Should You Buy an RTR Remote Control Truck or a Non-RTR RC?
One choice for RC hobbyists to make is whether to buy an RTR or a non-RTR vehicle. RTR, or ready to run, refers to cars that are pre-assembled and can be operated after fuel is added or batteries are charged. Non-RTR vehicles are remote controlled cars that have to be assembled, either from kits or from acquired parts. Deciding on an RTR or a non-RTR vehicle depends on your time, experience level, and budget.
If you're an RC beginner or a person making the transition from toy-grade to hobby-grade vehicle, purchasing an RTR truck can ease you into the world of hobby trucks. One of the primary attractions to buying an RTR truck is that it provided almost instant satisfaction. In less than an hour after purchasing the truck, you can be off and running with your new RC vehicle. There's no assembly required and no maintenance to do out of the box. The only thing you need to do is put in the batteries and/or the fuel. Also, most of the time there are no additional costs accrued up front at the time of purchase. You will not need any tools or any special equipment. You may have to purchase some batteries for the remote control, but some companies even include those. One negative concerning RTR trucks is that they can cost more since the assembly has been done for you at the factory. Another con to buying an RTR truck is that there may be manufacturing and assembly defects, which may cause your truck to malfunction or break down soon after your purchase. Perhaps the most important reason for not buying an RTR car is that it robs you of the fun, satisfaction, and knowledge gained from piecing a vehicle together.
Non-RTR cars can be bought in the form of kits or pieced together from an amalgamation of spare parts. Non-RTR cars offer the owner a wide variety of customization and personalization options. You can paint the body how you please and use the parts of your choosing. With RTR vehicles, you are stuck with the parts that the factory installs. By assembling the vehicle yourself, you can choose to upgrade any component that you wish. Maybe you want a more powerful engine. Or perhaps you want better suspension. Building the vehicle from scratch will allow you to make all these changes. In addition, building a car from parts is a valuable learning experience. By building your own car or truck, you will gain an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of all the components of the vehicle. Armed with this knowledge and experience, you will have the confidence to diagnose and repair your own problems should they occur in the future. Finally, from a purely emotional standpoint, building something from a pile of parts to a fully working RC car or truck can be very rewarding and satisfying. Non-RTR kits require a lot of time though. This can be tough for someone with a limited schedule. Also, in a lot of cases, there are many costs in addition to the kit itself. Often an owner has to buy fuel, tools, a radio control system, tires, paint, and a host of other supplementary items needed to produce a completed model.
While buying an RTR RC truck may provide instant satisfaction, serious RC hobbyists should consider purchasing non-RTR kits. The wealth of knowledge and amount of satisfaction gained from building these kits from scratch will arm an RC enthusiast with invaluable experience.
