RC Cars & RC Trucks

There are as many opinions about which is the best remote control car as there are RC cars. A better question than “Which is the best RC car?” might be, “Which is the best remote control car for me?”

The first step toward finding the best radio control car for you is to narrow down your options. What full-size vehicles do you like the most? Where would you like to run your RC car? The best RC car for you will be one that matches your personal interests and needs. Another factor to consider when looking for your best RC car is the amount of experience you have in the radio control hobby. If this will be your very first RC vehicle, then you’ll want it to be one that you can easily control — not a brushless powered RC race car that goes 80 mph or more.

Your best remote control car should also not cost more than you can afford. RC cars are available from Tower Hobbies at a very wide range of prices. You can save by starting with a basic but high-quality RC car and upgrading it later as your budget allows.

Finally, you need to decide if the best RC car for you is one you put together yourself or one that you can drive almost straight out of the box. Tower Hobbies offers RC vehicles in kit and ready-to-run (RTR) completion levels. Depending on your abilities and interests, both types have their advantages and disadvantages. Briefly put, RC kits are great if you love tinkering and want to understand everything about how your remote control car works. RTR vehicles make the best RC cars for anyone who just wants to get out and have fun driving.

Most people who ask for the name of the best remote control car are just starting in the RC car hobby and want to choose wisely. With that in mind, let’s look at what makes any RC car a good choice for the first-time RC driver.

Perhaps the most important feature is durability. This is why you should avoid department store RC toys if you’re serious about the hobby. No RC vehicle qualifies as a best remote control car if it breaks the first time you run it!

If you’ve never driven an RC car before, you’ll almost certainly crash into something sooner or later. Everyone does. It’s easy to underestimate how fast RC cars move, and how quickly you must react to avoid an accident. For this reason, Tower Hobbies highly recommends off-road “bashers” as some of the very best first RC cars. Check out the selection from ARRMA, a brand with an excellent reputation for durability.

The best RC cars for beginners can be large or small. The choice of size does matter, however, depending on your budget and where you want to drive. You can take a compact remote control car like the 1/24 scale Axial Deadbolt rock crawler almost anywhere. At less than eight inches long, it can even be driven indoors. A smaller size also often means a smaller price. The Deadbolt costs about $125, fully assembled and complete with everything you need to drive it.

On the other hand, a larger RC car has more visual impact, both in its dimensions and the amount of realistic detail the size allows. The 1/10 scale, ready-to-run ARRMA GRANITE 4X2 Boost monster truck measures more than seventeen inches long. It’s twice the size of the Deadbolt, but also twice the cost. And though it’s less suitable for running indoors, the GRANITE can easily conquer much more difficult outdoor terrain.

Ultimately, many of the characteristics that make an RC car the best choice for you might be very different from those of another hobbyist. That’s why you’ll find so many different, but equally outstanding, remote control cars at Tower Hobbies. Whatever your best RC car might be, you’ll find it here!