Just my opinion, but, as a beginner, i wouldnt be looking at anything more than 2S, or possibly 3S. Find something you can upgrade later for more power. The Losi Tenacity DB pro is one i would look at. You can start out with 2S, and once you are more comfortable with it, switch to a 3S battery for more power and runtime. It works well off road, and is a bit more forgiving to things like crashes. There are a lot of vehicles you can do that with, from Arrma, Losi, Team Associated, Traxxas, and, if you like building kits, Tamiya. 4S, 6S, and 8S are extremely fast, and, for a beginner, if you arent used to that kind of speed and power, can turn into lots of expensive crashes and breakages. As for something your 2 year old can possibly run, look for something that has a radio that allows you to turn down the speed. Look for one that has an ATV or EPA adjustment. If you can't find an RTR with that capability, its not hard to swap the radio and receiver for something cheap that does. For the terrain you are looking to run on, there are several choices. Buggies, Truggies, Monster Trucks, Desert Trucks, Short Course Trucks. Rock racers will also work, but, can be kind of slow. The advantage to a rock racer is that, even though it is slower, it is designed more for power instead of speed, so they have the ability to get out of sticky situations a bit easier. My choices, in order, for a rock racer would be, Axial RR10 Bomber, Axial RBX10 Ryft, Losi LaserNut. Axial's business revolves more around crawlers and rock racers, which is why i would pick them first. I like Losi a lot, but, there roots are more in racing, so, even though they make extremely durable vehicles, i would stick with a company whose focus is more on the style you are looking for.So I had a look at few more.
I thought Axial Ryft RBX10 4WD (after seeing rock races types) - seems like a perfect fit for me.
Than I bumped into Losi LaserNut, which seems even better - as I don't need to jump. Would that be fine in woods trails as well?
Speedwise 50Mph is more than enough. Is it possible to slow down all those RC cars, so even my 2yo can play with it for a while?
I am not sure if I am looking in the correct direction with those cars.
Thanks!