I'm still considering getting my first R.C. car/truck to mess around with. I would like to get something I can drive around the yard in rain/snow for this winter since I will not be doing much R.C. flying because of the winter weather. I found this site
and was wondering if you all think this would be a good newbie car to learn on. Do you think it has enough power to run on grass, etc...?

http://www.rcsuperstore.com/Traxxas_..._p/tra3705.htm

Rustler is an excellent beginner car.
Yard. Yes
Rain. Yes
Snow. No. It just spins out unless you're REAL light on the throttle. You'll need 4x4 for snow.

or get a set of sand paddle tires for the rear.....

I put these on my Slash 2wd and they work pretty well. Paddles work great too. The Rustler is pretty low to the ground so forget about running through deep powder.

the rustler is great. Road_rascal is right about powder snow. The stock tires aren't nearly as good as something like dirt hawgs for dirt, but I'm not sure about snow yet, as I got the dirt hawgs in the summer and it hasn't snowed enough yet.

Do yourself a favor and go for the VXL model. The XL-5 motors wear out quickly, even if you are meticulous with break-in, etc.

Eventually you'll be looking for more speed, we all do. Might as well get the brushless to start with.

If I buy the Rusler XL-5 can I later put in a brushless motor for more speed?

You'll need a motor and ESC, but yes.

Sure you can. The most common routes are a complete Velineon (sp?) system off ebay, or a Castle/Sidewinder type system.

Sweet. I think I'm going to order one.

Originally Posted by PMDRACER

Do yourself a favor and go for the VXL model. The XL-5 motors wear out quickly, even if you are meticulous with break-in, etc.

Eventually you'll be looking for more speed, we all do. Might as well get the brushless to start with.

I would second that opinion because if you want, you can slow it down with training mode, but also it saves you a bunch of money. I believe the VXL rustler is only $100 more than the XL-5, and a VXL system is over $200.

I ordered the basic version and it comes tomorrow. I'll open it up Christmas eve. This will be my first R.C. car. I have plenty of planes that I love but I"m looking for fun when the weather does not allow flying. I can't wait. Hope it's fun! Watching videos on YouTube of these cars kicking up dirt is cool.

So these cars come with clutches and transmissions? Sounds more complicated than a plane/glider where you have prop, motor and esc.

yes they have a clutch and steel geared transmission and in 4x4s you get differentials and transmissions its awesome and not to much work to maintain em either im confident if you can handle a plane you can handle a plane

They're easy to work on. On my Slash (same drive setup) I can remove, disassemble and put the trans back together in about an hour. But working on these things are half the fun.