[Jeff Higgins]

My now 13 year old son and I have been racing RC cars for years. We don't run the 4x4 trucks like your neighbors; we run on-road cars. The RC world is divided between on and off road racing, as are real cars. Within those two arenas, there are two broad catagories: gas and electric. We run electric indoors on a carpeted track and gas outdoors on pavement. The currently most popular classes are the 1/10 scale touring cars, meant to represent their full-scale counterparts. If you want to race, start with an electric 1/10 scale touring car if you can. The gas cars are very tempting and a lot of RC novices start with them, but avoid them if you are just starting. Maintanence is a bigger deal and they break more because they hit things harder. There are very good electric monster trucks, if that is where you want to start. The Traxxas E-Max electric (or T-Maxx gas if you really want one) are the standards by which others are measured. If you want to race, your choice of class will be influenced by what is actually raced in your area, i.e., if you want to run on-road but there are no tracks locally, you won't be able to race. Check with a local hobby shop that specializes in RC cars and ask where the local racing is. 1/10th scale touring is by far the most popular on-road class right now, so assuming there is a local track, go and see what they are running. Local parts support is a huge consideration. You will break a lot of parts. Mail order for some off-brand of parts just don't cut it when you need it before the next heat. You will probably find the racers are running Associated TC3's, Losi XXX's, X-Ray's, or some kind of Tamiya cars. My son and I run Associated exclusively. They are more than competitive and parts support is superb. And yes, they do haul the mail. On the indoor track, speeds approaching 40mph on the backstretch are common. My Nitro TC3, complete with two-speed tranny and a .12 ci engine that spools up to just over 35,000 (yes, thirty five thousand) rpm, will top 60 on a big enough track. Open class 1/8th scale Can-Am style cars, running unrestricted .21's (over 40,000 rpm) will push 75 -80 mph on a big track. Not for the faint of heart, and certainly no place to get started. Anyway, decide what you would like to do - race or not, on or off road, gas or electric. Check with the locals and see what's popular and supported. I can't stress that last point enough.