We've had some discussion recently about getting into the R/C market. We have some places to build some cool tracks. I've checked out a few online sites and it seems (to me) like the electrics are the way to go. The gas ones look really cool, and really fast but... they're at least double the price and seem a bit too fast and loud, if we were to let the kids have turns, and there's not much variety either. There's a ton of the 1/10 scale electric off-road models, and the price starts at ~ $120 and goes up from there. The gas ones start at ~ $400, so that right there makes me want to go with the electrics. I'm giving thought to buying the car in the picture - its the Tamiya Dark Impact, its 4wd and about $150.
Although with the electrics you're limited by battery charge, whereas the gas ones get a quick fill-up and keep on going. I'm definitely not the expert on this subject, so I'm asking for any input. Scott, you seem to be the most recent of us to forray into the R/C universe. Any thoughts?
We've had some good ideas so far: racing on the burm, custom paint-jobs, unique sponsors - Skimitar studios or Walton Art Glass etc, 4th of July parade... the list goes on and on.
UPDATE:
We've actually decided to get a few of the Traxxas Slashes. They're faster, stronger, already put together, water proof, and a little cheaper.
4 comments:
It may seem like a quick 'gas up and go' with the gas models, but the trouble shooting and maintenance on a gas setup will suck half of a saturday dry. In my opinion, it would be worth it to spend a little more on the electric car to get a better battery and a better (more powerful). Also, buying three or four batteries will enable plenty of racing time. I've purchased from Tower Hobbies many times and been satisfied, although their 'tech notes' don't make it easy to compare between models. Where are you guys looking? I'll look into it a little more. Perhaps we should try a stock idea where we set a max of $175 or $200 for the total package, batteries and all. That way, Mike (who has the greatest wealth) can't pull an oddjob on us. Do we need to pitch in for the homeless among us? I'll try and do more research and come up with a model that I can get behind.
Well, Scott, 4 of us already purchased the traxxas. Its really, really fun. Mike, Jer, Dad, and I all got them, and raced them yesterday. They're really solid and really fast. They're the RTR (ready-to-race) version, so the set-up was minimal. They're supposedly way faster than the tamiya kits, out of the box. There's a ton of upgrades available, too, as well as replacement parts. Jeremy... I think its a really good base model to build from. It also has a training mode, that cuts the speed by 50% (good for the kids). I thought building a car would be fun, until I checked out some of the tutorial websites! Even the guy at D&J said it takes him 5 hours to put the simple ones together. So, we all got the traxxas slash. They come with pretty much everything you need, too. The only extra purchase we made was extra batteries.
It's only two wheel drive, right?
They are 2wd. But, they did totally fine in the dirt. When it got into the deep tanbark, or thick grass, it slowed down a little. Look up traxxas slash on youtube, and you'll see them doing some pretty cool stuff. One guy even drove it into and out of the shallow end of his swimming pool. Also, being 2wd makes it much much easier to fix.
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