With the Blade MCX buzzing around the house Kim mentioned that she had felt deprived one christmas long ago. It seems that her brothers got radio control trucks and she didn’t. I tried to make it up to her by giving her a r/c car for Christmas. Based on lots of information on the Internet, I chose a Traxxas Stampede for her. The Stampede came ready to run (just add batteries and charger), and has a reputation as a rugged and fun backyard basher. The monster truck format has the advantage of running well on the sometimes unkempt lawn in the backyard or local schoolyard; as well as being somewhat more rugged.
Since I didn’t want her to have no one to race, I picked up a Team Associated RC10B4 buggy for myself. As a kid I had wanted a cool, radio control, off-road buggy, but never got around to spending paper route money to actually buy one. At the time the Team Associated RC10 was the winningest rig around. Since Kim’s gift was fulfilling a childhood regret, I chose to fulfill my own and picked up the modern day iteration of the RC10. The buggy format runs faster than a monster truck all other things being equal, especially running on the street in front of the house or a dirt track.
The first time we used our cars, Kim ran over my buggy (and flipped it) — twice. Twice! She enjoyed that a little too much. We’ve had a few chances to run the cars since then, and have had loads of fun. I’ve replaced the right side control arm and shock cap after clipping a curb going almost 20mph. Lately I’ve started improving my car’s setup — Kim has got to catch me to flip me!