It is possible (relatively cheaply and easily) to upgrade the brushed version to brushless and lipo at a later date. In fact you can fit significantly better motors and batteries than the ones supplied in the brushless kit. So starting brushed and upgrading later would produce the best overall version, though at slightly more total cost than just buying the brushless one from the start.

The problem you have is a ton of unknown factors such as rolling resistance, aerodynamics (which become quite dominant at high speeds), drivertrain losses etc. It's pretty hard to determine what gearing you need to get each of those motors to the 60% max rotational speed sweet spot. As a general recommendation on here you will find people favouring a lower Kv motor (i.e higher torque) to give the most gearing flexibility. Are there many general build quality differences between the two models, or is it just the difference between the brushed/less motors? The term is now applied to a wider selection of off-road vehicles including four-wheel-drive models (normally identified by matching wide front tyres front and rear). Why buy one?It does feel a little on the cheap plastic side. I'm sure its fit for purpose but you wouldn't pay more than a tenner for it. This is my first lipo car, so the charger is new to me. It has 2 slots and therefore is calable of 2 or 3s charging. The whole kit comes with a lipo bag (as per the discription) As with other Traxxas models, you can expect high quality throughout, right down to the radio. Unlike many of the models here, Traxxas bundle a nice ergonomic TQi ‘Top qualifier’ transmitter which offers fantastic range, control and comfort. The VXL brushless ESC will take a 3S Lipo punching the little buggy over 45mph. With the right pinion and spur, Traxxas claim this thing can hit 70mph! As such we are glad for that wheelie bar. They aren't strong models, can break easily when bashed about but for the money and affordability of spares you can't grumble, don't forget also the Vantage is a buggy, it has agility in mind, not strength and the Carnage is based off this design too. Get ready for some serious off road buggy action with the Brushless Edition FTX Vantage. Taking RTR styling to a competition level, the Vantage brushless boasts some amazing features for the ultimate ‘Ready-to-Run experience.

I suppose I could always just buy another Vantage and completely disassemble it and rebuild, use it to learn on - I suppose that wouldn't allow for upgrading though. My first thoughts were to get a car we can build together, as an exciting step up from lego and a bit of bonding etc. Is that something you would recommend for beginners, or am I better off getting a ready to run car like the FTX and learning to maintain and upgrade it as we break stuff ? Having a ready runner has obvious appeal... I cant say its a bad buggy, its definately feisty and responsive but I havent had a positive experience, and I dont use it anymore because I know something will break lol.Standard brushless motor is pretty good imho but you will need a heatsink for 3S (easy cheap addition). ESC is junk so go for a Hobbywing Quicrun WP-10BL60 BL or a EZrun Max10 SCT if you can get it to fit. Etronix provide crystal free 2.4ghz control with the EX2 Sport radio. In addition the Etronix Photon sensorless brushless system is installed to provide some low maintenance, high performance speed and power. As of the latest revision of this article, we feel it is a toss-up between Arrma RC’s Typhon Mega (this thing is huge, over half a meter long) and FTX’s Outlaw Ultra-4 brushless buggy. The former offers a frankly massive buggy for the money, whilst the later (which is arguably less of a buggy with its mid mounted motor) offers the best balance between performance/strength/flexibility. Where can I buy an RC buggy? I've just seen the Vandal on hobby king, it seems to be about the same price as the Vantage, but without a battery so there doesn't seem to be anything to be gained really. Its a cheap plastic flap ( which will break) with twist knob trims and a full rev/norm throttle and steering switch.

There's good scope to upgrade the Vantage and although within 10 minutes its off the road, I'm not unhappy with it.

9. BSD Racing Prime Baja V3

This model has been a runaway hit this Christmas and its easy to see why. Marketed as a 1/8th scale buggy, this model is a staggering 51cm long and 30cm wide. Ready-to-run complete with battery, charger and receiver, all you need are 4xAA batteries to get driving. The Vantage was FTX’s first move into Ready-To-Run RC models and has continued to be one of the most popular in the range ever since.