Hey guys,
I am a big racing fan without the budget to do real racing, and recently someone pointed me to your group. I went out tonight for an hour or so and checked out some qualifying rounds and such and it looks like loads of fun. I have decided I am going to get a car and join you guys when the summer season starts.
My initial looking around I had done, I really was hot for the nitro TC3 car (because I love speed and the more "mechanical" style of car than a battery operated) but I have been told before (and tonight) that newbs are better off starting with electrics. Given the significant speeds, I'll probably heed this advice and will be starting out with a TC4 electric model to start.
I understand that beyond the car, I will need batteries, a charger and a 27-turn motor (as I understand it does not ship with this). I will make sure I get something appropriate from Jeff at BC Shaver when I buy it as I understand he's knowledgeable about the requirements of IROCC.
So there are two things I would like to ask you folks about.
Firstly, can anyone point me to some sort of good introduction for a beginner to all of the different parts of an RC racer? I understand real cars/racing in general, so things like camber, toe-in and dampers and such are no problem, but specifically I heard a lot of terms referring to the electrical components in the car (such as the servo), and I am not clear on what they all are.
Ideally I would like to get my hands on a glossary that breaks down every part of the average electric RC car and shows the name and description of the components. Or can I expect that my car will include just such a sheet?
Secondly, I noticed that everyone out there has a pretty sizeable collection of tools and devices beyond just a car and a charger and stuff. Are there any specific things I am going to require to get going? I know the car is supposed to be "RTR", but my budget isn't terribly restricted and if there are things I am going to find myself wanting or needing shortly into my playing with the car, I'd prefer to take care of it in advance.
Any additional tips or advice are welcome.
I am planning to get the car soon so that I can take it out on my own when it's dry and get a lot of practice in driving and learning the feel of it. Then I can start playing with setup to get a feel for how the car is affected by setup changes.
Hopefully this way I will be ready to drive like less of a total newb when summer season starts.
Thanks for your time.
Justin
Hi I placed some links to some other sites this, I hope helps. If your sure that you want to race then try and purchase the best you can afford. You don't need the best.
http://users.pandora.be/elvo/
http://www.rctech.net/forum/
http://www.actionrc.com.au/Section_1.htm
You were mentoning out side(I was the guy that you were talking to just before you left.
Oh yeah, don't be afraid to ask any question that you might have. We all like to help out.
well my suggestion would if your gonna get into the hobby for a while..............dont buy RTR as the car itself is bottom of the line everything ,but still ok ........the electronics such as the steering servo and the speed controler is absolutly garbage............i would buy a used car because as soon as you use your new RTR once its used anyway,and buy some half decent electronics.....besides new drivers are usually hard on car parts for the first little while.......................good electronics are good for many cars to come as long as you take care of them......the electronics you get in a RTR are the first thing to go either buy just not working good enough or the plastic geared servos stripping out when you hit a hose and the RTR has no brakes in the speed controller and has revers witch is almost instant with no delay and well when you race you may never use reverse
If u are lookign for a rtr tc4 though i believe ryan still has 2 NIB ones for 250...
Who on here is Ryan? I assume NIB = new in box?
Does the RTR use the same parts as the non-RTR models with the exception of electronics? I.e. same chassis, suspension etc? At that price, I could just upgrade individual components as needed...
well you can get team verions of tc4 witch comes with things like aluminum cvds and threaded aluminum shocks............and a few other parts the electronics would work and can be upgraded later one at a timeit is definatly the most cost effective way to get all you need right away to start racing, but if you really like racing and want to be in it for a while you will upgrade quickly
This book is pretty good at explaining all the parts, tools and maintenance required for an electric touring car. You'll see from the index list that it covers tools, suspension, handling, motors, etc. It's kinda home grown but has allot of good information for a rookie.
http://hometown.aol.com/johnstranahan/RCElectricCarReference.html
Dave Ox
Someone suggested that I look into the xxxmain setup guide. I found their site online and ordered myself a copy. Thanks for the links, guys, I am checking them out as well.