RedCat, sell me

[jason]

I have seen the threads of people bickering back and forth, I am not interested in that.

I want to hear from the guys that have them, what is good about them? What is bad about them? Why do you like it?

Anyone compete with one at any of the larger comps? How'd it do?

The redcat rs is one of the VERY few crawlers I haven't owned as of yet...

[jsowens]

The good:
-affordable for guys on low budgets
-you can mod them fairly heavily and still keep the cost low
-very capable with a few mods
-a lot of existing aftermarket parts fit
-pretty sturdy rigs, some guys have broken parts, but in a year of owning my RS10, I've bashed the thing pretty well and have yet to actually break a part.

The bad:
-plastic gears
-still relatively new so dedicated aftermarket is in it's early stages
-a lot of the stock parts kinda suck, such as the tires and motors
-the "bat wing" on the axles is kinda pointless

I'll add more to this as I think of things. As far as my thoughts...I bought the RS10 last year as a newcomer to the hobby. Up until that point I had never driven a crawler on the rocks and didn't know if I would even like crawling so I kept the cost low. Once I started learning more about crawlers and crawling in general I started doing little mods here and there and now the only stock pieces on my entire crawler are the axles themselves.

I think the big reason there's a lot of negativity surrounding these crawlers is due to them being a low cost, entry level crawler. Personally though, I think if someone buys a redcat with the attitude that it's a good crawler for beginners and not gonna be as good as one of the proven, better manufactured crawlers they won't be disappointed. In a year, I've never been disappointed in my crawler...it's done exactly what I wanted it to do and if it doesn't, I modify it until it does. I've never ran it in comps, but just crawling with my buddies and at get togethers it does a pretty reasonable job at keeping up with creepers and ax-10's. Bottom line is...it's a good beginner rig to introduce someone to the hobby, it's capable, fun, easy to mod and work on...however, it's not an out of the box comp rig and shouldn't be treated as such. I'm happy with it.

[firefighter404]

They have there ups an downs just like everything else does. They are a cheap crawler to start out with and upgrade with. I have comp mine and it does ok i need to learn to tune it right and it would be better. I have currently done a lot to it as in moved the shocks to the axles using brackets i made to move them. New motors cause the stock motors have no go. New Tires are a must i have the rovers and ten ounces in the front and 6 ounces in the rear. I mean you mod the axial as well and it cost you more then this does so why not get something cheaper to mod. The Axles are ok have not had any problems with them as long as you have the gears meshed right.

I look at redcat this way, what was traxxas and al the other companies veiwed when they first came out. They were veiwed the same way as rdcat was so in my opinion give anyting a change just because its cheap dont right it off, the cheap part is a plus fr your wallet right.

[major94]

I crawl with the nebraska cralwer guys. Now I nust say it is like crawlin with pros. The courses are alwways tough, but they arent impossible, just by most.

What im getting at is I usually finish last. or close to it. I am the only one with an rs10, I do get help from the guys who are really good at this, and still dont do well. Im gettin ready to wither give up on crawling, or the rs10,

By bro, crawled for the frist time yesterday with a venom, and did well. I still sucked it up.


I would say get a real crawler. MAybe a used axial for abou the same as a new rs10.

My $0.02

[camobob]

I took my cat to 3 comps , finished 2nd to last two times and last one time. I was up against alot of lcc and bergs .And this was at Hobby towns course where these guys practice all the time. I pointed out mostly because of touches (vehicle hitting me) and I hit a few gates. I can do anything my nieghbors Losi can do plus some. We have the same experiance level crawling. Im selling my crawler because of lack of people to run with not to buy another crawler. Well maybe a rustler

[major94]

Yeah down here most people run the lcc with the eritex moa (thats because the eritex guy crawls with us and sets up our tough courses). We crawl all over, places that havent been seen by most of the members and they still do well. I think they are pros. We do have a few axials and bergs, two venoms, and one hot bodies I think. I still lose. I may borrow one of their extra trucks, and see how well I do.

[adale4130]

Well, I think one reason they have a bad rap is because it's a redcat. We all know redcat doesn't have the best reputation for being high quality. As with all crawlers, with some mods, it's very capable.

I don't own one, but I'm good friends with jsowens. I've been around him and his rig long enough to know just how capable one of these can be. I have a very modified creeper that performs 100% better than it did stock, we run with others with ax-10's, and his rs-10 keeps up and out performs in certain situations.

Stock, the rs-10 is a good beginner rig, but probably won't win any comps. Get creative and put a little time and work into it, and I think you would be surprised what this rig can do. My opinion is, this is a very good, low budget, capable platform to learn, build, and get familiar with crawling and have fun doing it.

All the rs-10 trash talkers probably have never seen/ran one of these. I would probably be one of these trash talkers if I hadn't ran one of these myself.

[crawlhog]

I did a few mods, dropped a little cash on it ,I abuse it more than my other crawler and i,m very surprised how well it holds up. After using it almost daily nothing has broken & I and my son who also uses it are very happy with it.

[dgna5]

Like everyone else said its low budget and fun as hell esp. if you like to fab. ur own parts etc. I have had every config. xcept Stick.. I like it because I kan build my own parts and beat the sh!t out of it and not worry about how much i am out. I actually tore up some scorps. and a berg.. BUT the pilots were little spoiled pricks that paid the most they could and had some stupid excuse every-time his rig sucked.
I am gonna try a comp. soon but i have to travel 140miles to get there?? but I love the underdogs and crawl everyday on stupid shit to FEEL my rig.
So If i screw up at the comp. I can study if it was my sh!tty driving or the Dime..
but for $250 total.. No Loss u NO>>>>>>>>

[jason]

Originally Posted by major94

I would say get a real crawler. MAybe a used axial for abou the same as a new rs10.

I think at last count I had 6 axials, 2 bergs, 2 losi's, a rock force, a venom, 2 nylints, 3 wheely kings, ect.

The point isn't to go out and get a rig, I have plenty of them.

I am trying to figure out if I need a redcat.

[smokediver]

I just got one in trade "will be getting it from P.O. tomorrow". I have always wondered about the redcat I also have an AX10. I really wanted a crawler for my kids and this was a great way to both try RS10 and get my kids a crawler. I will post my feelings between the two in a couple of days

[major94]

Originally Posted by jason

I think at last count I had 6 axials, 2 bergs, 2 losi's, a rock force, a venom, 2 nylints, 3 wheely kings, ect.

The point isn't to go out and get a rig, I have plenty of them.

I am trying to figure out if I need a redcat.

Well with that fleet I dont think I would waste any money or time. If you are just getting one to play with, cool. I dont think they are really comp worthy. At least not in nebraska. They are pros here. You need to have 1500$ in you rig to be top of the class every week.

My truck has earned the name "deadcat" because it is always last and worst. I must say its not making a very good showing here. I even let other guys play with it, and they dont like it. So idk if you want to try one, go for it. But is its your first comp rig (I know its now) go elswhere.

[eggie]

I like mine. It is my first crawler though and haven't tried others.

I don't bash mine either. I pretty much just cruise a course. If I get hung up, I'll back up and try another line.

I'd probably need to compare mine side by side with another brand. Then try the other brand and see if I notice a difference in rigs. This way i know the driving style will be the same.

To bad you can't find someone near you who has one. Since you have experience with other rigs, you could tune the rs10 to your liking and then test it.

my 2 cents

[talon0713]

well im pretty happy with mine right now im still in the test and tune phase but its working really well and as the days go on there is better and better stuff coming available for them. i know theres word of metal gear option coming, as well zno has some pretty good product for them and with a little moding and tuning they are pretty capable i have watched a few ax-10's run and i got my rs10 i ran some of the same lines they had a hard time with and walked right through them with ease but alot of it is based on driver ability as well and with me already being a 1:1 crawler person i know how to pick out a good line to get up something so im picking up pretty fast on the driving end of it now im just doing trial and error on suspension tuning and tire tuning. my thought is with the right time and mods they are perfectly capable of comping. the guys at zno ran a local comp against some axials and bullys and night crawlers and placed 2nd so yeah theres guys starting to comp em.

[talon0713]

oh also i know theres some guys from redcat working on a build for a comp style rs10 as well so they are starting to dip there fingers into the big time so im sure there is a bright future for the rs10's.

[jwo]

im more then pleased with mine. its no berg or bully for sure. i built mine. found some axles for sale on the net. built from there. they are very capable. the big down fall is the plastic gears and 380 motors. im running some 390 12v banebots. work very well but power is still not there. im just hoping to get on here one of these days to see that redcat has the gears for us. mine will def. go more places then my axial ever would. before i went threw with this build i was looking at the cliffy. well after some digging and research the redcat was the much better choice getting into moa's to see why they are so much better. moa's the only way im going from here on out. if no gears are produced ill mod my axles for 540's run em til the gears let go and buy some bully axles for it. wilth the amount of comp worthy rigs you have jason. i would just stick with them. unless you have some one you to let us without the worry of something happening to it. i know what bergs are capable of but the redcat wont keep up with it. it will surprise you though. all in all these need metal gears and bigger motors to compete with the rest at the same level, along with the regular goodies.

[Dabandit1]

Its like a personal challenge to be the first to win a local comp with a redcat save your money you have enough toys already

[talon0713]

well as far as brushed 380 motors im not too sure how they are but im runing a dual mongoose setup and to me its almost too much for me at first but im starting to get the hang of the power so if you spend the money on that its a great fix for the under powered issue. but sense you do have the more race ready rigs i really wouldnt waist your time on the build. i mean unless you got some crazy reason to blow some money and have something new to build then i would say stick with what works already.

[jason]

Originally Posted by talon0713

its working really well

have you owned any other crawlers to compare it to?

[firefighter404]

hey jason were do u live i live in lakewood colorado if ur in colorado i will let u run mine and u can judge for ur self if you like it or not