# R/C Cars



## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

My boy is 7 soon and for his birthday we want to get him a remote control car. We don't want to get him a cheap toys r us slow car but one of the decent ones that are really designed for out door use. While we want something with pace he doesn't need anything silly fast while he's learning. He's from the playstation generation so his dexterity and hand eye co-ordination is pretty good. I have an indoor RC helicopter and hes pretty good with that! He ideally likes the off road type cars.

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions or tips or recommendations? Our budget is around £120ish

I've had a quick look and there are so many brands I've never heard of and I'm really not sure about the tech with batteries and how long they will last, do you need a few v a fast charger? Also I was thinking one of those trigger controllers might be easier for him to control?

Many thanks for any advice you guys can give me!


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

I would look at the Tamiya XB series...or if you can build it something like this would be cool.

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-rising-fighter-special-bundle-package/rc-car-products/394160


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

I've just been through this myself for my lad, although he has just turned 16. He's been banging on about a RC drift car for some time, so i bought him one for his birthday.

Go for the known brands such as Tamiya, HPI , Traxxis etc

The new kits are quite complicated to build and set up, mainly because the instructions tend not to be the best from what i could tell.

Your best bet is ebay, someone else's hobby is a cheap way of starting your own. I bought a Tamiya Raybrig NSX (TT02 chassis) RTR (ready to run/race) complete with controller, receiver, battery, motor, a spare chassis and a pre painted Mitsubishi Evo shell for £102. The original kit was circa £200 and it has over £150 of "Hop Ups" - aluminium suspension, 4WD prop etc. All i have bought was an Overlander charger and another Overlander battery pack. 

The NSX shell is the bare kit so the plan is for us to paint it and personalise it with his own made up stickers etc.

Charging takes about 2.5/3hrs with the charger i have bought and we are hoping to see around half an hour of use from each battery. I came charged so we have only had the one outing so far and are yet to try a full battery. Make sure you get a charger with a safety cut off.

From what i have read, go for battery powered. Nitro is faster and sounds better, but is very tempermental. Last thing you want with a kid is to go down the park all excited and not be able to start the thing up.

You can get lipo batteries, but again i would avoid these as there is a risk of explosion if not handled with care. We have Nimh 3300.

The current motor we have is brushed, but if my lad wants more power, we can always hop up to brushless. Not sure he'd need it though as his plan is to drift.

Start googling and start reading, it is fairly daunting, even more so when it arrives and you realise just how little you know. Ours didn't go into reverse and i thought i had broken in, but it turns out it was programmed that way and i had to reprogram it.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Thanks guys I remember as a young lad having a Tamya Grasshopper similar to the Rising Fighter so I'm very tempted by something like this as the build (for me) would be fine.

I have seen these at my local model shop have you heard of them? any good?

http://www.accessmodels.co.uk/shop/...hed-electric-truck.html/fulldescription/#desc


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

There's a bit more info on Modelsport http://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-car...uggy-2.4ghz-waterproof/rc-car-products/379228 - looks OKto me, but i'm no expert. Comes will all you need and there are plenty of ftx hop ups should you want to improve things at a later date.

Model shop guys tend to be mad about these things, always worth a chat with them if you have a local shop nearby.


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

I had a Kyosho nitro car once , It had a meeting with a kerb , I took it home in a black bin bag


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## jomo (Jul 31, 2010)

If he's of the PlayStation generation, get a dual stick remote and not the trigger style as he would adapt to it a lot quicker imo.

Dual stick.










Trigger style.









Also i'd stick to buying a brand that spare parts are easy to get hold of Tamiya, HPI, Losi you get the idea, as if he's just learning you'll need a few wish bones and c-hubs on stand by lol.


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## Ian D (Mar 16, 2006)

I can't help but look at these, as I used to love them when I was a kid. now I have and 8 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son, I need to wait for a couple of years.

I had a Tamiya Fire Dragon in 1989 which was great, I then moved up to a Schumacher Cougar which I raced a bit which was brilliant. Oh and then I bought a Tamiya Peugeot 306 maxi which was front wheel drive and great fun in car parks!

4 yrs ago I bought a second hand thunder tiger DT10 which is a Nitro 2WD truck which even though it was only a small engined nitro was a nighmare as it was too quick for use unless you have a decent space.

Lots of choice around but would need something tough, buggies or truggies are safer and use them in a big space.

It will get broken, you will need spares!

Tamiya arent dynamically the best, but they are robust, parts availability is good and the prices are reasonable.

I have recently bought a used Tamiya TA03f Pro which I am going to get ready for drifting, a a strange combination of motor in the front and four wheel drive.

Get yourself spare batteries and chargers and have fun!


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

I remember my grasshopper had a whole new chases after the servo jammed on and it hat a brick wall at full speed!


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

tmitch45 said:


> Thanks guys I remember as a young lad having a Tamya Grasshopper similar to the Rising Fighter so I'm very tempted by something like this as the build (for me) would be fine.
> 
> I have seen these at my local model shop have you heard of them? any good?
> 
> http://www.accessmodels.co.uk/shop/...hed-electric-truck.html/fulldescription/#desc


You cant go wrong with a grasshopper smaller motor so easier for little man to control.

Tamiya Kits are dead easy to build...trust me I have a few!!

Just a few of them here in this photo (That sofa is full now as is the side board!) 

Worst case and you cant build it I would be happy to help you out...built my Hornet in an evening so if it was a weekend I could probably get one done and running in a day comfortably.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Driving round a car park yourself gets old quickly.

Have a look here and see if anything is close..

https://www.brca.org/clubs

There's some really inexpensive classes that are aimed at youngsters.

Mardave make some really basic, but effective, cars to go racing with.


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## skalle (Jun 26, 2015)

Get a arrma kraton or two they are great


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

nick_mcuk said:


> Actually my mistake I had the black one in your photo! I like the mondeo BTCC and is that the midnight pumpkin on the sofa?
> 
> Yes I remember they were pretty easy to build and I'd actually quite like to do that! The only thing putting me off is I remember the mechanical speed controller in the car kept sticking!


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## jomo (Jul 31, 2010)

This was one of my 4x4 in door touring cars from many a year ago.


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

Kerr said:


> Driving round a car park yourself gets old quickly.
> 
> Have a look here and see if anything is close..
> 
> ...


Got to agree with this, I used to race 1/8 nitro offroad a few years ago but ended up packing it in as all the local tracks closed either due to land being sold to developers or trouble with planning permission.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Kerr said:


> Driving round a car park yourself gets old quickly.
> 
> .


Really I haven't got bored of driving mine round the garden or in the close. Mate and I head over to the local national trust woodland and give them a run there.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

tmitch45 said:


> nick_mcuk said:
> 
> 
> > Actually my mistake I had the black one in your photo! I like the mondeo BTCC and is that the midnight pumpkin on the sofa?
> ...


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

I bought a nitro road car when I was in my young teens.
It was awesome but I should have bought an off road buggy or something instead as it's easier to find open green spaces instead of paved areas that are large enough to stretch it's legs.

Nitro is very tempremental and I spent ages changing bits and replacing clutches etc in it. But the noise and smell made it worth it.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Nitro is ok but its not for kids and they are noisy as hell....I also have a 1/5th scale FG Porsche that has a proper petrol 2 stroke engine in it but its a nightmare finding somewhere to use it...its bloody fast and certainly not a toy.


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## DavieB (Aug 14, 2009)

Kerr said:


> Driving round a car park yourself gets old quickly.
> 
> Have a look here and see if anything is close..
> 
> ...


This!

If you have a local indoors club look for something like mini class or GT12 class.
Outdoors will most likely be 2wd, 4wd or stadium/short course buggies/truck.

But if you just want to go play at the park any of the Tamiya off road cars will do and spares and hop ups are readily available.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Nitro is too dangerous for kids, or even adults who aren't mechanically knowledgeable. 

Some engines are much better than others. It's been a long time since I raced, but my O.S engines were super reliable. They were Japanese.

My OPS was super powerful and sounded better. It had too many off days, but was my engine spared for bigger events/finals. They were Italian. 

I then changed to RB Concept engines. They are French.........


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## Mazda-Shine (May 28, 2015)

This is my sort of thread! Own 3 petrol cars, a nitro 1/8 scale, couple of heli's. Love my nitro cars! but i agree they are temperamental, electrics best place to start to get the hang of things, if you go nitro i would advise a build kit  If it breaks you'll know how to get it back together! I'll post some pics of the toys tomorrow!


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## Disco Smudge (Aug 27, 2013)

I bought this for my daughter. Not to bad to setup. Just need to add a quick charger and a second battery

Maverick Strada MT Evo 1/10 RTR Electric Monster Truck: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

Normally lasts about 25mins, you can also retard the throttle n the remote until he has some more control


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## andspenka (Apr 19, 2014)

nick_mcuk said:


> Tamiya Kits are dead easy to build...trust me I have a few!!
> 
> Just a few of them here in this photo (That sofa is full now as is the side board!)


I had a Subaru Brat when I was younger (second from the left), then after that I had The Fox. Great fun :thumb:


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## ferted (May 7, 2011)

tmitch45 said:


> Thanks guys I remember as a young lad having a Tamya Grasshopper similar to the Rising Fighter so I'm very tempted by something like this as the build (for me) would be fine.
> 
> I have seen these at my local model shop have you heard of them? any good?
> 
> http://www.accessmodels.co.uk/shop/...hed-electric-truck.html/fulldescription/#desc


If you're close to Newark, pop into Access and have a chat with the owner (Steve) he's a great bloke and will sort you out 
As said Tamiya kits are soo easy to build the instructions are pretty much idiot proof, also don't worry about the speed controller most now have electronic ones which are virtually plug and play


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

ferted said:


> If you're close to Newark, pop into Access and have a chat with the owner (Steve) he's a great bloke and will sort you out
> As said Tamiya kits are soo easy to build the instructions are pretty much idiot proof, also don't worry about the speed controller most now have electronic ones which are virtually plug and play


Cheers mate I was in Access models last weekend which gave us the idea for getting him an RC car (and maybe me just a little bit!). Small world! They only had the grasshopper in that I could see and then a load of ready made models I hadn't heard of. I know that the big model shop in Nottingham (Beetes?) close a long time ago but I was amazed to see Dee Gee models, also a propper hands on model shop still open. I'll definitely visit one or both of these as with this sort of thing I'd rather go in chat to someone who knows what they are talking about and pay a bit extra (compared to online) if it means these shops keep in business and I get proper advice.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Here are some close ups of my collection 

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom.asp?id=43355


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## ferted (May 7, 2011)

tmitch45 said:


> Cheers mate I was in Access models last weekend which gave us the idea for getting him an RC car (and maybe me just a little bit!). Small world! They only had the grasshopper in that I could see and then a load of ready made models I hadn't heard of. I know that the big model shop in Nottingham (Beetes?) close a long time ago but I was amazed to see Dee Gee models, also a propper hands on model shop still open. I'll definitely visit one or both of these as with this sort of thing I'd rather go in chat to someone who knows what they are talking about and pay a bit extra (compared to online) if it means these shops keep in business and I get proper advice.


Steve's good, he's been around for years
Access used to sponsor Newark Radio Controlled Car Club we used to race tourers indoors at the showground, but lack of numbers meant it was no longer financially viable
They do still sponsor A1 Racing who have a track near Gonerby roundabout at Grantham  A1 Racing Facebook Page


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

After much debating and research I've narrowed my search down to the following:-

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/traxxas-slash-2.4ghz-tq-blue-edition-/rc-car-products/375657

or

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/hpi-blitz-short-course-truck-2.4ghz/rc-car-products/381125

The reasons are they both appear to do very well in all the reviews and comparisons I've seen so far and they seem very robust. I do like the 'training' mode with the traxxas where you can limit the power to 50% for new drivers. Personally I really wanted to build a kit with him but as we are really busy the week leading up to his birthday and the weeks after we decided to get him something he would be able to use out of the box.

What I'm struggling with now is batteries and chargers. Things seem to have moved on massively since I was using my Tamya Hornet where I got about 15mins of action from the battery pack and then spent the rest of the day waiting for it to recharge. With both the above kits a basic battery and charger are included but I would like him to have another battery and maybe a fast charger so he gets more play time and less waiting for the packs to be charged.

Could someone help me with all the jargon and numbers with batteries LiPo and NiMH and the differences with the numbers of cells?? Also whats the difference with the different voltages and mAh? Can a higher voltage batteries be used with these cars and how much run time would I expect from a 3000MHA battery against a 5400MHA???

So many questions any advice would be great???????


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Anyone? surely someone knows about batteries and chargers


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

As mentioned, this is all a bit new to me too, I originally bought a very cheap charger in ignorance to discover it took 12+ hours to charge a battery and didn't have a safety cut off when fully charged.

Battery chargers can be bought for what seems silly money, so we bought this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Overlande...-Charger-for-RC-Car-Tamiya-Plug-/391161398110

A charge takes around 2.5hrs and whilst we didn't time the amount of use, we had a good session on 2 battery packs.

I decided against Lipo, when you need to charge them in special bag in case they explode, I didn't think it will be the best thing to have with kids.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Thanks Shiny! You are right about LiPo they sound amazing until you read all the disaster stories about fires etc. I think you have to be using a crap LiPo or misuse it to get issues like that but with kids trying to use them its just not worth the gamble.

Looking a bit more into it I found that Traxxas have a battery ID system where you plug in the battery and it detects the type of battery in therms of voltage or standard v Lipo and does it all for you so might go down that route, not 100% sure yet.


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## captaintomo (Nov 20, 2014)

tmitch45 said:


> Thanks Shiny! You are right about LiPo they sound amazing until you read all the disaster stories about fires etc. I think you have to be using a crap LiPo or misuse it to get issues like that but with kids trying to use them its just not worth the gamble.
> 
> Looking a bit more into it I found that Traxxas have a battery ID system where you plug in the battery and it detects the type of battery in therms of voltage or standard v Lipo and does it all for you so might go down that route, not 100% sure yet.


Lipos aren't dangerous if you use them properly!

Here is a guide that will explain all the numbers

http://www.rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/


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## captaintomo (Nov 20, 2014)

Oh and get the traxxas slash, i have one and its pretty indestructible and the parts are reasonable price if you break anything.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

captaintomo said:


> Oh and get the traxxas slash, i have one and its pretty indestructible and the parts are reasonable price if you break anything.


Thanks mate I've become pretty sold on the slash and your comment just confirmed it for me!


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## ferted (May 7, 2011)

The Slash IS fantastic, I had one and really liked it
Took loads of abuse and if I managed to break it the spares are pretty cheap
Battery wise basically the Slash will run on any voltage between 7.4-9.6
LiPo as said are ok so long as you follow the handling/care instructions
The Traxxas batteries are good, basically the mah rating is capacity so 5000mah is higher
than 3500mah and with higher mah you'll get longer run times
The battery supplied with that one you picked is a 3500mah so you'd probably get around 
20(ish) minutes run time from it, the charger is a 4 amp charger which means it should charge that battery in around 1 hour


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## captaintomo (Nov 20, 2014)

I've done a few little upgrades on mine. Mainly switching from a brushed motor to brushless which also involved a nice new fan cooled ESC along with 5000mah 2cell lipos. The thing is fast and the charge lasts forever! Ahh man all this talk is making me want to bring out all my RC stuff! I used to be mad for it. Admittedly I way more into planes and helis though. Never did get into boats, don't know if i fancy that though.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

captaintomo said:


> I've done a few little upgrades on mine. Mainly switching from a brushed motor to brushless which also involved a nice new fan cooled ESC along with 5000mah 2cell lipos. The thing is fast and the charge lasts forever! Ahh man all this talk is making me want to bring out all my RC stuff! I used to be mad for it. Admittedly I way more into planes and helis though. Never did get into boats, don't know if i fancy that though.


The Traxxas boats look cool but I'm thinking they are useless unless you live near some open water!


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## leehob (Jul 9, 2014)

Wow this tread has bought back some memories, had a Tamiya falcon when I was 8, took me 2 days solid to build it all by myself, a friend and I used the local village hall car park to race them he had the hornet, great fun, good luck with whatever you decide on :thumb:


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

leehob said:


> Wow this tread has bought back some memories, had a Tamiya falcon when I was 8, took me 2 days solid to build it all by myself, a friend and I used the local village hall car park to race them he had the hornet, great fun, good luck with whatever you decide on :thumb:


I know what you mean! I thought about getting him an RC car after seeing some videos (Dude perfect-my son thinks these guys are cool) and then it brought back the memories for me of the Hornet I had. I loved building it with my dad and wanted this for my son but as mentioned we are so busy the weeks either side of his Birthday it seems unfair to ask him to wait so I'm going for the pre-built 2wd traxxas Slash. It seems there will be lots of tinkering to do so its something we can enjoy working on and upgrading together.

Here is the video that got him into it all






If you want to see the boats as well check out this one as well. Its all very American and over the top but bear with it. The boats look pretty fast!


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## footfistart (Dec 2, 2013)

I've had a few rc cars. My first and still have it and it's a traxxas tmax. It's had a few engines (conrod through engine) clutches and gearboxes, so now it has a helicopter engine from my dads rc stuff. He's got a few helicopter both electric, gas turbine and nitro. Also an fg buggy that has a 25cc petrol engine 1/5 scale.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

So I visited a shop called www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/ which is apparently Europe's largest RC shop. The place was huge and had loads or cars, drones, planes, boats and helicopters. It was a bit of a man geek shop and I loved it well worth the 140 mile round trip!

They sorted me out with a Traxxas Slash 2wd, Traxxas mains operated fast charger additional 5300mah battery and some cleaner. They were also happy to price match which reduced the cost a little! They were very knowledgeable and really helped me out with some good honest advice and didn't sell me anything I really didn't need. So if your near Wheelspin models they are worth a look if nothing else for the size of the shop and the range of stuff they sell. There was a huge 1/5 scale buggy for sale for about £900 running off a petrol engine that looked epic if money was no object and you had the space to run it!

I've got a few pics from the shop if anyone is interested although if you google them there is a google street view inside the shop!


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

My boys Birthday has come and gone and he was so surprised when he unwrapped his car! We have taken it out several times both on the road and off road and 'Bashing' over skate park jumps and I'm seriously impressed. Firstly 'training mode' worked really well to get my son used to the car. Secondly the car is pretty much in destructible having slammed head-on into walls at full speed and survived some pretty impressive 5ft high jumps! Here are few pics of the car and the carnage from the weekend!

Before


After




Luckily the whole car is water proof so I just chucked it in the shower (minus battery) for 10 mins and it looked good as new (don't tell the Mrs).


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

These trucks take some serious punishment!

I found this video on youtube (its not me) which shows just what these can take.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

It was dry enough yesterday so i took my lad down the B&Q car park to give his RC car another go. I wish i bought him it years ago!

On rubber slicks -






On drift tyres -











Finally a bit of slow mo.


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## captaintomo (Nov 20, 2014)

Looks good fun with the drift tyres. Do you have to adjust anything else for it to go like that?


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

I bought it second hand and pre-built, so the toe in, camber etc has all been set up. It has a prop shaft for 4wd which is recommended for drifting, apparently RWD only just spins and is a nightmare to control.

The drift wheels are like it is on ice, fair play to my lad, all these years playing Need For Speed and he has soon got the hang of it. Shame there aren't any indoor tracks nearby, we had a play in our tiny kitchen and the rubber slicks on a smooth floor are awesome. The hard drift tyres just spin and the car hardly moves lol.


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## lick0the0fish (Feb 29, 2016)

I've got a hpi MT2 at my mums which is dire need of a strip and rebuild - this thread is making me want to do it!


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

lick0the0fish said:


> I've got a hpi MT2 at my mums which is dire need of a strip and rebuild - this thread is making me want to do it!


Do it! I find stripping down the slash and rebuilding it to be very therapeutic!


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Nice videos Shiny! As much as I like taking my son the the skate park to hi some big ramps its great to different types of RC cars. Loving the slow mo as well.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Traxxas made a RTR car capable of doing 100mph.

He's what happens if you get it wrong.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

That X01 is insane and very dangerous if it hit anyone at that sort of speed!

I also don't see the fun or the point of them? Sure its amazing that its that fast but really after you have done a few high speed runs what next? boring after a while I'm sure and at £680 a pop its bloody expensive.


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## captaintomo (Nov 20, 2014)

X01 crashes into guys legs lol


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## John74 (Mar 12, 2007)

Brought this to make my return to RC racing , far more scale looking than the touring cars I used to race.


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

A few of mine..



























































































Everyone loves a LunchBox..










and a few more recent builds..


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Nice collection are they mostly Tamiya? I went mountain biking today and took the slash with us. Got a few good shots of some jumping.


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## John74 (Mar 12, 2007)

Tamiya lunchbox , my first ever RC car many years ago 😊

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk


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## JODmeister (Mar 14, 2014)

Some old video I found from 6 yrs ago.

JOD.


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