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Choosing your first RC Car

Keith — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:30:30 +0000

Choosing your first rc car

How To get Started With a Gas Powered RC Car Or Truck

Some people are hesitant about trying an rc car or truck.
Perhaps they think it has to be for racing ,

Remote-controlled cars and trucks come in lots of styles and types .
You shouldthink about how you want to use it before eventually owning one.
It is of course similar to choosing a ful size car (except you cannot actually get inside)

Here are some ideas for choosing an RC Car or Truck.
1 Do you want a prebuilt car or truck or are you happy to tinker for hours ?

2 Would you prefer a sporty car or a tough truck >
3 Do You want an electric model (easier to assemble and runs right out of the box)
Or would you prefer a Gas Powered model -
These are fuelled with a Nitromethane fuel that includes lubricants to protect the engine.
Usually the Gas fuelled cars use what is known as a Glow engine that runs similarly to a real car engine
but is actually a 2-stroke engine and has a throaty sound like a sports car and produces a exhaust like a real car.
These cars use a Glow Plug (hence the name) which heats the ignition process instead of a spark plug.
(may be a little difficult to start when cold but s quite exciting when you get the settings right)

Gas powered cars also need filters and even fuel bottle pumps to get fuel into the fuel tank.

You can buy kits in various forms from completely assembled and ready for fuelling to kits where you have to decide how to
assemble them and what engines to fit.
Usually a 2-channel radio control unit is included and this runs on readily available batteries.
Its as easy to use as an electric kit (wireless !)

If you want to get straight into competitive racing then you need a gas powered model with a fairly powerful engine (can get expensive !)
But if you just want to drive around without being in a compeition then probably an electrically powered model (continued below)

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will be great to start off with (but you may not be able to resist upgrading to a gas powered car soon.)
If you choose an electric model then I suggest buying a Truck or other ATV as you will have a LOT more fun with this than a saloon car.(You cannot drive a saloon car over a sandhill..)
Hope this will help with chosing your first rc car.

RC Car Kit Building Hints

Keith — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:19:40 +0000

RC Car Kit Building Hints

The first thing to do of course is to choose the car kit you want to build.
The main choice is often for a road racer or an offroad car (usually 4x4 !)
There are hundreds for sale on this site (usually at far less than store prices)
It is much more fun to assemble a kit as then you understand how everything works and the cars limitations.

Assembly is not as difficult as you may think Providing you follow the instructions exactly.

You will certainly need :
* Car kit - check the contents against the instruction book to make sure they are all there - this is VERY IMPORTANT !
If they are missing something take the kit back for a replacement - do not try to assemble the kit first as the vendor may refuse to exchange it.

* Instruction Book I always photocopy these as a precaution against spilling coffee/paint over it
( or my dogs putting paw prints all over it !)

Tools - you need :
Electrical screwdriver
Small and medium Phillips Screwdrivers (cross-head)
Small and medium flat headed screwdrivers
Jewellers screwdriver kit may be useful
Needlenose and flat pliers
Slip-joint pliers
Control-lock pliers for grasping flywheels
Pencil and notepad (eventually you will need it !)
Sidecutters
Flush Cutter for oil lines and pieces that need to be close cut (a strong nail cutter might be OK)
Plastic or metal containers to keep small parts safe
An Anglepoise or desk lamp for extra lighting while building
A Table vice might be handy
Some kits may need a soldering Iron and solder.
Decals
Paintbrush
Paint
Sticky tape is great for holding things together when you run out of fingers ! (and you WILL run out of fingers..)

I always build things on a large tray with an old white towel as a base so it can catch any small parts or drips of oil etc.The white towel means I can find bits I drop and they do not bounce around the room.(I Always do that ...)

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READ right through the manual and make notes of anything that sounds tricky.
Then lay out parts in the order in which you will need them (thats what the containers were for)
Make a note of the screw settings and positions.
Focus attention on the right,left,front and rear.
The maker may (or may not) have marked standard settings with a dot or mark.
Do not remove those marks - you may need them later to reset your car.

Take it easy and proceed through the instruction manual one step at a time.
This is not a race and doing things slowly and correctly is the top tip on rc car building
A really good idea is to take a break every hour or so aand have a tea or coffee.
When you come back you will be refreshed and ready to go again.
(You might want to look through the instruction book again too...)
Do not try to skip pages or do what seems to be the fun parts. That way disaster lies.
The manual is laid out in that order for a specific reason - to get your kit working properly.
The maker spends thousands of dollars getting it right. Trust them.
Patience is a virtue - and that is certainly true when building a remote control car kit.

The first car kit you build chould be FUN - not frustrating.
If you find it frustrating then you are probably trying to do shortcuts.
Go back to the manual and work your way through it until you solve the problem.
99 percent of all rc car building problems are caused by not following the manual step by step.

Just as you would not build a real car by starting with an exhaust pipe and working forwards ...
the manual instructions are there in a SPECIFIC order because that is the easy way to fit the parts.
I hope that RC Car Kit Building Hints has been useful for you - Have Fun !

Gas RC Cars

Keith — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:11:49 +0000

Gas RC Cars

Gas Remote Control Cars ? Are they just a flash iin th pan ?

Many of us would just love to drive a high performance car - a BMW or a Porsche or even a Ferrari ! .
But lets face facts - nowadays in a recession its just a pipe dream.

Or is it ?

How about racing a model radio controlled car instead of the real thing ?

There are almost as many thrills driving a high performance RC car
at speeds of up to 70 mph and acceleration of zero to 60 mph in under 6 seconds

This is a viable and funalternative to real racing cars at far less cost.
(a high performance rc car costs 300 to 700 dollars instead of the tens of thousands that the real thing would cost - and no major insurance bills or road tax either !)

Now this may sound crazy at first and then maybe you are thinking of those older rc cars that used to be controlled by tethered wires !
Well things have advance a lot since then !

RC cars now have really pokey little tunable engines that run on gas ( high octane fuel)

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This can be an introduction to a great hobby too.
Although its cheaper to have a standard kit (which is not too hard to put together)
You can have lots of fun swapping engines,repainting the colors and adding trim like spoilers and other accessories.

You can even choose more unusual rc cars - like a humvee for instance (no you cannot fit a machine gun on top ...)

The best thing to do is to join an RC Car club and these often have their own (or access to) Racetracks where
you can pit your model car against rivals.

If you prefer you can always plump for something slightly more sedate - like a remote control ATV or Truck - which can be used by all of the family for hours of fun.

You do not have to buy new of course and secondhand rc cars in great condition often appear on this site.

As a hobby this does get quite enthralling and the thrill of driving an RC car has to be experienced to be believed.Have a great time with your Gas RC Cars.

Electric RC Car ?

Keith — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:03:22 +0000

Electric RC Car

I guess this must be the starting point for most RC Car owners.
It is just so easy to operate an rc electric car.
You put batteries in - turn the switch and it goes beautifully.
No set-up, no fuel lines to clog,no engine to tune.
(well there IS an engine of course but it is electric !)
As I say, almost everyone starts with one of these.
They are so simple that even fairly small children can use them.
Although the early electric RC Cars were pretty poorly made toys until Radio Shack started marketing their really good ones,
That is when the mass market decided that these were great value and good fun.

An electric RC car is actually a lot cheaper to run than a gas-powered car and a lot safer for tiny hands to play with. and that is why many parents buy them as gifts.
I think that most people who are tempted start off with Nitro cars would be better advised to buy an electric RC Car instead.
After all, you can still race RC Cars against each other and get lots of really enjoyable fun from them.
One of the main advantages of electric RC Cars is that you can use them indoors. Which you certainly cannot do with gas powered cars.
They are less noisy and there is no smoky atmosphere with an electric car .

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You can still buy RC Kit cars and have a great time building them and that gives almost
as much satisfaction as building a Gas powered car.
(And you know it will work first time out !)
Most people still buy the pre-assembled cars and have just as much fun with them.
Electric RC cars themselves are less costly to buy and that is a great advantage too.
It really depends on your individual desire - to race cars or to tinker with them.

Gas powered cars do not actually run on petrol (gasoline)
In fact the fuels is a mixture of Nitromethane and Castor Oil and is purchased
ready mixed from a modelling store.
Try to choose an electric RC Car that will take rechargeable batteries.
That way your running costs will be minimal after you buy a charger and a spare set of batteries.

Although I tell you of the advantages of an electric car, for me there is nothing quite like the roar of a nitro car as it screams off around my garden !
I am a tinkerer - did you guess ?
Glad you found this article on Electric RC Cars

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