RC Car question - 8 yo nephew

[Little Dutch]

My 8 yo nephew keeps asking for an RC car. The problem is he wants a "real one like his dad has". I am almost positive that means he wants a nitro RC car.

I haven't known anyone who's into RC for a decade or so, and a quick search indicates things haven't changed much with nitro RC. They are fast, require maintenance, and are expensive. All of which is too much for an 8 year old.


Any advice here? How are the battery cars now?

Black Friday search for "rc" on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=RC&i=black-friday&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

[fitterjohn]

Definitely don’t get a nitro. It’s all about battery now. Look at a traxxass rustler. They have a mode you set them in that only gives them 50% power. I’ve got a rustler 4x4 for myself and a 2wd rustler for my girlfriend and son. He started with his at about 6. They are fast, cheap replacement parts, like I said 50% power mode do good o road and off road and can bash a ton( which is what an 8/ 34 year old wants to do). Also with the traxxas it I’ve everything in the box you need. Literally open the box, charge the battery, put the battery in, put the body on, drive the car. The only down side is( unless they changed it) it have a car charger for the charger and the ac wall outlet adapter is sold separate. I got turned on to them by a buddy that is over 40 cars when I wanted a nitro car and he said don’t even go there it’s not 20 years ago when battery’s sucked

[Tim K]

Yep, Traxxas is the answer. I bought several for the family for the summer. Depending on what you spend, they can range from fast all the way to Holy Crap. Darn durable to boot.

[eddiememphis]

Ruger Wrangler.

[ray1970]

I?ll throw another vote for the Traxxas Rustler. I had one when my kid was into that kind of stuff. The stadium trucks are a blast. We enjoyed going to construction sites on weekends when nobody was around and making up our own off road courses. My kid had a Losi and while it was nice it would frequently break stuff if you crashed. The Rustler I had was like a tank. I plowed into plenty of stuff expecting to pick up pieces of plastic only to be pleasantly surprised to find out nothing was damaged.

While the nitro stuff seems cool the electric stuff is way less maintenance, no flammable fuel to have to deal with, and you can run them indoors in the winter months without breathing fumes.

Plenty of upgrades and hot rod parts for the Traxxas stuff and most of it is reasonably priced.

[newracer]

ARRMA is taking over the RTR RC world. They are insanely durable.

This would be a great starter car for a 8 year old. $60 on sale for Black Friday.

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/1-10-granite-voltage--2wd-brushed-mega-monster-truck-rtr/ARA102727.html

[Little Dutch]

ARRMA is taking over the RTR RC world. They are insanely durable.

This would be a great starter car for a 8 year old. $60 on sale for Black Friday.

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/1-10-granite-voltage--2wd-brushed-mega-monster-truck-rtr/ARA102727.html

Seems to be out of stock at that price everywhere I’ve looked. Thanks for the tip though.

[2XS]

110 percent agree with everything said go with Traxxas rustled. Nitro is cool but a real pain in the butt my electric stuff 1/8 scale electric is stupid fast and just slap in another battery no tuning no fuel mess to clean up.

[Grant H.]

Nitro is a blast, but is more involved. Upside? Never waiting for a battery pack to charge. Downside? As has been mentioned, tuning, sometimes temperamental even when dialed in, etc.

I'm personally more of a fan of Associated Electrics, but they are a different class of RC than most of the Traxxas products. Likely overkill for your 8yo nephew.

Traxxas is a good entry RC car.

[russian]

I have an old HPI Nitro RS4 with some upgrades. I am not using it much and willing to let it go for cheep. Hit me up in PM.