Which budget petrol rc

[Chris-scotland]

Hi everyone, 

 

im interested in buying a 1/5 petrol rc car, im based in Uk, wondering what you would all recommend nearer the budget end of the spectrum from these? 
 

Reliable sellers and places to avoid would be great. 
 

thanks in advance

chris

[Stormbringer]

Hi and welcome to the forum 

[Kpowell911]

Whats the budget?

[Chris-scotland]

Would £550-£600 scrape one?

[wolfie1]

Might just https://www.rcmodelz.co.uk/rc-cars/1-5th-scale-petrol-rc-cars.html

Edited December 26, 2023 by wolfie1

[Nitroholic]

For your budget, a King Motor Baja clone is really the way to go.

 

A KM 002 has all the basic bits, plus a few useful upgrades, the the basic KM001 covers most of what you would want anyway. Saves you a few £££ and means you can add upgrades later as and when you break stuff. Both come with an alloy diff case, which is a must....plus they include the heavierrear drives copied from the Baja SS. All good to have.

 

You ABSOLUTELY want a kill switch. This is more than a failsafe.... it allows you to actively kill the engine from the TX, as well as killing ignition on loss of power and signal. I had a throittle servo fail on my Baja, launching it on full throttle, Stuck wide open. Just flick a switch and no drama. When you have a 10Kg car hitting 30+mph, it can cause a lot of damage/injury if it got out of control, and a kill switch is just not am option IMHO.

 

The current KM adverts also do not mention if they fit alloy clutch supports. This is 100% a must upgrade if they do not. This supports the clutch bell and pinion, and it gets a lot of wear. Ally here helps heat dissipate and wear, making bearings last longer, and not flexing. Not expensive. The 002 fits front upright supports ( good) as well as an alloy tower( not so good...I leave mine plastic as a 'stress fail point' as they are cheap and easy to swap. Alloy shock tower brace at the back ( good) as well as upgrasded wheels/tyres. No idea if they are good as I never used them. I had Silverback wheels and Hostile MX tyres.

 

Other than that, the basic package is plenty food enough, and leaves you £100 to get that kill switch and choose what else you want/need. Once you get up and running and get the feel of your truck, you will test it's limits. Then you will break stuff 🙂 Thats when you start the upgrade path. I used to break rear uprights and rear upper arms...plus the opccasional front. I found better parts as I went on. Just DO NOT be tempted to allot everything. Things like alloy arms bend under load, where plastic flexes and returns. I also used to leave key 'break points' which were cheap and easy to replace. Otherwise, you make a bit stronger, and the stress moves elsewhere. So something is gonna break in a nasty crash. Plus more ally = more weight....which makes hte crash bigger aand leaves you wanting more power. The cycle continues. As can the spending 🙂 So my advice.... start simple. Enjoy it. Then just upgrade what you break.
 

[Lopes3d]

As above the km is a good option if you want to go new. But 5/600 will get you a genuine hpi second hand with upgrades already on it.
 

If you’re going for a new km personally I would loctite the screws as practically none of them have any on there and check diff+shock oil levels.  And as mentioned above kill switch is really a must, baffling that they don’t come with them already installed from factory