R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

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.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2009 01:55

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 16:27

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 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)

# ¿ Apr 27, 2009 04:48

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.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2009 09:35

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

jacteh posted:

I've also got a TA03F with just about every hopup available, a terra conqueror and a TA01. Are these old enough to be considered vintage/collectable yet? I blew way too much money in the mid-late 90s.

The TA03 was re-released by Tamiya around 12 months ago, so there isn't anything there. The TA01 was the first "touring car" chassis, which has spawned the on road 1/10 touring car racing. It might be worth some money.
The Conqueror, I don't know what it is and whether it is worth anything.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2009 11:20

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

evobatman posted:

Is it OK to talk mini-z in this thread, or do you consider them just toys?

My fully upgraded (except wheelbearings) MR01

With body.

I have a Honda NSX Mini Z. Cool little car, goes like the stink

# ¿ Apr 28, 2009 12:20

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Why are there so many 4WD remote controlled cars? Seems like it would add a bunch of expense, but I guess it is very hard to countersteer from the third person perspective.

Are pretty much all the 'racing' RC car chassis 4WD?

I'm hunting down local model shops that will offer the HPI Cup Racer - although I suspect that since I won't be running it very often, I should instead try to locate an unmoving scale model of a 240Z.

All electric touring cars since the TA01 have been AWD. Just the extra traction makes them a lot easier to handle with high end brushless motors compared to pan cars or 2WD cars. Improvements to bearings and drivetrains means there isn't too much of a loss in efficiency compared to a 2WD car.

Only pan cars (1/12) and Mini (2WD FWD) are the only popular 2WD classes about, at least in Australia, these days for on road.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 00:41

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Here's pics of my RC cars. Sorry about the poo poo quality of some of them

Tamiya Mini M03 with Chevron Monster Mini shell. I guess if I ever get the onroad racing bug again, it would be this car I would race. Very basic, doesn't require a lot of suspension setup, and low maintenance.

Kyosho Mini Z Honda NSX. Got this second hand, kinda cool car to run around the house. Quick little thing.

Originally it was a Tamiya TRF 415MSX. TRF is Tamiya's specialist racing arm, usually producing some of the best racing chassises you can lay your hands on. The EVO series are shaft driven AWD, the 41x series are belt driven. Most racers go for belt driven cars. This car has been highly modified from its original spec, I have installed the MSX MRE top and lower chassis plates, EVO V steering and EVO V short arms (which are stronger than the standard 415 MSX arms). As you see, I had an accident with it in its last race and haven't got around to replacing the broken front arm. The shell is from another friend, who was getting rid of his RC kit.
This car is very very fussy with suspension changes, even something as small as toe in/toe out. Not a chassis for a beginner, and something that took me around 6-12 months to get used to.

Tamiya Sand Scorcher. The grand daddy of all off road electric RC. Sold in the late 70s/early 80s, it is a highly sort after chassis kit due to its detail in both the body and shell. This one had copped a bad life from its previous owner (sons of a business partner my dad with with in the 80s) but still works fine. I have replaced the old mechanical speedie with an electronic one, but have the replacement parts to rebuilt the old mechanical one.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 02:25

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

tobu posted:

Loving the idea of a RC car. I'm heading out to the local club meeting tonight to have a look. I've heard some bad things about it (overly competitive and elitist) but hopefully it'll be a bit of fun.

I'll be using my goverments stimulus cheque to buy an electric road car and a E.S.C for it.

Most clubs aren't bad. There are some stuck up drivers at some clubs, but in most cases everyone is pretty social and easy to get on with*.

*this does not cover NSW racers, who are possibly the worst form of human being most other state racers have come across.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 04:28

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

IVnic8or posted:

There are a few trends that I see; The first of which is the dominance of brushless motors and Lithium Polymer batteries.

Yeah, those items have changed RC big time. Previously electric racers had to deal with buying NiMH batteries that were matched by battery suppliers that cost close to $100 per pack, which only lasted for 6 months. You needed at least 4-6 packs for a race day, because you didn't want to reuse a pack more than once during that day. You have to be careful with the batteries, to get the best out of them you needed to discharge the cells, equalise the cells then make sure you charged them at certain amps to get the best out of them. Cells would vent or explode, destroying a good pack. Plus all that waste after throwing out dodgey packs.

Brushed motors, especially in mod, were relatively unreliable, throwing winds or cooking the comm. The hateful days where you needed a comm lathe to cut a comm and put in new brushes are long gone. Plus the motors would not last for long, so you would go through motors a bit if you were racing weekly.

Lipos don't need to be discharged, and as long as the battery has had a chance to cool down, all you need is one pack. There is no memory on the battery, and it can be left charged for around 12 months, and still be at the same peak power. No more having to get matched packs for the best performance or run time.

Same with brushless motors, less maintenance, no winds, so no throwing winds. Sure the motors do need replacing eventually, but are cheaper than the equivalent brushed motor.

Although I do not miss RC racing, I can see how this is going to push electric racing, especially in the US where I have the perceived view that nitro racing is more popular.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 08:52

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Laserface posted:

Word. Sunk in when I was tuning my ESC throttle curves and timing settings via USB.

between electric and gas powered vehicles I really think nitros days are numbered as RTR/entry level vehicles.

I know in Australia that a lot of local councils hate the noise they make, and fear they are more of a public liability than electric cars. Plus throw in the greenies and the "pollution" the nitro cars make (forgetting the chemicals in the Lipo batteries), you can see gas cars slowly dropping out of interest except for the big 1/5th stuff.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 10:43

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

krushgroove posted:

I hear ya I'm in marketing for what I guess could arguably be called the #3 worldwide car manufacturer (I'm guessing you'll be able to figure it out from that ). I used to go to the Chicago show when it was popular, then RCX but I moved to the UK a few years ago to work for the EU branch of the company. Used to run and attend all the one-make RC races that I organized for the company as well. I post on RC Tech and a couple other RC forums as myself, won't be going to Shanghai as the folks from my branch only go to Nuremburg every year. I don't have plat (yet, will in a few days) but feel free to PM if you want. If you've worked in SoCal for more than 5 years or so you probably do know me, or at least know who I am.

Team Associated? Corolly?

I'm guessing Tamiya are still on top of the world, with the 416 beating the Hot Bodies Cyclone these days.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2009 00:08

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Team Orion does a good charger. I have their Advantage Mk II, which does all the main types of batteries, also run motors on them (good for cleaning comms on old brushed motors). Got it second hand. Also got a Novak Millennium Pro, a very good charger, but doesn't do Lipo.

# ¿ May 2, 2009 06:08

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

infrared35 posted:

I'm a big rally car pervert but the class never really took off anywhere I've lived. I've always ended up racing against friends on the big dirt track at the fairgrounds, or on impromptu "rough tarmac" courses in abandoned parking lots.

My first "real" car - Tamiya TL01 Subaru Impreza WRC. The chassis is well-worn but still works fine. That's not the original body, of course. It's not a bad system - shaft-driven 4WD - but there are limited options for tuning and it's not dirt- or water-resistant.

The TL01 was the first chassis I personally brought. God awful on road chassis, so top heavy the thing would traction roll through corners worse than an old VW Bug. Happy to get rid of it for a TA04.

# ¿ May 3, 2009 23:56

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Here's an interesting one for Jeep fans:

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-tamiya-84071-cc01-jeep-wrangler-wesc-p-28675.html

There is also one with lifted suspension

# ¿ May 4, 2009 04:18

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

infrared35 posted:

Whoa, that place also has the Tamiya Subaru Brat 2WD kit in stock. When did they re-release those? That's awesome.

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-tamiya-subaru-brat-truck-wesc-58384-p-22838.html

I didn't notice that, very tempting...

# ¿ May 4, 2009 05:44

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

SGT. Squeaks posted:

I just found this website. Pretty good info on setting up a car and other stuff.

http://users.telenet.be/elvo/

The setup guide is really helpful.

Yeah, I have used that site a bit when I was a beginner. One thing about RC racing (talking about on road here), you have to learn your suspension geometry very quickly.

# ¿ May 4, 2009 23:42

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Once you've steered with a digital servo, you can never go back to analog.

# ¿ May 8, 2009 05:00

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

I only knew two or so drivers who used the JRX-S for racing, both of them being factory racers. Dunno, something about the JRX-S which makes it look ungainly compared to the other chassis out on the market, but the battery location did make sense back in the days of running heavy NiMH batteries. These days it really isn't a factor with the very light LiPo packs.

# ¿ May 18, 2009 23:52

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

From what I have been told, the Tamiya TRF 416 was built out of the box to be ready for Lipo. however with my older 415 you had to put a lot of lead weight on the outside edge of the battery to balance the chassis out.

# ¿ May 19, 2009 02:36

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

krushgroove posted:

It'll be interesting to see where the more innovative companies go with saddle pack LiPos and whatnot, there's not much more that folks can do with touring cars right now.

You're right there, pretty well most chassis (other than the JRX-S) look similar, it's really down to who has the better part supply in the area is who you go with.

# ¿ May 19, 2009 11:47

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Idiot race posted:

I finally managed to build most of my TA05-IFS, but now I need some electronics. I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to this as the last time I built one of these things I was about 10.

A friend gave me a better motor, I think it's an lrp although I think I might just use the standard motor anyway. Also he gave me an lrp ipc 7.1 esc, but it looks pretty beat up and he said it may need to go back to them to be rewired. So if this thing is no good, what esc do you think would be good, same goes for a steering servo.

Are there any good sites that have beginners guides etc? as i'm reading some forums and there seem to be allot of tricks and tips that i'd have to spend hours reading through tonnes of useless crap it seems.

Depends where you want to go motor wise. If you have the cash, go brushless, no maintenance. However you need a brushless ESC. Some Brushless ESCs can run brushed motors as well. LRP is a good brand for brush and brushless ESCs, and brushless motors. So is Novak and Tekin. KO Propo used to make the best brushed ESC, but I don't think they are into brushless (just looked at their site, actually they are). FYI - Nosram are rebadged LRP products, and sometimes are cheaper.

In regards to servos, you can not go wrong with Futaba digital servos. I've always run them, rock solid and makes it feel like you are pulling on the steering arms.

In regards to basic/newbie forum advice, there's not really anything out there like it. RCTech has a huge TA05 thread in the electric subforum, you can probably search through it for some links and tips.

# ¿ May 21, 2009 04:12

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Idiot race posted:

It sounds worth it then, I vaugely remember having trouble with crystals ages ago.

Oddly when I first was looking I wanted a HPI kit I think a Sprint 2? Can't remember why I went with a tamiya.

Cos Tamiya is #1

Tamiya fanboy mode off

# ¿ May 21, 2009 13:13

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nice Sand Scorcher there dalabast. Jealous of the Hilux model, those things are awesome, but expensive as all heck on eBay.

# ¿ May 24, 2009 11:20

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

compressioncut posted:

Wouldn't be surprised if Tamiya reissued the Hilux, like they are the Rough Rider.

They are re-releasing the RR? I might be able to get spare parts at a cheap price for my SS then...

There is a kinda re-released Hilux - the Ford F350 runs a similar setup to the old Hiluxes.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 00:22

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

compressioncut posted:

http://tamiyablog.com/2009/05/tamiya-rough-rider-re-release-tamiya.html

I am so buying that. Maybe two so I have spare parts for the SS. Thank you for the link, I will contact my dealer for a price on one of those.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 01:02

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

dalabast posted:

yup the rough rider is coming out again kit #58441

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=58441

they speculate the Sand scorcher will be next.

I both it is and isn't. Is, so I can get a new shell and things like wipers and mirrors for my old SS, but no, because I don't want the value of my SS dropping.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 05:08

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

krushgroove posted:

IIRC the newer kits have several differences, I think the main ones being ESC's and stuff like that, I'm sure the mold markings are slightly diffrent. A Tamiya nerd would be able to tell you for sure though.

Oh, I will know by comparing the new RR chassis against my Sand Scorcher. I hope the rubber grommets for where the wires go outside of the plastic cover for the electrics is the same, because I need some new ones. And the plastic bits for the front kingpins.

# ¿ May 26, 2009 02:52

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

I hated it when gears would not fit properly due to being too big or too small and the motor mount wouldn't adjust enough. And with 64 pitch gears, those thing strip so easily.

# ¿ May 28, 2009 04:53

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

IOwnCalculus posted:

When I was last in it, I was picking up Hitec digital servos; if I remember correctly they were essentially a straight swap for the Futaba servos, and you could get a high-speed one for the price of a crappy Futaba.

Where did you get the idea that Futaba is poo poo? HiTec is like the basement bargin crap of the RC electronics world. Nearly everyone I know of has done their best of offload them for a better servo

# ¿ Jun 1, 2009 02:30

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nice photos there Astrolite. Looks like something from Mad Max

# ¿ Jun 7, 2009 13:21

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

allWesNoMess posted:

So what's a good site that you guys go to for this kind of stuff?

As said, in the US:

- Stormer
- Tower Hobbies (probably the most expensive, but biggest range)
- Speedtech RC

Japan:

- Rainbow Ten
- RC Champ International

Hong Kong:

- RC Mart

# ¿ Jun 8, 2009 23:45

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Novak make good brushless ESCs. The GTB was one of the original Brushless ESCs you could get, and as with their brushed ESCs, were very well made and usually easy to setup.

A friend of mine was on a TV show last month about racing vintage off road RCs. He has a good collection of them, an absolute off road nut. He used a 25 year old one to win the state champs last year in a class.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2009 11:29

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

ElJefeDeJefes posted:

Well, I just finished my first RC car.... Factory T4 kit w/ a Novak 17.5 brushless motor and my first custom paint job... good times!

http://fi.somethingawful.com/is/img8/2286/p1010792j.jpg
http://fi.somethingawful.com/is/img189/8499/p1010793k.jpg

[EDT] huh, my image shack urls are getting changed :/

Use Waffleimages or photos.cx instead dude. Imageshack is banned here.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2009 12:00

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Pretty kicking mohawk dude

# ¿ Jun 17, 2009 23:21

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Looks electric to me, as there is no hole in the windscreen for air to come in for the motor.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2009 01:52

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Team Orion usually makes good stuff

# ¿ Jul 4, 2009 05:45

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Got my Tamiya Rough Rider reissue today

Click here for the full 1335x799 image.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2009 10:40

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Pretty Little Rainbow posted:

Thats awesome, hows your BUGGY CHAMP shirt fit?

It says "XL" but I have a feeling it is a Japanese XL, which will mean it is a Medium.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2009 11:13

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

A crappy blurry in progress photo of the Buggy Champ:

Click here for the full 1148x570 image.

I have to say for a basic RC chassis, it has been one of the most fiddly ones I have ever built.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2009 12:15

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 16:27

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

There are a couple of RC shops locally that I mainly deal with for paints mainly.

For parts and chassis, I deal with online/overseas stores.

In Japan the two best shops are RC Champ and Rainbow Ten. Both of them have barely any online inventory system to speak of, so you deal with them mainly with emails.

In Hong Kong there is RC Mart. Huge place, prices are a little more expensive than the Japanese stores, but has a far larger line of products plus a proper online store.

In the US there is Stormer Hobbies, Tower Hobbies and Speedtech RC.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2009 00:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

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