Dads birthday coming up so rather than buying an r/c car for each of my boys, dads getting one to ‘share’
I had a Tamiya Manta Ray as a kid so looking for something to build that the kids can manage.
So, thoughts on anything more than a 2017 Grasshopper.. or dt-02 car with a 380 motor or something like a mad bull???

Have a look at HPI as well. Firestorm is a cracker.

Not that relevant, but….

Had an original Grasshopper and I’d go for the 540 motor (and gearing change) as the 380 was ok, but if you came up against anything with a 540 in, it really showed.

I’ve got a Neo Fighter, which is pretty good.

To be honest though, if I was buying again I’d buy something with a bit more ground clearance so it copes a bit better on grass.

The Aqroshot is basically the Neo Fighter buggy (DT03 chassis) with bigger wheels. The only difference is the wheels and the front steering knuckles have longer shafts for mounting the bigger wheels. I keep thinking of converting mine, but Tamiya spares are a bit pricey….

Regarding the Grasshopper – a mate had one & I just remember it bouncing all over the place as the shocks only have friction dampers which don’t seem to actually do anything.

I’ve got a Neo Fighter, which is pretty good.

Me too, although the ESC seems to have died which is a pain. I’d probably avoid the new Grasshopper etc., things have moved on and their appeal is mainly nostalgia.

Didn’t the grasshopper also have a 5 cell 6V battery? The hornet may also have had 6v battery, but that did have a 540 motor at least.

I had not looked for a while but noticed they have re-released the Bigwig, Top Force and Blackfoot now to add to the rest.

This means the answer to your question is Bigwig. 8)

I got a Blackfoot back in January as a toy for me and I got the boy a £40 Nikko Vaoprizr skid steer thing. I went for that over a buggy type thing as in my mind it would stand up to abuse better. I broke it within 5 minutes of it being built by ramming it into a wall at full tilt, then I broke the servo a month later. Other than those two things it has stood up to a lot of abuse.

However, the boy now covets the Blackfoot because it does skids/wheelspin.

How old are the kids? If they’re too young a speedy car is going to get wrecked as they won’t have the control/reactions. I got my 5-yr old a rock crawler which is ideal as he’s got the hang of the controller to the point it’s become instinctive rather than having to think about it – I’d trust him with a faster car now – and the car is essentially indestructible (Maisto 3XL) it’s even waterproof so we can drive through streams and mud.

A bit off topic, but I have just seen this:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9TlqdidbPs[/video]

boys are 5 and 7 so looking at 380 motor to keep things a little more pedestrian. The dt-02 fighter buggy SV has a 380 option
Thought about a crawler for the reasons above but its never been that appealing to me and the boys tend to skip crawler vids in preference of buggy vids.
Definitely recognise the damage concern.
Big wig looks super, but $$ compared to 2wd.

380 motor also means considerably longer battery life and less damage too! Grasshoppers handle terribly but are fairly robust, no exposed driveshafts to bend, fall out or get jammed up with twigs and grass. Loads of fun for a youngun.

My other bit of advice is to stick to 1/10th scale and don’t be tempted by the smaller scale cars – they break really easily and are really fiddly to fix.

Grasshoppers handle terribly

I can concur with this, I have one. You can go fast or you can turn, but not at the same time. I spent months back in the day faffing about trying to fettle it, I thought something I’d done wrong in the build.

Google would suggest they’ve issued a revamped version of it this year, I hope they’ve managed to make it not shit.