What is the difference between "hobby" and "professional" RC cars?

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Aflan

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Arrma RC's
  1. Mojave
Hello all,

I recently had a discussion about the Arrma Kraton, I am rebuilding, in comparison to a Redcat RC car...Don't ask me which one, I don't remember...:oops:
Anyway, the bottom line was that this guy said the Kraton was rubbish/hobby-poop and his Redcat was a "professional, uber great, the best, etc" grade RC car ...:sour:
I pointed out to him that I didn't see much difference between the two cars in question...Even when I measured/compared some stuff out, like thickness, shock sizes, ESC, etc, he still stuck with his opinion...:rolleyes:
I am fine with that by the way, but.......:cool:
Could somebody give a definition about Hobby/Professional RC's?...So I understand it...:bucktooth:

Thx in advance for the answer...

Groetjes, Erik
aka Aflan
 
Anyway, the bottom line was that this guy said the Kraton was rubbish/hobby-poop and his Redcat was a "professional, uber great, the best, etc" grade RC car
I think your guy is gone nuts and I can say that with confidence as I run both this site and https://redcatrampageforum.com/ so I'm very familiar with both brands. Redcat was very much a beginner RC and even cloned some of their RC's off of other brands. Redcat has been well known for using sub-standard parts - mostly their plastics being very brittle and their cheap 1/5th scale engines being pretty rubbish as well.

They have come a long ways and their parts are much better. I'm still not to keen on their 1/5th scale engines but Redcat is improving. At the end of the day these are all just toys and so long as you're still enjoying your toys it really doesn't matter.
 
Thx @WoodiE :But that still doesn't really answer my question...What does make something a "hobby-RC" and what a "Professional RC"?...

PS. Indeed the guy was dry prune...And now for real with this Info...I will eat him up next time I see him...:sour:
 
Nothing. They are the same but like Superfries said he's probably considering his professional grade because he makes money off his by getting sponsored and winning races. My 2 cents anyways.
 
.What does make something a "hobby-RC" and what a "Professional RC"?
They are one in the same essentially. The biggest difference between RC's would be "hobby grade" and "toy grade". The stuff you could get at Radio Shack, Wal-mart, Toys R Us - those are toy grade. They typically have a very short life span and once you break them you throw them out.

Hobby / Pro grade RC's are the stuff you're using right now. These are far more superior in every aspect really. Sure there can be huge differences between one hobby grade RC from the next. Example an ECX Barrage compared to a custom built rock crawler, or a Traxxas car compared to XRAY cars. If I was racing buggies "professionally" I'd probably pick a Team Associated or Team Losi buggy myself just because of their incredible track record.

To sum it up in as simple as possible, @Superfries pretty much hit the nail on the head. When you start making money from your car is when you and your RC become professional. :D I don't follow racing a lot but from the results I've seen I don't recall seeing any Redcat RC's winning any major RC events... then again to be fair I haven't seen many Arrma either. Like I said before, so long as you enjoy them who cares!
 
@WoodiE :Thanks for your answer...Oh mighty Jedi master...;)
That's about what I figured, just really annoyed me that he was "dissing" my, and other RC cars, and I wasn't able to give him a good reply...o_O
Something that doesn't happen very often to me...:banghead:
Thanks again for your answer Woodie...And you guys are all right, I am going to have fun bashing!...:D

Groetjes,
Erik
aka Aflan
 
PRO can mean a lot of things. One thing I see is "pro staff". Most people see this and think Professional, but for hobby grade stuff, that Pro-staff driver is Promotional, not professional. So those pro-staff guys at your track are "pro" because they agreed to promote the brand that supports them (usually for a factory discount), not because they make money.

And to put a finer point on Woodies toy vs hobby - to me, there is a third category- racer. If you look at Losi RTR vs TLR, you can see this difference. The Losi 8ight RTR is hobby grade, the TLR 8ight is race grade. Same car design, but big difference in materials and quality.

HOWEVER, back to the OP, Redcat seems to me to be hobby-grade leaning towards toyish. Arrma is solid hobby grade. IMHO, of course. =)
 
I don't care much about handling because i don't race. So this is my theory about rc cars:

If it breaks the first 10 minutes it's a toy. If it breaks within the first 4 lipo packs it's hobby grade. If it survives at least 10 packs it's a professional bashing machine!
And voilà, that's exactly where Arrma steps in.
So from now on we are professional bashers, beat that!! :D
 
Pro grade car means professional driver can get an advantege over non professional with it. Advantage is achieved by correctly tuning suspension/engine/motor.
So... if car has means of adjusting it's suspension geometry/motor behavior - it is a PRO grade RC. If there is no means to alter stock factory setup - hobby grade RC(nothing to setup = full proof).
PRO/hobby has nothing to do with parts durability, as PRO RCs are break, and hobby grade RCs break too(however bashing puts a lot more strain to the RCs than racing does.)
 
Maxys pretty much has it. Ease of tuning, tuning options, with a bit of upgrade parts. You want steering to be very precise so you generally get parts with less flex. You use your own radio so that tends to be a notch up as well as servos.

I don't think Redcat qualifies though. And if you're going to your same home track over and over again, you probably don't need to be able to tune nearly as much. You know the track. you've worked on your car just to run that track. Over time you should be very very competitive on that track. The issue is when you go to another track. If that track is out doors and conditions change can you adapt as quickly.

Also as someone else mentioned, the big split is hobby to toy.
 
Hello all,


Anyway, the bottom line was that this guy said the Kraton was rubbish/hobby-poop and his Redcat was a "professional, uber great, the best, etc" grade RC car ...:sour:
I pointed out to him that I didn't see much difference between the two cars in question...Even when I measured/compared some stuff out, like thickness, shock sizes, ESC, etc, he still stuck with his opinion...:rolleyes:
This part here made me face-palm. Redcat doesn't even make their own cars, the only models they have that are worth anything in my opinion are the Team Redcat vehicles that are made by Team Magic.
 
My lhs is guilty of pushing red cat on new people and parents buying their kid a present. The owner is solely in it for money and the mark up on red cat gives him alot More profit than even Traxxas. I was in the shop trying to look at the Nero and the outcast and an employee tried to show me a red cat that was "just as good". Stamped shock towers, label-less electronics, and cheap brittle platic really doesn't feel "just as good to me". Sorry to rant but your guy is an idiot and you have a superior rc
 
There are toys, there is hobby-grade, and there is racing stuff. Note that racing doesn't mean its stronger, just means it has the right components to be competitive, and come as a kit so you get to choose your own electroncis, tires etc. Could be a thinner but ligher chassis, could be carbon fibre shock towers, whatever. Some even advertise lighter paint for the thinner bodies.
Also, redcat is... not that great.
 
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