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GD_American
Jul 21, 2004

LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AS IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!
From all the interest in the pics thread, figured I'd start a thread for talking about R/C cars. I know sweet gently caress all about them, but I can definitely ask a question:

for around 200-300 dollars, can I reasonably get into the hobby? Would I just be buying an all-in-one kit from somewhere like Hobbytown USA at that price? What kind of performance can I expect for that? And what kind of recommendations can someone give? I'd love to have something 1/10 scale, with a nice normal car body.

Problem is I paint like a palsy victim, so it'd have to be a shell that can just drop on.

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angryhampster
Oct 21, 2005

In the same sense...what's the best I can do for under $200? Is there any way I could get a nitro car for under that much?

magic widget
Nov 16, 2006

by The Finn
I had a 2wd nitro stadium truck for a while, still do actually but I haven't used it in ages. I would look for am electric kit to start since you don't know much as you said, it will be much easier and you will learn more as you own and repair it. $200-300 should get you something decent. I find the HPI Racing kits have the nicest looking bodies if you want it to look as realistic as possible. Painting is easy since you use spray cans and tape generally.

GD_American
Jul 21, 2004

LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AS IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

magic widget posted:

Painting is easy since you use spray cans and tape generally.

yeah but do you have to be a wizard with an airbrush or shading to make it look nice? I mean, I can do one coat just like any redneck painting a late model, but it'd be really cool to have something...well realistic looking is the wrong word, but you know what I mean.

Also did that nitromethane shortage last year gently caress up the hobby much?

magic widget
Nov 16, 2006

by The Finn
I didn't really notice much of a shortage, and the price of the fuel was always expensive and never went up. I'm not much of a painter either though, and usually settled for solid colours, because the bodies just get messed up as soon as you put them on on off-road. The first body you paint yourself won't look great, but you can get good at it pretty quick.

Laserface
Dec 24, 2004

You cant realistically enjoy this hobby if you dont have a heap of spare cash laying around to repair all the poo poo that goes wrong for no reason. I spent thousands on it, however I was driving mine on a weekly basis and driving them to destruction (although not intentionally)

In my experience though, the bigger the vehicle, the more likely it is to break.

My nitros were constantly on the bench waiting for parts to come in or needing work, whereas my 1/18 scale electric (that was actually faster than the nitros) never broke once.

Electric/Brushless kits are, in my opinion, the best option if you want to get into the hobby. sure a small nitro engine is fun, but the finnickyness of them when tuning and the added dirt and cleanup due to the messy fuel just doesnt add up when you can spend the same on some lipo cells, a good charger and a RTR brushless car that is already faster than a well tuned nitro.

Theres a heap of good kits to choose from, it really depends on what type of terrain and style of driving your looking at doing that will choose what you buy.

Meathole
Jul 25, 2007
Boy's have penises and girls have vaginas
I was into the hobby for a few years and have spent way too much money. I've had buggys, stadium trucks, pan cars, and touring cars. My current car that I haven't messed with is a Team Associated NTC3 touring car which I promptly stuffed an OS .18 into. It'll do an honest 60 mph with stock gearing and is a blast. However, maintenance on the nitros sucks. I wish I would have gotten into the hobby more recently since lipos and brushless motors are the way to go. Awesome power and ridiculous run times. If you want nitro, you should be able to get a RTR(ready to run) touring car for $300. If you want electric, jump on a brushless car. It will likely cost you less in the long run than a traditional electric.

This is where I used to buy everything: https://www.towerhobbies.com

TooLShack
Jun 3, 2001

SMILE, BIRTHDAY BOY!
I got a Losi Mini-T http://www.losi.com/Products/Features.aspx?ProdId=LOSB0200 it's a fun to dink around with and there are plenty of after market parts for it.

SGT. Squeaks
Jun 18, 2003

Two men enter, one man leaves. That is the way of the hobotorium!
Awesome! Glad someone started a thread. I currently run 3 cars. 2 Nitro, 1 electric. I run an 1/8th Jammin X1-CR buggy. I put a ton of money into this car, and it's about 4 years old and really starting to show it's age. This car has been pretty durable, but It doesn't handle like the newer cars.


And this is my new 'main' car. I picked this up two weeks ago. It's a 1/8 scale Inferno GT2.This thing is huge! And it's a blast to drive. I'm pretty new to on-road. But it's quickly rising as my favorite car I've ever owned. It's pretty durable and super fast.



I also run a 1/18th scale Associated 18R. It's a tiny car, but one of the biggest classes in this area and major fun. Plus it's only about $135 for the car and we run it as a spec class. So it's super cheap.



I guess I'm one of those nuts that spends way too much time with this hobby. But then again, it's also my job. I paint bodies full time.

If you plan on racing, do lots of research before you buy a car. Often when you buy a Ready To Run kit and plan on racing it you'll be breaking parts so often you would have been better off buying race roller. Those cars don't come with the engine/motor or electronics, and you usually have to put then together yourself. But it's worth it in the long run.

But if your going to drive it around in a parking lot or out in front of your house a RTR kit is just fine.

SGT. Squeaks fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Apr 27, 2009

You Am I
May 20, 2001

Me @ your poasting

I used to race electric on road right up till late last year. There are a huge number of brands, I was a Tamiya whore myself.

In regards to low end cheap chassises, you can not go past the Tamiya TA05. The TT01 is cheaper, but can't be modified as well as the TA05. The gear choices for the TT01 is also limited.

A plastic tub chassis TA05 will do you great, if you want a basher car, and also as a racer. Any 1/10th shell will fit on them, and with a brushless motor system and Lipo battery, there is barely any maintenance (suspension and bearing being the only thing).

Being in Australia, I found it cheaper and easier to deal with Hong Kong and Japanese stores. RC Champ in Japan is well known for having the cheapest prices anywhere, but has no stock/inventory list on their site, so make sure you know what part you are looking for and prepare to send heaps of emails. RC Mart in Hong Kong is another good place, not as cheap as RC Champ, but has a proper website with pics of products and usually up to date stock listings. The amount of bling I brought for my cars there is amazing.

With US stores, the only place I dealt with is Tower Hobbies. They are not as cheap as the Asian place, but they stock US and Euro brands (Losi, Corally, XRay) which the Asian shops will not touch.

Most battery chargers are dirt cheap these days for electric, as Lipos are very easy to charge and don't require the discharge, equalisation of cells and charge like the NiMH and NiCAD batteries needed. Brushless motors don't require maintenance like their brushed brothers do (but are a little more expensive due to the speed controller for brushless) and digital servos for steering are fair better than the cheaper analog ones.

With controllers, it's kinda an "each to their own". Spektrum based controllers don't have the issues of crystals that older AM and FM radios had, so you can walk out in the middle of other people racing and not experience any clashes. Some of the brands like KO Propo and Futaba have brought out their own Spektrum compatible systems, and Spektrum have modules to suit most brands like KO, Futaba, and HiTec.

I've used Futaba and KO controllers, the KO Mars being my current one. It is a small controller, but can take Spektrum modules and fits well in my hand. A lot of newer controllers have Spektrum built into them, so the need for getting expensive modules is history. My Mars can also run FM (there are some places that still hate Spektrum, strangely enough).

I haven't dealt with prices for about 12 months, and I don't know if the global financial meltdown has meant that prices have risen and fallen over that time.

A good RC forum to join is http://www.rctech.net/forum/ - they cover everything, electric, nitro, on road, off road, air and water.

I hope this has given you some help.

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad
How do the suspensions and setups on these things compare to cars? That one open wheel car above seems to have some serious toe-out in the front.

Parabellum
Feb 26, 2004
Si Vis Pace
Thanks for making the thread! Im glad that there is a decent amount of knowledge here about scale racing, Im pretty green myself although I do own this


(I didnt paint the shell, Im not that talented)

Its a Tamiya TSG-R onroad nitro. I actually bought this from my old job at a parts store where they sold this chassis as a promo for another product, but at about Au$ 400 they just sat around for months. It went into clearance near Christmas and I got it for 150 bucks, complete with a futaba radio.

Great fun, but it is pretty messy and the neighbours dont appreciate 2stroke oil all over the road so its been gathering dust lately..

Electric would be a lot better for a beginner (like me) and offroad seems like it has a lot more support than road racing.

an AOL chatroom
Oct 3, 2002

I've got an HPI MT2 that's had pretty much every part on it forcibly upgraded. It's an awesome hobby as long as you've got (1) a good place to run (2) some disposable cash to throw at fixing the thing every few times you take it out and (3) some amount of mechanical know-how.

If anyone's thinking of getting into RC, one big piece of advice: BUY A FAILSAFE UNIT. These things You can buy it now, or you can buy it after your vehicle goes out of radio range or otherwise glitches out and slams into a tree at full throttle.

A few years ago, I was running my truck around a field where the battery pack somehow got unplugged from the electronics. With no power to move anything, the throttle and steering just stayed where they were, and it ran itself in several broad circles before finding its way into a very solidly planted metal fencepost. The entire front end got destroyed. Both front wheels flew off and the aluminum chassis bent like a taco. Good times. One of these days, I'm going to have to buy a new pullstarter and get running again.

Simkin
May 18, 2007

"He says he's going to be number one!"
Probably a :downs: question, but are there separate classes for 2WD/4WD, or are they all 2WD (tarmac racing, not offroad)?

SGT. Squeaks
Jun 18, 2003

Two men enter, one man leaves. That is the way of the hobotorium!

kimbo305 posted:

How do the suspensions and setups on these things compare to cars? That one open wheel car above seems to have some serious toe-out in the front.


The setups can get pretty crazy. I just changed the shock oil, the front and rear diff oil, the ride height, the camber, and the tires on that large corvette for a race next week. I took that picture a week ago, and it still had the stock setup. I would be spinning out around every corner with the stock setup. It all makes a huge difference. The biggest difference is in the tires though. A good set of rubber or foam tires can make drastic changes in traction.

Dark Solux
Dec 8, 2004

Old School Saturn God
I recently pulled out my rc10gt, and looks like it needs some restoration. All 4 shocks are bad (possibly springs too), and I'm willing to bet the motor is toast, it's been sitting for at least a year, maybe two. Can these motors be resleeved? I'm not sure what size it has, but drat was that thing fun to romp around with, though everytime I brought it out I broke something.

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Dark Solux posted:

I recently pulled out my rc10gt, and looks like it needs some restoration. All 4 shocks are bad (possibly springs too), and I'm willing to bet the motor is toast, it's been sitting for at least a year, maybe two. Can these motors be resleeved? I'm not sure what size it has, but drat was that thing fun to romp around with, though everytime I brought it out I broke something.

Associated sells a rebuild kit for their shocks http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2593&P=ML I had an rc10gt back in the day and I'm pretty sure that's the rebuild kit for that iteration of the shock design.

Also, as TFR will tell you, springs don't wear out from being stored compressed.

Yeah, new pistons and sleeves are pretty cheap. Probably shouldn't be any more than like $40. But it will vary depending on what kind of engine.

edit:broken url

kuffs fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Apr 27, 2009

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Simkin posted:

Probably a :downs: question, but are there separate classes for 2WD/4WD, or are they all 2WD (tarmac racing, not offroad)?

When I was doing R/C 10 years ago, there were 3 divisions: FWD, RWD, and 4WD. Now, it seems that 4WD is all that anyone does anymore. (At least as far as touring cars go)

You Am I
May 20, 2001

Me @ your poasting

kimbo305 posted:

How do the suspensions and setups on these things compare to cars? That one open wheel car above seems to have some serious toe-out in the front.
For tight twisty tracks, some people go nuts with front end toe out. I was fairly consistent with the settings on my car, usually 1-1.5 deg toe out on the front, and around 2.5deg toe in on the back. Never ever run toe out on the rear :)

Simkin posted:

Probably a :downs: question, but are there separate classes for 2WD/4WD, or are they all 2WD (tarmac racing, not offroad)?
Most electric on road classes are 4WD except for Mini (Tamiya FWD M03 chassis) and 1/12 scale.

Here in Victoria, Australia the classes went like this (back in 2008):

Mini (FWD only, brushed black can motor (23T), Mini or Suzuki Swift shells only)
540 Novice (AWD 1/10 onroad (can be chassis restrictions, like no carbon fibre), IFMAR approved chassis, silver can motor (27T), set gear ratio)
540 Pro (any type of IFMAR approved 1/10th chassis, silver can motor, any gear ratio you want)
Stock (chassis type same as Pro, 27T Brush Stock motor (rebuildable) or 13.5T Brushless system)
19T (chassis same as Stock, 19T Brushed motor or 5800 Brushless system)
Modified (chassis same as Stock, any brushless system you can get your hands on, body shell must be a 4 door touring car shell)

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Neocon 4Ever posted:

From all the interest in the pics thread, figured I'd start a thread for talking about R/C cars. I know sweet gently caress all about them, but I can definitely ask a question:

for around 200-300 dollars, can I reasonably get into the hobby? Would I just be buying an all-in-one kit from somewhere like Hobbytown USA at that price? What kind of performance can I expect for that? And what kind of recommendations can someone give? I'd love to have something 1/10 scale, with a nice normal car body.

Problem is I paint like a palsy victim, so it'd have to be a shell that can just drop on.

A lot of local clubs race spec cars. I am just getting started back up in the hobby, so I don't know of a whole lot. But I do know that the slash spec stuff is supposed to be really popular these days
http://www.traxxas.com/products/electric/5805/trx_5805.htm

They're like $200. So after a battery pack or two and a charger, you'll be hitting $300.

Bonus: Prepainted bodies.

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Parabellum posted:


Great fun, but it is pretty messy and the neighbours dont appreciate 2stroke oil all over the road so its been gathering dust lately..

If you're leaving noticeable oil slicks anywhere other than your starting area, you are probably running too rich.

atomicfire
Jul 22, 2008
Aweseome thread. Lets see.

Duratraxx Maximum ST with 2 speed tranny and OS .15 CV engine
(no scale speeds required, this really does hit 50mph)

Duratraxx Nitro Quake, 4 center diffs later I stopped playing with it. It eats diffs for some reason

Parabellum
Feb 26, 2004
Si Vis Pace
Kuffs, whats the procedure on running in new motors? The .12 in mine would have any more than an hour or two on it and I haven't touched the original kit settings. I didnt want to lean it out too early but it is pretty noticeable to see where Ive been.

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Parabellum posted:

Kuffs, whats the procedure on running in new motors? The .12 in mine would have any more than an hour or two on it and I haven't touched the original kit settings. I didnt want to lean it out too early but it is pretty noticeable to see where Ive been.

You should check the manual for details. I'm sure your car is plenty broken-in at this point, but I can't be sure about needle adjustments for your engine.

This video will probably help if you can't find your manual. (it's actually helpful just to see and hear what a properly tuned engine is like)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSmMzpZM_As

SGT. Squeaks
Jun 18, 2003

Two men enter, one man leaves. That is the way of the hobotorium!

Parabellum posted:

Kuffs, whats the procedure on running in new motors? The .12 in mine would have any more than an hour or two on it and I haven't touched the original kit settings. I didnt want to lean it out too early but it is pretty noticeable to see where Ive been.

You should get a temp gun if you don't already have one. If you've been running that on the factory settings then your lacking in lots of potential power. If you've ran it for an hour or two you probably have at least a dozen tanks through it. I don't think you would have any problems leaning it out. As long as you see some blue smoke it should be fine.

I remember years ago when I got my first nitro buggy. I broke it in and brought it to a race. A local sponsored racer for Hot Bodies tuned my engine for me. It was pretty cold so he was able to lean it a bit more than a warm day. He knew what he was doing and took it right to the edge without over doing it. Of course the next week when it got warmer I ran my engine with the same settings. But because it was much warmer my engine was too lean. I didn't know any better and ran it that way. It didn't last long and I learned quickly how to tune.

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

kimbo305 posted:

How do the suspensions and setups on these things compare to cars? That one open wheel car above seems to have some serious toe-out in the front.

I took some photos to give you an idea of the adjustability on these cars. Heck this is an 8 year old, kind of entry-level car. So I'm sure the newer models are nicer.

Whole car



This will give you a frame of reference for the next shots. My style decisions make this a bit easier as most of what you'll be interested in is highlighted in purple.


Front suspension



As you can see, we have oil-dampened coilover shocks with adjustable preload. I have a whole set of different springs for the shocks. And as far as oil goes, I'm just rocking 30wt for right now. You can see my green (medium) swaybar snaking in there. You can't tell from this shot, but there are a few different mounting points for the shocks. I don't know quite enough about suspension tuning to know what advantages that gives you.


Front linkage



You can see the adjustable-length upper links (camber) as well as the adjustable steering rods (toe). We get a better look at the swaybar linkage in this shot


Rear suspension



Once again, oil-damped coilovers. If you squint, you can see the different shock and upper-link mounting positions that I was talking earlier. That bit of electronics is the on-board temp gauge (I didn't have anywhere else to put it, yay spare lexan!).


Rear linkage



Once again, the upper link is adjustable for camber. You get a shot of the swaybar linkage too. Rear toe is adjustable with a different set of a-arm hinges (if I remember right).


Body on



Black marks are from rolling it on the asphalt. The old suspension system was riding way too high and make it really easy to roll without trying :(

My tiny rally car :3:



It looks a little rough from being driven hard, but this is my first 'real' body I've ever painted and decaled. It's not all that hard to get a body that looks good, it just takes a bit of time and patience.

Hypnolobster
Apr 12, 2007

What this sausage party needs is a big dollop of ketchup! Too bad I didn't make any. :(

I'm racing a Tamiya Durga with a Novak 4.5 brushless system. It's been a blast so far.

It all started because I inherited a Tamiya Grasshopper that I played around with when I was a kid. I got more interested in RC stuff and it bloomed into buying the Durga and soon a Traxxas Slash, and then I got into RC helicopters and now I'm into RC planes and :gonk:

Anyway,


Stock car, quick black paint on a beater body for racing (it makes me sad to destroy a nice looking body while racing/bashing).

A little while later I threw in the Novak system and got some shocks/suspension mounts/slipper clutch and other stuff.

It looks so unclean and raced :smug:


I'm using the shocks from Tamiya's worlds car which are longer and if used in the rear normally, they overextend the arms and the halfshafts pop out, so a cool guy in England-land made me a carbon fiber rear tower with higher mounting holes and lower mounting holes so I can run whatever shocks I want without having to modify the shocks.


At this point I've gone through probably 10+ front a-arms from frontal crashes, tore one wing off, melted two rear diffs from the bigger motor, gone through 2 sets of slipper clutch pads and broke several front shock shafts.



e: This is the vintage Tamiya Grasshopper that started it all. My grandfather bought it in the mid 80's and I got to play with it at his house once every ~2 years. I lusted after it on the top shelf in the basement for a long time.
Note the now bald original tires, and my kickin' video taking modification for personal amusement (I removed the scale driver and screwed in a tripod mount).
You can see in the front of the cockpit a funny little copper thing with little copper pads. Forwards/reverse is controlled with a servo that moves an arm that touches 4 different copper pads for two speeds each direction.

Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Apr 27, 2009

Tetraptous
Nov 11, 2004

Dynamic instability during transition.
I haven't done much with cars, but I have and continue to design, build, and fly R/C aircraft. Even with aircraft, nitro engines only barely make sense as electric motors and LiPoly batteries get lighter and cheaper. More and more smaller aircraft kits are moving to electric. For a car, I can't believe the hassle of nitro is worth it for most people unless you're really into those little engines for their own sake.

Bigger airplanes often run on gas engines, either two-strokes liberated from weedwhackers or purpose-built four strokes. Does anyone run gas R/C cars?

track day bro!
Feb 17, 2005

#essereFerrari
Grimey Drawer
I used to have a crappy Kyosho Raider and then a Tamia Mantaray when I was kid, but I always wanted a 1/10th touring.

This year I ended up buying a TA05IFS, starting to build it and then promptly forgot about it once I had to start working on my 1/1th car.

I just wonder, are there some good begginers guides anywhere? I did some searching but all I could find were forums full of people who do this sort of stuff in their sleep.

Cmdr Will Riker
Mar 27, 2003

Hypnolobster posted:



e: This is the vintage Tamiya Grasshopper that started it all. My grandfather bought it in the mid 80's and I got to play with it at his house once every ~2 years. I lusted after it on the top shelf in the basement for a long time.
Note the now bald original tires, and my kickin' video taking modification for personal amusement (I removed the scale driver and screwed in a tripod mount).
You can see in the front of the cockpit a funny little copper thing with little copper pads. Forwards/reverse is controlled with a servo that moves an arm that touches 4 different copper pads for two speeds each direction.

Hell yeah, a Grasshopper. When I was a kid I had a Tamiya Hornet. That was an awesome R/C car, let me tell you. We also had a Monster Beetle and some little Porsche GT road car. Unbelievable fun.


Edit: Holy poo poo, lookie what Tamiya makes these days.



Uh oh, it might be time for an impulse buy.

Cmdr Will Riker fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Apr 27, 2009

You Am I
May 20, 2001

Me @ your poasting

Tetraptous posted:

Bigger airplanes often run on gas engines, either two-strokes liberated from weedwhackers or purpose-built four strokes. Does anyone run gas R/C cars?
I think the 1/5th scale does, but I've only seen them, not raced them.

Sloppy
Apr 25, 2003

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

Great thread timing, my kids and I have been watching a few of these big RC cars in the park and I've been feeling that little itch to pick one up.

I'd assume the electric are much quieter than the gas? I kinda like the horrible shrieking the little gas engines make, but I imagine the neighbors wouldn't.

Also, how water-resistant are these? I'd love to throw one around in the mud. When I was a kid I had one of those cheap Radio Shack RC trucks, and we caulked up every orifice and took it to a shallow stream and had a lot of fun.

Pretty Little Rainbow
Dec 27, 2005

by T. Finn
Whats the deal with those Drift Spec cars Tamiya makes? Seems like they'd be fun.

Edit:Oh dear god
http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/56712countach/index.htm

this too

http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/58397hilux/index.htm

and this

http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/58405lc40/index.htm

I've got an old Traxxas Stampede lying around, maybe its time to sell it if its worth anything and buy one of these.

Pretty Little Rainbow fucked around with this message at 12:01 on Apr 27, 2009

Cage
Jul 17, 2003
www.revivethedrive.org
I hope you guys dont get too mad at me for this, but are there any non-enthusiast models that you guys might recommend for under 100? I dont want to spend enough to get a nitro or gas but Id like something better than a tyco just to gently caress around on in my driveway.

Something like this - http://www.amazon.com/Megatech-Megapro-RCB-Buggy-18/dp/B000TUPWZ4/ref=sr_1_63?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1240832664&sr=1-63

Obviously better quality than a tyco, but still a cheap one. Can you guys think of anything?

Something that can go offroad, preferably.

Kaptainballistik
Nov 2, 2005

Why ask me ? I cant understand me either!
I used to fix the RC cars for Cash Converters Blacktown when I was working there. I was paid to get those damm petrol cars running!

Yes, Saturdays really sucked!

Ok, Its a tad oldschool.



Fox with the MKII rear ( With the Extension limiting stops so the shafts dont chew out!)
Brat 18T gear.
Dual steel arial to stop the body getting messed up.
"Ski Ramp" rear wing made from Fiberglass roofing offcuts , I have a front wing lying around somewhere. It actually works! ( Drags its bum at speed like a dog with worms)
Plywood kickerboards.
Tamyia TechniGold motor (When It was hot stuff....)
Battery eliminator..Eliminated !Because at full throttle it sometimes cut out! ( Say goodbye to a chassis!)

And the Kick in the pants?

A Varta "C" cell Hump pack Which gave me a better mA output than a Tamyia 8.4v Gold battery.

I used to put 2 batteries a day through it..... Feared lost in the Divorce but found in Dad's holiday house.

Best day after my ex wedding annaversary ever!

Kuffs, I remember stacking one of those when a battery pack came loose. The boss was watching me... He looked at me and said "You did it at work, I guess work pays..."

My Favorite was the HPI. That got "Checked" every other Thursday nite....

Kaptainballistik fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Apr 27, 2009

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





bisticles posted:

If anyone's thinking of getting into RC, one big piece of advice: BUY A FAILSAFE UNIT. These things You can buy it now, or you can buy it after your vehicle goes out of radio range or otherwise glitches out and slams into a tree at full throttle.

I haven't been in for a long time but don't a lot of receivers include this type of functionality?

Also, when I was last in R/C, the radios that let you choose a channel with a dial were just coming out. I looked a few months ago when I had a kick to get back in and found out the new hotness is radios that don't even need you to set channels. :aaafap:

Simkin posted:

Probably a :downs: question, but are there separate classes for 2WD/4WD, or are they all 2WD (tarmac racing, not offroad)?

On-road has skewed pretty heavily towards 4WD touring cars, because they work so well on a wide variety of surfaces - they can race on a parking lot with relatively little prep, or a fully maintained carpet track, and anything in between. Pan cars are exclusively 2WD, because the whole point of a pan car is to make the car as simple and ultralight as possible - they're so named because the entire chassis is one flat piece of carbon fiber that everything bolts to, as opposed to the fiberglass and/or carbon fiber tubs used on touring cars. Front suspension is minimal and the rear on a pan car is actually a live-axle setup, with the motor mounted as part of the whole rear assembly. They only work well on extremely well-prepped asphalt (i.e. dedicated paved tracks) or carpet, but they are the fastest things on four foam tires.

1/10 pan car used to be a decent-sized class but it looks like the only use for that these days is for oval racing and even that is falling by the wayside - Associated was on the RC10L4-Oval when I was last in the sport. 1/12 pan car has held on a bit better, though it's moved pretty heavily towards four-cell racing.

At this point, my stash of R/C cars (spread across both of my parents' houses) includes:
*Original RC10 buggy - gold anodized aluminum tub. My dad raced it off-road pretty heavily back in the '80s.
*At least enough parts to build two RC12i's - my dad used to race them and then eventually put two of his older cars back together for my brother and I.
*RC12LW with the carbon-fiber chassis
*Two Losi XX buggies
*Two RC10TC3s



Bonus picture probably from around 1993 of the two RC12i's (left and right) and the RC12LW (center). Probably no more than three race nights later did my dad realize those bright pink Panasonic 1700 mAh cells he'd spent a pretty penny on were, in fact, garbage. Of course, it was that or 1500 mAh NiCds. Batteries loving sucked until Sanyo finally came out with some cells aimed at RC, the 1700 SCRC - which by today's standards are woefully outdated but it made a hell of a difference at the time, before the RC2000/RC2400s came out and before NiMH cells existed for RC.

Hypnolobster
Apr 12, 2007

What this sausage party needs is a big dollop of ketchup! Too bad I didn't make any. :(

Sloppy posted:

Great thread timing, my kids and I have been watching a few of these big RC cars in the park and I've been feeling that little itch to pick one up.

I'd assume the electric are much quieter than the gas? I kinda like the horrible shrieking the little gas engines make, but I imagine the neighbors wouldn't.

Also, how water-resistant are these? I'd love to throw one around in the mud. When I was a kid I had one of those cheap Radio Shack RC trucks, and we caulked up every orifice and took it to a shallow stream and had a lot of fun.

Get a Traxxas Slash. Completely waterproof (seriously, watch some youtube videos), extremely durable and $200 for a ready to run truck.

They're pretty fun, too.

If this doesn't make you want one, you're beyond help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt9Kth5UEDw

e:

IOwnCalculus posted:

I haven't been in for a long time but don't a lot of receivers include this type of functionality?

Also, when I was last in R/C, the radios that let you choose a channel with a dial were just coming out. I looked a few months ago when I had a kick to get back in and found out the new hotness is radios that don't even need you to set channels. :aaafap:
Yeah. I'm using an Airtronics MX3 FHSS and it's absolutely loving glorious.

Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Apr 27, 2009

mutt2jeff
Oct 2, 2004
The one, the only....
I hope somebody comes along who knows something about the 4x4 obstacle course type R/C's, I really crave a Unimog one.

kuffs
Mar 29, 2007

Projectile Dysfunction

Sloppy posted:

Great thread timing, my kids and I have been watching a few of these big RC cars in the park and I've been feeling that little itch to pick one up.

I'd assume the electric are much quieter than the gas? I kinda like the horrible shrieking the little gas engines make, but I imagine the neighbors wouldn't.

Also, how water-resistant are these? I'd love to throw one around in the mud. When I was a kid I had one of those cheap Radio Shack RC trucks, and we caulked up every orifice and took it to a shallow stream and had a lot of fun.

A lot of Traxxas' offerings are waterproof http://www.traxxas.com/

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mutt2jeff
Oct 2, 2004
The one, the only....
Love this, especially since some of them come with working winches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_VU5EJQgII

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