Anyone know anything about R/C?

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris) 02/02/2016 at 01:34 • Filed to: R/C, Traxxas, radio controlled, Ford, SVT, Raptor, SVT Raptor, Slash

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I’ve been looking around at off-road R/C cars for a while and think I’m finally gonna pull the trigger on one once I get my tax return. I don’t know too much about R/C stuff though, so I was hoping some of you might be able to enlighten me and tell me if I’m making a stupid choice or not.

I’m looking at buying the Traxxas SVT Raptor, which is just the Traxxas Slash 2wd with a Raptor body on it, and the OnBoard Audio system (it’s a novelty, I know, but it seems fun nonetheless). I’ve never owned any serious R/C before, so this will be a beginner car. And this version of the Slash seems to fit that bill very well. I’m not going to be doing any competitive racing with it either. It will mostly be just through the yard / park / neighborhood streets and ditches / etc.

So does anyone out there have one of these? Or just a Traxxas Slash in general? Is the 2wd good, or should do I really need to spring for the 4x4? Or should I be looking at a completely different car? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

SDGundam > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 01:40

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If you are driving on loose dirt and prefer to get up to speed instead of donuts, then 4WD is better. If you are driving on the street or hard pack dirt, then 2WD is just fine. Traxxas is one of the major brands now with great support, so you won’t go wrong with it. Have fun!

TheOnelectronic > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 02:06

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Traxxas is generally pretty good for that sort of entry level interest.

I haven’t really been into the hobby in years but hopefully someone else can shed some light.

Ej8gUy > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 02:19

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I was out of the R/C scene for about 20 years until last fall. I spent some time in the hospital, and after I was released, I was basically off my feet for 3 months. I decided to buy an R/C truck to build, to keep my mind off my recovery and help pass the time.

I wound up with a TLR (Team Losi Racing) 22 SCT. It’s an amazing truck that already has most of the mods for racing built in from the factory. You can buy it, and out of the box be competitive racing that afternoon. I didn’t buy it for that purpose, but having the heavy duty parts on=board made it a great back-yard basher. The battery improvements since I was last into R/C is astounding. With the LiPo batteries now, you can run for around 25-30 min at max speed. If you have 2 batteries like me, you can run for at least an hour plus, which was a major increase over the old NiCad batteries of past.

Traxxas Slash is a great truck. I actually bought the Slash first, it came RTR. Whoever built it at the factory screwed up the wiring, and when I installed the battery pack for the first time, I smoked checked the motor. I brought it back and got a TLR instead. That said, I have heard great things about the Slash and liked the way it looked.

Where are you located? I think I still have 2 good LiPo’s and a dual LiPo charger I could send you for free. Now that I am back on my feet and working again I haven’t had time for R/C. That, and I totally took apart the truck and it’s in bags now. I would be happy to send the batteries and charger to you if you paid for shipping.

Echo51 > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 02:21

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Even back when i got outta the hobby some years ago there was ALOT of RPM parts for the slash which meant they could be build damn near bulletproof.. But as mentioned, the 2WD will be very spinny, so if you want something a bit more slideable/directional stable get the 4WD, despite there being quite a few more parts to take a beating.

TheHondaBro > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 02:30

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To everyone just getting into the hobby, I’ve recommended only ECX vehicles. The parts support is very good, and they’re built generally very well.

Traxxas’s are good, but they’re also expensive and not as durable.

ECX Torment. THE best beginners RC, hands down. It’s very mechanically simple, built very well, and a lot of fun on pavement and dirt.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 02:33

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Take a look at the Vaterra Raptor. It costs a bit more then the Traxxas but you get so much more for your money. I had a Traxxas Bandit, then sold it and bought a Vaterra Glamis Uno. The Vaterra has leagues above Traxxas in the build quality.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 03:08

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Traxxas Slashes are pretty awesome (especially if you put slicks on them, hilarious watching one of those flail about at near uncontrollable speeds with a brushless motor). Traxxas is pretty awesome with a nice factory and aftermarket support for Brushless upgrades and parts. 4x4 might be better on the long run, but a set of nice tires would make most of the difference.

CRider > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 04:55

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I’ve got one, and it’s my first ‘real’ RC car. It’s a ton of fun. I’ve rolled it, flipped it, run it into things, driven off things and it’s never had any real problems. I upgraded to a brushless motor and it’s very fast, but not uncontrollable. The stock tires are garbage in sand but grip ok on pavement. Mine has a set of paddle tires and it’ll lift the front wheels in sand. You don’t need 4wd, I haven’t driven one but I like how mine drifts around, though it was hard to control at first after upgrading the motor.

Jdrentarol > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 07:31

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The Slash and many other Traxxases are extremely good. 2WD is just as usable as AWD on RC cars, but 2WD could be better costwise. Buggies are also good, but if you want real RC fun, get a quadcopter. Much better than RC cars.

Brickman > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 08:29

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I have a Slash 2wd and it’s a lot of fun. I use a 2s 5000 lipo battery and get up to 20 mph, 30mph with the extra gears provided. (fun to drive on the street if theres no traffic)

The 2wd you have the tendency to spin out, under steer, but its more realistic than the 4x4 which gives too much grip. I have a rock crawler for that. The 2wd actually does quite well for light crawling too.

Parts are cheap and lots of modding capabilities. I have yet to break mine and I hit a wall going 30mph, flipped over countless times. :O

Nobi > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 09:35

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I have the Ken Block Traxxas 1/16 Rally. I LOVE it. I changed the wheels and tires, and also threw on some more rally-appropriate springs from a mini Revo, and it’s a blast to beat around the yard. Mine has the ability to be wired up for two batteries with just a second battery pack and a small wiring jumper kit. Allegedly with the dual batteries, it’ll do 80 mph. I’m happy with it being as fast as it is at “only” 50 mph.

TheHondaBro > Echo51 02/02/2016 at 10:04

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I’ve been hearing that RPM parts aren’t very durable though.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 10:07

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I have the brushless Slash 4x4. Also HPI drift cars are super fun and you can beat the crap out of them and they’ll keep going.

Dalahobbies@instagram > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 12:17

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My 2 cents. This is the exact truck I bought minus the sound system as it was not available back then. By the time I got done upgrading to brushless, etc. I should have just bought it that way to begin with as it was way more expensive to piecemeal it after the fact. Also never ran the stock pack, I am/was very much into R/C and used lipos exclusively.

Stock the truck was fun but did not handle worth a darn and the main issue with that is the chassis height and the stock tires, (they look awesome but are actually really bad in performance). That cool looking Raptor body will be scuffed up and on it’s way to being shredded pretty much on the first run ;-)

The truck is a tank though and parts are available pretty easily and pretty cheap via ebay.

My recommendation as far as Slash goes, (caveat other people have some recommendations on this thread regarding other platforms and I have no first hand knowledge of those trucks and if they would be a better choice or not).

Go 4x4 and go brushless with lipos! Shop places like tower or RPP hobby and use coupon codes, etc. I have actually been thinking of getting another (with the sound system as I have heard it in person and it is bad to the bone!) and I am looking at the 4x4 and will go with a roller off of ebay and add the electronics from my 2wd to it.

My brother has brother has a 4x4 and it drives a heck of a lot better in my opinion although his is modded with a pretty crazy power system and 3s lipo, talking insane speed! Also handles far better and is easier to drive. The 2wd in stock form will just spin on dusty pavement, etc. Some of this can be prevented obviously from the driver but a lot has to do with set up, I.E. camber adjustments, tires, shocks, etc. The most important one though is lowering the chassis. No matter which way you go, go with and “LCG” chassis. LCG = low center of gravity. If I end up keeping the 2wd I will be doing this mod to mine.

I have not done much on my R/C youtube channel lately but here is some links to my slash and other cars vids.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

R/C car/truck playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=…

Another option and I may go this route instead of a 4 x 4 slash is the new Axial “Score” truck. It looks pretty cool and is kind of a hybrid basher/ crawler type vehicle:

http://www.axialracing.com/products/ax900…

NOT My Video:

Hope this helps,

David.

shop-teacher > TheHondaBro 02/02/2016 at 14:05

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I got out of RC about 5 years ago, so maybe things have changed, but RPM parts were some of the best and most durable parts you could get. I never managed to break any of their stuff. I broke a LOT of OEM stuff, but never any RPM stuff.

shop-teacher > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/02/2016 at 14:10

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2wd can be lots and lots of fun, and they’re also a bit easier to work on (fixing these is part of the hobby, if you don’t like fixing things, find a different hobby). If you’re going to want to climb things, then step up to something 4wd right off the bat.

I got out of RC 5 or 6 years ago, so I can’t comment on specific vehicles anymore. My impression of Traxxas was they were pretty good, but not the best. Very easy to find parts for them though. I had really good luck with HPI vehicles, their stuff held up the best to my merciless beatings.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > shop-teacher 02/03/2016 at 01:59

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I definitely don’t mind fixing things, hahaha. So no worries there. And yea, Traxxas seems to be the popular brand, but not necessarily the “premium” brand or anything. I would love to get an HPI or something like that, but as this will be a first “real” R/C for me, I want to go more in the entry level price range; something I can learn on.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > CRider 02/03/2016 at 02:01

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Sounds like a tough little machine! I won’t be doing too much in the sand. It’s mostly dirt and grass and mud around here.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Nobi 02/03/2016 at 02:03

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I looked at the rally car, but I want something a little more 0ff-road focused. At least for the first one. There’s always room to add to the collection after a little while ;)

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) 02/03/2016 at 02:09

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Good aftermarket is definitely a plus. And the one I’m looking doesn’t come with the brushless motor, but I would upgrade that after I learn the car a bit.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > TheHondaBro 02/03/2016 at 02:10

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Huh, I’ve never heard of ECX. I’ll have to look in to them. Thanks!

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Jdrentarol 02/03/2016 at 02:12

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Cost is definitely a factor, so that’s why I’m leaning more towards 2wd. And I think I’m gonna stick with four wheels instead of four rotors for now, hahaha.

shop-teacher > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/03/2016 at 07:26

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Yeah, a Traxass will be fine for that. They’re also easy to sell when you’re ready to move on.

Nobi > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 02/03/2016 at 07:32

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I’ve heard great things about the Slash. I doubt you’ll be disappointed with it.

shop-teacher > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 03/15/2016 at 09:29

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I got out of the hobby right after the Slash debuted, so I can’t speak to those specifically. Traxxas vehicles are good, but not necessarily the best. They are very easy to get parts for, which is awesome.

2wd trucks are tons of fun, and they’re easier to work on. Working on these is a big part of the hobby, you will break many much things. If you’re going to want to climb anything though, then get a 4x4. The 2wd trucks can’t climb for shit.

I had extremely good luck with HPI vehicles, they were the best and taking my merciless poundings with minimal breakage. I’ve been out of the hobby for 5 or 6 years though, so I am not up to date on current offerings.