remote control cars

[Anonymous]

I want to buy my son a remote control car for his birthday, I want a fairly decent one, have looked into it a bit on the net, think i'll go for electric off roader about £100.

If anyones into this hobby can you give me some advice. Cheers Senior

 

[Simoli]

I flew RC helicopters for quite some time. Don't have any experience in the cars, but can give you one bit of advice... get out the $$$. For quality parts you will spend a bunch of money. I've looked at a few cars and figured out they are pretty pricey for the durable stuff. You may want to go to the local hobby store and ask about any clubs near you. Attend a club get together and you will get a good head start on the hobby. Members will tell you what you should start out with as well as which car can be easily repaired. The hobby is so comlex that every bit of help will save you time money and frustration.

Nothing specific here but I hope that helps.

 

[jasonB]

I used to play with RC helicopters and Off Roaders.

An electric one will only give about 5mins run time between charges of approx 15mins so You will likely want a second battery and fast charger.

ic (internal combustion) cars will run for a couple of hours before the radio batteries get too low and are a lot faster but need a bit more patience to set up so not ideal for a younger son, I would say 11+ for ic. Also most don't have reverse and can be a bit noisy if running in the back garden.

Also get a make that spares and upgrades are available for, at that money you won't get ball races, decent shocks etc.

If you post a link for what you are thinking of I'll have a look and comment.

Jason

 

[chiba]

I have a Tamiya electric road car with a lot of alloy and carbon fibre goodies. The engineering and modifications are what really interest me - driving's kind of secondary! It's all... kind of fake though. I mean, carbon fibre's not exactly necessary, but it's still very absorbing to tinker with the thing. Harmless fun. Tamiya aren't so cool in the UK these days - more HPI Racing and the like. I have to disagree with the 5 minute run time stated above for electric cars - modern high capacity batteries give a lot more juice than that. Nitro cars though - they're a blast, although you need plenty of space. A gas road car on an empty car park - mmm, speeeed, and off road nitro crs can pull some stupid stunts. Fun stuff.

As a first car I'd vote for electric. Safer, cleaner, more chances to play. Once your son can drive safely, then gas him up! For a fixed 100 quid budget a gas car's probably going to have to be be second hand anyway.

You didn't say how old your son is. If he's young, then one option you might want to consider is a smaller 1/18 scale electric car, instead of a more traditional larger one. You can use them indoors (think school hall) instead of in the street or park/field. Some 1/18 scale cars are pretty wild. There are racing series, etc. Even gas cars...

 

[devonwoody]

Senior, shouldn't you have started the thread saying "I want to purchase a remote car for my son so I can play with it" ????????????

 

[jasonB]

Chiba is probably right about run times, batteries have developed like they have with coodless tools. I did have an original Tamiya "Rough Rider" when they first came out some 26yrs ago, think it had 1.2Ah batteries.

Jason

 

[chiba]

Senior, shouldn't you have started the thread saying "I want to purchase a remote car for my son so I can play with it" ????????????

We just got a train set and an extra box of rails. My sons are two and zero. My wife is... sarcastic. 8)

 

[Vormulac]

I used to muck about with R/C cars about 20 years ago, mine was a Tamiya Hotshot - that was a 4WD off-road job and was mental. 15-25 minutes serious thrashing before the battery died (or more often, as the receiver and the motor shared the same battery, 15-25 minutes before the power got too low to stop it responding to commands and seeing it hurtle off into the distance!) so definitely get a second (and possibly third?) battery and a quick charger.
I didn't realise Tamiya were no longer the top kiddies where R/C is concerned, they certainly ruled the roost back when I was doing it and for some time afterwards! I would have thought £100 would get a pretty reasonable kit, but as noted already, there are up-rated versions of every single part available - so it could become a fairly pricey hobby. I would still say Tamiya is worth a look, even if they're not the trendiest anymore, as they have many many years behind them.

Still, an appreciation for technical principles and practical experience should be encouraged, yes?

V.

 

[devonwoody]

Chiba, tell the lady they will make good train drivers when they grow up.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Arrh, I think you have found out about me wanting to have a little play with it!!

He's 5, but has already had play r/c cars from toys r us etc and can handle them no probs, so I thought we might go up a bit, we have a big park next door hence it will be off road, and the electric because of his age.

I haven't done the train set route, don't want to upset to many people but I really couldn't handle the stick I would get off friends for having a train set, but I did buy him a scaletix for xmas, I'm the champ, but the misses comes in a close second!!!!!

Thanks for the tips and advice everyone.

 

[Mike B]

Before buying any particular type of car, I would suggest going to a couple of local model shops and checking out what RC Car clubs are in the area. Go along and check out what they race - 1/10 or 1/12 scale electric, nitro etc, and if they race indoors or out.

This way you can buy something which your son could race at a later date after he gets a little more experience. As mentioned previously, this then leads to various custom parts in the quest for speed. Expensive, but educational and rewarding.

Years ago, I saved up all my pocket money (quite a long time at 50p to £1 per week!) and bought a Tamiya Rough Rider. Loved it for the first couple of weeks but the excitement quickly wore off after a couple of weeks driving it around the garden on my own. It was only when my dad took me to the local car club, where they just happened to race Rough Riders that the real excitement and enjoyment started.

If you buy an electric car you WILL need a quick charger (and maybe a spare car battery)

Mike

 

[NickWelford]

Forgive me butting in with my first post as a lurker, but my son tells the story about a bunch of friends (ahem) who strapped a floppy toy rabbit to the top of a gas RC car and ran it back and forth past a local speed camera. I really do wonder what the powers that be thought of the pictures they got - I think the bunch of friends (ahem) were trying to use up all the film (non digital camera at the time).


I might just post something to do with woodwork, which is just a hobby, sometime.

 

[devonwoody]

Naughty naughty............................

But on the otherhand it might have been one of those dummy cameras, and the kids used up a lot of battery.

 

[NickWelford]

Naughty naughty............................

But on the otherhand it might have been one of those dummy cameras, and the kids used up a lot of battery.

No - it was definitely active - one of them had caught a ticket. I guess you could call it 'positive action' without actually damaging the thing. All for the cost of a little petrol.

 

[Adam]

Welcome out the woodwork Nick.

Adam

 

[devonwoody]

Apologies Nick for the omission of the welcome sign

Anymore tips appreciated by yours truly.