ASK Cubby – Weird Questions, Wacky Answers

“New to RC

Hello,

My name is Jae and my kids and I are about to embark into RC truck world for xmas. He is 7 and my daughter is 10 and it has been great doing all the research and figuring out which might be the best and how intricate this really is.

Just want to say thanks because your reviews and articles have been super helpful and educational for new folks getting into this hobby.

In saying that and I am sure ya’ll are super busy but I just wanted to see if I could get your advice on what to get.

From reading your articles we have been looking at the 1/10 ECX brand cars and think they are the best bang for buck. Would like your opinion on which model you would recommend leaning towards the Torment, Ruckus, or Circuit Stadium truck. They all have the Dynamite 7.4V 1800mAh 2S 20C LiPo, Hardcase w/EC3(tm) connector battery.

I am purchasing an upgraded charger to help charge batteries faster. What charger would you recommend?

Also I am torn, do I get the 2wd drive version and upgrade the battery or do I buy the 4wd version and not upgrade battery(the 4wd comes with I believe a 7 cell NimH).

Thanks for the help and again thanks for the reviews and articles they have been a huge help!

Jae B.”

Cubby- Yo Jae, thanks for the email and I am officially proclaiming yours as “Letter Of The Month”. What that means is we’ll hook ya up with a t-shirt and sticker pack if you shoot us your snail mail and shirt size.

Thanks for the props. Back in “the old days” all we received was hate mail, now days it is mostly on the love side of things, interesting how things like that change.

Anywhos… on to your questions.

Yes, for your very first vehicle the ECX 2wd line-up is absolutely top notch. Nope, they aren’t crazy fast, but you don’t want tire exploding stupidity for your first car, especially with kids around. Personally, I am going to recommend that you get a 2wd version. Why? Simply because they are easier to work on, something that you’ll be doing a lot of while you and your kiddos learn to drive.

So… which one? The Torment SCT has more of a scale look and its huge bumpers help keep it from breaking parts. It does have a downside, that big body will catch air underneath when jumping on windy days, which can make it hard to jump at times. The Ruckus monster truck has the advantage of larger tires. This helps a lot when driving in grass, or when trying to get over rocks or small tree limbs. The Circuit stadium style truck would be my pick for casual racing. If you are going to race around your backyard, the Circuit jumps well and sits fairly low to the ground, thus making it easier to be driven hard at speed.

Couple more notes here… we have been testing all the new ECX 2wd vehicles that include the 1800mAh LiPo battery. That particular battery is not impressive. It results in short runtimes and doesn’t give the trucks any more power than a standard NiMH. You’ll read more about that when we publish our reviews, but for now you can figure that information into your buying process. Read- you’ll probably want to buy an upgrade LiPo ASAP that is at least a 30C 5000mAh+ unit.

For an affordable charger… that is a really tough question, there are a LOT of really good units on the market right now. Personally I am going to recommend a Hitec X2 AC Plus 2 Port Charger. Here is why…

1. it is easy to use
2. it gives a good quality charge
3. it has dual output ports which will come in REALLY handy in your near future
4. it can be run off of AC or DC power
5. perhaps most importantly, it costs under $100

Have fun, go fast, and be sure to shoot us an email and let us know what you end up buying.

A few weeks ago I posted a question from Faraz A., one of our readers in India. As most of you know, I love picking the brain of fellow hobbyists in other countries, so I asked Faraz a bunch of questions about what it is like to be a hobbyist in India. In case you didn’t know it, we have it REALLY easy here in the states (and in Europe) enjoying surface rc products, but that certainly is not the case in most parts of the world. Here is his response…

“Well! Rc hobby is termed as “Alien” in India, reason being there is no authorized dealership/store especially for Rc cars, however, for robotics you will find a few. Nobody knows the difference between a toy and a hobby grade Rc and I often get a peculiar stare while I am in the pursuit. All my Rc’s are sourced from the United states and I end up paying an exhorbitant amount due to the ridiculously higher custom duties/shipping. For a reference – the Traxxas X-Maxx cost me $1300, a DJI Phantom 4 – $2000. On average, each Rc cost me around $1000-1500 and I do have more than 20 Rc’s which includes a Traxxas Slash 4×4, a ARRMA Kraton, a ARRMA Senton, a Team Redcat MT8E, a Traxxas Raptor, a Traxxas Bigfoot, a Traxxas Grave Digger, a Jeep Rubicon, a Traxxas Summit, a Redcat MT10E, a Score Trophy Truck, and many more.

For all the authentic info/development I consider BigsquidRc as the holy grail and I read your section “ASK Cubby” diligently.

All in all it’s very very very challenging to be in the RC hobby in India, in every which way. 😀

Best,
Faraz”

So there ya have it folks, yet another ASK Cubby is in the books. You can shoot me just about anything (Read- Bitcoins!) to thecubreportrc at gmail dot com. If your letter hits our front page you’ll get a BSRC sticker pack, or if I select it as “Letter Of The Month” you’ll get the hook-up on one of our new Big Squid t-shirts.

YOUR Cub Reporter