Car suggestions.

[Carlyle]

Hey guys,

I've been flying for a while now, and I'd like to get into the cars a bit. In the past, I've seen and drove a few all wheel drive on road nitro cars... I think they were .12 nitro engines. I did enjoy the cars, and they were fun, however I hated the nitro mess.

Could someone tell me a compairable (I think they are 1/10th size) car that is electric? I'd like to get something along those lines. If possible, I'd prefer to get a ready to drive car which includes a transmitter... Is there such a thing?

Any help would be great.

Carlyle

[waylander]

There are a ton of RTR cars out there for you to choose from. Just browsing great hobbies will tell you how many there are.

I would suggest going brushless right off the bat as you'd probably upgrade to it sooner or later anyway. In that instance the HPI Sprint 2 Flux is your best bet. Typically has good parts support as well.

Based on comments I'd stay away from the E10 though.

I personally prefer kits as I like to build them so I've got almost all Tamiyas.

Losi
Associated
Tamiya
Hot Bodies
HPI
are all good brands.

[BigBreeze]

I just started into cars this summer, I've been doing planes my whole life, here's my opinions as a beginner in cars. Here's what I learned so far (which is not much):

go brushless and lipos;
get a 4wd if you want to do off-road and bash(better handling);
Traxxas and HPI seem to have good parts support at local hobby shops.

I bought a Traxxas Stampede, but already am buying brushless upgrades for it. Wish it 4WD too! But it's still fun....

[BigBreeze]

The HPI Flux lineup stuff is very nice. I would consider those....

[RCRick]

I run a bunch of 1/10 scale tamiyas. Inexpensive, cheap to repair and fun.

[newb]

i had a few nitro's and tired of having to order fuel all the time as i could not get it locally. switched to 1/16 mini revo's and never looked back. brushless power, rtr and very strong. i jump these things hard and big. steady full acceleration from dead stops on 2s, 3s, 2 nimh packs and im still on the stock driveshafts although i soon need new. recently ordered lipo's from hobbyking(2 3s 1500 mah packs and 4 2s 2200mah packs for 90 shipped in less than a week!) and will not go back to nimh packs. with 3s i can almost pull off a double backflip from a dead stop on the carpet in my basement. traxxas just released a new rally based on the mini revo/slash that is a on road vehicle that they claim is closer to a 1/12 scale. looks cool and they go 50mph out of the box with a second battery in series.

[SteveM]

There is a wide selection of on-road electric cars available both 2wd and 4wd. There are those that are more for fun and others more specialized for racing applications. Prices vary depending on what you're looking for and can start as low as the $100 mark and can rise significantly. Some come complete as RTR packages with radio, battery and charger while others come as a chassis only leaving you to buy tires, rims, body, paint, battery and charger separately.

Some of the electric cars I've had that were a lot of fun included the Tamiya M-03 mini (front wheel drive), Team Associated TC3 4wd sedan, HPI Micro RS4 (1/18th scale 4wd), Xray T-1R Raycer 4wd sedan. The mini class has always been one of my favorite classes. They are cheap to buy and very easy to maintain. My club hosts a mini class and we have a ton of fun racing them. Virtually indestructable too.

The 4wd sedan class is more work due to the complexity of a 4wd system. Cars are eother shaft or belt drive and you'll find pros and cons for each. Shaft drive cars tend to have completely sealed transmissions which helps when running outdoors on asphalt. The dust, dirt and rocks don't affect the car as much as with a belt drive which uses a more open transmission.

I'd recommend you check with your local hobby shop to see what's popular and best support with parts before making any purchase. There's little point in getting something wonderful only to break a piece you can't replace easily and cheaply.