Recommendations for My first Rc Boat. Geico or impulse V2 or ???

[Michael Chalkley]

hi all

my first post and just joined.
ive purchased a cheap £50 boat for my 5 year olds christmas present. it runs on nimh batteries and he should get a bit of fun from it before it packs up or sinks.

i also would like a boat and don't want a cheap slow thing but something i wont regret buying and wanting to sell after a couple of weeks. i live in uk so may be limited to what i can get my hands on.
ive looked at a few on you tube and spoke to a few model shops and it seems the Geico is the most sold because of its looks. Me personally i like the look of the impulse but i have just read reviews of burn outs on the esc from running to higher lipo's.
i dont know much about lipo batteries. the last time i had an Rc was a traxxas T-Maxx which ran on nimh's. Never herd of lipo's until yesterday.

any suggestions would be grateful.

[TheShaughnessy]

Go with the impulse on 4s lipo. I have a few geico boats, I like them but they can be a little finicky trying to get them to not porpoise. You like the way the impulse looks so I would go that route.

[skeeler]

I considered the Impulse 31 V2, and I ended up going with an AquaCraft Revolt 30. I'm quite pleased with the purchase. The Revolt gives excellent value, especially since it is available in receiver-ready (Rx-R) for (in addition to RTR). Given that the I31 often burns out on 5S or 5S, both the I31 and R30 are functionally 4S boats; and the Revolt can be found for much less, at least in the States. It also comes if 4 color choices. I'm not sure what the availability is in the UK, but I suggest cross-shopping that with the Impulse.

As for the Miss Geico, catamarans are more difficult to tune than mono-hulls. For your first boat, a mono makes the most sense, in my opinion.

[BHChieftain]

Hi,
The fun thing about boats is that every hull handles completely different-- you'll probably end up with more than one...
The Mono hull is the most versatile-- runs in wind and chop no problem. It is also the easiest to set up. It "carves" out turns. The cats are faster, and drifts more in the turns, but they do not like wind and can blow over if not set up right. Takes more tuning on the strut and COG to run correctly.

I'd recommend the mono for the first boat since you can run it pretty much anywhere and in any condition.

Impulse31 and Revolt30 are, IMHO, identical boats in terms of quality and capability. With stock components they are 4S boats DESPITE what Horizon hobby says about the impluse-- the impluse has a new "6S" ESC. It is technically rated for 6s voltage (22.2V), but it is only 80A, which is not enough amp headroom for a fast 6S setup. Meaning, you can only run it on a small prop, slow 6S setup, so what's the point... plus, both the Revolt and Impluse have 1800kv motors which would result in too many RPMs for a reliable 6s setup (you want 1500kv motor for 6s).

On the other hand, the 60a esc on the revolt (and most other aquacraft boats that size) is a workhorse-- I use it on my p-limited racing boats on 4s. Both escs are very water resistant and mine have survived several complete submersions.

You can get both boats close to 50mph on 4s with stock electronics (recommend upgrading connectors however) and the right prop.

So between the impluse and revolt, just pick the hull you like better-- really you can't go wrong with any of the boats OSE offers (buy from here first to support the forum).

I have setup/running guides for the Impluse, Revolt, and also Miss Geico (which has pictures of a strut mod needed to get the bounce out), send me an email if you want a copy.

[email protected]

Chief

[lenny]

I would say if you are looking for a nice size boat that is built strong and will last,
Go for a Pursuit mono hull that you will love to run and mod as you learn about FE.
PursuitOnWater_zps849611f4.jpgPursuit 004.jpgDSCN3227.jpgDSCN3236.jpg




The other rtr boats are ok but not built strong to last out of the box.