Advice needed on new gasoline rc purchase

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Normanator

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Greetings all, I need a bit of advice and, since I've lurked here a few times, I thought I'd finally register and ask!
My father got himself a Yama Buggy 29cc gasoline rig last year. It was $300, and he has very much enjoyed it, so worth the tinkering and quickly worn out parts (anything with torque applied to it has fatigued and eventually broken, but he likes fixing it too), but now its time to get him something better, and I'm in over my head here.
He wants to stick to gasoline, 1/5th scale, and not go back to electric or nitro like we used to have as he typically uses this out at their beach property and gasoline is just easier to get more of as they are 3 hours one way from a hobby store, and in an RV requiring a generator to charge a battery pack up. I would like to find something with mostly good metal components rather than plastic so as to not wear out or break so fast. This will be used on a sand beach, pea gravel, and on short grass in a horse pasture if used at home. 4wd is great, but the 2wd works fine now and is fun to skid around.
I am open to suggestions as to make/model. Not looking for anything top of the line, but definitely a step up from the entry level unless it meets the durability requirements.
I appreciate any help and input/advice on which model will suit his needs as the RC thing hasn't bit me that hard yet.
Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum and there really is no such thing as a full option "metal" 5th scale thats "reliable" as top brand companies don't offer that.Stay away from the rovan full optioned vehicles as we saw here that their quality control sucks. If you want to give your father a solid out of the box stout 4wd basher with little to no issues the losi 5ive t 2.0 is the best way to go . Plenty of upgrade options available and the sky is the limit with that rig.i have one and I take it out everytime knowing it will come home in one piece and will run the next day...also horizon hobbies warranty on that rig is top notch
 
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Thats exactly the things I'm looking to learn!
He definitely likes tinkering, so upgrading later is not a problem, just something that can survive his crazy driving out of the box will suffice.
I'll look into this model!
 
Rep732 said:
Just to give you a heads up before buying.. if you want to use the spektrum receiver it comes with you need a compatible transmitter and a lipo battery that fits in the battery box. Also a big must for 5th scale for safety of the rig and everyone around it is a killswitch.
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Absolutely, we rigged one up to the Yama after hooking it to an RC plane transmitter.
 
Speaking from experience initial purchase price is not an indicator of low operating cost. My 1st 1/5 scale purchase was only about 2 weeks old before I decided to upgrade. Since then I couldn’t be happier!

My initial thoughts were I wasn’t sure if i would enjoy the hobby enough to justify buying a higher grade rig. In the long run it cost me more with this line of thinking. An unreliable or a rig of questionable quality control will do harm to the owners perception of this hobby than anything.

I am far to green to suggest what you should purchase but if you read my signature and do some research and due diligence you’ll figure out what I mean. Good luck!
 
Rep732 said:
Can't go wrong with the 5ive t and id advise don't get into the habit of "rigging" air radio systems with land based rigs.
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I have a 6 channel air rx in my 5ive t. It was cheaper then a 3 or 4 channel and has duel antennas, and the same foot print. As long as the rx is compatible with the tx there's no issue using it, and some guys like stick controls better then the pistol controls that most of us are used to. Just a preference thing really.
Id also give a nod to the 5ive platform. If you like to build the 5ive b kit is great. Needs electronics and and engine/pipe, but you get to build it. Good piece of kit. If your not opposed to buying used, for reasonable money you can normally get a decent 5ive, or a baja if your into 2wd. I'm no advocate for clones, but if it must be new and cheap your left with little options.
A good bit more advanced would also be the kraken vekta, you will end up sinking a bit of money in it, but the bugs have pretty much been hammered out now. Quite a few of us have built, currently building, or waiting for their kits to show up. Has a solid rear axle so it's a bit different then the std offerings. There are plenty of build threads from mild to wild on here you can look at. It's not a 5ive t but it is cool, and another option.
At any rate a good kill switch is a must, and I don't mean a nitro failsafe either. Killer bee, dynamite, hilantronics, and mod (mod was just released) all make them. Should be top priority and given a dedicated channel to kill the engine at will. These guys are all capable of 40+ mph.
Another consideration as you'll be running in sand. Closed clutch bells, outterwears for the engine, triple layer foam oiled air filters, and be prepared for things to wear out much faster then normal. Sand is hell on components, but with some care and preparation it can be mitigated somewhat.
Most important is to have fun with the hobby, it's not cheap, but it's quite enjoyable for all.
 
Normanator said:
Greetings all, I need a bit of advice and, since I've lurked here a few times, I thought I'd finally register and ask!
My father got himself a Yama Buggy 29cc gasoline rig last year. It was $300, and he has very much enjoyed it, so worth the tinkering and quickly worn out parts (anything with torque applied to it has fatigued and eventually broken, but he likes fixing it too), but now its time to get him something better, and I'm in over my head here.
He wants to stick to gasoline, 1/5th scale, and not go back to electric or nitro like we used to have as he typically uses this out at their beach property and gasoline is just easier to get more of as they are 3 hours one way from a hobby store, and in an RV requiring a generator to charge a battery pack up. I would like to find something with mostly good metal components rather than plastic so as to not wear out or break so fast. This will be used on a sand beach, pea gravel, and on short grass in a horse pasture if used at home. 4wd is great, but the 2wd works fine now and is fun to skid around.
I am open to suggestions as to make/model. Not looking for anything top of the line, but definitely a step up from the entry level unless it meets the durability requirements.
I appreciate any help and input/advice on which model will suit his needs as the RC thing hasn't bit me that hard yet.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Losi 5ivet 2.0 without a doubt
 
Normanator said:
Greetings all, I need a bit of advice and, since I've lurked here a few times, I thought I'd finally register and ask!
My father got himself a Yama Buggy 29cc gasoline rig last year. It was $300, and he has very much enjoyed it, so worth the tinkering and quickly worn out parts (anything with torque applied to it has fatigued and eventually broken, but he likes fixing it too), but now its time to get him something better, and I'm in over my head here.
He wants to stick to gasoline, 1/5th scale, and not go back to electric or nitro like we used to have as he typically uses this out at their beach property and gasoline is just easier to get more of as they are 3 hours one way from a hobby store, and in an RV requiring a generator to charge a battery pack up. I would like to find something with mostly good metal components rather than plastic so as to not wear out or break so fast. This will be used on a sand beach, pea gravel, and on short grass in a horse pasture if used at home. 4wd is great, but the 2wd works fine now and is fun to skid around.
I am open to suggestions as to make/model. Not looking for anything top of the line, but definitely a step up from the entry level unless it meets the durability requirements.
I appreciate any help and input/advice on which model will suit his needs as the RC thing hasn't bit me that hard yet.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
It depends on your budget really. You can buy cheap rovans and I've had pretty good luck with them but if you can afford the original companies then you should go for them. Rovan does offer a full metal Baja but I don't recommend that. It's really heavy and slow and the metal parts bend. Both the 2wd Bajas and the 4wd Losis are good cars so you can't really go wrong with either of those. Also if your dad likes tinkering with them then you can buy both the Bajas and the Losis in kit version. Kits come disassembled and you build them yourself. The kit version for the Baja is called the HPI Baja as and the kit version for the Losi is called the TLR 5ive-B (TLR is the same as Losi).
 
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