Fast RC Car

So your new to RC cars and just want something fast for a reasonable price? This page can give you some basic tip on how to reach that goal. This is by no means a guide to build a legal racing RC car. I am by no means an expert and this is meant for someone with a casual interest who just needs some help getting started.

Having no experience with RCs and no real idea what I was doing, I started out with a RTR kit. If you shop around you can find a 1/10 RTR kit for under 200 dollars. This will include the servos, car, body, remote, glow plug igniter, and crystals. With this just add fuel and batteries, and your off and racing. So now you have a car that does 40-45 mph, but you still want more? Once you feel comfortable tuning an engine, its time to upgrade to something bigger. I went with a toki .18 engine. To make it fit some modifications are required. The pilot shaft nut had to be changed to one that would accept a SG crank. It also needed to be drilled and tapped to fit the larger toki shaft. For the toki crank the size was 1/4x28. Using a number 3 bit you can drill out the pilot shaft nut then re cut new threads with a tap. All the engine mounting points for this engine are the same as the stock .12 engine. With any new engine be sure to follow the break in instructions provided.

The only issue I had getting started was with the glow plugs. The igniter I had was unable to provide enough amps to start the car. The glow plugs when working correctly will glow hence their name. Smoke, heat, or anything else short of bright orange is a sure sign your car will not start. I suggest you invest in a good igniter as the ones that come with the RTR kits are often too weak provide enough current. Show

For a little under 300 dollars you should be able to buy a RTR kit, new engine, tuned exhaust pipe, 20% nitro fuel, and a new igniter. With that combo speeds over 65mph are well within reach. While not a race ready RC, you will have a great learning tool that can provide hours of parking lot fun.

Toys For The Big Boys

They say that boys will be boys and although that can be a very subjective generalization, the evolution of boy's toys into a hobby for grown men can attest to the fact that some boys never grow up-at least in terms of their toy cars.

RC (radio controlled) cars is the general term for any car model that uses a radio control system for remote management. However, there are two types of RC cars: the toy grade, which was designed for young boys; and the hobby grade which is the choice of adolescent boys and men of all ages.

The only similarity between the toy and hobby grade RC cars is that they are both models of land vehicles that are used via remote radio control system. The main difference in the two types of models however is that the toy grade one is just a bunch molded plastic that resembles the look of a miniature car, while the hobby grade types are actual miniature models of vehicles that come with individual parts assembled much like a real, full sized car. In fact, hobby grade RC cars are treated exactly like real cars because it requires regular maintenance and run on actual miniature car engines.

Some hobby grade RC cars run on electrically propelled machines while the rest run on gas powered engines. The complexity of hobby grade RC cars is probably the main attraction for men of all ages. That and the fact that hobby grade RC cars are made for racing that allow men to compete with each other using their personalized racing cars. An RC cars hobbyist will have to decide whether he wants a gas powered or electric powered vehicle. On both types of engines, there will be trade offs.

For instance, electric RC cars are generally lighter than their fuel powered counterparts. However, gas powered RC cars are faster than their electric counterparts. These trade offs are analyzed by the hobbyist in making his decision on which type of RC car to own. All these hobby grade RC cars come with complex parts that can be expanded and changed so that a hobbyist can own a gas powered car which he can change for an electric engine if he wants.

Because the RC cars are used for racing, they are fitted with extra powerful radio controlled systems that allow remote control from many distances. Not only that, since there are different terrain in which an RC car race can be held, there are also off-road models suited for all terrain racing because of their wheels and suspension.

Whether you have a electric RC car or gas powered rc cars, you can be assured that your car will need a lot of maintenance from repair and upgrading of car parts to cleaning and tuning to make sure that your race machine can hold its own out on the race track among other RC cars.

So you see, these RC cars are true toys for the bog boys. They are something that can be appreciated by grown ups in terms of complexity and ability for real races and it allows men to feel like boys again even for just a while.