looking for suggestions for my son

[byroncheung]

My son is 8 and into cars. So far his only exposure to RC cars are just toy-grade RCs.

I'm thinking of getting him a kit electric car, so he can learn while he builds it. When I was a teenager (back in 80/90s) I had couple of electric RCs from tamiya & kyoshu, so while I'm not a complete noob, I have been out of touch for so long now I don't know what's the state of things now.

So I'm looking for recommendations on what should I get him. I'm thinking about off-road because we can just run in on our backyards/woods/parks and have some fun with it going over tree roots / rocks / little jumps. Speed/power is not a requirement since he is going to need some learning/practice, lower speed/power is actually good because that limits the potential of damage. And again I want to get a kit instead of ready-to-run because I think he will enjoy the build process and can learn from it. So what would fit the bills? Also obviously this is for a beginner so I don't want to sink too much money into it yet if possible.

TIA

 

[Tunedfrog]

Welcome in Byron, RC has definitely changed over the years and when I returned to it, I was totally lost. Youtube can be your best friend for that very reason. I have built several crawlers and a couple of bashers. Traxxas Stampede 4x4 had a kit that is completely unassembled and is a good truck to learn with. I built two of them and completely upgraded one with a brushless system and Lipo battery. There are several online retailers like RCPLanet, Amain Hobbies, Horizon Hobby just to name a few and they all have good selection of cars to start out with. The problem now days is with Covid-19 people are staying home and buying everything up. I allot of stuff is out of stock right now so be patient. Have fun with it and with your son....

 

[byroncheung]

Welcome in Byron, RC has definitely changed over the years and when I returned to it, I was totally lost. Youtube can be your best friend for that very reason. I have built several crawlers and a couple of bashers. Traxxas Stampede 4x4 had a kit that is completely unassembled and is a good truck to learn with. I built two of them and completely upgraded one with a brushless system and Lipo battery. There are several online retailers like RCPLanet, Amain Hobbies, Horizon Hobby just to name a few and they all have good selection of cars to start out with. The problem now days is with Covid-19 people are staying home and buying everything up. I allot of stuff is out of stock right now so be patient. Have fun with it and with your son....

Hey Tunedpipe thanks for the pointers! Those Traxxas Stampede 4x4 kit looks good. I like it that it comes in with pretty much everything so I don't have to fret about which transmitter / motor / speed controller etc I should get, being so out of touch it will be overwhelming for me to figure those all out. Are there something similar (pretty much a full unassembled kit) in different body style (like bug / jeep etc)?

 

[AClegg]

Hello Byron. I recently got back into RC racing after 20 years. Everything has changed. However, it's a lot better now. Because I have been out, I had to do a ton of extensive research because I become quite OCD when I get interested in something. When you say you want a kit that will not "break the bank," depends on how much strong your bank is. For a budget kit, Tamiya is still the cheapest route to go. They are still pretty durable and the Frog and Black foot are still under $130. for a really durable kit, which will get a few comments beating me up, is the Kyosho Scorpion and Turbo Scorpion. All the components are aluminum and the trailing arms are extremely forgiving. They are also beefed up to handle the new brushless equipment and they sport a slipper clutch to help keep beginners from stripping out the gears. However, all the new race kits from all the major manufacturers are made to be a lot stronger than before. Also, go brushless. It's a little pricier upfront, but the motors and batteries don't only last longer, but you get more run time out of them.

 

[Rolex]

looking for suggestions for my son
I would suggest that he stay in school, learn a trade if he doesn't choose to go to college, marry the love of his life and raise a beautiful family that will make you very proud.

 

[MCNITRO]

Welcome bro and i u cheak out my content my last post was about an electronic car i got my son for 150 quid and its freekin class