Or...
You can go up the scale a little bit, here are a few suggestions:
1/43rd Scale
Epochs. They're 1/43rd scale FULLY Digital Proportional control cars! You can just pop the crystal out of the cheesy Transmitter that comes with it and pop it right into a better 2channel AM Transmitter for better control/options!
The
Epoch1-32.com site is a Brother (or Sister, whatever way you want to call it) site to TinyRC and has lots of info about this Scale.
I've got 2 myself, and I'm baffled as to why these cars never took off in popularity. I can only imagine it's due to complete lack of any marketing by the Manufacturer to let people know about it...Sidenote, make sure you get the Spec-2 (2nd generation) setup if you buy! The Spec-1 was much lower quality!
1/28th Scale
I wasn't the biggest fan of the XMods when they first came out, but RadioShack released the 2nd generation (dubbed "Evolution" series) and these things are MUCH better! I bought the Hummer Evolution Truck and put all kinds of upgrades on it (upgrades for the Xmods are available at any RadioShack which makes things nice and easy, not to mention the upgrades are fairly cheap too (vs. other manufacturers where you have to go to a Hobby store or online for).
I also bought an XMods Evolution Mitsu Lancer EvoVIII and man I'm IMPRESSED with it! The turning radius is TIGHT, the handling is decent and the speed (stock) was pretty good! A buddy of mine came over last night and we went to the Tennis Courts in my complex and I was running my stock EvoVIII (well, not totally stock, I put the Ball Bearing updgrade in it) and it was doing pretty well against his totally hopped-up Mini-Z! Imagine that, my $30 Xmods (The EvoVIII is on sale for $39.99, and I had a $10 coupon) was holding up against his $400+ hopped-up Mini-Z!
Xmods (The Evolution series) are fun, cheap and have lots of options. I have no problem recommending them!
1/24th Scale
Here we have the Mini-Z by Kyosho. They've been around for I don't know how long, but there's all kinds of options available for it and you need to be at this scale (or larger) to start finding people that are SERIOUS about the hobby (everything else smaller seems to be more of a "toy" to people).
I've got 2 of the older car series (Honda S2000 and Subaru Imprezza WRC) and an Overland (Truck series). They're great cars/trucks, they're true Digital Proportional (the XMods is NOT fully digital proportional) with TONS of options and is considered a "serious" level where you can actually find competitions and track running at this class.
Check out our Sister/Brother/Daddy/Mommy (Whatever!) site at
Mini-Zracer.com for lots of info