Opinions on the RC10B 4.1 RTR package

[artfull dodger]

Trying to get my wife into a AE buggy. We looked at the RC10B4.1 package at Hobbytown tonight. On sale for $245 plus tx. Of all the AE buggies, I like this one the best. Rather have her in a gold pan style buggy but the difficulty in getting parts makes me leery of doing that. One older buggy is enough right now. We want to stay in the $250 price range and ablity to share batteries with my older RC10. So no Lipo ect, 6 cell 5000Mah NImh batteries are fine. Should I go for another older gold pan on ebay for her or is that newer buggy a good buy? Opinions either way welcome please. Thanks Mike and Michele T

[RC104ever]

Go for it, the B4 is a dialed in pkg

[artfull dodger]

The other ones she likes is the Traxxas 2wd slash dodge ram Rob Maccrachren edition or the RC10t4.1 although that version pushes over budget a bit. I am Team Associated all the way, always have been once I moved past the toy RC stuff as a kid. Mike

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

My opinion will be frowned upon, but I'd go with a Slash. Super reliable, parts are easy (if it ever breaks, which is unlikely) and most of all it's a blast! 2wd buggies are my personal favorite, but for the average person who has a passing fancy for r/c I think the Slash will be more likely to get it's claws into her. No pun intended. Get her hooked with a Slash and then she'll be more likely to stay interested. That will benefit both of you in the long run.

Now I will crouch and cover my head to protect myself from the inevitable barrage of stones that is sure to follow...

[artfull dodger]

I appreciate the post, good honest opinions is what I am looking for. I am pushing her to go for the RC10 package just to stay all Team Associated at my place. It gets great reviews and really needs nothing but to be flogged on the track. On a side note, I just bought a box art painted NOS body and wing for my gold pan RC10. Cost me a bit but I want that look. I had my RC10's body professionaly painted when I was a kid into the box art colors. Back to the new stuff. I am of the thinking that some of these new paint jobs from the factory are over done, espicaly some of the Traxxas, Axial ect. I like the simple scheme on the RC10b4.1 rtr. Only mods will be KC style working spot lights for night running. I plan to make all 4 lights on my gold pan operational as well, along with a single red tail light. If she got a truck, I would want 4wd and thats beyond our budget for her rc car. Gotta stay true to the team! Mike

[CamplinP]

My son drives a T4 and with the RPM arms it has been pretty bullet proof.

[85Edinger]

Somehow nobody's mentioned the flaws with the RTR version.
A friend bought one after seeing my Rc10.
He got the RTR over the kit mostly on price.
The stock tires are pretty bad. The stock servo is slow and weak, though speed is adequate for a noob and torque is adequate for a buggy.
The stock radio is very iffy. There's this connector in it where you plug in he 8 aa battery tray that randomly looses contact. The radio has 3 battery level lights, and it sometimes goes from low to full for no apparent reason.
The antenna is nearly a foot long, strange for a 2.4ghz receiver.
The included brushless system is slow for a 3300kv. That being said, it's perfectly adequate, gets long run times, and can almost keep up with my Novak GTB2/SS17.5.
Lastly, if you're handing the controller to a noob, the RPM front bumper is a wise investment. The aluminum front brace is just a necessity.
Edit: I forgot. The turnbuckles and ball ends are also known to break.

[RC104ever]

Ok - I guess I will throw in my detailed 2 cents here. Besides being brand loyal (which I can appreciate as I like to stay mostly AE as well), and price, what are your other criteria?

Is it durability? Buggy only? 2 or 4wd? Popularity? Parts availability?

Depending on the answers to the above, that will help you narrow down your choices. I still think a stock B4 is a good starting point, but as it was already pointed out, it does have its weak points out of the box. But, that to me is part of the fun. Break it, then replace it with something better.

You could consider a Thunder Tiger buggy as well - I believe one of them is based off the old B3 platform. Or you can get a B3 and then use Thunder Tiger parts to upgrade it.

Depending on her skill level, a Slash is also a great starting point, but as you pointed out, its a bit above the starting price point.

You could always try to find a used buggy on craigslist or kijiji then clean it up and run it.

Personally - and this is just my opinion - out of all the vehicles I own, I have to say my fave is my B44. It is not even a B44.1, just the regular original version. But with the Castle 7700 in it with lipos, the thing just SCREAMS, and it is rock solid to drive - very stable and predictable. I bought it used and have never had to do anything to it, and aside from the aforementioned electronics, the thing is bone stock. My second fave would be the T4 that I have (again, just the first generation, its not a T4.1). Same thing, very easy to drive, predictable and stable. Haven't broken a thing, and it is bone stock. I did buy an RPM bumper for it though.

Obviously I love driving my gold pans too but they are very finicky and always need something adjusted or fixed (which is part of the fun!) but sometimes you just want to go out and drive, right?

I will agree with the stock servo issue, it is slow and the 3300 is just adequate, although it is very very quiet too.

Good luck with your decision, hope this helped!

[artfull dodger]

Those just sound like typical areas for improvement on most any entry level buggy. Heck, after bashing out my steering on the gold pan yesterday, I need the front bumper till I get my driving reflexes back hopefully. Lots of differance in eye hand cordination between a 12yr old and the 40yr old I am now! Thanks for pointing out some of the weaker points. We plan rear tire upgrades anyways as the dunes state park is one of our planned play areas, so paddles for both buggies are needed. Mike

[85Edinger]

For a noob and general bashing, the Slash is both more durable and more versatile. Have you ever tried driving in grass with a 2wd buggy?
My goldpan Rc10 can do everything my friend's B4.1 does. Just putting that out there.
Why no lipo? You can run lipo in an original Rc10, I do. The Reedy 3300kv is adequate on lipo, painfully slow on NiMH.

[artfull dodger]

The slash she can afford is only 2wd as well. My buggy does fine in grass, but then we mow our yard at 2" year round. The Lipo issue is I am not upgrading my ESC to run Lipo, nor spending money on diff charger and batteries. We have Nimah and a couple Nicads that still work just fine for goofing around with RC. IF we got into racing ect, then yes, Lipo all the way. I can always swap out the reedy motor. My gold pan with its stock AE motor is plenty fast for my skill level these days. So far my research shows no local dirt tracks or even carpet tracks. Nearest carpet is an hour away or more. She also kind of likes the RC10T4.1 truggy but its more than she wants to spend right now. She even looked at a Tamiya grasshopper kit(it was cheap priced) but I kind of steered her away from it. Buddy broke way to many rear end housings when he would catch a tire on something or someone. The independant rear suspension on the RC10 is much better than the solid axle on the grasshopper or Hornet. She has never run a buggy as fast as even a RC10b4.1 on NiMH batteries, so it will be plenty fast for her! We can grow from there. Mike

[creeker]

If thinking of the slash, why not the SC10 RTR? I just picked up a brushed version for my son for $200. I didn't want him driving my gold pans for the same reason as you and prefer AE as well. I have not priced the brushless RTR but figured I would have him learn on something slower and then will upgrade later and as parts break.

Eric

[artfull dodger]

She looked at the SC10 rtr, but didnt really get an answer from her whether she liked it or not. If AE would only rerun the original RC10 for thier 30th aniv. Keep it true to original when it comes to all the chassis componets. It would not only sell cars, but the parts would sell fast as well. Guys could once again get the vintage ones back in shape for show, but have a modern clone they would be comfortable racing again. I would sign up for a re run today if it were announced. Seems like the other older brands are re running thier older buggies. Mike

[85Edinger]

This has been talked about before, and it'll probably never happen.

[artfull dodger]

I agree but its nice to dream. My wife is going to get the dodge ram slash 2wd truck RTR package later this week. She wants a truck and didnt like what she could afford from TA. I wish I didnt have to get a new charger, more $$ I have to spend. From what I read, the older fast/slow Nicad chargers dont work to well at charging Nimh batteries. Either under charging or taking forever with the rare overcharge on the fast charge mode. My buddy bought a gold pan RC10 that had B4 running gear adapted to it and a freshly painted body/wing. Should have it later this week. So between the 3 of us, we have a stock vintage gold pan, a modified gold pan, an Axial Wraith, a Composite Craft carpet car and shorly a Dodge Ram Slash from Traxxas. Cheers Mike, Michele and Steve.