Suggestions for affordable 1/10 On Road Kits.

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ajdragon

RCTalk Basher
Messages
55
Reaction score
9
Hi

As the title says I'm looking for Suggestions for affordable 1/10 On Road "KIT"? There is one I have been looking at, the 3RACING SAKURA ADVANCE S 64, but I would lke to see what else is available before I make a final decision.
 
MST has some decent looking kits for cheap. Tamiya has some as well, but cheap Tamiya stuff isn't very good. The Kyosho Fazer chassis looks pretty nice as well, and they have a lot of different, really good looking cars based on it.
 
Hi

As the title says I'm looking for Suggestions for affordable 1/10 On Road "KIT"? There is one I have been looking at, the 3RACING SAKURA ADVANCE S 64, but I would lke to see what else is available before I make a final decision.
Are you looking for a touring car, or a drift car? The Sakura that you mentioned is a drift car, and, not a very good one at that. It needs a bunch of upgrades, such as bearings, since it comes with bushings, and the plastic is a bit weak. The belt is also not the most durable, and can get pricey quick to keep replacing. I'm not sure why you want a kit, since there are some decent low cost RTR's available, but, if you are dead set on a kit, i would look at Tamiya, but, they can get pricey to make durable and worthy of actually using. From a ton of experience with the cheap stuff, i learned many times the hard way that cheap isnt always the best option. You would be better off with something like a Lightning EPX or STK from Redcat, or the Exceed RC equivalent. They only come RTR, but, they dont need a lot in the way of upgrades out of the box, and, when you do need parts, they are cheap. The downside is, not a lot of hobby shops carry the cars or parts in store, so, most stuff for them has to be gotten from Amazon or eBay. This is my go to for drift and touring cars: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175361880805?hash=item28d461f2e5:g:O00AAOSwZG1jzr~I&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAkNYSQufLwM8IhacvXoCV6+pdKgSobuqkz07ehxisoJosh8n7VoL9JtwcGXQqKQhEbSLB7FwRAiuNbDdv0fl2lbfw8EK6h457bXkbfNbYYylgmTZjVDanYhRUoXft68DiyYioNf/1lDDR4mhKZxP97tmrCcnCC+VxIYoZsXhbLEbYFl/XEiT9vdKCXXNspTnMdg==|tkp:Bk9SR6Kr3brVYQ&LH_BIN=1
It comes as a drift car, but, with a tire and pinion swap (keep in mind, they are MOD 0.6 gears), are easily converted to a touring car. You can also find them as rollers and sliders on eBay under the Redcat (Lightning STK and EPX), Exceed RC (Drift Star, avoid the Mad Speed cars, they are garbage), and HSP (Flying Fish, 94123, 94103) names.

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of the HSP based cars, and have no issue with buying used rollers and sliders, and building them how i want, but, there are a lot of people who, for one reason or another, really dont like these cars, so, before buying one, if you have any questions, ask away. Unfortunately, unless you are willing to wait months for stuff from China, there really isnt much out there in the way of cheap on road kit stuff.
MST has some decent looking kits for cheap.
All of MST's cheap cars are 2WD, and not really good ones at that, unless you are strictly racing indoors on carpet. On asphalt and concrete, they dont work well as a drift car, and, to make them into a touring car, they are too slow, unless you find a way to completely regear the rear diff, since its geared more for drifting. I had 2 of them, and, since I'm not into drifting, i always convert drift cars into touring cars, and, no matter what i tried, it always wanted to drift, until i slowed it down below 18MPH, and, on rough concrete, it tended to hop around a lot.
 
Last edited:
Are you looking for a touring car, or a drift car? The Sakura that you mentioned is a drift car, and, not a very good one at that. It needs a bunch of upgrades, such as bearings, since it comes with bushings, and the plastic is a bit weak. The belt is also not the most durable, and can get pricey quick to keep replacing. I'm not sure why you want a kit, since there are some decent low cost RTR's available, but, if you are dead set on a kit, i would look at Tamiya, but, they can get pricey to make durable and worthy of actually using. From a ton of experience with the cheap stuff, i learned many times the hard way that cheap isnt always the best option. You would be better off with something like a Lightning EPX or STK from Redcat, or the Exceed RC equivalent. They only come RTR, but, they dont need a lot in the way of upgrades out of the box, and, when you do need parts, they are cheap. The downside is, not a lot of hobby shops carry the cars or parts in store, so, most stuff for them has to be gotten from Amazon or eBay. This is my go to for drift and touring cars: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175361880805?hash=item28d461f2e5:g:O00AAOSwZG1jzr~I&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAkNYSQufLwM8IhacvXoCV6+pdKgSobuqkz07ehxisoJosh8n7VoL9JtwcGXQqKQhEbSLB7FwRAiuNbDdv0fl2lbfw8EK6h457bXkbfNbYYylgmTZjVDanYhRUoXft68DiyYioNf/1lDDR4mhKZxP97tmrCcnCC+VxIYoZsXhbLEbYFl/XEiT9vdKCXXNspTnMdg==|tkp:Bk9SR6Kr3brVYQ&LH_BIN=1
It comes as a drift car, but, with a tire and pinion swap (keep in mind, they are MOD 0.6 gears), are easily converted to a touring car. You can also find them as rollers and sliders on eBay under the Redcat (Lightning STK and EPX), Exceed RC (Drift Star, avoid the Mad Speed cars, they are garbage), and HSP (Flying Fish, 94123, 94103) names.

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of the HSP based cars, and have no issue with buying used rollers and sliders, and building them how i want, but, there are a lot of people who, for one reason or another, really dont like these cars, so, before buying one, if you have any questions, ask away. Unfortunately, unless you are willing to wait months for stuff from China, there really isnt much out there in the way of cheap on road kit stuff.

All of MST's cheap cars are 2WD, and not really good ones at that, unless you are strictly racing indoors on carpet. On asphalt and concrete, they dont work well as a drift car, and, to make them into a touring car, they are too slow, unless you find a way to completely regear the rear diff, since its geared more for drifting. I had 2 of them, and, since I'm not into drifting, i always convert drift cars into touring cars, and, no matter what i tried, it always wanted to drift, until i slowed it down below 18MPH, and, on rough concrete, it tended to hop around a lot.
The MST drift cars are recommended by drifters as decent entry level drifters. The op didn't specify if he was wanting a touring car or a drift car, but did say he was looking at a drift car. I'm not a big fan of onroad stuff for the reasons you mentioned. My kiddo and I built a Tamiya TT-02, with every upgraded part you can find, and it is still not that great. We have well over $600 invested in it - I lost track to be honest. So I feel getting anything decent is not going to be affordable. That being said, before I dropped $200 on a cheap Chinese RC, I'd throw another $40 in and buy this instead. Kyosho stuff is great for the price. So if a touring car is what he is looking for on the cheap, this is the only platform I would consider.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho...yset-electric-touring-car-kyo34426t1/p1452555
 
The MST drift cars are recommended by drifters as decent entry level drifters. The op didn't specify if he was wanting a touring car or a drift car, but did say he was looking at a drift car. I'm not a big fan of onroad stuff for the reasons you mentioned. My kiddo and I built a Tamiya TT-02, with every upgraded part you can find, and it is still not that great. We have well over $600 invested in it - I lost track to be honest. So I feel getting anything decent is not going to be affordable. That being said, before I dropped $200 on a cheap Chinese RC, I'd throw another $40 in and buy this instead. Kyosho stuff is great for the price. So if a touring car is what he is looking for on the cheap, this is the only platform I would consider.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho...yset-electric-touring-car-kyo34426t1/p1452555
Out of all the ones i can think of, in regards to cheap, my first choice will always be the HSP based cars, but, i wouldnt rule out anything Kyosho makes. I have two MK2 Fazers, and am looking at getting the new 57 Chevy they just came out with if possible, but, the Fazer, overall, is a bit more expensive to keep running, but, not by much, and, overall, way cheaper than anything Tamiya has made in the last few years onroad wise. I used to be a huge fan of Tamiya's touring car's, but now, to get a good one, you pretty much have to start with the $400+ car's, and, even some of those are iffy. The only issue i see with the Fazer, is that it isnt really a drifter. That is more of a touring car, although, with hard tires and a pinion swap, i guess it could be made into a drift car.
 
What I was getting at, if the op wants a cheap drifter, I would go MST. If he wants a cheap touring car... Fazer.
 
Hi

Definitely a touring car, I really suck at drifting, and as for why a kit, I like building and modifying them just a little bit more then I like driving them.
 
Hi

Definitely a touring car, I really suck at drifting, and as for why a kit, I like building and modifying them just a little bit more then I like driving them.
I'm not saying there may not be a cheap kit out there but the only kits that I know of are competition level race kits. All of the cheap onroad cars that I'm aware of are RTR.
 
Hi

Definitely a touring car, I really suck at drifting, and as for why a kit, I like building and modifying them just a little bit more then I like driving them.
Then I would definitely start with the Kyosho Fazer Chassis kit. They are a touring car, whereas, the rest of the cheap kits are more geared towards drifting. Look up the many varieties of the Kyosho Fazer MKII, and all you will see are road cars, or, in the case of the Rage, Mad Van, Mad Wagon, road based off road cars. Here is just one example: https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho...-coupe-readyset-turquoise-kyo34433t1/p1466930

As for an RTR, you can always do what I do, either buy them new and tear them apart, or, if you can find them, buy them as used rollers or sliders.
 
The Kyosho Fazer Chassis kit isnt really much of a kit though but it may be the closest thing to a kit for cheap :thumbs-up:
 
The Kyosho Fazer Chassis kit isnt really much of a kit though but it may be the closest thing to a kit for cheap :thumbs-up:
There is still a lot to assemble on it. I'd tear it down and check everything anyway, since it's not far along. The nice thing is, all the parts are off the sprue and all the screws are in the right spot 😜
 
Back
Top