Newbie ??: Choosing RC Car!!

[SoulFire]

Hey fellas!
Well what i have here is another one of those (I'm sure) dreaded Newbie question that everyone just loves to answer (add sarcasm here)!

Anyways, down to the nitty-gritty. I've been in RC before but left for various reasons. I started out with a used HPI MT, then sold that and moved on to the Tmaxx when it first came out! That thing was sweet, i loved it, but sold it to step away from the hobby for a wee bit. Well now I'm back and having much difficulty deciding what RC car to get!

The basics: I loved the Tmaxx, that thing was great, no problems with it, and it was fast! Now I'm more into the "touring car" scene, but also love being able to hit the big jumps and tear it up on the dirt, and that is where my dilema lays. I dont have the $$ to buy a touring car as well as a monster truck or stadium truck, so a semi-versatile vehicle would be great (if there is such a thing)! A few buddies of mine are getting back into the hobbies as well and one is undecided on what to get where-as the other is intent on getting a touring car. I mainly want a RC car so i can take a little time off from my busy life and have a little fun around the area (local parking lots, or soccer/football fields or even back yards)! I know of one Local track in the Central FL area (polk county to be exact) where i can "play" but it is only a dirt track with various tracks...i know there are other tracks within a hours drive that i can go to, to drive on "road coarses" but mainly i want to just mess around locally with friends!

I need some help guys..should i just get a "touring car" and enjoy it while it lasts, or is there a versatile vehicle that can have to keep up with my friends touring car on the road, but tear it up on the dirt with other friends monster trucks/stadiums...??

ALSO..the vehicles i am currently looking at are:
HPI MT 2 18ss -- stadium
HPI RS43 188ss -- touring
Traxxas Revo -- truck
Traxxas Jato -- stadium
Shumacher Fusion -- touring (seems very fast, is it a good choice, are parts hard to come by??)

Thats about it..what are your suggestions on these vehicles, and are there others you suggest..??

ONE FINAL ?? : hypothetically speaking: is it possible to say take the HPI MT 2, and put "on road" touring tires on it and have it perform to SOMETHING close to a street car (understanding the suspension is going to be totally different, and it wont handle like a touring car, but will it perform decently at all)???

Thanks soooooooo much guys..sorry its sooo long and i appreciate ALL input. Thanks in advance!!

 

[bustedgears]

If you like dirt, and stable speed, I'd go with the revo.

but if you want to "mess around with friends" go for a savage 25 rtr kit. Those things can take a beating, without having to do upgrades to it.

 

[beason]

what about a buggy?? there like the "touring car" of offroad.. they can take the bumps and jumps but handle WAY better then a mt.. and they make 1.8th scale onroad tires so you could stiffen it up and lower it and go road racing..

 

[Plaidfish]

look into truggies....they tune and handle very similar to a buggy...which is good for track type conditions....a truggy is basically a monster truck w/ a lower CG and a buggy driveline...single speed and probably the most versatile RC onthe market......you can drop em to the ground (suspension setup) and it will handle awsome.....the center diff keeps the thing from flipping over from torque power.....

OFNA Jammin CRT
Hellfire
Lighting Stadium pro (LSP)

there's others that offer a kit to convert your buggy but the already complete setup is (IMO) better to go with

 

[MustangMan]

SoulFire...

Welcome! I too am from Polk County... I assume you're talking about the Triple Nickel Raceway in Bartow?

If you want a little bit of both fun I'd say get a stadium truck and when you want on-road you can lower it with shock spacer removal or shorter shocks and put street tires on.

Or you can go with a touring car like the RS4 18ss and then convert the car to Rally suspension and put some dirt tires on.

Whereabouts in Polk are you?

 

[4u2nv]

I'm with Plaid on this one. I think a Truggy sounds like itd be perfect for ya.

Otherwise Id get a Savage, like Busted said, the things are unstopable. I love mine, and will probably never get rid of it.

 

[FastEddy]

You need to sit down with your friends and get together on what you guys want to run. Its will be a lot more fun if you all have the same class RCs.

 

[retarded pilot]

i second the buggy with on road tires....if you all can't decide on one type of rc to run as fast eddy sugested ....but for an off road , i think theres 3 big choices..savage , revo & lst

 

[AC48]

I would go with a buggy or a truggy. If you want one to just mess around with the XTM X-Terminator buggy is a great begginer ride and is very durable. I would not suggest going with the LSP if you want to mess around. My experience with the LSP is it is a great handling race truck, but does not hold up to much abuse. If you want to keep up onroad I would go with a buggy.

 

[Revo Rancher]

I dont have any experience with truggies, so maybe Plaid and the others that voted for a truggy may know soemthing, but otherwise I say a 1/8 buggy with road tires for those days you want to rip around on pavement.

Or, a slammed Revo with 40 series road tires.

 

[wannarunem]

Thanks soooooooo much guys..sorry its sooo long and i appreciate ALL input.

No post is too long for this board bro!

WE LIVE FOR THIS!!!!!!!..


Whatever ride you decide..let us know!

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Out of that group, i would go revo... It would take some money to get a savage to handle like a revo, if you ever could...

 

[bustedgears]

You probably won't be displeased with anything you buy.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Nahhhh, don't listen to these guys. They're just trying to sucker you into buying some big, dumb truck then dropping loads of cash into them. It's a conspiracy on these boards, so you have to be careful.

The way to go, in your situation, is a Duratrax Evader BX. It's a nice little buggy, right out of the box, and the only "hop-up" I would suggest is an additional, bigger battery (say 3000 NiMH). This thing can handle jumps with ease and flies like a scalded dog! Hell, I've seen one of these smoke a tricked out RC10GT, but I admit I think the Evader had a 12-turn motor in it. It was impressive, all the same. Durable as all get out as well! Can't go wrong with this thing! :thumbsup:



































:jk: I'm just curious how many of the guys stroked out after reading that? I'm sure Revo Rancher will flame me, no doubt Plaid will have a witty comeback, Nitrost will "diss" me, FastEddy will probably ask, "WTF?" then tell all his friends I'm borderline functionally retarded and .21Rc10GT is, as he reads this, Google searching to find my address so he can personally bitch slap me! :whack:

Seriously, the suggestion FastEddy gave is an awesome one. Get with your friends and see what they're leaning towards so you can enjoy them together. Truggies are versatile and becoming more popular, so there are parts aplenty out there. The two main trucks I run are a Revo and a HPI Nitro MT. On the MT, I did what you are thinking, slammed it down and threw on some ProLine Road Hawgs. I also added the 2-speed tranny and 12/15 clutch bell. Man, that thing flat flies! Only problem is, HPI says the 2-speed is for on road use only, so to take it off road, you'd have to put the single spur and stocker clutch bell back on. I tell ya, it's a ton of fun with the 2-speed on there, though!

If all else fails, get a Duratrax, they're the bomb! :winnar:

 

[Revo Rancher]

Hey, Monkey, I wouldn't flame you for posting a joke... :jk: ...but MW does have a good point about following Eddy's advice.

Also, ditto on this: ( I think I already said it)

On the MT, I did what you are thinking, slammed it down and threw on some ProLine Road Hawgs

 

[SoulFire]

Thanks fellas, i really do appreciate ALL the advice everyone has given me...i will make a decision soon enough...actually one of my best friend's, girlfriend's little brother (if you understood that, good job) has a savage that he bought a year or so ago and he is super rich spoiled, so I'm hoping to maybe buy that off of him for say $100 and have enough $$ to buy a sweet engine for that and buy a RTR touring car, so i could have the best of both worlds..but i will fill you guys in when i decide!!

Again i do appreciate everyone's response..i was expecting to get flamed..truth be known, i use to play big time tournament paintball and visited the beloved Pbnation.com frequently, and i know on there alot of people hated the little newbie asking the question: "which gun should i get" so i was expecting to get flamed on here, but you guys proved me wrong, and i greatly appreciate it!!! Thanks again!!