Remote control cars?

[BucksDad]

I figured there must be some people on here who have knowledge/experience of RC cars. After having just binned a RC car from last Christmas for the kids which has stopped working, I am getting fed up of buying these RC cars which are complete junk and inevitably don't last long.

Can anyone recommend a good place / brand of RC cars for kids - ideally with some replaceable parts and a rechargeable battery system which is akin to tool batteries rather than the typical fare for kids RC cars, which means they invariably break the cables or squash/bend the pins when trying to change the batteries without me

 

[Jameshow]

Tamyia of course

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/tamiya-rising-fighter-31173
Other makes are available but these were the original in my youth!!

 

[BucksDad]

Thanks!

 

[Phill05]

Are the kids big enough to build or is dad a big kid to build, you can get some fantastic parts from RC4WD Ultimate Scale RC Trucks, Kits, & Accessories | RC4WD to make your own.

 

[Tris]

Remember watching RC car racing at the Three Counties Showground some years back and Tamiya seemed the most popular. Kids from 8 to 80 having a go and toolkits that wouldn't look out of place in an F1 workshop

 

[Blackswanwood]

Tamyia of course

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/tamiya-rising-fighter-31173
Other makes are available but these were the original in my youth!!

I’d endorse this - the one I bought for my son 25 years ago is still going strong and it has had some “robust” use. Spare parts readily available if any thing does break.

 

[Jameshow]

Anyone remember the lunchbox one or the original grasshopper.

If your going to use off road then a 4wd might be better but they are £50 more.

 

[D_W]

there isn't a middle market that I'm aware of. A decent all in one consumer RC car when I was a kid was about $75-$125. Nikko and Tamiya were the brands that were sold here (tamiya had some bigger and more expensive)

that'd be somewhere around $200-$300 in current money.

I'm sure the built car market (higher cost) is still there, just as it was when I was a kid, but probably with a lot more access to information and parts.

My boy has had six of the consumer market cars now - if you look on amazon, always sort the feedback in chrono order as amazon loves to hide the "I got it and two weeks later, the drive gears are stripped".

Of all of the boy's cars - he always wants another one - there is but one that lasted several years - a hideously underpowered dune buggy style that had four wheel drive and barely had enough power to move itself. Which is what allowed it and its plastic drive gears to last.

My brother in law's WIFE has a tyco RC car from the early 90s that still works fine. it's shocking just how much better everything on it is- how much smoother it is, how much faster it is, and a stamped imprint on it that says "made in japan". the market now is just to make things as crappy and cheap as possible to make it inexpensive to deal with returns (both defected and "i changed my mind but didn't bother to cancel the order").

 

[Dibs-h]

Anyone remember the lunchbox one or the original grasshopper.

If your going to use off road then a 4wd might be better but they are £50 more.

Still have one.

 

[mikej460]

For reasons that totally escape me, my brother-in-law bought me a RC Defender (new style) for Christmas. I don't think I've ever owned an RC car and certainly don't want one now, so its going to my 5 year old great nephew. I don't think it was particularly expensive and he did redeem himself by also buying me a set of Glenfiddich miniatures and a £25 Halfrauds gift card.

 

[Duncan A]

Just Google "RC racing cars" - and open your wallet!
Great fun and a good way for your son to learn how to fix things. He won't need teaching how to break things - these things are fast.
There are often clubs where like-minded youngsters can racethem

 

[D_W]

Just Google "RC racing cars" - and open your wallet!
Great fun and a good way for your son to learn how to fix things. He won't need teaching how to break things - these things are fast.
There are often clubs where like-minded youngsters can racethem

We flew RC planes when I was a kid. Once in a while, each of us would turn one into a "pile of toothpicks" and a motor with a bent crank, but I never saw what looked like a biology classroom like we would see with people who had expensive RC cars.

I remember around age 14 being surprised to hear "no, the more expensive they get, the more easily they explode into a million parts when they hit things.

 

[BucksDad]

Thanks for all the tips everyone - I think I will line up a purchase for the next birthday!

 

[artie]

I'd say Tamiya have the broadest spectrum of models and probably the worst basic speed controller and battery connectors of all.
There's also Schumacher, yokomo, Associated and many more.

Much depends on the intended use.

I invested many thousands in RC cars when my son (I) was growing up.

We competed at a high level and thoroughly enjoyed it, we also had a lot of fun in the back yard.

If you can find a local club to compete at, that's where the real fun and expense starts.

 

[BucksDad]

I’m not looking to spend thousands or do competitions - just spend some money on something which will last rather than the cheap rubbish on Amazon which has broken within a year - sustainability, environment etc

 

[pgrbff]

I bought my son an Axial Wraith several years ago and it still going strong.

 

[Kriggi]

Have a search for FTX Tracer My 8 year old son bought one earlier this year and it's well made and more importantly you can buy replaceable parts that aren't silly prices.

 

[D_W]

Have a search for FTX Tracer My 8 year old son bought one earlier this year and it's well made and more importantly you can buy replaceable parts that aren't silly prices.

oh my, replacement differential gears (son #1 destroys the plastic gears almost right away)....

I hope those are retailed in the US.

 

[baldkev]

In the summer i was at a park and a guy and his kids had a HPI maveric...... on grass, standing start, popped a wheelie and shot off on 2 wheels!! It did about 45 / 50 by the looks of it! Rechargeable battery, but i have no idea on spares. I keep meaning to buy one, he said they are about 160 quid

 

[Jameshow]

In the summer i was at a park and a guy and his kids had a HPI maveric...... on grass, standing start, popped a wheelie and shot off on 2 wheels!! It did about 45 / 50 by the looks of it! Rechargeable battery, but i have no idea on spares. I keep meaning to buy one, he said they are about 160 quid

Not bad for a RTR

As a kit + battery + radio will be about that....