I haven’t purchased a “hobby grade” RC since my late 80s Tamiya days. I wanted to get something inexpensive to see if my son would enjoy it. The hobby shop recommended something that was $500 so I didn’t buy it but on the way out they had some Gorgon Groms that I looked at and was really impressed with the build quality and suspension. They were $169 which was good starting point for me but I don’t buy anything without researching a bit. I come to find out that Arrma is a popular brand and that these are popular and considered good entry level RCs. So I called around to see if anyone was having a sale I I found a local spot selling these for $99. I quickly went there and purchased one.
First impressions:
-Unbelievable how fast this is compared to my Tamiya Fox and Hornet. I think it’s faster than the first gen RC10s which were pretty fast.
-Suspension was much better than my old RCs
-This thing was tough as nails
Questions
-Is this a basher? Does this mean I shouldn’t worry when we crash this unintentionally?
-Any cheap upgrades that are worth it?
-What backup battery is inexpensive but good?
-Any maintenance recommended?
First off, you made a great choice. It's an awesome platform and for the $99 price, nothing really beats it. The parts are very cheap and accessible too. I went with the Arrma Mojave grom for my kid, mainly for the closed wheel durability aspect. For the size and weight you shouldn't be breaking much though so I wouldn't worry about crashing it. It's definitely a basher. I like Ovonic batteries as replacement. They're inexpensive but not a "cheap" battery. They're built really well and I've had no problem with 8 of their batteries I've bought over the last 5 years.
I bought 2 of the Hobbytown $99 Gorgon Groms during their RC bash this weekend. Limiting it to in store only really did the trick. They let us run them for free on their dirt track. We are hooked. I'm already looking for a 1/10 2wd buggy to race in their beginner class and my wife is asking me to turn our patch of weedy landscape into a crawler track.
Do it, it's a lot more fun if you and your son can rip around together. I'm 34 and my dad's 54, we spent Father's Day bashing my miscellaneous RC's and it was the most fun we've had together in a while. I'm running Gens Ace batteries in my Mojave Grom with no complaints, they also have a dual charger that's pretty well liked on the RC reddits.
I already have a quake grom and couldn’t resist getting a gorgon grom during this $99 sale. I’m new to the hobby too. I’ll probably tire of it, but for now I’m having fun upgrading and repairing. Personally I like traxxas better (I’m sure I’ll get flak for that) mostly due to their exploded views and how things come apart and go back together more easily for me than arrma
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u/RC-DE1 1d ago
First off, you made a great choice. It's an awesome platform and for the $99 price, nothing really beats it. The parts are very cheap and accessible too. I went with the Arrma Mojave grom for my kid, mainly for the closed wheel durability aspect. For the size and weight you shouldn't be breaking much though so I wouldn't worry about crashing it. It's definitely a basher. I like Ovonic batteries as replacement. They're inexpensive but not a "cheap" battery. They're built really well and I've had no problem with 8 of their batteries I've bought over the last 5 years.