Gas Powered RC Cars:
Ready-To-Run vs. Build-It-Yourself Kits

There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to build-it-yourself kits. The three primary advantages for buying electric or gas powered rc cars in kit form are:

• Kits are less expensive than Ready to Run (RTR) vehicles, so you can save a bit of money over buying the assembled version of your gas powered rc car.
• Assembling your rc kit car allows you to learn exactly how your vehicle operates. This will cut down on future repair costs, thus putting you ahead of the game if you want to add hop-ups (performance parts) down the road. Serious hobbyists choose this option when buying gas powered rc cars.
• It can be a whole lot of fun! Let's face it, some people just love to tinker with things. Could this be you? :-)

The length of time you’ll need for assembling your kit all depends on your experience and dedication to completing the project. But don’t think that you’ll be able to assemble the entire thing in one sitting.

Even the most experienced hobbyist will need to stop and come back to it every so often.

On the other hand, fully assembled RTR rc cars are beneficial to racers who simply want to get right to the fun. Most of these cars are ready to go right out of the box.

Some RTR cars will require you to install the receiver in the body of the vehicle, although this is fairly straight forward.

After you have decided how much assembly you're willing to face, you need to choose the purpose for your hobby. Simply driving the car around, or racing against other hobbyists.

If your goal is to race your gas powered rc car, you may want to look further into some of the more expensive cars. That's because these cars have all the advanced features you'll need to perform well on all kinds of surfaces. See you at the finish line!