Big Scale R/C Buying Guide

[mycrors4]

Seeing as how xmods are discontinued(for now) and everyone wants to get into something bigger scale, i thought i'd make a guide:
First off:
If you don't plan on spending more than $100, then i have to say, this is not the right hobby for you.

First thing's first:
Don't over-think things.
Find out what your going to do with it:
What Terrain you plan on running on. Will you be racing professionally? or just bashing around with friends?

What is the difference between a kit and a RTR or ARR?
A Kit comes with nothing but the vehicle itself, and must be built by you, most of the times, comes with hop ups.
A RTR or Ready to Run comes with everything needed to run(not including the battery, the Traxxas Vehicles are an except to this)
An ARR or Almost Ready to Run is ussually a built version of the Kit, sometimes, a motor and speed controller are included.

What is an ESC/Servo/Receiver?
An ESC, or Electronic Speed Control, is connected to the motor, and controls the speed of the vehicle on your command.
A Servo controls the steering. In the case of Nitro, there are 2 Servos and NO ESCs. One servo is for steering, and the other is for your throttle control.
A receiver is the piece that receives commands from the transmitter and sends it to the ESC/Servo




Lets start:

PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT I AM ONLY DOING VERY POPULAR COMPANIES RATHER THAN EVERY SINGLE COMPANY OUT THERE

1/10th Stadium Trucks:
Suited for off-road driving in dirt and short grass
Bashing(Non-Racing) Vehicles:
Traxxas Rustler VXL
HPI Firestorm Flux
Losi Speed-T
Traxxas Rustler XL-5
Jato 3.3
Nitro Rustler
Nitro Sport
Nitro Firestrom
Losi Speed-NT

Racing Vehicles
RC10T4 Factory Team
RC10T4.1 Brushed
RC10T4.1 Brushless
Losi XXX-T CR Kit
Kyosho Ultima RT5 Kit
RC10GT2
Losi XXX-NT(Discontinued)


Now, before you get discouraged, don't think that just because it is under the "racing" category, it means that it can not be bashed. I put it that way, because most racers prefer those over the others, because of their tunability.

1/10th Scale Buggies (2wd):
not very known for bashers, more of a racing class
mostly driven on dirt and very short grass, more fragile
raced on carpet tracks and small dirt tracks
Bashing:
Bandit XL-5
Kyosho Ultima DB
Bandit VXL
Thunder Tiger Phoenix
Nothing Nitro


Racing:
RC10B4 Factory Team
RC10B4.1 Brushed
RC10B4.1 Brushless
Losi XXX-CR Kit
Kyosho Ultima RB5 Kit
Schumacher Cougar Kit
X-Factory X6 Squared Kit
Nothing Nitro

1/10 Short Course (both 4x4 and 2wd)
Mostly used for the same applications as a Stadium Truck
Bashing:
Slash XL-5
Slash 4x4
Slash 4x4 Platinum Edition
Losi Strike
Slash 4x4 Ultimate Edition
HPI Blitz RTR
Slayer Pro
Venom Gambler

Racing:
SC10 Factory Team
SC10 RTR Brushed
SC10 RTR Brushless
Jammin SCRT10 Kit
HPI Blitz ESE
Hyper SC10
Kyosho Ultima SC-R
Nitro Hyper SC10 Kit
Losi XXX-SCT

1/10 Truggy(truck+buggy) and Monster Trucks
pretty much driven anywhere and everywhere

E-Savage
Stampede VXL
E-Maxx
E-Revo Brushless Edition
Losi High Roller
Losi Ten-T
Nitro RS4 MT2
Nitro Stampede
T-Maxx
Mini MGT
Stampede 4x4

onto 1/8th
for 1/8th scales, there is no bashing/racing versions, its an all in one package!
mostly driven on short grass/dirt
instead of listing every single one:
im going to by company

Associated 1/8th Buggy(Electric)

Ofna 1/8th Buggy(Electric)

Losi 1/8th Buggy(Electric)

Associated 1/8th Buggy(Nitro)

Losi 1/8th Buggy(Nitro)

Ofna 1/8th Buggy(Nitro)

Kyosho 1/8th Buggy(Electric)

Kyosho 1/8th Buggy(Nitro)

Associated 1/8th Truggy(Nitro)

Losi 1/8th Truggy(Nitro)

Ofna 1/8th Truggy(Nitro)

Kyosho 1/8th Truggy(Nitro)

Hot Bodies Ve8

Hot Bodies D8

as for monster trucks, they can be driven anywhere they go lol

1/8th Monster Trucks


1/10 4WD Buggy
mostly driven on dirt and short grass
Like the 1/8th buggies, there is no "good" or "bad" its an all in one package, BUT some are more fragile than others:
HPI (Somewhat Fragile)
Associated (Somewhat Fragile)
Kyosho (Somewhat Fragile)
Schumacher (Very Fragile, suggested to race with only)
Durango (Somewhat Fragile)
Thunder Tiger (Not Very Fragile)
Losi (Somewhat Fragile)

Mini Off Road (Off Road)
Mostly driven on the streets, super short grass, dirt
Mini E-Revo VXL
RC18T2/B2 Kit
RC18T RTR
Mini Slash Brushed
Mini E-Revo Brushed
Mini Slash VXL
RC18MT
Mini DT
Brama 18B
Mini T
ZD Racing Truggy
RC18B
Mini HR
SC18
M18T Pro
M18T
ZD Racing MT
Mini DB
HPI Trophy Truck
Losi SCT
Traxxas Mini Summit

Mini (On-Road/Rally)
On-Road: Mostly for racing professionally, the 1/12th on road is more used to bash on the streets)
Rally: Bashing on the streets and roughest street terrains
SC18 Late Model
RC18R Citroen
RC18R Skyline
RC18R WRX STi
HPI Cup Racers
Mini LM
M18 Pro
M18
Traxxas Rally

Pan Cars
These Pan cars are made for RACING ONLY! they could be bashed, but it is highly recommended for racing them only, as their COG is insanely low
CRC Gen XL
RC12R5.1
Xray Pan Cars
Hot Bodies 12x

Mini Nitros
These can be driven on the streets and super short grass, and dirt
Jammin CRT .5 Truggy
NT18T
NT18MT


On-Road Electric (1/10 touring car)
These are meant to be driven on smooth, paved streets. The Rally ones can be driven on the same things a Mini can be driven on. the more "race built" ones are to be driven on Carpet trcks due to the Carbon Fiber chassis and overall design. These "Race Built" ones are less durable than the ones that arnt "race built"

Bashing/"Non-Race Built"
OFNA JL 10e GT
HPI Sprint 2 Drift
Hpi Sprint 2
HPI Sprint 2 Flux(Brushless)
HPI E10 Drift
HPI E10
Thunder Tiger Sparrowhawk DX(Drift)
Team Associated TC4
Thunder Tiger Sparrowhawk VX
Kyosho Fazer
Tamiya M-05
Tamiya TT01
Tamiya TA05
There are quite a few Tamiya ones i have missed. If you recognize any, please send me a link where you can buy it from and ill add it up here.

Rally
DF01
DF03Ra
M05Ra
Kyosho Fazer

Race Built
Hot Bodies Cyclone TCX
Kyosho TF-5
Schumacher Mi1
Schumacher Mi5
T.O.P. Racing Photon USA Spec Limited Edition
Team Associated TC6
Team Associated TC5R
Losi JRX-S Type-R
Xray T3R
Xray T3R Euro Spec (2010)
Xray T3R Euro Spec (2011)
Tamiya TRF416X

1/12 and 1/10 Pan Cars
These are to be driven on carpet tracks ONLY.
CRC Gen-X Pro
Serpent S100 Link
Associated RC10R5
Xray X10
CRC Gen-XL
Hot Bodies 12X
Serpent S120L
Associated RC12R5.1
Xray XII Link

Formula 1
To be driven on Very smooth paved surfaces or Carpet Tracks
HPI Formula 10
Tamiya F104W
Tamiya F104
Tamiya F104 Pro




i WILL edit this with crawler, and nitro on-road information soon, please stayed tuned

if you have any specific questions, please ask

[lol]

"A receiver is the piece that sends the signal to your radio."

Receiver receives radio waves/commands transmitted from the transmitter to control the ESC, Servo, etc.

[dreamingISdrifting]

awesome

[mycrors4]

Originally Posted by lol

"A receiver is the piece that sends the signal to your radio."

Receiver receives radio waves/commands transmitted from the transmitter to control the ESC, Servo, etc.

err yea.. that's what i meant, i wrote it backwards, i fixed it

and 1/10 4wd buggies are coming soon

[DRFTKO]

Great work! I see this as being extremely helpful to a lot of members seeing as to how this thread answers some of the questions that we have seen lately! Keep it up! For this, you get a sticky!

[mycrors4]

Thanks! my first sticky!

Added 1/10 4wd buggies

[Stampedekid]

Chris, you forgot the Hot Bodies D8 under 1/8 Racing category. They're good racers and are pretty tough, I would know, I'm pushing 2200KV and 5S through mine! Great writeup, though, good for this forum where people are always going up the RC food chain to better RC's. Keep in mind though, cost will go up with a hobby quality RC. I thought with my D8 that I was running nitro. $550+later and it's a brushless beast

[mycrors4]

whoops, i dont think they have it on amain, if they did, i must have skipped over it, ill post up the D8 when i post up the minis next

[dreamingISdrifting]

Also add the venom SCX for short course and HPI mini Trophy too

[mycrors4]

ill put up the venom, but the mini TT isnt 1/10th scale, it's 1/12th and will go under the Mini section

[mycrors4]

added a Mini Section including Off road, on road, rally, pan cars and nitro mini's

[mycrors4]

added the electric on-road section
edited with more updated vehicles including the
Stampede 4x4
Losi XXX-SCT
Traxxas Rally
Traxxas Mini-Summit

and more!

[hiitzmike]

Just to mention that 1:10 buggy's are also run indoors on carpet aswell as out door
But fantastic post dude and my shumacher mi3 , mi4 and cat have been fine for breakage

[mycrors4]

thanks for the input
added the carpet track to the 1/10 buggies