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I am a little torn.

Should I get a Radio shack cheapie and let him destroy it to learn driving or an indestructible hobby grade car that we can repair together.

Anybody else have young kids? How did you introduce them to the hobby?

I started our son out around 4 with an RC10 and it was fun but tough. Harder to learn, easier to break, easily upset on the track/yard etc. If I had it to do over again I'd buy a used SC10, install
waterproof electronics and let him have fun

I have lots of experience here...

I have two boys, one is almost 4 and one just turned 2 a few months back. My oldest started with a Tamiya Grasshopper. It was the slowest car I had at the time. He was 2 at the time and I'd say it took him a good year to figure out how it worked. In that year, he and I managed to break it a few times and after having to replace the chassis for the 2nd time (darn shock towers molded into it!) I switched him to an Associated B4.1 that I wasn't running. I set it up with a 540 silver can motor and it was great. After a couple of months, I reclaimed the car and bought him a Duratrax Evader Baja. The car came with a 19T motor and it took some time for him to get the hang of the extra speed. The car had some durability issues and I finally got tired of fixing it and bought him a used RC10CE from a forum member here. I started him out with the 19T motor out of the Duratrax, 2s lipo and a Novak 410M5 esc. He was 3.5 at the time. I got a good deal on a 21.5 brushless motor and swapped his car over to that with a $50 Hobbywing Just Stock Club spec esc and a lower end Savox servo. Since last February, he has only broken a front hub and a RC Carbon Works front shock tower. The car has been very durable, the 21.5 motor is perfect speed for him and even when we go to the track, it gets around just fine.

Now, son #2 is getting into wanting to drive, so I broke out the trusty Grasshopper and put in a 55T motor and turned him loose. The 55T is perfect. Fast enough that that car will go through the grass, but slow enough that if he hits anything, nothing will break. At this point, he is still getting the hang of going forward and steering, but I can see the improvement in his driving ability each time he drives. A 6 cell pack lasts forever too.

So, my suggestion is this. Buy him some sort of a truck. I love buggies and my boys have buggies, but trucks will do better in rough terrain which you and your son will appreciate (gets stuck less often). A used RC10T with a 540 silver can would be a nice start. If you think you and he are up to it, you might consider a Tamiya Stadium Blitzer and build it together. They aren't too expensive and come with an ESC and silver can motor. Throw in a $10 servo and a $30 Flysky radio and you'd be set.

Here is a good review of the Stadium Blitzer.

I let my 5 yr old drive almost anything I have (minus the xx4). Brushless monster truck, race clod, scx10's what ever. Be patient and take the time to teach them. For the cost of a cheapy you cant fix, toss together a basic runner

My son has had 3 or 4 toy grade RC cars over the years; gifts from family over the years). As mentioned, you can't fix them and they suck even when they're brand new. But it's hard to convince family it's better to spend $200 once than $50 four times. Bite the bullet and have a toy that will last forever.

I started my son on the RC10 with a stock motor and he was 8 at the time. I just set the esc to 50% power and all was good.

My recently-turned 4 year old drives either the B4.2 with the throttle turned down to about 40% (its brushless/lipo) or more recently the Axial SCX10. The Axial is easier for him to drive since it pretty much goes over anything so I think he likes it better. Our yard is grass so at home pretty much only the SCX10 can be driven outdoors.
A couple weeks ago I bought a Losi Micro Desert truck (1:36 scale) off the 'bay so we have something to drive indoors. We have been driving that a lot inside and so he's getting lots of practice. He still doesn't totally have it mastered yet, but he's starting to "get it."
For you, I would say the most important thing to consider is where you guys will be driving it. If your yard or where ever you plan to run it is mostly grass, then a monster truck or crawler would proably be best. If it's dirt, then a buggy could work too. For the street, anything will work.

I put a Tamiya Grasshopper together for my youngest boy (8 yrs old) and he beats the crud out of it. It's been holding up fine and he absolutely loves it. If the shock tower breaks, who cares, a whole new chassis is $14 on ebay.

My daughter started coming racing with me at around 6 I think. I got her going with an old Mardave Cobra with a silver can. The thing was damn near indestructible at those speeds.

They pick it up fast at that age. She's 10 now and races on-road in GT12 class, and off road with a CAT SX3 and she's getting good

i built my son a grasshopper last year for his 4th birthday. stock 380, 2.4ghz, nimh, hitech 625mg
nothing's broken yet and he drives it alot. i could have started him on something more capable, but where's the fun in that?

learning to get a hopper around a real track has taught him alot about driving. now when he takes the wheel of any of my racers he's competent and super excitied.

i'm thinking of a tamiya tumbling bull for xmas, since we both love red tractors and he loves monster trucks.

traxxas makes some good bashers and the speed controls have a half power setting for novice drivers. I started my son out at 7 with a rtr Rustler vxl and it was perfect. Traxxas are super durable, parts are cheap and readily available, and cost is good. There is a huge amount aftermarket support for upgrades and hop-ups as well.

Oh geez, dont let Halgar read this.

slapshot1979 wrote:Oh geez, dont let Halgar read this.

Haha, here we go. Just give it some time.

I still believe these are an excellent choice for a youngster starting out:



http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-3968-Revell-1-16-4WD-Electric-Buggy-Beastie-Bug-/261561216730?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item3ce6436eda

They're not bad in stock form, and can be upgraded with normal 1/16 & 1/14 scale hobby grade parts. I bought them for my daughters, had them run stock for awhile, then started making them better. Replaced the bushings with bearings, the stock shocks got upgraded to mini inferno shocks, ditched the brushed systems for brushless. They did have an integrated receiver/ESC, so the BL upgrade included changing radio gear and servo. They're loosely based on the Mini 8ight.

Def agree something HOBBY GRADE over the Radio shack/Toy grade specials.


I wouldn't go crazy- maybe troll CL for a used RC.

-Traxxas Stampede ( Brushed version) Namely for the clearance and bashability

-ECX- Ruckus- again nice and tall, and inexpensive


Like others have stated, turn the throttle down (or limit their "pull" on the trigger so to make it controllable.





MOmo