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"

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

I'm am thinking about getting into R/C racing. I remember getting a ready to race kit (a Tamiya kit I think) as a youth, and it was fun as hell to build. I went down to my local hobby shop and the store clerk there said that most companies do not make RTR kits anymore. I guess kids don't like building their toys... they'd rather have kids in a 3rd world countries build them instead... Anyway, I thought that's lame, it was more fun to build and tweak than it was to race it. Anyway, that leaves me 2 options, buy a kit and all of the parts over time to get the car to run, or buy a RTR car. Well, option 2 is completely dumb, so I'm going to try and build it from scratch.

The end result, these are the things I want for this first electric car:

3 Channel Radio: I may eventually want to get into RC Nitro cars and I heard 3 channels are needed if you want to have turbo.
Brushless motor: I think they're faster and require less maintenance.
LiPo batteries: I think these are supposed to produce more power than the NiHm NiCd batteries?

There are some things that I'm not sure about. I think to use the LiPo batteries, you need to have a special ESC, is that right?

Well, here is what I'm intending to buy over the next few months:

Kit: Team Associated RC10T4 Factory Team Kit (#7022)
Airtronics MX-3FG 2.4GHz R/C FHSS-2 Radio (TX/RX)
Castle Sidewinder 1/10 ESC & 5700 Motor Combo (CMS5700)

Is there anything that I'm missing? Are there any gotchas!? that I should know about? Does this look like a decent build for a first car?

# ¿ Jun 6, 2009 18:03

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 03:18

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

kuffs posted:

What the gently caress is turbo?

LOL, I thought somewhere I read that you could use a third channel to inject nitro into your mix for a boost... maybe I misunderstood.... I'm a total newbie to RC and engines in general.

kuffs posted:

I'm a Futaba guy myself, but if I was in the market for a radio I'd strongly consider a Spektrum unit now. Less batteries, lighter and reasonably priced. The DX3R even has telemetry (which is bad loving rear end)

Pretty sure LiPos will work with that motor / esc. You'll need a charger and balancer iirc.

Thanks for the info. I read about telemetry and it sound like a cool feature to have. I'll look into the Dx3R. I'm trying to spread the cost out for this over time, so maybe I'll wait a little longer to get the cool radio. I assume that once you have a good radio, you reuse it on any other cars you have in the future, so it's probably worth saving up for a good one.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2009 19:35

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

kuffs posted:

Whoops I got the model numbers wrong, it's the DX3S that has telemetry. http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM3130

Comes with two receivers, one with telemetry and one without.

And yes, a nice radio is worth it. I bought a Futaba 3PM 2.4 with 10 model memory. Adding another car to my arsenal is as simple as picking up a new receiver. Used receivers usually sell for around $65, so it's pretty great.

Cool, I think I'm sold on the DX3S. It's about 50ish more bucks than the radio I was thinking of getting and telemetry just sounds neat. (Yes I just used the word neat... LOL).

Well, there's a local track in Camarillo that I'm going to go check out. Hopefully I won't be the oldest person there, I'm in my 30's and I imagine just a bunch of kids with their Father's.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2009 20:16

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

OMGWTFJohnny posted:

I had no idea there was an R/C car thread here.

I've been involved in the competitive R/C car world for a good 5 years or so, electric offroad to be exact. If anyone has any questions about getting into the sport and locating a track and stuff like that I'd be happy to answer.

Right now I own: 2 factory team RC10B4s and 2 factory team RC10T4s (one of each are just old rolling chassis, the newer ones all have top of the line electronics), and an old RC10GT. Sometime in the future I would love to get into 4WD with a B44, but I would have to get another full set of electronics as well as a new lipo for it.

I've gotten top 10 in plenty national-scale events, my best finish being 2nd in open modified at the reedy truck race of champions.

Click here for the full 1824x1024 image.

edit: I am in southern california, which is one of the, if not the biggest RC areas in the world so if you have any questions or are local I can probably answer them.

edit2:

I was going to answer you in the DIY thread but I'll answer it here I guess.

First of all welcome to the hobby, I've had alot of joy and I started out with an RTR T4. I think that the whole RTR/kit thing is a toss up, its nice to not jump into a new hobby head first so the RTR might be better for you, but I've found that if you end up wanting to become more serious, the the RTR's electronics and hardware just make it a pain and a waste of money. It's also nice to build it yourself so you learn how to tweak and work on your car yourself.

The T4 is a great kit to start out with, it will be very easy to drive once you get it set up and running, the B4 will be a bit harder to drive but will over all make you a better driver. That is a great transmitter and reciever to start with, I myself have an Airtronics M11 with spektrum RX/TX (definitely stick with 2.4ghz, crystals are a pain) but given the chance I would probably get that transmitter. I've driven other people's cars at the track and I like the feel of it (though I'm used to the M11), my dad uses a Futaba 3PK that I don't like. Whatever feels comfortable to you.

While there is nothing wrong with Castle's ESC/motors, it is that motor choice itself that I would warn you about. The 5700 is way too hot of a motor for anyone starting out and is likely too much motor for the T4 period, even in the hands of the best drivers in the world. That is the equivalent of like a 9-10turn brushed motor or like a 5.5-6.5 brushless motor. I myself have always run Novak and can't say anything bad about them, but I would give other companies a look. For people starting out a 17.5 stock brushless motor will be plenty to handle. Some other brands to look at are Novak, LRP, Tekin or Speedpassion.

If you only planned to bash around in the park or whatever then by all means you can go with the 5700, it will be more than enough power for what you're looking for but if you plan on racing on a track then it will be too much.

A lot of great info here, thanks for the response. I'll look into other brushless/esc combos as you suggested.... I'm not too hip on exactly what you mean about the 9-10 turn, etc etc... so I'll be sure to do some more research. I'd like to try my hand at racing eventually. Well, I took the plunge today. I picked up the T4 Factory Team kit today and I'm 90% done putting together the chassis. I'm going to work on the paint job until I can get the money together for the motor/esc combo (which ever I end up with). I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. I also live in Southern California, about an hour north of Los Angeles. Again, thanks for the info.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2009 09:10

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

krushgroove posted:

'turbo' and 'supercharging' for 2-cycle model engines is bullshit...doesn't work, don't waste your money or time. Most racing/computer/2.4gHz radios you get nowadays are 3-channel, don't know why but all of the good ones have a third channel so don't worry about that.

Good to know... I'm just now getting my feet wet... working on painting my first body right now for this T4 chassis kit I picked up.... Pretty fun!

# ¿ Jun 8, 2009 00:45

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

OMGWTFJohnny posted:

While there is nothing wrong with Castle's ESC/motors, it is that motor choice itself that I would warn you about. The 5700 is way too hot of a motor for anyone starting out and is likely too much motor for the T4 period, even in the hands of the best drivers in the world. That is the equivalent of like a 9-10turn brushed motor or like a 5.5-6.5 brushless motor. I myself have always run Novak and can't say anything bad about them, but I would give other companies a look. For people starting out a 17.5 stock brushless motor will be plenty to handle. Some other brands to look at are Novak, LRP, Tekin or Speedpassion.

If you only planned to bash around in the park or whatever then by all means you can go with the 5700, it will be more than enough power for what you're looking for but if you plan on racing on a track then it will be too much.

So I've been doing a little research and it seems like I can mitigate how powerful the engine runs based on the type of power I supply to it. If I were to supply the LiPo batteries like I originally spec'd out, I'd be running 60+ mph (my car would be crashed seconds), but that is cut in half if I use the NiMh batteries. According to Castle's site, if I wanted to upgrade to the LiPo batteries, I'd also need to change the gearing to handle the extra power (different pinion gear and spur). Is that a correct assessment of running these motors? Do you think that going for POW motor and then upgrading the power supply/gearing as I develop as a driver is a decent track to take?

# ¿ Jun 8, 2009 19:09

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

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!

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

[EDT2]I didn't realize the ban on image shack, images changed

ElJefeDeJefes fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jun 15, 2009

# ¿ Jun 15, 2009 08:59

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 03:18

ElJefeDeJefes: May 10, 2009

Ryzic posted:

Looks good, man! I always loved T4s.

Thanks man, it was a lot of fun to put together....

# ¿ Jun 21, 2009 23:06

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