Alan 888 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Hello All, I have a budget of around £200 to spend on a rc car preferably brushless for myself and son. I've been looking at cars similar to the ftx carnage, Absima AMT3.4BL ect. I've read mixed opinions on these cars with people saying that they break easily, but are these good value for the price and which car would you recommend at this price point ? I would be using the car in parks over grass and gravel mainly. I could possibly stretch a little more if it's going to bring a big difference in quality and fun factor. All your views welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gampla Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 What do you want to do with it garden bashing take to parking lot? Sent from my G8341 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan 888 Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Garden bashing, maybe a few jumps but nothing too extreme. Ripping up and down on playing fields (short grass) Just generally some fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamiyafanboy Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 The FTX Carnage Brushless for the money is really good, great starting point. It is a bit week in some areas but loads of spares available and even upgrades are good value! Seem to have them is stock here https://alshobbies.co.uk/cars-electric/electric-tenth-scale-cars/ftx-carnage-brushless-1-10-truck-rtr-with-lipo-charger-ftx5543 Have you considered going Chinese as again you do get much better value for money but your risking it with parts the JBL's get good ratings and come with everything in the box https://www.banggood.com/search/rc-cars.html?currency=GBP&from=nav&pfrom=190&pto=250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex97 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Personally I'd stay clear of the sub £200 RTR 4wd brushless buggy market as normally the out of the box electronics aren't great so you'll end up changing them anyway however it's not a bad option. Having just got back into RC I wanted a smaller basher just for a bit of fun and I ended up settling on a LC racing 1/14 truggy, it uses 1/10 buggy wheels and is only slightly smaller than a 1/10 buggy. It's a well built kit and the out of the box electronics aren't that bad, parts are cheap (from what I've heard you won't need many). I think it's worth a consideration 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollykamakazi Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 The absima you mentioned is a great car. Bought a pal one for a treat. Only problem is the suspension arms break quite easily but there are ally versions available for 15 quid a pair. Otherwise it’s light and fast. Battery tray is not the biggest and wheels running washers rather than ball bearings but these can be changed to ball bearing easily. Bash, Break, Build, Repeat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswrx Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 I guess it depends how the arms mount to the chassis? I often wonder if it’s better to buy a few replacement plastic arms rather than go metal on the cheaper kits. Surely it just moves the break point to the next weakest link which would then be the chassis. Something’s got to give I guess. I think we’ve been spoilt with the ‘quality’ of Chinese rc cars honestly and the culture of bashing (which was new to me and the bashing vids on YT were like wow, you can’t do haha) Even my lad has a little generic 1/18 truggy and it is really fast and gets smacked in to stuff all the time. It’s never broken and I know my old hornet I had at his age would have snapped a suspension upright long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan 888 Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 Some great advice guys. I understand that sub £200 RTR cars may not be the best choice. I personally like the Traxxas Rustler, but I'm not sure I would want to fork out over £400 for one, or especially for two of them so I could race my son. I've never heard of banggood before, but looking at some of their prices I could buy 2 brushless rc cars and still have change out of £200. Ok I know that they are going to be on the cheaper/fragile side of rc cars and made in China, but I guess most cars come from there anyway. Would this be a bad choice to buy from banggood for a couple of cars to bash around in my back garden ? Are they just really cheap toy grade quality ? I've seen a few decent reviews on YouTube to make me consider a bit of a punt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex97 Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Alan 888 said: Some great advice guys. I understand that sub £200 RTR cars may not be the best choice. I personally like the Traxxas Rustler, but I'm not sure I would want to fork out over £400 for one, or especially for two of them so I could race my son. I've never heard of banggood before, but looking at some of their prices I could buy 2 brushless rc cars and still have change out of £200. Ok I know that they are going to be on the cheaper/fragile side of rc cars and made in China, but I guess most cars come from there anyway. Would this be a bad choice to buy from banggood for a couple of cars to bash around in my back garden ? Are they just really cheap toy grade quality ? I've seen a few decent reviews on YouTube to make me consider a bit of a punt. There's mixed reviews however personally having UK part support is always a benefit as no one wants to wait 3-4 weeks for replacement parts. What are you looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollykamakazi Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Yeah deliveries out of China right now [emoji1787]Bash, Break, Build, Repeat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PraetoR Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 If you're trying to avoid China AND spend sub £200 on a brushless RTR... you'd be very hard pushed to find anything better than the brushless Carnage. If you were willing to consider brushed, then your options would be way more open. It's not a perfect RC, as many have said, but, frankly there is no such thing as a perfect RC. Personally, I'd avoid the Rustler like the plague. It's not a bad RC, but the £400 price point is criminal! It's not worthy of that price. Not by a long shot. I really wish HPI would recover, so that the Maverick Strada range comes back into play, but there is just too much of a question mark over parts supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerd Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 I'm very much facing the same decision as the original poster, what's the best way of spending around £200 on an RC car for a newbie. Happy to spend a bit more if it makes sense, prefer to spend less as I'm new. BTW, watched many great video's by you guys at RCing Around, great reviews! The Brushless Carnage looks like a great choice but I can't help wonder if it's better to buy the brushed version - as it's cheaper & with the newer controller - then buy a 'better than stock' brushed motor & ESC in future when my skills/budget improve. Or should I go all in now & straight to brushless, dialing back the throttle whilst I'm getting used to it? First world problems. Advice and alternatives appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex97 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 7 hours ago, Spannerd said: I'm very much facing the same decision as the original poster, what's the best way of spending around £200 on an RC car for a newbie. Happy to spend a bit more if it makes sense, prefer to spend less as I'm new. BTW, watched many great video's by you guys at RCing Around, great reviews! The Brushless Carnage looks like a great choice but I can't help wonder if it's better to buy the brushed version - as it's cheaper & with the newer controller - then buy a 'better than stock' brushed motor & ESC in future when my skills/budget improve. Or should I go all in now & straight to brushless, dialing back the throttle whilst I'm getting used to it? First world problems. Advice and alternatives appreciated. I wouldn't bother with brushed and would go stright to brushless. But yeah it might be better to buy the brushed and then replace it with a better system almost stright away. Does that £200 budget include batteries and a charger? If so look at hobbyking for the LIPOs as they are miles cheaper than most model shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champ222 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 you could get the Absima buggy or truggy (if you can find one) in kit form, then get some cheap brushless kit from banggood or hobbyking. or go second hand. Youd have the fun of building it (or is it just me that still likes this process?) which gives you an idea of how it all works and goes together. Absima 3.4 buggy or truggy kit £70 ish brushless combo - you can get them from £50 ish from modelsport, hobbyking etc, maybe less if you look around. or a second hand Radio gear can be had for £30, which would be as good as a and RTR, but you could get something nicer with more options for the future servo, can be had from £5 upwards. entry savox is £16 for example. S3 Lipo - £20 ish, you may need to buy that anyway? Lipo charger that doesnt take all day like a RTR charger might - £30 ish, less if you have a PSU you can use. comes out at £216 The Absima brushless RTR comes in a £189, you'd still need a battery and charger though. the ESC seems to be a hobbywing rebrand, so should be decent. For me personally, the research, choosing all the parts, building the kit, setting it up, is all part of the fun. I'll spend hours researching everything, as its a nice escape from life haha. NOTE:- I have no experience of any of the suggestions above, its just ive been looking at a similar thing recently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan 888 Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 I was thinking of this truggy type car from banggood. It's brushless, looks similar to the Carnage, but at £68 it's about a third of the price. https://m.banggood.com/SG-1601-2_4G-116-Brushless-RC-Car-High-Speed-45kmh-Vehicle-Models-p-1607943.html?rmmds=search&ID=6157207&cur_warehouse=CN&p=X4211830429452201902&custlinkid=816492 Ok the Carnage is probably a better car, but I guess it would be hard pushed to be three times better. Would these types of cars from banggood have lots of spares available ? Apart from the long delivery time, are there any other negatives from ordering from them? Would be good to hear of any members who have had any experience with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollykamakazi Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 If buying from China I would suggest that when ordering you order a few spares that are common to break such as a set of front suspension arms etcThen if you break a part you’re not waiting a month + for a replacement. Bash, Break, Build, Repeat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael bird Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Spend £80 more and get an arrma senton or typhoon, trust me you will spend £80 on parts with the ftx in no time. I have the ftx carnage and have spent loads on parts to fix it also the shell is made from very thin plastic which will break easily, I bought a new shell took it out and cracked it with its first roll. Can't be bothered with it anymore will be buying an arrma when I have the funds! Spend a little more you won't regret it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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