What are the best RC cars for beginners?
RC (remote control) has been around for many years. We are bringing a new spin with this magazine covering the love for the sport.
Buying a car is exciting, whether it’s the first car or the seventh. This sense of pride is what makes our readers share and read.
Passion to play, whether it’s carpet, dirt, or clay. Win or lose, having more fun just being able to participate.
There’s a place for everyone, whether it’s a mini or a large 1/5 scale. We are just glad that you own something.
We encourage you to tell people about this site and why you enjoy RC (remote-controlled) cars.
The goal is to help people enjoy life by sharing these wonderful toys. The brand really doesn’t matter when getting someone hooked.
Recommended Brands
If you need to know some brands, here are a few: Arrma, Traxxas, Horizon Hobby, Redcat Racing, Associated Electronics, HPI Racing, and Kyosho.
What everyone likes is up to them; it doesn’t matter if it’s nitro, electric, two-wheel, four-wheel, or broken with no wheels.
The price can’t keep you from this sport; that’s not an excuse. If new products are out of reach, the used market is hot right now.
Social media platforms offer plenty of good deals. Buy on social media only from people you know or your friends know to avoid being scammed.
Not comfortable with social get on eBay, the marketplace that has everything. The key to winning an auction is to do research. Understand the market and decide early what you are willing to pay.
It’s a good time for estate and garage sales since it’s starting to warm up. Finding a hidden treasure with its own story is always exciting.
Everyone can use an RC (remote control) for rock crawling, bashing, or drag racing. But don’t pick one; try them all.
Recommended Models
I recommend two models over all others for beginners. This page focuses on Traxxas Rustler and Kyosho Fazer’s 1/10 scale for many reasons. Each section below will provide different areas that will help you better understand why they are best.
Rustler is intended for individuals who want to off-road the cars. It’s good for jumping and being run in the dirt. There are many tire options available that will suit whatever terrain you choose to run a Rustler on. It has the option to change the tires to the street. It also has the option to put wheelie bars on it to make it a monster on asphalt. All types of hop-up parts are available for this small truck.
Kyosho Fazer is more suited for smooth asphalt or carpet racing. It’s ready to be competitive at any track out of the box. You need not do anything to use this car at home or race competitively against buddies. Although there are different body models when purchasing this car, the frame underneath and its parts are identical.
Pricing
You could pick up one of these cars for around $200 when this article was written. With inflation being consistent, expect the prices to go up.
Types of Rustler RC Cars
Remember, the Rustler has different models, so depending on which one, the price could jump dramatically. They can come in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive. There’s a stadium truck, which is more for racing, a monster truck with bigger tires, and a basher, which is more for doing tricks, flips, and jumping off ramps.
Durability
You want to pick a tough car, but since you are new, there will be times when crashes are inevitable. With that being said, having something that can take a hit is the most important. When it comes to cars in that area, the recommendation is Traxxas or Kyosho.
These two brands make the grade because it’s very easy to get parts for them when something goes wrong. Most of the parts are very cost-effective, and they do not cause you to go broke to purchase them.
Traxxas will be a little cheaper in quality, but this is what makes them the perfect choice for a beginner. For the most part, all you need is a screwdriver and a couple of minutes of free time to work on the car.
Kyosho can be a little more complex when it comes to working on the car. The cars’ designs are a little more compact, so it takes some time to take the car apart and understand how it goes back together.
With these two brands, the parts will be mostly plastic. However, there are options to upgrade to aluminum. Just remember that the prices go up when you start changing to aluminum.
The radios that come with these models are made of hard plastic, which makes them impact-resistant to things such as dropping or withstanding abuse.
Ease of Use
Beginners tend to have never owned an RC car before. It’s their first exposure to the hobby.
The Kyosho and Traxxas have everything needed to get going directly out of the box. Their easy operation makes them good for kids from elementary to middle school.
They will have a radio and car already assembled. Since these are hobby-grade scale cars, you will need to buy a separate battery pack and charger. Don’t fear, because, on the websites, the cars will tell you what battery and charger are recommended. There’s no guesswork trying to figure out what will work. Usually, there will be a table towards the bottom of the page outlining the options.
These two brands will be very similar, so don’t waste a lot of time trying to understand if one of them is better than the other. They build their cars to be quick to set up, not needing a detailed manual to get going. Don’t get me wrong; there’s definitely a manual if you love that kind of information. However, the cars have a simple on-off switch for both the car and the remote.
For the most part, these cars are so simple that all you need to know is how to steer and use the gas. You can trim the steering or gas, but most people won’t need to do that right out of the box. Basic controls are pushing the trigger down for acceleration and lifting the trigger for reverse and braking.
You can spend a ton of time reading about the options on chargers. But Traxxas is one of the best at automating their charges. Plug them into your wall, choose the type of battery you are going to connect, and the charger does the rest. You don’t have to be a scientist to figure out what the best settings are to make it work.
It doesn’t matter if it is a 2WD or 4WD RC vehicle regarding ease of use. You could argue that a 4WD handles better around corners or in dirt. For most beginners, they won’t really notice the difference just because the cars are set up to be balanced all around.
Gas models are a little different when it comes to ease of use. You must understand a little bit of maintenance to keep the car running at its best. It can be a little overwhelming for someone new to the hobby. Gas models can be enough to make you quit the hobby if you aren’t prepared. You should wait for quite some time before trying one of these vehicles.
A weird quirk with nitro and gas models is that you push the trigger down on the remote for acceleration, but you lift the trigger for breaking; they don’t have reverse. You’ll have to manually move the car if you run into something and get stuck.
RC Car Kits
Remember, the rtr (ready-to-run) model means you open the box, and everything you need for a complete car is there.
An almost ready-to-run car may be fully assembled, but it’s missing a radio. Hobbyists do this because they may own an advanced radio that can be connected to multiple cars through programming. This radio will cost a little more than a basic radio.
It’s recommended that beginners stay with electric 2wd RTR (ready-to-run) models. By the time they start getting into nitro, gas, and build-it-yourself-options, they should have some experience.
The pros of ready-to-run and almost ready-to-run are that they let you get involved very quickly.
The cons of ready-to-run and almost ready-to-run vehicles are that they limit you to any type of upgrades that may be needed. These types of vehicles aren’t made to have interchangeable parts. Whatever you purchase with it is what you get.
Kits allow you to build the car yourself. Cars are no longer considered ready-to-run when going down this path because they won’t have any electronics (ESC), radio, or motor. You’ll have to purchase all of these items separately.
Most beginners start down this path when they get into racing. The pros of RC Car Kits are that they allow you to switch out different components to qualify for different classes. There are unlimited optional parts that will tweak the handling, traction, and power outputs.
Some leading RC vehicle manufacturers in this area are Associated Electronics and Losi. These vehicles are considered to be top-of-the-scale, so the pricing will start to reach $800 and higher. It’s pretty common to have a $1,000 or more car when you get to this level.
Value for Beginners
Staying in the beginner class of cars allows you to pivot and experience multiple types of cars. Since the costs aren’t extremely high and are very affordable, when you are ready to move to the next class, it’s not a hindrance.
Many individuals will take their beginner cars and sell them to someone else who is just starting out, allowing them to recoup some of the cost that they put into it. If you want to do this, it’s easier to do with on-road cars. It’s a lot harder with off-road racers because they get banged up pretty badly and, at that point, become junk.
It’s realistic for RC car owners to have multiple cars depending on their interests. It truly depends on what they are interested in, such as realistic sports cars, off-road racing trucks, or dragsters. Cars can be gas, nitro, brushed, or brushless. Brushless cars are the new type of electric motor for speed. Most who fit in this category as beginners naturally gravitate to bashers because they are considered tough trucks.
Rock crawling and drifting are gaining popularity with the younger generation. Rock crawlers are available in smaller sizes, such as 1:28. These cars can easily fit into your pocket, making them easier to carry around.
Skill Levels
I usually position beginner levels as level 1 or 2. This means that you know little about the inner workings of cars or their engineering. You know what a radio is, and you know that some type of batteries are required to power the car. You don’t know much about all of the brands or how they got started. You think that it’s possible to buy these cars at Walmart or Target (not possible).
If you are a newbie, this is where you’ll start. Look at a site like this to get a basic understanding of where to find these cars. Then, get a magazine or watch a couple of YouTube videos. Watch and read all the information for all the brands to see which is the best fit. Each brand has what it is strong at. A good starter car to research is a short-course truck.
The Traxxas skill level guide is easy to follow in their showroom section. At this level, there’s nothing specific you need to know. Find a car that fits your budget and go for it.
A few good starter cars would be the Traxxas Rustler, Traxxas Stampede, and Traxxas Ford GT.
When you reach skill levels 3 and 4, you start to understand how the car is assembled. It’s still possible to purchase ready-to-run at this level, but you are starting to repair them yourself. Most vehicles at this level are some type of truck or performance car. They are more sturdy and a little quicker, which makes handling a little more difficult. These will be easier to tip over if going too fast while turning.
At levels 3 and 4, you are starting to reach the advanced levels. Here, Kyosho cars such as the Fazer MK2 FZ02 series start to fill in the gap. The engineering of these cars starts to mimic the real thing with a lower center of gravity and replica brakes (non-working). Remember, these cars may be a little more difficult to work on than the Traxxas. You begin to see the hobby quality.
Team Associated has a few vehicles that could also be in this category. The construction of these cars is geared toward their durability. They are the king of the kits; one well-known radio control car they produce is the RC10B74 series for racing.
The higher the number, like a skill level 5, means it’s probably faster and much harder to control. It’s similar to levels 3 and 4 but considerably more powerful. Traxxas has what they call an XO-1, and it will hit 100mph, and it’s level 5. So if you crashed that at 100mph, it’s most likely going to be completely destroyed. In some cases, the XO-1 could qualify as an AWD supercar.
Over the years, people in the skill level 10 category have owned multiple remote control devices. Some may be into airplanes, drones, and helicopters. If they are into cars, they are probably trying to 3D print some of their own parts.
At level 10, you’ll see most nitro enthusiasts as well. These are the individuals who like to work on things. Nitro-powered models are small versions of gasoline vehicles. They have a piston, spark, and a fuel delivery system. They aren’t as fast as the new electric cars, but they give you the combustion sound of a real motor. I consider them to be expert-level cars due to what it takes to maintain them.
Traxxas is the leader in nitro cars; they make a Nitro Rustler, Slash, Slayer, T-Maxx, Jato, and Revo. All of these cars are 1/10, with the exception of maybe the Revo and Slayer.
When it comes down to it, the numbers are only for reference. What matters most is what you are comfortable with and your budget. Depending on the love you have for the hobby, you could be a beginner and become an expert in a matter of months.
