💬 Hobby Grade
A vehicle designed to be repaired and upgraded, with individual replacement parts available — as opposed to a sealed "toy grade" model.
This is the single most useful distinction for a beginner. Hobby grade normally means proportional steering and throttle, standard-size electronics and a parts diagram; toy grade usually means that when it breaks, it is finished.
What it actually does
Hobby-grade means a model built to be repaired and upgraded, with spare parts available and standard components inside. Toy-grade means sealed, proprietary and effectively disposable. It is the single most useful distinction for anyone buying their first RC.
In practice
The practical markers of hobby grade are a published parts diagram, spares you can order individually, and standard electronics — a real ESC, a replaceable servo, a proper connector. If a broken part means a new model, it was toy grade.
Worth knowing
Price is not a reliable indicator on its own. Ask whether you can buy a replacement front arm for it — that question sorts the two categories faster than any spec sheet.
Related terms
What a free account actually does
RC Crash Crew remembers your RC so you don't have to. Every run, every battery cycle, every breakage and every fix — kept with the rig it happened to, for as long as you own it. No cost, no advert, no catch.
🏎️ Your garage — the part that works on day one
Build each rig properly: what motor, what ESC, what gearing, what tires. Then keep its whole history in one place.
- Run log — where, how long, how it went
- Battery health — cycles, puffing, when to retire it
- Component hours — what is worn out before it fails
- Setup sheets you can copy between rigs
- Radios and model memory
- Photos, kept with the rig
🔧 When it breaks — and it will
The bit people actually search for at 9pm with a broken car on the bench.
- Crash Bay — log the damage, see what other people broke
- Repair Desk — what you did, and whether it held
- Tune — symptom in, fix out, by chassis type
- RC AI that can see your own rigs and answer about them
📍 Where to run, and what is near you
Tracks, bash spots and hobby shops, on a map, across 28 countries.
- 505 run spots
- 370 hobby shops
- Race nights and events
- Add the ones we are missing — most towns are still blank
📚 Learn it properly, free, no sign-up needed
559 things explained — and none of it is a two-line stub.
- 42 full guides, averaging 1 500 words each
- 466 glossary terms
- A wiki any trusted member can correct
- 195 models and 142 parts on file
Straight with you: the site is new and the crew is small. The tools, the guides, the map and the 505 run spots are all here and working today — the people are what is still missing. If you want a garage that remembers everything, it works from your first run. If you want a busy forum, come back later, or be one of the reasons it gets busy.