First RC car for a 5 year old

[jellon 140]

I know it's an old question - but thought I'd revive it in time Christmas.

My 5 yr old has got interested in my tamiya cars and worked out how to drive his TK Maxx 10 quid special.

I was looking for any suggestions for a next step up:

-Under £50 all in.

-Able to run on grass - reasonable clearance

-Not fast (crawler speed)

I was thinking one of the budget RTR crawlers, but the little team associated 1/28 one looks a bit small. Also considered the mini lunch box, but it adds up with all the gear and is a bit quick. I'd love the kyosho mini Jimny but it's way out of budget.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[TurnipJF 4984]

How about a 2nd hand Mad Bull with a new shell for him to decorate and a piece of foam stuck behind the throttle trigger to limit speed?

Such a car should hold his interest as it can readily be made faster as his skills improve. 

[Peter_B 978]

I'd second a Mad Bull, but with a 60-70t crawler motor.

The Mad Bull is as tough as nails and the crawler motor will keep speeds sensible.

One of my lads started with a Mad Bull when he was 3 - he's now almost 7 and I haven't had to replace or repair a single thing.

[Doc Hollywood 156]

Mad bulls are fairly cheap to buy second hand and I would agree with the others. I am selling one that needs repairs and the body has is in good condition but has been painted matt black it could be painted over it has red wheels but the gear box is broken I would add a servo and receiver. just thought I would mention sorry if your not interested  

[Aerobert 402]

The Mad Bull is a good car for sure, but the requirement of 50£ RTR will even with a used car not work in my opinion.

I would go with something like this:

https://www.wpl-rc.com/collections/c24/products/c24-rtr

Can't say anything about that car from my own experience but read some good reviews. Maybe someone here can say something about it.

[taffer 656]

Used rising fighter, runs better than a mad bull and on a better more iconic chassis (grasshopper 2).

If it's wet out the madbull tyres and light weight mean constant donuts.

You could always upgrade the wheels later (and uprights) to madbull ones and have the best of both worlds

[Badcrumble 1922]

£50 all-in is going to be a tough ask for a Tamiya, even used.

Here's a link to someone's experience of that WPL

https://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/forums/topic/244343-wpl-c24-intro-mods-and-upgrades/

My son started at age four, smashing my WW2 into a wall, graduated to his own Dual Hunter and loves to run my modded Hornet now he's six. Whilst all the cars were 2nd hand, adding radio gear blows your budget.

[Bash 156]

It'll be tough to find any Tamiya for that price. A quick Ebay search only found me parts cars and the odd grasshopper and hornet- all of which were incomplete. I'd personally avoid the WPL since I had one and it was easily the worst R/C I've ever had the displeasure of owning. A lot of people seem to like them though, and I think they may have updated them since I had mine. Keep looking and you'll probably find something: I've seen some Traxxas cars at that price point and they have an ESC that you can set to only 50% power output.  

[Mrowka 203]

I got my little man a cheapo ebay special rock.crawler. It was slow enough for him to handle, crashes are no big deal and it could crawl over stuff, which is fun for a small person. 

Then, he got an RC28, which he named "Donut". 

[jellon 140]

Thanks everyone. I'd never get away with the mad bull. It would clearly be a present for Dad! 

I think I will search out a cheap crawler as I can see him enjoying that more. 

RC28 is a cool looking little car - again I'd just like one myself! 

[Badcrumble 1922]

I've had a scout about but it seems anything hobby grade new starts at around £75 - FTX mini crawlers, Hobby King Basher Rocksta.

I paid similar for my well used Dual Hunters, a lot less for my Hornet but it was a basket case with no radio gear.

Having said that, a couple of owners on 'the other site' have had pretty good things to say about these....

MN99 / MN99S

which seem pretty good given the price.

Bangood linky

[Baddon 804]

9 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

How about a 2nd hand Mad Bull with a new shell for him to decorate and a piece of foam stuck behind the throttle trigger to limit speed?

Such a car should hold his interest as it can readily be made faster as his skills improve. 

+1, started mine on 2nd hand Madbulls. Painted the little ladies pink with a barbi head. Also added a bit of hose pipe behind trigger at the start to limit throttle. 

they are great at a BMX track or just in the park or garden. They are REALLY robust. I just repainted the shell its not a new one. Got a sheet of stick on vinyl to add some go faster stripes.

 

[MICHAELs TopForce17 313]

lunch box

 

[jellon 140]

35 minutes ago, MICHAELs TopForce17 said:

lunch box

 

He can have a go with Dad's - once it has a few more dents. He loves Land Rover defenders - so I might go for one of those MN99 things for now. Work up to a proper tamiya. I'm busy building a comical grasshopper that he can have in a few years...... Will probably take me that long to build it at my current pace 🙂

[Badcrumble 1922]

If you already have a Comical Grasshopper then why not go with that with a slow motor or a handset with foam to limit accelerator travel or both? I bought a small controller for my son

Small tx

though the dual rate on the speed doesn't seem to do much so I'd stick in higher turn motor in too. You can also buy those handsets unbranded on a certain auction site for a lot less.

[nowinaminute 1920]

50 is a pretty tight budget.

The WPL mentioned above is a fun truck but they are a bit fragile for your requirements possibly. They have improved the transmission and drive shafts but they are still a bit like a scale model in terms of durability.

Might struggle with taller grass too due to their small size.

The HBX Rampage is just about in budget and is tougher but it would probably be a bit fast and again, struggle in taller grass due to being 1/18.

If you could find the WLToys 12428 in budget that would be a good choice, much bigger, 4WD and very capable for what it is. Runs a 540 motor too so very easy to swap it out for a slow crawler motor. The Feiyue is very similar too but uses a 390 motor so might be a bit harder to find a slower motor for that one.

I'm trying to think what else might be suitable. You say you wouldn't get away with a Mad Bull so suggesting 1/10 stuff probably isn't helpful.

There are plenty of toy grade crawlers that work surprisingly well such as the Maisto crawler but if you do eventually break it, you'll struggle for spares.

Another good "toyish" option might be the wltoys 18628. Only 1/18 but it has 6wd so is very capable for a toy and you can actually get a few spares for that.

Your criteria are quite difficult when you factor in the budget and that you say something like a Mad Bull is not realistic.

 

[Wooders28 3091]

You'll struggle with a budget of £50, the "situation" has ramped prices right up!, You might get a rolling chassis for that, and then get the radio gear.

You'll need something you can get spares for, as a above, madbull is a good shout, or hornet or lunchbox?

Whichever you get, a radio with EPA is a must imo, you don't need to faff getting different motors, you just turn the speed down on the radio, and turn it up as he gets better. My then 4yr old was driving my 6.5t motored Schuamcher laydown with the end point at 20%, by the end of the week she was up at 35%, they learn quick, real quick!! 

[ploots 155]

3 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

 

Whichever you get, a radio with EPA is a must imo, you don't need to faff getting different motors, you just turn the speed down on the radio, and turn it up as he gets better. My then 4yr old was driving my 6.5t motored Schuamcher laydown with the end point at 20%, by the end of the week she was up at 35%, they learn quick, real quick!! 

This is what I was thinking so much easier to turn the power down then adjust it as he improves 

[DayRider 228]

I think that you shouldn't limit the power, just take the wee lad to a good wide open space to get use to it. I have seen young kids with fast motor skills, navigating computer games and mobile phone apps. Just get something second hand with the mind set that he will have the odd crash, I still manage to loose control! Is that not how we all have learned? I remember seeing a young lad on blue peter with a RC buggy and now he is at the top of F1.

[Wooders28 3091]

3 hours ago, ploots said:

This is what I was thinking so much easier to turn the power down then adjust it as he improves 

I set challenges for my daughter, now 5, bit like Gran Turismo ,and if she passes I turn the speed up on the End Point. I said she had to go as fast as she could, but stop before the summer house.....😬🤦‍♂️

 

 

[jellon 140]

Great advice everyone. I wasn't expecting to get a tamiya for 50 - but knew Tamiya people would give good suggestions. I'll save the mad bull and comical for next year - and let him destroy a toy land rover MN99 for now. 

[ploots 155]

The challenges are a good idea,it looks like she's doing very well at them 😀👍

[wolfdogstinkus 987]

Just now, jellon said:

Great advice everyone. I wasn't expecting to get a tamiya for 50 - but knew Tamiya people would give good suggestions. I'll save the mad bull and comical for next year - and let him destroy a toy land rover MN99 for now. 

Have you considered a quick drive?

You sometimes (before the brushless quick drive thread) used to get them for £20,, can be repaired fairly cheaply, just fit steering servo, esc and radio gear and a battery. 

It has a 2 speed gearbox it is probably the strongest Tamiya I have ever had.

[Wooders28 3091]

39 minutes ago, ploots said:

The challenges are a good idea,it looks like she's doing very well at them 😀👍

It works!

They learn real quick, posted a vid in another thread, of my mates lad, who started beating me at 5 or 6, now 9 ,he's one of the quickest in Scotland! (Using a similar way, of ,if you don't crash, I'll make the car quicker)

[ploots 155]

3 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

It works!

They learn real quick, posted a vid in another thread, of my mates lad, who started beating me at 5 or 6, now 9 ,he's one of the quickest in Scotland! (Using a similar way, of ,if you don't crash, I'll make the car quicker)

I'm going to try this for myself I think it might improve my driving 😁