Remote Control Cars

[Nick F]

I've pretty much got everything I want but I need to choose what I want to get for xmas.

I have been thinking about getting a remote controlled car. I'm talking about the petrol kind here, does anyone know of any good UK sites that sell kits.

I would be looking for something up to £200.

[[GSV]Trig]

I'm going down the battery route as iirc there are laws about petrol powered stuff..

[DR]

I'd get a Nitro - shame you can't spend a bit more - I've an LST2 - Tarinder has a Savage - and I know BSOD has a nice one too

[Gordy]

I have an hpi micro rs4 great little car though not running it much at the mo as the kitten would attack it hehe

Pics ere: http://gordyhand.co.uk/gallery/v/genpics/rccar/

Sites I use are:
http://www.apexmodels.com/
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/

[Pie_uk]

http://www.storacingproducts.com/cgi...=showprod_K064

take a look, good site to.

[ctid]

I've got a HPI Sprint, and an Associated TC3 Factory Team. ebay is good for decent used kits, and I use modelsport for all my upgrades/repairs.

www.modelsport.co.uk

[Nick F]

If any of you were to pick a good first starter nitro kit which one would you go for?

[DR]

Depends, do you want to build it yourself?

HPI kick ass

I'd recommend you buy a built working one - maybe 2nd hand if you can get to the person.

Remember these things are fast - and if you have anything other than a "truck" everytime you hit something it will end up breaking.

I had an HPI RS4 Pro 2 - and used to use it in the road - but kepted killing it.

You need to make sure you read the manual on how to build it Even if you buy a 2nd user, or pre-built

[ctid]

I went for electric over nitro, as David says, they break too easily. They can be pretty costly to repair as well.

My first car was my HPI Sprint, and I must have spent £100 on spare parts for it to repair it after smashes while I was learning to race properly. After I'd learnt, I got myself the TC3, which has titanium alloy bits . More robust, but more expensive to fix.

[MadduckUK]

Yokomo YR-4 Carbon for the win! (in 1998 anyway!)

[DR]

I got to get a new screw set for my LST2

[bsodmike]

David is right and wrong - I got 2x buggies and a Savage

Well as I said earlier, I'm looking to sell at least one of the buggies. The Mugen MBX5 (my newest) - I only got thru to finishing the chassis assembly, but didn't have time after that to complete it.


MBX5 ProSpec, chassis (roller)

At the same time I have a brand new Nova rossi P5X mill, Rossi pipe (tuned for middle-lowend) and a Spektrum Pro receiver.

I ended up installing the mill into my MP777, and I've got quite a bit of mods that are still sealed (in part bags) - so if you're interested you got quite a bit of a choice.

I've finished upgrading my savy, which I got second hand - the guy pumped quite a bit of cash and wanted to get out of nitro, so I was lucky.
-----------------------------

Nitro might be 'more' expensive over electric, but once you see that smoke, the sound - if you ain't sold....I'm not sure what will heh.

Nitro


'Rossi P5X

There are quite a few things to consider, and possibly applicable to electrics

• On road or off-road?
• Buggy, truggy, monster truck?
• RTR (ready to roll, i.e. out of the box) or kit, as in you assemble it.

...with kits,

• What engine (or mill), .21 (iirc 3.5cc <check>) is standard, and IFMAR rated for buggies - if you plan to take it to your local track u might want to stick to this.
• Radio: You'll need one, FM or AM. Or better yet, get Spektrum (I did) which operates on the 2.4GHz band by simply dropping into a FM/AM radio abd has tons of advantages over regular RF. Two models to consider, Futaba 3PK and the Airtronics M11. I've had both and prefer the M11+Spektrum setup. The 3PK also supports Spektrum DSM (google for this).
• Servos: Rule of thumb, you want a fast digital servo on the throttle and a strong (200oz/in or ~14kg/cm torque) metal servo on steering.
• Fuel: usually dictated by your mill/glow plug setup. My novarossies enjoy 25-30%.
• Pipe: take a look at the Vantage pipes - fully CF and quite hot (cooler than the metal pipes tho. Most pipes require a manifold as well, some come as a kit, as does the Vantage.
• Hump (5-cell) battery, for receiver.
• Starter Box (buggy specific): Savages come with HPI's rotostart or Pull start (my fav). If you get one, go for a 7A/h SLA or more

MP777 with Vantage pipe and OS-spec VZ-BT mill

This is up to the point of buying a nitro RC. Then you have to read up on how to break it in once you finish assembling it. There are certain tips for setting up diffs, shocks. I like to go for a 3:7:1 diff setup (that's 3k:7k:1k, front, center, rear) but have gone for a 5:7:1 on the mugen. For shocks, 40weight front and 50weight rear. Also you'll notice certain pet peeves between US oils and EU oils, so stick to one system and don't mix different brands if you can help it.

Tools:

• Fuel Bottle
• socket nut drivers
• hex drivers
• nose pliers
• Ni-MH, NiCd, LiPol and Li-Ion / Pb (sealed lead acid) battery charger
• glow wrench
• wheel wrentch
• zipties
• fuel tubing
• Shock oil
• Diff oil
• Air filter oil
• ARO (after run oil)
• Thread lock (locktite)
• ...lot more!

...This is just the START of your RC adventure. Each RC out there has tons of mods available, which I feel that the most important ones are strong chassis braces, drog bones all around, dual/quad caddock setup (if you like that extra bite!) and possibly something like the Werks clutch.


Werks clutch

Without a nights sleep, this is all I could think of for the moment. Good luck!

----

David, tony's screws might have a kit? Also check out 'jespares', they ship UK mainland. Hex, ss mechined screws are the best.


Custom painted lid!

[Nick]

bsod, you rock!

That's what I love about this place, there's an expert for everything...

So the Tomy Bump n Go I've got, can I upgrade that or should I just keep it spec?

[kreeeee]

This thread makes me want to rebuild and run my hyper 7 again

I need to rebuild the differentials and shock, and the engine sometimes runs in reverse for some reason. Any ideas?

[s_kinton]

Ive got a HPI Super Nitro RS4 Rally, in the style of a Mitsubishi Evo VII. Its pretty damn good, especially as im not that experienced with these things. I was given it by my brother in law about a year ago.

HPI seem like a very good brand to me and have a massive range of cars. The savage series look particularly good. You really need to think about what terrain you're gonna use it on though and this will drive what car you should choose

[DR]

Mike - how much?