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Beginners Resources

there are a lot of cool rcs, but which one should you get first?

First of all... no one ever said you need to get only one! But, if you had to chose one, which one should you choose? There's a few things to consider before you checkout. Let me ask you a few questions.

1.) Where are you going to be driving this RC?

Do you have some land that you can bash around with a big truck? or build an obstacle course? Do you live near one or multiple state parks or RC tracks? Do you have a long driveway or quiet road? or are you going to be using it in your room? There are plenty of options for all!

2.) What aspect of the hobby entices you the most?

Have you seen people racing at the local track or the hobby shop? Or did you see someone crawling some rocks at a park? Or did you see some cool videos on YouTube that you want to replicate? This is going to make a huge difference, luckily there are great options for all of these!

3.) What's the budget?

Want something cool that won't break the bank? Or do you not care what it costs, as long as you have the coolest/fastest/most capable RC at the complex? Are you going to want something good-to-go right out the box, or are you going to upgrade it as you go along... any which way you go, there are solid options for every budget!

4.) How much space can you ?

Do you have some room in the garage that you can dedicate to storage and maintenance of your new hobby? or is it a shelf in the corner that has to store the RC(s), Battery, Charger, Parts, Tools, etc.?

Here are my recommendations for different scenarios

Location Based Recommendations

Let's say you have access to some open spaces and want to bash around...

Best Experience: A Giant Traxxas XMAXX Ultimate or ARRMA KRATON provides hours of fun jumping, flipping, bashing, and just all out speed and power! It's expensive to get started because not only is the truck itself pretty pricey, but you'll also have the added cost of batteries or chargers.

Economical Option: check out the used market! Facebook marketplace, eBay, and flea markets are all great places to find used trucks! Even if they're broken, they are 100% fixable, parts are usually available through your LHS (local hobby shop) or various places online, and the information to fix them is all over YouTube and the internet! You won't know until you TRY IT!

Bonus Resourceful Option: I was able to purchase several "rollers" (RC vehicles that usually don't include electronics or motors) and fix or modify them to make some pretty cool stuff, one of which was a TMAXX that was originally a Nitro Monster Truck! I was able to convert it to Electric and bash it around for some good times! I found a deal so good, that I just had to TRY IT!

Let's say you have room to build a crawler course or live next to one or more state parks/walking trails/nature

Best Experience: There's nothing like building an LCG Crawler with the best parts available and watching it eat on those rocks and obstacles, but if you're using the best parts, you could get up to $2K plus pretty easily. Believe me, I had to TRY IT!

Economical Option: The RedCat Ascent. It's a very capable crawler right out of the box with everything you need to jump all over those rocks! I would upgrade the motor/esc to the HobbyWing Fusion FOC, or buy the one that already has it installed, then you can slowly upgrade other parts (servo, wheels/tires) and get the full hobby grade experience with a lot of aftermarket upgrades available.

Bonus Resourceful Option: Sliders and/or Rollers are pretty inexpensive, and when I found out about the HobbyWing Fusion, I had to TRY IT! Now, I would add the HobbyWing Fusion to anything I can.

Lets say you prefer pavement to off-road shenanigans

Best Experience: NPRC is really fun! If you like troubleshooting, tweaking, and engineering to go faster than the next guy, this is a dope sector of the hobby! You have to TRY IT!

Economical Option: Does size matter? because I had a lot of fun with a small truck that is super fast! I saw a lot of YouTubers having a lot of fun with it, so I had to TRY IT! It's called the A979 by WLTOYS and it was the most fun I've had ripping around an RC and it was dirt cheap (compared to a lot of other RC's that don't come close to the speed). It's a little hard to control this little speed missile, but that was half the fun.

Bonus Resourceful Option: used older models are still available and small repairs aren't that expensive! I tend to have more fun with these because I'm not scared of breaking them as much because I've already fixed them, and know I can fix them again and again! You just have to TRY IT!

What if you can't or don't want to go outside, but still want to enjoy the hobby?

Best Driving Experience: Go with something smaller! 1:24 and 1:18 are a fraction of the cost of 1:10, became popular overnight, and I just had to TRY IT! During the cold months, when I don't want to be out on the cold/wet/slippery rocks, I can just cruise these things in the house! I've done a lot with the Axial SCX24, such as building a small indoor obstacle course, but don't sleep on FMS!!! The FXC24 and the FCX18 are some of the best bangs for the buck in the industry!

Economical Option: I personally enjoy the build as much as the driving! I can spend hours on the workbench building, modifying, upgrading, and TRYing different things.

Bonus Resourceful Option: TRY knock offs! The mini-Z is a popular platform, especially for indoor racing, and you don't have to jump into a high dollar version... there are some great knockoffs that work with most of the mini-Z parts!

Experience Based Recommendations

Let's say you want to join up with people that are already doing it

Best Experience: Talk to them and see what works and what doesn't! With the exception of a few knuckleheads, almost everyone that I've met in this hobby is really cool and loves to share! Because every track is so different, there is no way to know what it's going to be like unless you TYR IT!

Economical Option: Borrow or Rent. My LHS offers rentals with a small fee! I also built a couple of cars/trucks out of spare parts that I don't mind letting a newbie wrecking... someone you know may do something similar. Most parts are less than $20 to replace... and I have plenty of old bodies I can throw on the rig until they get the hang of it.

Bonus Resourceful Option: buy someone's old/broken RC and TRY to fix IT!

Let's say you want to make the most scale thing ever!

Best Experience: Go to, or search up on YouTube, different RC events! These things are amazing! I've seen some videos of cool ones. I don't have one of these yet, but I can't wait to TRY IT!

Economical Option: FMS makes a great hard-body with full interior and working lights at a fraction of the cost, or you can purchase interiors for a lot of the more popular models on the market.

Bonus Resourceful Option: Use toys that you buy from any big box store as scale accessories, or 3D print your own. RC with drivers and accessories bring out the little kid in me, you have to TRY IT!

I BOUGHT ONE! How do i make it cooler?

What's Your definition of cooler? Look better? Faster? More capable? More scale?

Look Better? There are so many different ways to make your RC look cooler! This is what I start with:

Get a new lexan body and get a clear one and paint it! Don't forget, you do these from the inside! Check out HemiStorm on Youtube for the trickest paint jobs and a lot of great how-to's!
Got a hard body? Deck it out with scale accessories, decals or better paint! Don't got a hard body? Get one (but beware that you will lose so much performance with the added weight BONUS: modify a detailed toy grade body or a model kit to work on an RC!
Make it be more scale by adding lights, sound, and a driver!

Faster? There are a lot of variables to consider depending on if you're going to be doing some road racing, speed runs, or Drag Racing. Here are my recommendations:

Better Tires! It doesn't matter the surface you're running on, or the type of RC you're driving, traction is everything... if you're spinning, you're losing. Unless it's drifting?
Faster Motor/Esc! Go brushless and Learn how to program the ESC.
Lighten it up and Lower it down. Remove the excess weight, get a lighter body, and try to get a lower center of gravity.

More Capable/Better Performance? Are you trying to compete, or just not let your friends have those bragging rights? Here are my recommendations:

A lot of these are similar to faster... Tires need to be more grippy.
Motor needs to have more articulation
Shocks need to be more dampened.
Lower Center of Gravity. Don't make it top heavy. Add more weight, but put it down low.