RC cars
- Thread starter agnes
- Start date
Soldato
Crikey. How many RC cars are you buying at the moment? Lol
According to the Wife too many…lol
I got the 15T brushless because it was sealed and I was getting a load of dirt in the buggy, I thought the Tamiya ESC isn't too bad, and bought a BEC to give the servo a few more amps but it still needs more...(or the BEC doesn't work) so I think I'm going to get the £50 hobbywing ESC. I should have just used the BZ and stuck with the cheap (but good) hobbywing ESC that came with the buggy!!
I've spent way to much on the TT-02B!!
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Associate
Just bagged a Tamiya Hotshot II re-re. Stock finally landed at Modelsport. 
Soldato
Nice. I didn't like the Blockhead HotShot. I've got a resto-mod II.
I wish with the Re Re's Tamiya would do the blisters like Avante & Egress.
I knocked back the limited edition Optima in favour of the 870c re re.
Associate
Yeah I agree with the Blockhead, I didn't like it either.
Even my Terra Scorcher 30 years ago came with blister pack for all the bearings and drive shafts. Probably the next one I'll pickup if it's gets another release.
Even my Terra Scorcher 30 years ago came with blister pack for all the bearings and drive shafts. Probably the next one I'll pickup if it's gets another release.
Soldato
Very easy to drop a few quid here or there and then it all mounts up at the end!
I can highly recommend Toro ESC's as an alternative but Hobbywing is obviously the go-to first choice.
The SuperStock are a very good motor, TZ, RZ and BZ brushed motors are surprising fast. I also have a new and unused GT Tuned Motor going spare currently, possibly a backup. Recently got feedback that the GT motors are good for the M-Chassis FWD/RWD cars, I did plan on building an M-07 but undecided at the moment.
Traxxas quality control is complete trash. Sledge was diffing out a lot so tonight I stripped down all three diffs and none of them had more than a scrape of oil in them. Nice quality control on an expensive product. Have redone them correctly and it’s miles better now.
Will have a look at the shocks tomorrow see if they have any oil in them.
I also stripped down my HPi Vorza and the diffs had the perfect amount of oil in them.
Will have a look at the shocks tomorrow see if they have any oil in them.
I also stripped down my HPi Vorza and the diffs had the perfect amount of oil in them.
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Soldato
I have a nesrly twenty year old Tamiya MadBull. It got some upgrades around the time I built it, but its largely sat unused in recent years due to the chore of charging batteries for 8 hours for 15mins of fun.
Given the advancements of battery tech these days, is there anything I could do to improve that and get me using it again? What would I be looking at cost wise?
Given the advancements of battery tech these days, is there anything I could do to improve that and get me using it again? What would I be looking at cost wise?
Associate
You can get a decent charger that will do NiMH and Lipo charging for around £50.
7.2v 5000mah NiMHs cost about £35. A 3000mah one £16.
Lipos are a little bit more. Batteries last for ages these days at these capacities. I've rarely fully flattened a 5000NiMH
I believe capacity is directly proportionate to max discharge rate, so even if you don't need all the charge it means it can safely feed a more power hungry motor
I have 2 3000s though and they do last forever. My boy gets bored after 1.
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Soldato
Capacity plays a role - but with lipos it's the C rating thats important as well, a race pack might be 100c to 150c, a cheap pack might be 30c to 60c. I get an extra second per lap when racing if I use my best packs, my practice pack is only rated for 50c and you can really feel it out of the corners when you nail the throttle.
Brushless is also more efficient for the same torque/rpm so you get a longer runtime for equivalent motor performance if you go brushless
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Soldato
They don't have something that's as good as the big players in the crawler game - but the CC02 is an enjoyable trail truck, I use mine in the woods and it's good fun with a decent set of tyres.
There's also the CR01 which is much more capable as a crawler than the CC02, and is a very complex and enjoyable build, but its still not as capable as something like a TRX4.
I'm looking to get back into this hobby. Used to race with a club in the 80's. Grasshopper, Hornet, Hotshot were all cars I ran then which weirdly seem still to be current cars!
Dropped out back then due to time and money, to contend you really needed to have a better car than I could fund but now I find myself able to get back in and with a local club a few miles away (Adur) I'm looking forward to getting down there and seeing what's currently the car of choice. I fancy off-road but they have a decent on road circuit too so I will have to see which is most likely work for me.
Batteries, brushless motors and developments in ESC's, 2.4ghz... seem to be main differences but its really hard to see from online what would be good, especially with so many re-releases of old cars, Kyosho used to be the top end (which I couldn't afford back then) but no idea now. Definitely electric, probably a 4wd off road one to start. Don't want to be all the gear and no idea about it but also want to buy good first time!
Looking forward to building one again
Dropped out back then due to time and money, to contend you really needed to have a better car than I could fund but now I find myself able to get back in and with a local club a few miles away (Adur) I'm looking forward to getting down there and seeing what's currently the car of choice. I fancy off-road but they have a decent on road circuit too so I will have to see which is most likely work for me.
Batteries, brushless motors and developments in ESC's, 2.4ghz... seem to be main differences but its really hard to see from online what would be good, especially with so many re-releases of old cars, Kyosho used to be the top end (which I couldn't afford back then) but no idea now. Definitely electric, probably a 4wd off road one to start. Don't want to be all the gear and no idea about it but also want to buy good first time!
Looking forward to building one again
Soldato
Biggest class down this way is 2wd if you want to do off road.I'm looking to get back into this hobby. Used to race with a club in the 80's. Grasshopper, Hornet, Hotshot were all cars I ran then which weirdly seem still to be current cars!
Dropped out back then due to time and money, to contend you really needed to have a better car than I could fund but now I find myself able to get back in and with a local club a few miles away (Adur) I'm looking forward to getting down there and seeing what's currently the car of choice. I fancy off-road but they have a decent on road circuit too so I will have to see which is most likely work for me.
Batteries, brushless motors and developments in ESC's, 2.4ghz... seem to be main differences but its really hard to see from online what would be good, especially with so many re-releases of old cars, Kyosho used to be the top end (which I couldn't afford back then) but no idea now. Definitely electric, probably a 4wd off road one to start. Don't want to be all the gear and no idea about it but also want to buy good first time!
Looking forward to building one again
Most popular current competition cars are Associated, Schumacher, Xray.
Kyosho have kind of stepped away from the high end competition stuff.
Adur is a good club.
1066 Racing in Hastings is about as good as racing get indoors in the UK. Might not be too far away from you - they have a race meeting this coming Sunday from 5pm, always a nice crowd and relaxed atmosphere.
If you like on road - Eastbourne has one of the top UK clubs and they have an awesome track
Soldato
Moving on to your points about the batteries and electrics. Don't go budget, it's pointless for racing. Mid range is fine, most of my electrics are mid range and my car is just and quick and responsive as the rest of the field.I'm looking to get back into this hobby. Used to race with a club in the 80's. Grasshopper, Hornet, Hotshot were all cars I ran then which weirdly seem still to be current cars!
Dropped out back then due to time and money, to contend you really needed to have a better car than I could fund but now I find myself able to get back in and with a local club a few miles away (Adur) I'm looking forward to getting down there and seeing what's currently the car of choice. I fancy off-road but they have a decent on road circuit too so I will have to see which is most likely work for me.
Batteries, brushless motors and developments in ESC's, 2.4ghz... seem to be main differences but its really hard to see from online what would be good, especially with so many re-releases of old cars, Kyosho used to be the top end (which I couldn't afford back then) but no idea now. Definitely electric, probably a 4wd off road one to start. Don't want to be all the gear and no idea about it but also want to buy good first time!
Looking forward to building one again
Decent motor (but you will need a faster one once you've got the hang of 5 minutes with no crashing): https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/rp0010-rp540-8-5-turn-540-sensored-brushless-modified-motor-brca-legal-p
This ESC is good enough for club racing (I did a few regionals with one in and it was fine): https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/hw30125000-quicrun-10bl120-sensored-p
If your feeling flush then this ESC is better (you can add boost and turbo), but it's 3 times the price of the one above, I use these in my current race cars: https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/HW30112600-HOBBYWING-XERUN-XR10-PRO-SPEED-CONTROL-BLACK
Servo will depend on the car you pick, as some cars can't take full size servos, but this would work in just about any 2WD buggy: https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/srt-ch6012-srt-ch6012-hv-cl-servo-9-0kg-0-07-sec-at-6v-semi-m-case-p
Radio depends on if you want a stick radio, or a wheel. There's a lot more choice for wheel radios but some people just can't get on with them if they used sticks as a kid.
These batteries are good, and it would also have enough capacity for 4wd, you will need 2 packs minimum, preferably 3 so you can allow them a bit of rest between coming out of the car and gong back on the charger (this is not essential but can be the difference between them lasting a couple of seasons vs 4 or more seasons): https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/IPBL2S4400MC3-Intellect-LiPo-LiHV-4400mAh-2S-18-5mm-Shorty-7-6v
For the charger, these are great, as you can charge 2 packs at once which really helps when getting ready to go to racing: https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/sk-100162-sky-rc-t100-battery-charger-p