Alexxx

I have removed what i previously said about knockoffs. After what savagejim said, this thread should now list good quality entry level rc cars, instead of the bad ones to stop bashing.

Any Suggestions Anyone?

hevyhitter

good post brother. should sticky this thread. so members can post HORROR stories of knock off rc purchases

derrick05

Exeed rc Infinitive nitro truck is a must for the list.

3.3 revo 3.3

My acme conquistidator kicks butt, the thing held up for two tanks

s7jstep1

i would consider smartech a knockoff too. how about you?

Phelansa

Removed

Foxy

This is no doubt going to be a contentious topic, keep it civil people and try to stick to experiences rather than opinions about products you have NOT owned or used. If it gets out of control, I will remove it in a heartbeat.

Alexxx

I have had experience with a knockoff brand. I bought a Bonzer rc electric truck about a year ago, and i got rid of it a month later. The radio was slow to respond which resulted in many crashes, and the steering servo kept failing. It was hard to find spares for it but i wondered 'what is the point of buying spares for it when it is just going to break again.' So i just got rid of it

Alexxx

I agree. Only post if you have had experience with these knockoff brands, or post brands that you know for sure are knockoffs, through past experience.
And TRY TO KEEP THINGS CIVIL, no swearing.

Alexxx

Well, that was not really the idea of the thread, it was to tell begginers to the hobby which brands to avoid, but i guess that telling everyone your own experience with these cars would help shed some light on how bad these knockoffs really are.

Phelansa

Accepted.

Concedes the point.

Previous post removed.

webdr

hoe gaan dit met jou?

J.D.T

The title says knockoffs but alot of you guys seem intent on bashing one brand or another. IMO hobby grade means you can get parts for them when they break, no more no less, Exceed RC was mentioned earlier, they have there own website and affordable spairs so I don't see how they can be on this list. If it is a true knockoff then shouldn't we be helping to identify what they are knocked off of? if its 95% based on one car that may help someone keep an unkown car running with "better or more easily available parts", around here some guys would bash a real TC4 if it was pictured in one of those $79.99 ebay adds with a WADANGLE ENTERPRISES sticker plastered over the body and different battery holder, if you said it was based on a tc4 at least one joker would say it don't look like any tc4 he has ever seen!
I will help to identify at least one knockoff I WOULD recommend to anyone to get started in rc for $50, its the Hotwheels Flashfire RC IN PURPLE AND WHITE ONLY-the yellow and white is based on another chassis, the purple and white is a tamiya df 02. These Flashfire kits have terrible radios and range to about 30-40 feet but for as low as $46 on the net you get, car, radio, battery and wall charger, all you need is the aa batteries. Big name companies sometimes license kits like what happened with the Tamiya-Mattel deal here. The associated-radio shack minis is a well known licensed deal.

Nitro212

lol want to see the biggest knockoff rc cars?

http://www.wowzzers.com/rccarstrucks...eferrer=Google

yes sadly my friend got me in to RC by that time i did not know of RCU ( i found it on google )

n e ways my spur gear broke the tooth and stuff i could not find 1 any where nor traxxas or team associate fit on it i ended up putting it in the garbage not to mention the controller was crap and the clutch messed up as well

DaveG55

I agree with a lot of what J.T.D. said. The whole issue of cheap, kockoff's is a lot more complicated than it seems. It seems to me that there are really 3 or 4 different catagories being lumped into one broad topic.
For example, there are cheap, original rc's being made. That's not a bad thing because every rc company started somewhere and some of those new brands could morph into the next Traxxas, HPI, Associated, etc. The bad thing is when parts break they can be very hard to get and that leads to a poor reputation.
Then there are the liscensed reproductions being made. The good part of that is parts from the original will fit and can be more easily found.
Then, IMHO, the worst are the unliscensed reproductions that are poor copies of good vehicles. This is bad on a bunch of levels. First, the intelectual property of a legit company has been stolen. Second, these copies usually use inferior materials. Third, many of these inferior copies are made to such poor tollerances/standards that replacement parts from the "original" will not fit.

So, in keeping with the helpful intent of the topic, I'd say that:
Cheap is not always bad.
Do a lot of research before buying any rc but especially the cheap ones
and
If you want to minimize the chances of problems, buy a well known brand

Alexxx

If you live in the UK watch out for this site:

www.********.co.uk

Pretty much everything on the website is a knockoff

And in Reply to J.D.T, I consider knockoffs to be cheap, poor, quality imitators of brands like HPI, not toy grade cars. Exceed are hobby grade, just of poor quality.

Xanderdos

Stay away from tamiya there back yard cars and not race material. Good post.

DaveG55

Being "back yard" cars does not make them cheap knock offs. Tamiya has been around for 20 - 25 years and make good products and many hobby shops carry replacement parts for them.
The thread is about knock-offs and Tamiya is definatly NOT in that list.

Foxy

Dave, I agree with your previous post, Tamiya is certainly not a 'knockoff' company, although I had to delete it as a response to a deleted post. Last warning folks...I've already edited or deleted posts in this thread for PRODUCT BASHING. Bashing specific marques or products will not be tolerated. By all means speak of your experiences, but do not bash a manufacturer or product without explaining why.

Bashing means saying things like 'This product is rubbish, stay away from it'. The correct way to post would be... 'I bought one of these and the transmission fell out, it was a cheap imitation of a Savage, I don't recommend it' or something like that. Please try to understand the difference.

I realise it's a fine line, but this thread is on the brink since the first post. Last chance...

jkdv8

My Feedback: (1)

there is nothing wrong with tamiya. my first kit was a tt-02 about 14yrs ago. i still have it and it runs and operates like the first day i had it. been through hell as well.


EDIT: sorry for the confusion. it was a ta-02 not a tt-02 as stated above. http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/ite...oduct-id=58137 wish i still had the shell.

jkdv8

My Feedback: (1)

well moderator. you mine as well delete my above post. doesnt make any sense now that you went and got trigger happy with the delete/edit function!!

Nitro212

i won't judge for price being cheap, i judge for the manufacture having a bad rep, a place they sell rc cars but they don't even have parts for its own cars. nor they help u, or point u to a place to where u can get a hold of the parts.. now thats sucks..

thats why i only buy HPI, cuz all local hobbies shop around my area carries HPI parts, so if i break something i got like 4 shops within 10 miles

SpeedAddict

Most people say that Smartech is crap. However, I have one. There has been one bad experience with getting a part. (It took 7 months). I would say that it probably holds up as well as any car I have (Savage x and Rustler). I do drive the Smartech differently, mostly on-road, but it is a nice vehicle for me. It wasn't too nice to start off with.

I don't know how their stock engines are as mine had a problem on the third or fourth tank due to a faulty servo. The servo held Full Throttle and bent the piston rod, so it wasn't the engine's failure, but the servo's. The engine ran fine until then. I even put a tank of 30% through it and it was a screamer! I would recommend to replace BOTH servos to anyone who gets one of these. I also don't know how Smartech's transmissions are because mine is a single-speed.

I would never say to get a Smartech over an HPI or some other main brrand because of parts availability and quality of servos. For me though, my Smartech was aperfect first nitro because it was cheap so if i had an accident (I did) it wasn't too expensive to fix or replace. So I guess that Smartech's are o.k. RC's if you upgrade a little bit.
Parts availability can ba a pain sometimes, other times, you get your parts within a week so it just depends. You can also take a more mainstream brand's part and try to retro-fit it.

Alexxx

At least we can all agree with dave's conclusion

'So, in keeping with the helpful intent of the topic, I'd say that:
Cheap is not always bad.
Do a lot of research before buying any rc but especially the cheap ones
and
If you want to minimize the chances of problems, buy a well known brand'

rschoi_75

I definitely agree with DaveG55 and J.T.D. on this. its a very broad topic lumped into one vague thread.

I'll tell you one thing, a "knock-off" in the USA could be very competitive in another country merely based on parts support. I've seen people bash a-tech minis as knock-offs, but in Korea, they stock a lot of upgrades in store to the point that its really competitive. I am referring to the xmb4 and xmt-4 1/18th scale r/c's.

Even the "Leo-X" has been called a knock off of the Venom Mini-giant. But in actuallity, they are the same truck. Venom just has the rights to distribute the truck under its brand name. Same thing with Anderson, duratrax, yokomo, and lrp in regards with their 1/18th scale r/c's (i.e. the mb4/vendetta/shark). So we are definitely walking a fine line on this subject.

In the end, parts support is what really matters. Its hobby grade if you can effectively find parts support and upgrades. What may be "hobby grade" in one country may not be in another...