Choosing the appropriate RC car may be both exciting and scary, especially given the variety of possibilities available today. Whether you're a newbie hoping to dip your toes into the world of remote-controlled cars or an experienced user wishing to expand your collection, knowing the main things to consider will help you make an informed purchase. In this article, let's go over the aspects to consider when purchasing an RC car, compare possibilities for beginners and advanced users, and highlight their distinguishing features. Let's explore the exciting world of RC cars!

Factors to Consider When Buying an RC Car

1. Consider the purpose and terrain.

The first step in selecting the appropriate RC vehicle toy is determining its primary purpose and the terrain on which it will be driven. There are many different varieties of RC cars, each designed for a certain terrain, function.and style

On-Road vs. Off-Road: On-road RC cars are intended for smooth surfaces such as paved roads or parking lots, and indoor tracks or warehouses. Off-road RC cars, such as RC Sport Rally Cars, can be used on dirt tracks.

• Regular On-Road Cars: These are cars for on-road racing, and are optimised for high speed racing, with a low centre of gravity, and high grip rubber wheels to handle those high speed turns.
  
  
• RC Drift Cars: If you enjoy doing precise, controlled slides and drifts, RC drift cars are great. They are intended for on-road use and ideal for racing on flat concrete or paved surfaces. They are similar to on-Road cars, but have hard plastic slippery drift wheels to allow them to drift around corners for a very different style of driving.
• Sports Rally Car: If you want to race on smooth dirt tracks, a Sports Rally Car has larger treaded wheels, softer suspension, and more ground clearance allowing them to work well on dirt tracks as well as normal road surfaces

RC cars are normally rated by scale size, which refers to an approximate fraction of a real car. The most popular size for hobby-class RC cars is 1/10 scale. 1/16 scale Rc cars are significantly smaller,and can be considered for smaller indoor or outdoor race courses.

2. Power Source

RC cars use either Brushed electric, Brushless electric or nitro (gas) engines. Each has merits and cons.

Electric RC Cars: These run on rechargeable batteries and are quieter, cleaner, and easier to maintain. They are perfect for both new and experienced users.

• Brushed Electric cars provide good speed ( great for kids), and are lower cost. They are also great for RC drift cars, as the slippery wheels do not enable high speeds, and a brushed motor provides the required speed.
• Brushless Electric Cars are usually much faster and are more suited for anyone over 12 for on-road racing. You can often increase the speeds further by just upgrading to a higher voltage LIPO battery
• In all cases, you will usually want 1 or more additional batteries for more play time.
• Nitro Gas RC Cars: These use a unique fuel blend to provide increased power and speed, making them great for more experienced users who want the realism of the noise and smoke of a gas powered engine. They also offer the advantage of allowing you to drive them as long as you want by just adding more fuel.. However, they demand more skill to operate, are noisier, and cannot be used indoors. Also Nitro RC Cars normally do not come with reverse.

3. Other factors impacting choice

• Age: If the driver is under 12, an on-road brushed electric car, or a drift car, may be the best choice. The speeds are manageable by a younger driver, and crashes are less likely to break parts and require repairs. They are still a lot of fun and help drivers build up their skills.
• Racing Style: Some drivers have a need-for-speed, and are primarily interested in high speed racing: Brushless Electric or Nitro gas powered cars are the best fit for these drivers. Other drivers are attracted to RC Drift Car racing which requires the development of very different driving skills in-order to optimally drift around a course, where you may be going sideways for much of the course. This requires a combination of careful steering and throttle/brake control to master this kind of racing. A brushed or brushless motor electric car with drift wheels allows you to get into this fun form of racing.
• Budget: Generally brushed motor RC Cars and RC Drift Cars are the most affordable if you are on a tight budget. You may also want to consider lesser known brands ( Such as HSP) which are often much better value, and provide a good quality hobby-class entry and higher-end RC cars at a much more affordable price
• Racing Friends: If you have friends that are also interested in RC cars and racing, it is a good idea to purchase similar vehicles so that you can have great races where the better driver wins, and the results are not skewed by differences in the vehicles.

4. Hobby-Class RC Cars

To enjoy this hobby, you need to purchase hobby-class RC cars, and avoid lower cost toy class vehicles that are readily available on Amazon, Walmart, etc. Hobby-class vehicles are designed to provide much better performance, greater durability, use better quality components, can be easily repaired, and parts are readily available.

Some RC Cars offered by RC Hobbies Outlet

Electric RC Cars

We provide a range of 1/10 scale RC cars on our website.The cars are ready-to-run – they include:the radio gear, and a basic rechargeable battery and charger. We offer a wide range of RC cars including:

• On-road Brushed Motor RC cars
• Fast On-Road Brushless Electric RC Cars - both entry level and more advanced RC cars. These RC ars can also be converted to Drift Cars by changing the wheels to Drift wheels

• RC Drift cars
• Sports Rally Cars

We provide a range of rechargeable LIPO and NIMH batteries so you can extend the time you can drive your RC car. You can contact us if you need help in selecting an additional battery for your RC car.

We also carry faster chargers, if you want to recharge your batteries more quickly.

Nitro Gas RC

• We offer a range of 1/10 scale Nitro Gas powered RC cars, with different style bodies. They also come with 2-speed transmissions. If this is your first nitro gas car, we recommend you also purchase a nitro starter kit which provides the essentials such as a rechargeable glow plug igniter, which you need to start the engine, some basic RC tools and a squeeze fuel bottle to make it easier to fill the fuel tank. You may also want a spare glow plug (part 70117 #3) as these can burn out after engine break-in Upgradeable

• Many of the RC Car suspension parts can be upgraded to metal, to make the RC car more robust, and more resistant to damage in crashes. Nitro cars can be additionally upgraded , including exhaust components, bearings, etc

Wrapping up

Choosing the proper RC car requires careful consideration of several factors as we have discussed above. Whether you are a beginner looking for an easy-to-use electric RC car or an experienced user looking for the thrill of a nitro-powered vehicle, there is an RC car that will satisfy your demands and provide hours of pleasure.

Understanding the individual characteristics and capabilities of these models will allow you to make an informed decision and get the most out of your RC experience.

At RC Hobbies Outlet, we provide a varied range of high-quality RC cars to suit fans of all levels. Explore our inventory to find the ideal RC vehicle toy that matches your interests and tastes. Happy racing!