New to hobby. Need advice.

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Daron

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Hello all. I’m an older guy, 58 years old. I’m wanting to get into the No prep hobby.
I have $500 spare burning a hole in my pocket. Can you guys recommend a RTR car or truck to buy? I live just West of Pittsburgh PA and looking for anyone in the hobby that could help me get started.

Thank you, Daron
 
Welcome to the forum. For $500, you're looking at either the Losi S22 or Associated DR10. We have the DR10, and it's a decent car, but it definitely needs a better motor/ESC in it. On 3s it's quite a handful, but on 2s it's s pretty slow.
 
For that price range the kits that WF listed are probably the main go to's but they arent going to be competitive without at least another $500+ put in to it. If you're just starting out in the hobby then you're gonna need at least $300+ just for the necessary tools, batteries and a good charger. I'm not trying to scare you off from the hobby but its not a cheap hobby, no prep is an even more expensive aspect of the hobby than a kit to just bash around with, and doing anything on the competitive side of the hobby is even more expensive with the exception of things like stock racing classes where everyone is just running stock kits.
 
Thank you for the info. I already have a good bit of the tools. I will need a charger, leaning towards a middle grade to begin with. I am also considering the Losi or the Traxxis drag trucks. Is one better than the other for availability of upgrades, tuning, reliability etc? I value all of everyone’s input.
 
The Traxxas drag slash is based off of their 2wd slash basher. So there is a lot of parts and upgrade availability. Don't know about losi but they had been out for a while so I guess yes. For chargers I would look at anything between the 90 to 130 dollar range. Hota D6 Pro, Hitec x2, skyrc t200 (my personal charger) are all good chargers to start out with. I would go with the losi for reliability. Traxxas might be reliable but not sure since I don't know about the drag slash. With my normal 2wd slash basher I broke alot of stuff and still am. The slash is turning into a money pit so I might sell it.
 
Thank you for the info. I already have a good bit of the tools. I will need a charger, leaning towards a middle grade to begin with. I am also considering the Losi or the Traxxis drag trucks. Is one better than the other for availability of upgrades, tuning, reliability etc? I value all of everyone’s input.
Losi is a proven race brand and their drag car is based off of the Losi 22 platform which is a proven race platform for 1/10 scale. Traxxas is known for making good quality bashers but not so much known for making good race kits. That being said there are at least a couple different companies that sell upgraded chassis and other components for the Traxxas kit so it can be made competitive.
 
Thank you for the info. I already have a good bit of the tools. I will need a charger, leaning towards a middle grade to begin with. I am also considering the Losi or the Traxxis drag trucks. Is one better than the other for availability of upgrades, tuning, reliability etc? I value all of everyone’s input.
I don't have losi but I bought drag slash last year when it was on sale and a local hobby shop gave me a little discount so it was 280$ with taxes.

It's an amazing rc. It's super dialed out of the box, I only had to add one 1mm spacer on rear shock to keep it straight. I have seen a lot of other drag cars that struggle to go straight and not lose control and flip. I have probably 15 packs, rear tires are getting half worn but I don't do burnouts that often, and didn't flip it a single time.

I don't race, run in on a parking lot just for fun. So I run mine stock gearing 3s. With that setup top speed is 60 mph. I would not recommend faster gearing because factory tires are not belted so they will expand a lot over 60. Tires have good grip and they are super wide, I would say they are a lot better than associated drag car I compared them with.

If you don't have other buddies to race with I would strongly suggest skyrc gnss analyzer. You can track your time, make improvements and keep it interesting trying to break your own record.

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Welcome to the forum.
 
Hello all. I’m an older guy, 58 years old. I’m wanting to get into the No prep hobby.
I have $500 spare burning a hole in my pocket. Can you guys recommend a RTR car or truck to buy? I live just West of Pittsburgh PA and looking for anyone in the hobby that could help me get started.

Thank you, Daron
Hey fellow rc brother. I'm in Johnstown 44yrs old. Tbh i dont imo feel your gonna find a good rtr for 500. Whatever you do dont get an arrma rtr. I know from personal experience that they take a lot of extra investment to make them durable. I have a traxxas x-maxx and an xrt both are awesome but they are a grand each. I also know you can get them on monthly payments through paypal which I've done for both. Idk if that's a route youd be interested in. Traxxas has a lot of good vehicles for your price point though. Go check them out. You can also look me up on facebook.

William Nutting
(I am standing in front of a waterfall with my mother who has since passed away)
 
Before you decide, take a look at desert runners and crawlers. Great fun too and less chance of crashing them.
Hell, who knows, you just might like them.
I don't have losi but I bought drag slash last year when it was on sale and a local hobby shop gave me a little discount so it was 280$ with taxes.

It's an amazing rc. It's super dialed out of the box, I only had to add one 1mm spacer on rear shock to keep it straight. I have seen a lot of other drag cars that struggle to go straight and not lose control and flip. I have probably 15 packs, rear tires are getting half worn but I don't do burnouts that often, and didn't flip it a single time.

I don't race, run in on a parking lot just for fun. So I run mine stock gearing 3s. With that setup top speed is 60 mph. I would not recommend faster gearing because factory tires are not belted so they will expand a lot over 60. Tires have good grip and they are super wide, I would say they are a lot better than associated drag car I compared them with.

If you don't have other buddies to race with I would strongly suggest skyrc gnss analyzer. You can track your time, make improvements and keep it interesting trying to break your own record.

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BTW, that is a gorgeous truck!
 
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