First RC car for both indoor and out door

[Aviad]

Hi,

As old toy RC car got broken, looking for new hobby/toy grade RC car for 3 yrs old boy and its dad- something that is small that can be used indoor, but can also be used out door with mud/ sand/ gravel. Must be durable ( kid likes to crash it from the table to the ground, or send it down the slide in the playground...), and have normal steering ( last car got into way to many walls as it would barely turn when accelerating...)

budget is max 60-70USD . looking for whatever suggestions you may have from Banggood / Ali/ Amazon.

Thanks!

 

[DavidB1126]

For that much, you really won't get anything good, or durable at all. And, replacement parts for those cheap cars on amazon, and stuff, you won't find replacement parts or upgrade parts for.

Something to use in the house, I would go with a mini like 1/18 - 1/14 scale.
For outdoor use, 1/10 is the standard. Anything smaller won't handle bumps in the road / sidewalk or in tall grass (like my 1/16 Mini B) (Unless if you are crawling, 1/18 and 1/24 are popular mini crawlers for both outdoor and indoor)

Also for that price, there isn't much for "hobby grade" stuff, maybe not at all.

Ohh you said hobby or toy grade, ok some of that stuff I might take back. Not to into toy grade. Lol. I seen a bunch of people on Reddit forums with cheap amazon cars, and WLToys from bangood. There o.k. cars. Not the best. With WLToys, there is replacement parts, but its more like aluminum upgrades, which metal / aluminum are ok in some areas, and not so good in other areas of the car. Also not to mention WLToys ships out from China, or somewhere over there.

 

[bill_delong]

+1 to everything David B said

If I was getting into entry level hobby grade ( replacement parts available) this is where I would start:

Indoor: https://www.nitrorcx.com/51c900-madwatt-16-crawler-red.html

Outdoor: https://www.nitrorcx.com/51c803-fireyellow-24ghz.html

Here's a review of the second car:

 

[Glitch]

I can see you haven’t received the answer you’re looking for, and I definitely know the “pain” of being told I can’t get what I want, for the price I want it. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier now with the Chinese options. People WILL say they’re junk no matter what but guess what- the hbx and mjx cars are more durable than any hobby grade rc car widely available afaik. Let it be known I do not own any of the following suggestions but I’ve done plenty of research into it and I own a couple wltoys buggies and another cheap chinese hobby grade car.
My first suggestion, and only in your price range is the HBX 16889 brushed. I haven’t done a ton of research into it but I know the brushless one is practically bulletproof so on brushed, it should break even less: https://www.banggood.com/HBX-16889A...ctric-Off-Road-Truck-RTR-Model-p-1599864.html

If you’re willing to push the budget, the HBX 16889a PRO brushless is absolutely the way to go for overall value and it’ll be a good bit faster. Still almost bulletproof and people love it.

NOW, if dad has the need for speed, Temu has a flash sale for only $85 (these usually cost about $110) right now on the MJX hyper go 1:16 cars. These are basically the 2nd most durable little Chinese rigs after the hbx and the main benefit is these ones run 3s! So they are are super fast for the size.

Hopefully this helps you out!

 

[DavidB1126]

Looks like OP has not came back since they had posted. Hopefully we can see them back on here and see what they came up with or got!

 

[bill_delong]

...the Chinese options. People WILL say they’re junk no matter what but guess what- the hbx and mjx cars are more durable than any hobby grade rc car widely available afaik....

I've been down this road and will share my experience to hopefully save others from the same frustration I went through. The main problem with the brands being offered from Banggood, Temu, Amazon, etc.. is that they are 1 off production runs with extremely limited parts support. These product lines tend to disappear within a couple years leaving owners high and dry for parts support. Any claim for "hobby grade" durability is a misnomer. The bar has been set VERY low by Traxxas which is considered "acceptable" durability for hobby grade, but I truly believe Traxxas is "junk" and anyone who tries to compare their durability with Traxxas is also "junk". Fact is that hobby shops rely on poor durability from Traxxas to make more profit from parts support, more info here:
https://www.rogershobbycenter.com/f.../two-problems-ecx-has-to-fix-now-opinion.html

Where I'm going with all this is that "Race Grade" durability (which is leaps and bounds better than "Hobby Grade" durability) and long term parts support should be the two most important factors to consider before price.

The "happy medium" I provided above was an example from HSP which offers durability slightly better than Traxxas and within the OP's price range with a proven design that is 15+ years old. It's far from the holy grail, but will be way better than what is available from Banggood, Temu and Amazon

If money was no object, then I'd be pushing TEKNO as the king of bashers with ARRMA as my #2 recommendation, however "Race Grade" durability is out of reach for the OP's budget, and final reminder that "hobby grade" durability isn't anything to boast about