrodriver]

ok i did some more reasearchinm and stuff, i no what im getting my self into now. the only thing i have to ask is this: can you drive nitros outside in the cold below zero degrees?

[pedeboi364]

i wouldn't suggest it, but im an elec. guy....y not try an E-maxx or e-revo?

[TroyS]

Generally the walmart RC toys are only good to see if you think you, or someone else would enjoy a hobby quality RC. The walmart toys are generally inexpensive, usually under $50, and do let people test the waters and see if they might enjoy it. The problems come in that once a person breaks their walmart RC, you generally cannot get replacement parts for them. Also, the accessories such as batteries and chargers rarely carry over to the hobby quality RC's, so you'll have to buy those all over again.

Once you go hobby quality, many of the accessories carry over from vehicle to vehicle. You can use the same battery charger, usually the same batteries, and sometimes even the spare parts from vehicle to vehicle. If you ever get a chance to take a peak into a seasoned RC'ers tool box, you'll see they'll probably have spare parts, screws, nuts, bolts from cars they don't even own any more. It all comes in handy.

As far as running nitro cars below zero.... yes.. you can. There is more care involved in starting and operating a nitro vehicle at those temperatures though. It may be a good idea to pre-warm your nitro engine using a hair dryer, and/or blocking off some of the cooling fins in order to maintain the proper running temperature.

[focus07]

Another thing to consider is that the plastic parts will get cold and brittle and are alot more likely to break in cold temp.A-arms, shock towers, and wheels.

[focus07]

Also on the Walmart r/c cars, i do work for them but over on the grocery side. And I see a lot of cars being returned due to breakage, or people not understanding how to charge the batteries, yes it does happen. If I am browsing toys and see people looking at them i do tell them about our hobby and will run and get a copy of RCDriver and show them whats available. I also understand that these cars are ok for someone being new to the hobby and the bodies can be used to make a realistic crawler.

[OldSchoolRC]

try a NIKKO if you want to try them out. i've had a few, and some can be fun. they are a cheap way to get into the hobby and test the waters a bit, and you can order parts if needed. Their upper grade cars do take 7.2 volt standard stick packs, so upgrading to a tamiya or traxxas wouldn't be as bad. i would still recmommend a hobby grade car - if it doesn't work out, you can always recoup some of the $ on Ebay.

[Losi Motor Man]

I am not sure if this will help you but this is what I tell everuone that wants to get in the hobby and wants my oppinion. I hope you see this as helpful instead of confusing. If you find this confusing feel free to e- mail me direct with any questions you might have. at email . . . Nookster11234@hotmail.com Happy wheeling and good luck.

R/C car racing can be a bottomless pit for your money if you let it. My advice to you is to think very carefully before you spend your hard earned bucks on new gear. As a retailer, I’d rather you were careful with your spending, enjoyed your racing, and stayed in the sport for many years, than have
you spend heaps of money, get disillusioned, and give up after a few months.
Don’t rush out to buy every option part manufactured for your car. Good car performance comes more from practice and hard work than spending money indiscriminately. There are certainly things
you should consider buying, but be sensible and approach it from a cost benefit basis. Here’s a rough priority for spending money on your car:

1. Ball Bearings for Wheels and Transmission. Bearings will enhance run time, performance, reliability, and strength. If your car doesn’t have them, they are your first priority.

2. Spare Batteries & Radio Crystals. If you’re racing with just one battery, you should make it a priority to get two more. Three is ok, but five (enough so that you have a fresh pack for each race on each race day) is ideal. You don’t need big buck matched packs. Pick up a spare
set of radio crystals as well. To race, you’ll need at least two pairs, preferably three. They’re cheap. If you take care of them, they’ll last a long time.

3. Spare Pinion & Spur Gears. The ability to alter the gear ratio is very important. Pinions and spurs are relatively cheap, so always carry a range.

4. Spare Tires are very important (possibly the most important) tuning tool you have. As you can afford it, try to build up a range of tire choices. Some races require that you use a particular type of tire.
5. Electronic Speed Control. If you’re struggling with a manual speed control -this will turn your life around. Electronic speedos give more power, more run time, and much more reliability. Best of all, if you sell your old car, you can move your electronic speed control straight into your new one.

6. Spare Springs & Shock Oil. Most manufacturers offer a choice of softer or stiffer springs for your car. Pick up some optional springs and shock oil to help you tune the car. Usually it’s best to get the springs and shock oils that are slightly softer and slightly stiffer than the kit
parts.

7. Reliability Parts. By reliability parts, I mean items that will help you car to be stronger, break down less, or be more consistent, not necessarily to perform better. Things like titanium
turnbuckles, or ‘un-popable’ ball joints.

8. Performance Parts. Performance parts are items that may help your car to go better, such as lightweight transmission parts, optional graphite chassis parts, different tuning options such as anti-roll bars, or different toe/anti-squat blocks.

9. Appearance of Parts. If you’ve still got money left over, you might want to make you car look better. Anodized alloy screw sets, different bodies, wings, wheels, sticker sets etc. The options are almost endless. Let me say one more thing on this topic. If you’re running a cheap low-end buggy not specifically made for racing (say some other non-high-end brands) it’s best for you not to spend too much money trying to hop up your buggy and make it competitive. Instead you should concentrate on saving for a better car. Even a well looked after second hand race car is a good investment. If you
want to go faster, concentrate on items that you can move into another car if/when you save the $$$. Things like batteries, electronic speed controls, radio gear etc.

[Bash'er Maxx]

Now what type of vehicle are you wanting? Sedan ,Buggy, Monster Truck?

[MarkWesterfield]

There is a small rumor going around that Losi brand r/c cars might be on Walmart shelves in the future, good $ for Horizon if it ends up being accurate.

[brushlessdirtyal]

That would be great. There are wally worlds everywhere. Would open more eyes to the hobby also.

[JLM]

I would suggest sticking to hobby grade stuff as well. If you go generic radioshack or walmart, you are getting product assembled in like shenzhen, taiwan, etc. Even *IF* it is a model you can take apart or upgrade, chances are the only way you can get parts is directly from the manufacturer way off in timbucktoo.

[pedeboi364]

^^^^^^^^+1
however, there are xmods and the pro pulse (or is it pluse?) from radioshack that can be heavily upgraded, the most popular sites are atomicmods.com and fullforcerc.com

[j88h]

My opinion would be to go with a 1/10 scale offroad electric buggy. i have an associated b4 factory team.

[notatoy]

i can understand peoples reservation's with these toys and i would defo not recommend one for racing ,but i have made two very good r/c from these toys ,one as in my topic the newbright 1/6 rockcrawler and another i have a 1/6 baja bug that i have not posted yet . i will be honest and say it was a lot of work to get these toys to perform like a hobby r/c .and to have there strength .but to me it was worth it i run them just as hard as my other hobby trucks and never have broke any parts ..the only thing is as some one mentioned parts availability is next to none existante .but since these were all more or less custom made it makes no difference to me i just fab new parts when they break .or source other parts from similar trucks .so they are not to be dismissed so easy , both these 1/6 scale conversions i use run all hobby electronics are fully ball raced and chassis have been strengthened..it is a great shame that peopel disregard these type of r/c as rubbish because i can tell you once converted over to hobby grade they are anything but ,,,thanks ...http://rcdriver.com/forums/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0003-9.jpg%5B/IMG%5D........http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0004-8.jpg

[notatoy]

the 1/6 baja bug toy to hobby grade conversion ....http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0004-6.jpg..http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0005-6.jpg..

[notatoy]

hobby servo install 1/6 baja bug all metal gear high tourq ..http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0001-7.jpg

[notatoy]

Now who said these were (((toys)))).........http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp142/notatoy1/CRIM0004-9.jpg

[LSXEric]

Rocket why does it mtter? If its not closed its okay to post! NAT I knew you would bring up your new bite stuff.;)

[notatoy]

Rocket why does it mtter? If its not closed its okay to post! NAT I knew you would bring up your new bite stuff.;)LOL yes bro i fell into the trap .lol. it just gets my goat when people say these things are no good or words to that effect ,i agree that these r/c stock are not the best ,but with a little work and a few hobby parts they can be a good r/c . some forums ((not this one)) are very snobberish when it comes to r/c ,and reject anything that does not have a $500 doller price tag .this is not the way to look at this hobby .some people dont have that kinda money to spend on hobbys .its very nice to see the latest models and cutting edge brushless systems. but at the end of the day ,as long as the person is happy with there r/c thats what matters . .here is a video the guy mods toy r/c to hobby grade the same as i have done ,this is a hummer made buy radio shack , the guy has installed all hobby electronics and a 19 turn komodo motor ,it now runs over 20 mph ,i think if he had used a bigger pinion and locked the diff and also ran 9.6 volt through the esc it would of run over 30 mph as my 1/6 bug does ,check it out , to move these large scale models at speed requires a brushless system........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOzN8UM5O2E

[notatoy]

rocket-motorsport i love your no nonsense approach to forums ,lol in a good way ..i think we all need a group hug , but yeah i new topic starter would have been good , thanks bro ,,