Garrick turned 11. I got him a big-boy's sized RC car, though it's important to note that it's a kids toy, not a hobby RC (big boy's) car. There's a BIG difference.
It looks like a big boy's car
And Garrick absolutely loves it.
It even manages tiny jumps.
But dad had a big-boy's RC car when he was growing up, and just plain felt bad about the toy-sized power...so while the boy was in bed, Dad got to work.
The supplied battery is a 7.2V, 600 maH NiCad cell. Absolute RUBBISH. There's space for x8 standard AA's in the car, so I mocked up a battery pack from some 3mm plywood, and made sure everything would fit cleanly inside the car. I even had the correct battery terminal from an old RC car of my own from ~20+yrs ago.
I was going to wire up my plywood battery holder, but ultimately bought a x10 cell battery holder from JayCar for a couple bucks, cut it down to hold x8 cells, and soldered on some heavy wire to the terminals. The car now has an awesome ~10.5V, 2400maH battery pack!!! The difference is outstanding. This car went from a fairly ordinary toy, right into big-boy's RC car territory with a really basic upgrade. MOAR POWAR!!! :D It's super fun to play with now, even for Dad. Burnouts, slides, spinning wheels, crashes... Can't wait for Garrick to see what I've done to it. :D
