I need some advice

[Ean]

I am looking to buy a rc nitro car for off road and I found a duratrax nitro evader with a fitublia high torque steering servo for 74$ he said it needs an engine and a throttle servo I have never owned a nitro car before and I don't like the idea of charging battery's so is this a good deal

 

[Gaije165]

Nitro cars are good for speed and power but unless you get I tuned perfectly it will annoy you because it will stall a lot and they are high maintace

 

[chaos2767]

I would pass. The money that you are going to spend on a motor and servo and the other stuff that he is not telling you about, you could buy a reliable brand name rig. Its hard with used nitro rigs because the previous owner usually 8 out of 10 times did not properly maintain it so that means the next owner will be stuck replacing a ton of parts. You are better off looking in the for sale section here and have a better chance of buying a decent rig that's been properly maintained. People that have been here on the board awhile usually tends to take care of there stuff. Craigslist is full of beat to death rigs. You really get what you pay for with nitro rigs and in this hobby, good deals rarely exist because it is gonna come back and bite ya in the wallet!

---------- Post added at 8:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 8:09 AM ----------

Nitro cars are good for speed and power but unless you get I tuned perfectly it will annoy you because it will stall a lot and they are high maintace

I believe this statement is false. Every RC is going to be high maintenance depending on how you drive it. As for the nitro aspect, if you have a good motor, the tuning is not much of an issue, a lot of it comes down to how the motor has been broken in, treated and maintained. The only people that have issues with nitros are the people that have never had one and only heard how much of a pain in the butt it is through other people that have not taken the time to educate themselves on it or has a friend who bought one second hand that has been beat to death and can't keep it running right because of the history of it. Speed and power has nothing to do with it as the majority of electrics (lipo) are faster than nitros!

 

[Ean]

My budget is 100$ it's just to play with it doesn't have to be top of the line

 

[mrbones]

The answer is NO! That thing is not worth $25. Just don't do it. You can come up with something else.

 

[HPI-Killer]

The answer is NO! That thing is not worth $25. Just don't do it. You can come up with something else.

X2, Just knowing that he is a first time buyer and didnt know how to keep it in good working condition is the first HELL NO I would have been saying. Then I would talk myself up like it would be a good project truck, oh wait I only have $100 bones and a new engine & servo will cost you $100+ alone, theres HELL NO #2. And last thing is knowing my budget is so so small in comparrison to the prices of nitro rcs, maintaining, repairing them AND be able to have certain small parts on hand incase this happens again is out of your ballpark 9 innings ago friend. Oh plus the cost of fuel and glow plugs... If I were you I would hang on to that $100 to buy the BEST possible RC for your buck, and for your sake DONT jump into something that needs TLC...

 

[Ean]

Dose anyone know where I could get one for 100 $ in working condition

 

[chaos2767]

If it is just to play around with, I had 2 HPI Mini recons that were a blast and they are $109 new! If $100 is your budge, I would definitely go the Recon Route! They are quick too!

 

[hamz9561]

You're better off saving a while and getting a budget in the $450-$550 range. Then there are some really good rigs with the necessary items for running (glow igniter, fuel bottle, fuel, Receiver (RX) battery pack.

 

[Ean]

Like I said I am a first time opener and gust want something to play with I am not a profesnal it's just for fun the only thing I ask of it is a nitro engine I hate battery's you have to charge them every 30 minutes for 7 hours if you see one for under 100 $ that works can you please post a link

 

[SchrodeMode]

Like I said I am a first time opener and gust want something to play with I am not a profesnal it's just for fun the only thing I ask of it is a nitro engine I hate battery's you have to charge them every 30 minutes for 7 hours if you see one for under 100 $ that works can you please post a link

Do some research and start saving some more money while you're looking into the hobby. You also need to realize that this is an expensive hobby, all vehicles will need maintenance and repairs just from regular driving let alone bashing. If you get a RC for under $100, chances are you won't be having much fun. All of the budget RTR cars (Redcat, exceed etc..) are headaches in a box, most won't run right from the get go and if you do get it going, you'll be down because of broken parts. Look into the Traxxas Nitro Rustler, I have one and it's my go to basher, many of their parts are compatible with the electric models so upgrades are available.

 

[chaos2767]

Decent nitro engines go for about your budget. If you want to get into this hobby cheaply, its going to take some time, its actually going to cost you in the long run but if you want to spread out the payments to make it affordable, that is completely up to you. I would start out with a Dynamite .19 engine ($100) and then save for a TMaxx or Revo Roller ($70-155). Then save for the servos ($45-70), than a radio and receiver ($40 Fysky GTb3). Doing it this way will ensure that most of your rig is new and will last a long time.

 

[Ean]

Thanks for the advice guys I decided on a redcat I looked at reviews and most were good

 

[hamz9561]

Don't do it!!!!!!!!!! Redcat is not a high-quality brand! @SchrodeMode nailed it on the head (see post #11 on this thread). Even if you do manage to get it running right, there isn't a lot of parts support for them and their parts aren't of the greatest quality. It's a waste of money in my opinion.

 

[Nitro Nerd]

Thanks for the advice guys I decided on a redcat I looked at reviews and most were good

What RedCat vehicle did you get? You'll get a lot of negative feedback from 'experienced' hobbyists regarding RedCat...and rightly so....as it does not represent the mainstream hobby-grade nitro rc vehicles.

Regardless, congrats on your purchase. The best approach IMO s to simply use this vehicle to learn and determine if you have interest in progressing through this hobby. The key, however, is to understand RedCat is not very durable compared to other makes (but the price is much lower). You are now in the hobby and that is what counts. Just know nitro rc is not for the feint of heart...i.e. it can be incredibly in-depth, which most of us love most about it. However, a lot of people either give up, ask anyone and everyone for help without really even learning anything, and/or just do the same stupid things over and over.

You are going to have multiple challenges with your nitro vehicle. However, that is what a hobby is about, right? Just keep a positive attitude when you start to get frustrated with it (and you will, I promise ;-) knowing that you have help on forums like this, AND when you are ready...there is a MAJOR jump in quality/performance once you get into the $300 range.

Finally, do as much research as you can. I was one of the numb-nuts who did things prior to knowing WHY I was doing them when I started in this hobby, and popped my first engine 15 seconds after its first start. It only got worse from there for the initial 6-months. ;-)

 

[SchrodeMode]

I wanted to update incase anyone is considering a Redcat rc. I am the kind of person that does not look for a place and a time to bad mouth a product. That being said, I would strongly urge you to not jump into a Redcat product. I did and really wish I had not. I bought the Volcano s30. I used it 4 times. Each time I ran it ended in something breaking. Twice was the transmission. (first time a single speed and second time a two speed). I am not sure if there are different grades of Redcats. They have several models and a lot of people bash the crap out of them.. (youtube is full of these videos). I am a man in my mid to upper thirties that takes care of the items I work hard to get. I will say that the engine always stared easy and ideled and an good! No problems with the electronics. Keep in mind the truck in this state has only had less than two hrs total run time on it. I have nothing bad to say about the Redcat support or any of their dealers, everyone has been really helpful. Good luck. My personal suggestion would be save your money up and buy a proven winner.

My redcat is the biggest waste of money I have. There customer support is also a joke. Save your money and buy something with some quality. Shaun

I was in a toss up between two trucks. I ended up getting the RedCat Chimera. In less than a week I have somehow broken a lower suspension arm, the rear wing mount, cracked the bar that the hood mounts to and had a steering servo seize. I was very impressed right off. The first time I tried to start it it was a no go. Had a bad kill switch. First tank was done just idling on a stand. Second was up and down the drive, no throttle. The third I went for about 30 seconds before having steering issues.
Am I doing something wrong or did I get a bum truck?
Shaun

Just a few posts about Redcat's vehicles.

But like NitroNerd said, you're in now. Hopefully you'll luck out and have a decent kit, I wouldn't recommend dropping too much money into this thing, just use it as a learning vehicle.

 

[Rolex]

with a fitublia high torque steering servo

Fitublia? Try Futaba.

 

[Ean]

I got a redcat shockwave most of the revewies were good

 

[hamz9561]

Did you check it out anywhere besides the mfr.'s site? If you did then you would have encountered some the of the problems listed previously in this topic.

 

[Ean]

Yes on you tube Amazon and others and there were some problems b it the good ought weighed the bad