RC cars and buggies and trucks

[OlderGiantFan]

Do you have one on the shelf somewhere? I got my first at age 26, an original Tamiya Hornet. I used to drive it around the neighborhood after work, like you'd walk a dog. There was a park and a big open school area with a netball court. That's where the relationship ended, it got out of range due to weak batteries in the controller and augered into a brick wall at full speed! A spectacular crash, bitz flew everywhere. Back then there were no 'sacrificial' components, the whole buggy was the sacrifice, *Boom*

20 years later I bought an Evader BX, pictured below, and had a lot of fun with that. Uni joints on the wheels instead of dog-bones, and a few other innovations, but still a brushed motor and Nicad batteries. I dug it out the other day and with a friend found a nice section at the local park that has very low grass and some dirt areas, along with said friend who has an RC truck, we blasted around for a bit. Now we're both hooked again and it looks like it will be a regular thing. One old guy playing with a remote controlled car in a park might look a bit weird, but two is a "Club" having a meet. We're already talking about shovels and jumps

I have Lipos in the Evader now, and though it's an old 2002 RWD unit, it's a hell of a lot of fun. I have two other others I bought later that have likewise been collecting dust for a few years, but I'll get to them in another post. Long live the R/C car.






A retro vid
Tamiya’s 1980s RC buggies defined the golden age of hobby-grade remote control cars. Iconic releases like the Grasshopper, Hornet, and Hotshot combined scale model detail with backyard bashing capabilities.

 

[coinops]

Do you have one on the shelf somewhere?

Hey buddy, i got shelves loads or rc's .
here's my evader it sounds mint when it drifts.

 

[OlderGiantFan]

Hey buddy, i got shelves loads or rc's .
here's my evader it sounds mint when it drifts.

very cool. That one must be 20 years old too, they hold their age well these cars. I'm not going to go "all in" like back when I bought the Evaders, I have two and some other ones, but I want to enjoy them like my other hobbies. It's a shame to shelve these things. Once a week down at the track the neighbor and I discovered would suit me, just a couple of hours of fun and then back to other things.

 

[coinops]

very cool. That one must be 20 years old too, they hold their age well these cars

yeah man it's the only Duratrax i own i'm glad i got it, finding a used Duratrax locally here is rare to see.

I'm not going to go "all in"

if your referring to spending a load of money on rc...yep i did that.

It's a shame to shelve these things.

i want to start using what i have and i don't need to buy anymore rc's....i just need to buy parts and stuff.

 

[scianiac]

When I was a kid I had an old tamyia bigfoot that I drove the shit out of. Was given it, a ton of parts and another truck that never quite worked reliably by a family friend. Later on I got a probably first gen T-maxx and while it got some good runs I never drove it as much. It was always a bit finicky to start and it was so fast it was hard to drive anywhere. A few years ago I bought a few modern trucks and played with them a bit but never really caught on.

I think there is actually something about those earlier brushed motor, nicad powered, RC cars that actually made them more fun. The lack of perforamnce made them more fun in some ways. Modern stuff sure has good suspension, good tires, stupid powerful brushless motors and lipo batteries but all that means they are kinda hard to have fun driving in anything but a large field or dedicated track. I think that's why the rock crawlers are popular, they feel more like the RC cars we used to have, where you could just drive it around the neighborhood and walk behind it and everything is a fun little challenge. Not an 80mph monster you can barely control. I think an RC rock crawler to take on hikes in the woods would be a lot of fun but it's sort of competing with my E-MTB for that same activity so kind a looses out to that.

Related around the same time I bought some modern trucks I bought an FPV quad totally on a whim, I had an RC heli as a kid and never was able to fly it for more than a few seconds and it broke parts constantly. FPV quads while still requiring a fair bit of skill are way way easier than those old RC helis and you can crash the shit out of them and they just don't care, got pretty into those.

 

[OlderGiantFan]

Later on I got a probably first gen T-maxx and while it got some good runs I never drove it as much. It was always a bit finicky to start and it was so fast it was hard to drive anywhere. A few years ago I bought a few modern trucks and played with them a bit but never really caught on.

I think there is actually something about those earlier brushed motor, nicad powered, RC cars that actually made them more fun. The lack of performance made them more fun in some ways.

Yeah, it's a funny thing, I have those evader buggies, which I love driving and then oh a decade later I bought a truck, Fast, reasonably stable too, but I just couldn't get into it. I still had it till a day ago and gave it to the neighbor as I've concluded that trucks are not my thing. I certainly agree that the old slower ones had a certain fun factor going for them. It was like they go at speeds that are comparable to what a real car would do and that makes them seem more normal. The super fast modern stuff is fun but if you're always on the throttle the track seems so small because you're around it so fast. That's my perception anyway. There is a limit as to how far away we can see and then the cars are just specks way across a park somewhere. The fun for me comes in having them close by.

Have you ever considered looking into a buggy, they are lower and handle a lot differently, a different style of driving all together really. Look at this beast I found online!


And you don't have to pin the throttle either, I ride some pretty powerful road bikes but rarely ever get to open the throttle fully, just too dangerous, not necessary.

 

[OlderGiantFan]

if your referring to spending a load of money on rc...yep i did that.
i want to start using what i have and i don't need to buy anymore rc's....i just need to buy parts and stuff.

Yes, well I said that didn't I... But in my economy they are relatively cheap. That beast above only costs as much as a decent coffee machine, less than a new refrigerator. Not being a coffee snob I still drink instant coffee and not having a wife I don't buy flash new fridges or waste money on house upgrades. Soooo... Arrrrrr!! But not this week! Not this week

 

[Hillhater]

Ahh ! ….RC buggies, thats what led me to Ebikes .
Waaaaay back , (about ‘76 ?) when the first Tamyia 1/10 RC kits came available , i bought the VW “Sand Scorcher” dune buggy, and my mates bought the Ford F150 pick up, and the Rough Rider buggy .
being “techie” guys , there were many changes made to them , motors, batteries, the basic speed controllers were swaped for ESCs , wheels tyres, and shock oil were introduced whilst we raced together at a local off road club.
50 yrs later , i still have that Sand scorcher, (and a box full of spares) together with a Grass Hopper that my son ran ( (25 yrs back)

 

[fechter]

Sounds like me.
Way back in the 1970's my first real RC car was one of these:


I'm surprised they are still available.
I learned a lot about motors and batteries. I had some of the tank models as well. Really nicely made for the day.
At some point in the 80's I built a couple of boats I used to run on a pond in Golden Gate Park.
It wasn't until Y2K that I got the first thing I could actually ride (the Zappy scooter).