Getting started in Electric Touring cars

[valk]

Thought i would put this thread out just as a basic starting point for anyone who has maybe seen us racing but doesn't know what to buy.
This is a sport that kinda is what it is for cost, but there are ways to get into the hobby for less money. often, you can score a great deal on a used setup from another racer. This is how i got in and often times you will get almost everything you need to race.
I had considered putting these cars together to sell at the track but Id have to sell them for $500 assembled which is still a tough pill for most. however, for someone who doesn't mind dropping $500 on a traxxas at future shop, might be a considerable option if your interested in the close bumper to bumper racing onroad has to offer.

obviously its nice to keep the local hobby shop in business. if you want face to face contact, go talk to jeff at shaver. he knows what we race and will be happy to bring in everything you need.

for those who dont mind rolling the dice on online shopping and shipping;

I started at tqrcracing.com and put the following in my cart:

P/N: SPR-S1STC Spec R S1 Touring car kit $128.99. alternatively is the Sakura XI Sport "KIT-SAKXI-S" at $127.99 and a little bit older is The Sakura Zero S "KIT-SAKURA-S" at $109. The TC4 stock club race "ASC30101" is an option as all the parts can be had at shaver for cheap. but at $149, its a little expensive for what it is. Ill just use the Spec R for this example.

P/N: 81020001 Hobbywing Justock ESC $54.99. best value for touring car there is. possibly the speedpassion reventon as well but its closer to $79 and has questionable reliability.

P/N: ASC232 Roar approved Brushless motor 17.5 Turns. doesn't matter which one. most are around $89. Irocc follows roar rules so its advisable to buy a motor that's approved by roarracing.com for our big twice annual races.

P/N: QTS-32N Rubber tires for touring car. $26.99 Sweep QTS 32.

P/N: 1487-11  touring car body $21.99

total = $322.95 plus shipping/duty


Over to hobbyking for some other stuff.

P/N: NC5300.2S2P.30 2s Lipo battery Turnigy Nanotech 5300mah roar approved $27.01
P/N: ACC6 Turnigy dc Lipo charger $22.99

P/N: 9295000008 Metal Gear Servo 0.11s/130oz $12.70

total = $62.70 plus shipping/duty

a note about hobby king though. if you browse a particular product for a few minutes you will get a popup that offers it to you for a few bucks cheaper. can maybe save $5-$10 on the order if you buy a couple batteries. and servos.
the servos wont be as good as a $100 futaba but will certainly get you started.

so everything for the car totals $385.65 plus some shipping. all brand new parts. if i had to buy this car id go for a savox servo as the only change bringing it just under $420.

then you need a radio.

on amain hobbies you can get a Spectrum Dx2E for $59.99, Spectrum Dx3C for $99 which is dsm 3. uses the new receivers, a Futaba 3PRKA FHSS for $69.99 which works with 4PL receivers or a Airtronics MXV for $99. A radio is an investment. Id step up to the $200 mark and get a spectrum DX4, Airtronics MT4 which i have personally owned and is awesome, or a Futaba 4PL which is also quite popular.

So you could put a car together with a radio and charger for under $500. It will be legal to race at any of our club races, our speed weekend events or any roar sanctioned event where they race 17.5 touring car.
If you have the extra $100, get a radio at the $200 mark and enjoy years of trouble free racing with irocc =)

[BCbud]

New at Hobbyking, a renamed Sakura Zero S For $69.99.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__25176__Turnigy_TD10_1_10_Belt_Driven_4WD_Touring_Car_KIT_.html

FYI: The Spektrum DXC3 is DSM2, not DSM3. Nice radio for the price though.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=SPM3300

Neil.

[valk]

your right about that, i misread. and yep thats a full on sakura zero S clone! good find. im sure all the sakura Zero parts would be compatible so it has an upgrade path.
might have to get one next time somone wants to put in a hobbyking order.

Both the sakura and spec r can be fully updated to their top of the line competition spec though which is nice. A CF chassis plate and top plate would probably be the most id bother buying though. maybe aluminum suspension mounts as they DO move when you crash. one of the most important things to look out for when building a car is to make sure your arm mounts are square and true, and free. out of square will cause bizarre handling characteristics.

[Blake]

Thanks for doing the legwork on this guys.  Pretty amazing that you can get a brand new, full package complete with LiPo battery, Brushless ESC, and DSM radio for under $500.  That setup should last for years if maintained well.

Another option is the Serpent RTR setup.  It's short a battery and charger, but it's priced quite low at about $420.
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_44_348_2589/products_id/245047/n/Serpent-S411-1-10-RTR-4WD-Electric-Touring-Car-w-24GHz-Radio-System


Blake

[valk]

its a nice rtr but we would have to run modified.

ps. kits like that are gonna give you proprietary electronics that you likely wont be able to use again if you continue in rc. they also lose value the second you buy them. much better off buying a name brand universal item that you can take with you to a newer better chassis, or sell and lose less money on.

Though that serpent probably is the best RTR option you can get atm.

also, i listed ROAR APPROVED items. if we just forget about this the yeah racing/turnigy power systems are very cheap. like $50 for a esc and motor. but i dont see the point in spending $50 then having to turn around and spend another $150 later.

[Corey]

Thanks very much for this post Valk. It was very informative. I am planning on a military move out west next year and want to hook up to race with your guys so I really appreciated the post.
Couple things though:
1. What do you do when you inevitably break some of this hobby king gear? I have ordered from them quite a lot and here on the east coast a shipment can take anywhere from 2 - 6 or 7 weeks.
2. can you detail the specs for some of you other classes as well?

[Shawn68z]

Thanks very much for this post Valk. It was very informative. I am planning on a military move out west next year and want to hook up to race with your guys so I really appreciated the post.
Couple things though:
1. What do you do when you inevitably break some of this hobby king gear? I have ordered from them quite a lot and here on the east coast a shipment can take anywhere from 2 - 6 or 7 weeks.
2. can you detail the specs for some of you other classes as well?

A1.   Buy 2 kits. That way you have a full set of spares.    OR buy a car everyone is already running(Xray T2/T3/T4), OR buy from RC Mushroom. ((They are much quicker for shipping, and sell more name brand stuff).
A2.  Other classes change abit, and by next year might be different. One thing that is constant is .12 Nitro Touring Car.  We currently race 13.5 Boosted World GT Pancars, and 1/12 modified PanCars.

Shawn.

[valk]

If you want to buy one car and race it for years with no rule changes, 1/10 nitro sedan would be it. No rules really. Just ask that drivers are semi skilled so its safe.

Only hobbyking stuff i have personal exp with is turnigy batteries. Ive had one go bad of 5 but the remaining 4 are going strong. Won touring stock at speedweekend with these batteries.

Not sure how they last over the long term but touring stock and 1/12th stock wouldnt really tax then too terribly much.
Any car you buy, budget $100 for spares if you want to cover yourself. Arms, chubs, ballcups, shims, screws *protek rc screws excellent strength and value*

world gt is probably changing to 10.5 blinky for indoor and then next year. We have also had declining wgt attendance. Nitro and tcstock are still going strong.

Depending on when you come out though, you might want to get a 12th scale first. 13.5 blinky. At least all you wgt guys dont need to buy motors come indoor.

[Blake]

Thanks very much for this post Valk. It was very informative. I am planning on a military move out west next year and want to hook up to race with your guys so I really appreciated the post.
Couple things though:
1. What do you do when you inevitably break some of this hobby king gear? I have ordered from them quite a lot and here on the east coast a shipment can take anywhere from 2 - 6 or 7 weeks.
2. can you detail the specs for some of you other classes as well?

Hey Corey,

Good to hear from you.  I would definitely recommend an XRay electric touring car for next summer's racing.  There are often some for sale within the club.  There are tons of spare parts around for them and they are competitive cars.  They are also quite strong.  I don't think I'd do a HobbyKing car just because parts support would be tough.  If you break an XRay on raceday, you will most likely be back up and running within an hour because someone will have the spare part....

At this point I would say that the only two guaranteed classes for next summer are:
1. Electric Touring 17.5 Blinky
2. Nitro Touring

Our club is facing declining attendance and we're not sure exactly what to do for next summer.  Depending on numbers, we could possibly/hopefully run a strong 3rd class next summer (WGT 10.5 Blinky would be a likely candidate).

Blake

[valk]

Just thought id mention; ill have a spec r s1 to display shortly. Hopefully for the 25th which is my next raceday.
Rcmart was having a sale and i got the car for just $89! Of course, i put that $30 savings into a few spare parts.
Then went to tqracing after reading the build review on petitrc and picked up a few little upgrades. Some aluminum arm mounts for the front, some bushings and aluminum wheel hex's

The car is probably raceable without these things but im still under $150 for a 2013 electric touring car. Ill investigate some cheaper electronic alternatives. The speed passion motors shawn discovered is definitely interesting. Also, the tamiya mini guys run the orca spec 17.5 system that would be quite good here as well.

I just picked up this speedpassion system as well. $64 on sale atm. regular $129 which is still a pretty good price.

http://www.rcmart.com/speed-passion-reventon-stock-club-race-brushless-system-combo-wv30-motor-p-36959.html

[valk]

Really have to throw a shoutout for the specr team.. this car is really very nice to build.. the plastics are nice and hard. everything fits just perfectly with no adjustment or sanding needed. there is NO slop in the suspension parts so far. my serpent needed a TON of shimming to get the front end semi tight, this car just drops together and its perfect.. really really good and it was so cheap lol.
If this car handles half ass decent, i might consider getting an R1 as well.

chassis is fiberglass.. pretty heavy and not a lot of flex. car will probably be lively on the throttle but this probably wouldnt be a real hinderence in anything but mod. lots of adjustment right out of the box, just doesnt come with rollbars. I will order those but waiting to finish the build to see if the plastics were included. saves like $15. the spurgear is very smart and i imagine you can change it without pulling the top deck. just undo a screw, pull the layshaft out and out comes the spur. though the belt tension might complicate putting it back heh.
shocks are also good. limited options for pistons but surely other cars have compatible pistons, thing tamiya, 3racing, yokomo. bladders are rubber but seem soft enough. springs might be a LITTLE stuff. but its a heavier car than my serpent.
you can buy a second set of shocks for the car for $22 though.. lol. or $32 for aluminum bodied ones.

im not done. waiting for the edges of the fiberglass to dry but so far, im pretty impressed with this car. $89 or not.

[valk]

Not a BAD first outing at all. the car was a little different from my serpent for sure but managed a decent result with it. its not as refined as the serpent and tends to float around a little more but i blame the steering rack for that. the bearings in it could be better so there is quite a lot of play in the inner races. i shimmed it up as best i could and its better. aftermarket bearings would clean that right up for a couple bucks. certainly not the $25 for aluminum steering rack.
of course, you could replace all the bulkheads in the car and the steering and servo mount for like.. $80.. but at that point, you might as well just spring $315 for the prospec kit and get everything you get in a $489 serpent or $550 xray. you even get double jointed front shafts in that package.

speed passion power arrived today.. kinda makes the orca tx a waste of money but i didn't know i was gonna get this system. kind of spur of the moment. The punch of this esc is quite good and the motor seems to have plenty of snot. I think gerry was running it in his Serpent, which glenn qualified to second place over all. Needs stronger brakes but buying the programmer card will fix that when i get to it.
overall cost of this car as configured;

Spec R S1 kit $89 on rcmart on special
Speed passion power $64 rcmart on special
Savox Digital servo $65 amainhobbies
Turnigy 5600mah 50-100c roar approved $45 hobbyking

[Shawn68z]

Huh.... Could have sworn I saw ORCA power in that thing on the weekend.... 


Shawn.

[Gorden]

Huh.... Could have sworn I saw ORCA power in that thing on the weekend.... 


Shawn.

I believe it was

speed passion power arrived today.. kinda makes the orca tx a waste of money but i didn't know i was gonna get this system

[valk]

Spec R was powered by orca this last weekend out and im very happy with it. motor has tons of balls and took a lot of abuse when i failed to realize i had it geared at 3.4 with like.. 50º of timing lol. car was still a rocket through the race.. a little hot but didnt seem to hurt it.
if the speed passion motor works out ill probably run it for club racing, and save the orca motor for speed weekends. though i won this last speed weekend with my Reedy motor.. so dont really wanna get rid of that either.
if i had known i was getting the speed passion, i would have got a 13.5 TX instead as ill still need one of those.

ah well, having the reventon stock system in hand, i can really show what you get for lower cost of entry. the esc seems to have plenty of snot for 17.5 and the motor seems to work well too. just messing around on the street it feels punchy but very smooth and linear. there is no lag between different throttle positions, it just reacts to throttle very nicely. not unlike the orca.
tekin seemed to have a lag before i woudl respond and it was a softer response.. Though i got to thinking today.. the curve profile, could that be used to give the esc more punch or is that just the expo from zero to full throttle?

ah well. lots of fun toys to play with, not enough track time =(

[valk]

keeping track of the spare parts i bought, upgrades and some general pit box items needed for general adjustment;

tqrcracing.com

Upgrades from the R1. I bought these before even assembling the car. probably not needed but definitely nice to have.

SPR-R1A110 Aluminum wheel hex $6.99
SPR-R1A115 Aluminum Pivot Mount front $7.99
SPR-R1A116 Aluminum Split pivot mount $10.99
SPR-R1P307 Suspension mount insert set $3.99

These parts optional if you want swaybars;

SPR-R1H716 Anti Roll bar set 1.1-1.5mm $6.99
SPR-R1H719 Steel Ballstuds $3.99
SPR-R1P306 Turnbuckle ends $1.99
SPR-R1B801 M3x3 setscrew $2.99
SPR-R1A123 Anti Roll Bar Stopper $3.49

Spares; I got two of each, 301-303

SPR-R1A103 Chub Bushing set $3.99
SPR-R1A122 2x10mm Pin "incase you didnt get aluminum wheel hex's" $1.99
SPR-R1P301 C-hubs 4º $6.99
SPR-R1P302 Suspension Arms f/r $6.99
SPR-R1P303 Steering block/rear upright $6.99
SPR-R1P304 Spool Outdrive $5.49

Shims for Pitbox/assembling car with greater precision;
Tamiya 53585 3mm 0.1-0.3mm washers 10pc each $5.99
3Racing 3RAC-SW05 5mm 0.1-0.3mm washers 10pc each $3.99
3Racing 3RAC-WF305/RE Aluminum m3 washer 0.5mm red 10pc $3.49
3Racing 3RAC-WF310/RE Aluminum m3 washer 1mm red 10pc $3.49
3Racing 3RAC-WF320/RE Aluminum m3 washer 2mm red 10pc $3.49

shims are optional. car comes with plastic shims. aluminum shims offer greater precision of assembly and free'er movement of the arms. i found the stock wheel base shims to be way too tight so id use smaller ones, and adjust the play with the tamiya 0.1-0.3mm shims. i almost wish i picked up two sets of those as i tend to use them on quite a few of my cars. the 5mm shims are optinal but allow you to take play out of the chub bushings of most touring cars and for this car, allows you to adjust the layshaft bushings closer to center. if you buy the car, when it comes time to install the layshaft, you will understand why...

So ive spent just under $100 with all shipping for all the spares and a few choice upgrades to this car that i got new on sale for $89.. if i had to pay $129 tqrcracing is selling it for, id probably have skipped most of the aluminum parts except for the wheel hexes. swaybars only cost $20 to add all told so its a worthwhile upgrade. suspension mounts are just peace of mind for me. if im gonna break it, it will probably be in the front.

For $100ish you really just cannot go wrong with the car. sure you can get a used car from someone for around $250 which is a good option for sure, but parts may be worn out or the car might be too old to get parts for. for someone who wants to get into racing touring cars with a modern chassis that doesnt cost a lot and has enough room for advancement, im very happy to showcase this car.
Im actually pretty tempted to get an R1 now.. heh. maybe after speed weekend.

[Shawn68z]

I learned along time ago, if you want to be happy doing your hobby. Don't do the math, Its just not worth it.    Also, sending the boxes to a friends house can be a good idea, and use a pre-paid MC/Visa to order products is good for security, and so she doesn't see the bill!


Shawn.

[valk]

Yea.... She was the one who received my sanwa.... Bit of explaining On that bill lol.

[bigmatty]

Just started into this hobby with my Son, and this was an excellent read, thank you.
he bought a second hand car to gauge interest, and thus far he is enjoying it. I am probably going to grab one of those Spec- R kits and slowly build up a bit better quality car.
thanks again, see you out there
Matt

[valk]

one thing ill advise. if you get an s1/2 spec r kit, dont spend too much money upgrading it to a R1 or 2. drive it and fix it as it is, and when you feel ready with skill/financial commitment, buy a better kit and bring any electronics you buy to it. if you were to pick up one of the club build cars, you get fully compliant race electronics you can use anywhere in north america. basically buy it and forget about it.

Blake and I run the spec r cars at club racing. nothing wrong with them =)

[bigmatty]

yupper, pretty much the plan,start with a good foundation and go from there. we hope to be there for the thursday night practice if its still going on so he can whip around again...see if we sorted out his steering issues.....
Chers and thx again.
M

[Blake]

Yep, Thursday night practice will be happening.

See you then,
Blake

[bigmatty]

Well this escalated quickly.....lol....Spec-R build here we go.....almost have everything I need....thx again Blake...my wife may end up hating you 

[Blake]

Hehe, can you really put a price on your child's happiness....  Plus, it's not a video game!

Enjoy the build.

Blake