super cowboyjon

People went crazy for this last year. We bought one, it was our first cheapo Chinese car and we were super impressed with it! Then the diffs destroyed themselves after about an hours use in the garden. I ordered 'upgraded' parts to fix, which took about 4 weeks to arrive and unfortunately the parts do not fit. I have a feeling they would probably be compatible with other upgraded parts but that means spending around another £40 just to test that theory which I'm not prepared to do. Don't even know if there's a used market for spares or repair Chinese cars so it's just been sitting on the shelf as a reminder not to buy these kind of cars ever again 😂

So we took the plunge and picked up the rtr range rover yesterday. Our only other crawler is an scx24 which we love when it's not broke down and waiting for parts! The sca-1e looks and feels great, like a quality bit of kit. Unfortunately upon testing it indoors last night a few things became apparent and I'm hoping someone can point me toward some info. 1. The biggest standout is the lack of steering. Not only is it really slow (which doesn't bother us too much as its a crawler after all) but there just isn't much of turning circle at all. Genuinely surprised how poor it is. 2. The tyres are clipping the shell on full lock, on flat ground. We can raise the body some but seriously, this shouldn't be happening out the box? 3. Going from the fine control of our scx24 to this car is jarring! The transmitter is clearly pretty cheap rubbish to be honest. Is this an issue with the quality of the esc also? 4. It's too damn fast! How do we slow this thing down? New motor? Gearing? It also cocks a wheel all the bloody time under a bit of speed which I've seen crawlers on YouTube doing but I've no idea why. Send help!

Thanks for all the help guys!

We have a lunchbox in our fleet. It's super cool to look at and a good laugh to drive but it's hopeless over almost any kind of jump and the second you put it on any kind of actual garden 'track' against almost anything else its utterly hopeless! We love it though.

2 and 5 year old kids in the garden? Hbx hailstorm all day long.

Picked up a brushed carnage 2.0 last week. It seems like a great basher for the money - we've ran it on 2s 4000mah lipos almost immediately and its plenty fast enough for our decent size garden. One thing I'd like to improve is the turning. The steering is not only super slow but the turning circle is pretty huge - probably even worse than the already barge-like ecx amp we have. Is there a reasonably priced upgrade to help this? I don't want to spend £50 on a better servo for what is effectively a £100 basher but as the car is just now we can't even use it on our garden race track. Any advice would be appreciated - I tried a Google search but it's a nightmare sorting through 5 year old threads.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I've spent waaaaay too much time over the festive break watching YouTube videos of mini-z's! I currently have a couple of amp Mt cars and just built a Lunchbox that the kids and me love but they are obviously outdoors cars and I like the idea of something we can have fun with indoors, being it in the living room or even making a wee track in the garage. It's a bit of a struggle for a beginner though. I'm still undecided if it's an AWD or a RWD I should be buying. I'd like to learn how to drift and clearly the AWD is the way to go for that but then I also want to practice normal track skills and apparently the RWD is the way to go if that's what your after. The body shells are frickin gorgeous but I'm also unclear if all shells will fit both RWD and AWD. I'm aware some wheelbase and mounting point alterations may need to be made. The prices for the cars seem to be all over the place too and it's confusing the hell out of me. For example, on rcgeeks site the rwd GTR-R35 is selling for £129 while the rwd 911 is £165. This can't be solely down to the body shell, can it? Anyway, any advice would be welcome. There's only so much practical information I have been able to extract from all the YouTube videos!

Called Freeprawn today and asked them to cancel my order, which they did immediately. Unfortunately they did not refund my money... ...so i guess i need to phone again tomorrow. Really dissapointing service from start to finish.

Yes noj, like i said i cancelled the freeprawn order yesterday morning and immediately ordered one from an ebay shop which is due to be delivered tomorrow. I also have a separate kit on the way (eventually) from another ebay seller.

Well, today has came and went and Freeprawn have not refunded my money, which means i now have to phone them tomorrow. Dissapointing to say the least.

Actually buying a car has been rather bumpy so far - 1. Sent an email to Modelsport last wednesday or thursday asking some simple questions like those i have on this forum. Still no reply. Not a big deal but i have seen nothing but praise for their customer service and found it odd that they didnt reply to a potential customer. 2. Ordered an amp xt kit from Blade-Hobbies ebay shop, that has failed to turn up. To their credit B-H have investigated and apparently the courier has told them it was a failed delivery (never, ever heard this one before) and it is headed back to the shop. 3. Ordered an amp db from Freeprawn where it was listed as in-stock at the weeekend. Today i received an email from them notifying me that it is in fact not in-stock and my order has now been 'back ordered' and they will try to get more stock and send out my car within 10 days. I replied straight away this morning and asked that they cancel the order instead and repay me the money they took. Hopefully i get my money back sooner rather than later. Not the best start to the hobby, i think you will agree!

Thanks dude, thats just the ticket!

Thanks dude. Between yours and noj's post i think I'll just go ahead and order another ecx amp. Think I'll go for the db model though for some variety. Can you please recommend some spares or upgrades? Perhaps a link to an owners thread somewhere?

Think i'll go for the bugsta. Even after everything i've read against them in the last week, theres a bit of me wants to say screw it and buy a Lunchbox! Nostalgia is a very powerful thing i guess. Why cant the tamiya stuff be nolstagic and at least also either better performing or better value for money?

That much i do know fella! I was hoping someone could tell me if they were the same plugs ;^)

Are the battery packs between the bugsta and the amp xt compatible with each other

I'm stuck between one of these mavericks and an ftx bugsta or carnage. Anyone like to weigh in with some advice?

Following on from my other (only) thread, I've convinced the wife to buy me a car so that i can bash around with my son's incoming ext amp mt. I'm looking for something similar specced and i spiedthe new maverick range on the forum's news page. These look really good to me but can't seem to find much info on them as they are brand new models. Anybody know about reliability and spares availability? Or how about some alternatives? Ta!

Thanks noj, i have went ahead and ordered the amp mt from that ebay link. I think to start off with i'll leave the car stock for the first few weeks, but i'd like to buy a couple more batteries straight away. What would you recommend and is modelsport typically the best online shop to buy from?

Thanks for the replies so far guys! So three votes for the 2wd ecx amp. One of the main things about both these cars is the fact they are waterproof. My kids were fascinated watching youtube videos of them driving through puddles and sodden grass where they know their toy grade rc cars can't even think about going! Does anyone know if the ext amp kit linked above retains the waterproofing? Cant see it mentioned anywhere in the advertisements.

Hello gents, i am a 37 year old man-child who has decided its high time my near 7 year old son received what i never did as a young un' - Tamiya's Vanessa's Lunchbox! Hold on... After about an hours worth of scanning the web for info it would seem that the Tamiya models i lusted after 25 years ago are largely a nostalgia fueled rip-off and there is better to be had out there for the same or even less money. Its at this point i give myself a hard slap and admit to myself that this will be my son's christmas present, not mines (honest) and it wouldnt be fair to hinder his own experience purely for my own selfish nostalgia driven purposes! Anywho, it would seem i have the choice narrowed down between the ecx amp mt and the ftx carnage. We have no gear whatsoever and it would appear that we can get these cars in an all-in-one package (minus transmitter batteries) for around the £100-£130 range, which appeals seeing as its my son's first car and no point spending much more than i have to incase he gets bored after a day or two. Ideally i would have liked a kit to build to gain experience of how to fix and upgrade it (i built a 1/10 tamiya mitsibushi evo car about 15 years ago and have forgotten what i learned) so this appeals: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/ecx-amp-mt-1-10-2wd-monster-truck-kit-intl/rc-car-products/399005 Then again the 4wd ftx carnage can be had for not much more pennies, so i am kinda stuck in the mud with what direction to go down. Any and all help appreciated with this decision!