Anyone into R/C cars?

Zero Signal · Jan 24, 2007

Back before I had a real car, I raced offroad 2WD (Associated RC10T) every week locally for a couple years. I've been thinking about getting back into the hobby having been out of it for so long. Now that I have a real income, it will be a lot easier too.

I'm definitely going to buy a 4WD nitro truck or buggy. I've been looking at 1/16 scales like the Trinity NEXT but I'm also thinking of something like a Traxxas T-Maxx 3.3 or even a 1/8 scale monster like the CEN GST 7.7. I was also looking at some 1/8 scale nitro buggies. Basically I want something that will be really fast but not much more than $400. What do you guys think?

VibrantRedGT · Jan 24, 2007

I have a Team Associates gas powered (1.5) 2WD Stadium truck that does about 50MPH. We have a local dirt track. I also have street tires and rims for it tooling around here in the streets. Accross the street my neighbor has a 75MPH Mayhem 4WD buggy with a 2.8 motor). It's great on the dirt track.

I would not get a 4X4 monster truck. They're heavy, bulky and terrible at the track. They are top heavy, nose dive on jumps and flip easily. They get in our way at the track. We all get nuts with those things on the track. You want fun then get a buggy. Blip the throttle in the air over jumps is a cinche. They are wide, stick the track, land nicely and don't flip as easy.

trav_19 · Jan 24, 2007

i think they are pretty cool i just cant see me spending all that money for me to play w/ it in the back yard lol

vp6799 · Jan 24, 2007

I've got a few in the garage. I have 2 HPI Savage's, and an OFNA 1/8 scale buggy.

One of the savage's has alot of work done to it, ext chassis, Mach26 engine, 3 spd tranny, real beadlocks, beefed up diff's, and alot more... When I race it, I drop the suspension and use diff wheels/tires. Handles really well and jumps like a champ. Out runs most of my friends buggy's.

The other gets the real beating. Mostly stock except for beefed up diff's and a few misc items.

The OFNA buggy has upgraded diff's and HD tranny. It also has a ported and polished picco sport engine.

Here's some pics. The rest of the pics can be seen here:MORE RC PICS

94_Teal_GT · Jan 24, 2007

Right now all I have is a store grade '67 Mustang 1/12th scale. The kids each have store grade R/Cs, Jeep Gladiator 1/6th scale and AMG G55 1/10th scale. I have a carbon fiber chassis which just needs to be finished and have the early 90's T-bird body put on it. I also have a 70's era R/C Cox Gas red dune buggy. I've never tried to start it, but by looking at it, it has to run full throttle all the time.....

I'm going to have to get a good off-road vehicle though. They are building a BMX and R/C park in the city.

trav_19 · Jan 24, 2007

im kinda interested in these things....what is the average going price? where can i find em and about how much do they weigh?

i was at a monster truck show last year and between intermissions and before the show they had like 10 guys down on the concrete driving them and stuff for entertainment...some of them were roasting the tires off it was nuts!!!!

OrangeMustangGt · Jan 24, 2007

i got one of the old origional t-maxx trucks.....with the small engine lol

still fun to play with though.

Ill tell you, the 2wd trucks, ect actually in my mind are more fun, and climb better in soft sand

slvrbullit302 · Jan 25, 2007

I have two Nitro R/C's

Traxxas Nitro 4-Tec touring car--- AWD 2.5R motor two speed tranny--- tops out at around 65mph on 10% and closer to 70mph on 33%

Traxxas Revo 2.5R Monster Truck -- Upgraded A-arms at all four corners, Big Joe 40 series tires and Pro Line Velocity 6 Wheels, motor saver Air filter -- Tops out at about 40 with the big tires and about 45 with the stock smaller tires.

vp6799 · Jan 25, 2007

trav_19 said:
im kinda interested in these things....what is the average going price? where can i find em and about how much do they weigh?

i was at a monster truck show last year and between intermissions and before the show they had like 10 guys down on the concrete driving them and stuff for entertainment...some of them were roasting the tires off it was nuts!!!!

Pricing depends on where you buy from and what car/truck/buggy that you want.

I got my savage's for a steal from a local hobby dealer. The only catch is that I had to wait a week for them to arrive. While towerhobbies.com was selling them for over $400, I got mine for $379 each.

As for buggy's, they go all over for pricing. Just do some research on the web before you buy one. If you ask around, people are just going to vouch for what they have and bash all others. I owned 2 t-maxx's and to me they are weak trucks. In one of the pictures in my link above you can see the t-maxx's. They do not put up with the beating that I put my savage's through.

Buggy's are just awesome. There quick and handle great on road or dirt. I jump the crap out of mine, and the only problem I had was a bent chassis when I tried to jump over a friends garage. I made it over, but landed in the driveway instead of the lawn.

Your best bet is to start with something that's easy to tune the engine, so you don't get pissed off and run it over with your real car...LOL You will have those days that it just won't run right or start at all. These are glow engines that operate like a diesel engine with a glow plug. Weather and humidity have alot to do with how they run. HPI and Traxxas have the best starter engines that i've seen. Plus all of there stuff have the options to highly upgrade your ride.

Engines with one needle carb are exceptional easy to tune, but performance sucks donkey b@lls.

Engines with a 2 needle carb are the most popular. Great performance and easy to tune once you get used to it.

Engines with a 3 needle carb are a b*tch to tune and only have one major difference compared to a 2 needle setup. That diff is the ability to adjust the engines power band to a higher or lower rpm.

Here's a video to get you hyped up...

BUGGY JUMP

One more:

BUGGY JUMP 2

trav_19 · Jan 25, 2007

those vid's were great cant believe how stable they were in the air to come down on all 4!!!!! crazy!

i think i would have a hard time with those controls you gotta turn a knob on the side of the remote? im used to the cheap 2 joy sticks haha

vp6799 · Jan 25, 2007

trav_19 said:
those vid's were great cant believe how stable they were in the air to come down on all 4!!!!! crazy!

i think i would have a hard time with those controls you gotta turn a knob on the side of the remote? im used to the cheap 2 joy sticks haha

The remotes are upgradable to diff styles. They have the joystick type and the gun type. I use the gun style and it's easy to get used to. Plus you can control both steering and throttle with one hand in case you need too.

To control them in the air is easy also. They react just like dirtbikes. Brakes to nose dive and throttle to lift the nose.

trav_19 · Jan 25, 2007

thats crazy lol you got so much control over them....i wish i knew someone locally that has one so i can test one out to see if its something i would be intersted in more then a month....i tend to have that habbit with things lol

vp6799 · Jan 25, 2007

trav_19 said:
thats crazy lol you got so much control over them....i wish i knew someone locally that has one so i can test one out to see if its something i would be intersted in more then a month....i tend to have that habbit with things lol

You should check out a local hobby shop in your area. Most of them either have or know other places that have races. Or you check out ebay and pick up a cheap used one to see if you like it. Just remember, a used one will come with problems.

bullitt 5561 · Jan 26, 2007

i love RC cars, but I got out of it when I got my license to drive real cars. Before I got out of it I won the Maryland State Carpet Oval Championship. Almost like Nascar, only smaller and no pit stops. They are great fun, I wish I could get back into it, but no one oval races anymore. I did a little dirt track racing too.

Zero Signal · Jan 26, 2007

Yeah I could see why the trucks would be annoying on the track since they almost 1/3 of the track width, you could never pass them. I still like the idea of a buggy.

Right now i just rebuilt an electric HPI RS4 awd on-road car with a 19T motor and 3600mah NiMH battery I was beating it around at the HomeDepot parking lot last night, it freaking screams. I still want a truck though, not for racing, but for bashing around construction sites and other random places. Right now I don't want to get into real racing.

VibrantRedGT · Jan 26, 2007

It's an expensive hobby. I paid $1.04 each for my Autolite 3924 spark plugs for the Mustang. One glow plug for my Stadium truck is $8. They eat glow plugs all the time too.

I feel bad for the guys who bought the big 4X4 trucks and thought they would kick ass at the dirt track. Those guys are constantly chasing them all over the track because they flip.

vp6799 · Jan 26, 2007

VibrantRedGT said:
It's an expensive hobby. I paid $1.04 each for my Autolite 3924 spark plugs for the Mustang. One glow plug for my Stadium truck is $8. They eat glow plugs all the time too.

I feel bad for the guys who bought the big 4X4 trucks and thought they would kick ass at the dirt track. Those guys are constantly chasing them all over the track because they flip.

I drop my done up savage so the control arms sit horizontal with the ground, and I use nubz dirt tires. She screams around the track and jumps like an off-road truck. With the 3 spd tranny, I have to keep letting off the throttle because it will run over whatever is in front of me....LOL

As far as glow plugs go. You have to find one that works the best with your engine. It took me alot of glow plugs to find the right one. Now that I found it, I can get a gallon of fuel to each plug. Before, I was swithing plugs after a few tanks.

It is anexpensive hobby. Especiall if you start hoppig it up. Last time I added everything up, I had about $1300 into my nice savage. That includes the cost of the truck.

I had an HPI super nitro RS4. That was a nice rig. Ported and polished .18ss engine, 2 spd tranny, regeared diffs and tranny. It got clocked in the mall parking lot by a police officer friend of mine. He used his radar gun and clocked it 73 mph. I sold it beacause I couldn't control it. It was too fast to race and try to control in a small track.

trav_19 · Jan 26, 2007

so just search ebay for rc cars??

vp6799 · Jan 26, 2007

trav_19 said:
so just search ebay for rc cars??

If you do a search like that, you will get thousands of results that will be junk.

Ofna has nice dependable and fully upgradable buggy's. The yellow one that I posted above is an MBX R2. HPI and TRAXXAS has nic trucks.

This seems like a good deal on ebay:
Ofna MBX Comp buggy

Take a look at the manufactures sites to see what they have and make a decision on what type you want. Then do a search on ebay for the model.

http://www.hpiracing.com
http://www.traxxas.com/
http://www.ofna.com/

Zero Signal · Jan 27, 2007

The Ofna Ravager or Ultra Comp 2 are sounding really nice right now.
http://www.ofna.com/ravager.html
http://www.ofna.com/ultralxcomp.html

After watching some trucks, buggies and truggies at the track, the buggy just seems so much faster and tighter in the corners. And I did notice the tend to be much more stable in the air. I just wonder if it will still be good for some backyard and construction site bashing.

Anyone into R/C cars?

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