Hey everyone

I've always wanted to get in to RC cars.. but never found the time/money to do so, and when I had the money, didn't think about doing it .

Anyways, I grew up around RC Planes, my dad was president of the local AMA Pilot's group when I was growing up. He's had at least 7 different planes, all home-built.

ANYWAYS!

So I'm looking to get in to Road Race Cars, and Drift RC cars, anyone care to point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

Aaron

 

Budget? Nitro? Electric?

 

If you're interested, I would be interested in exchanging a 1/5th scale 4wd touring car (ideal for the wildest drifting on a huge scale!!), with a red Evo 8 body, completely up and running with radio and 26cc Zenoah 5hp gas engine, and some very fine electronics (radio and servos) for S2000 parts. The car is worth about $2000, weighs about 30lbs and will top out at about 55mph (more with gearing changes), but believe me, with a car that size and weight, you don't really want to go faster, unless you have an airfield!! It's currently fixed for drifting with mostly locked diffs, but I can supply a couple of gear diffs if you ever want to set it up for traction. Tires last well, even doing this...

Here's exactly the same car drifting, but this belongs to someone else and obviously has a subaru body...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khv_6K4pPd4

Once again, bear in mind the size and power! This thing is over 2 feet long.

Here's a pic of the body and both my chassis (the other wears a Viper body, but is already sold)...





These things are the top level of the hobby.

 

Semi-budget. I'm thinking electric for ease, but gotta love nitro

I also don't mind building it from scratch either. I was looking at HPI RS4's and really want to find a CF chassis like the one I saw on ebay .

But I'd like to stay below $400.. so I guess I'm going used, huh?

 

www.towerhobbies.com

$400 is plenty to get started with new gear. Going fast is another story though. For building it from the ground up, Tamiya offers a lot of inexpensive kits that are fairly durable. Check out the TT-01 chassis for the least expensive kit, then the higher end kits like the TA05 (belt drive) or TB-03 (shaft drive) will handle a bit better. Tamiya makes drift versions too, but drifting gets old fast IMO. A cheap Futaba 2-channel AM radio for $50 will do, and a $15 stick pack and $30 charger should get you running.

If you still want to spend less, I have a few extra radios/chargers/batteries that I'm trying to sell cheap since I moved onto lipo batteries.

 

I could see myself getting the TB-03.. it's not too bad. Can I upgrade these like I can the HPI kits?

Also, I may pick them up from you if it's not too expensive . You're in the bay area too, which is convenient

One more thing: Can I still effectively drift with a road race car? What all is involved between going between the two?

 

Tamiya has a bunch of upgrade options for their kits, with all sorts of anodized aluminum bits and other carbon fiber stuff.

As far as I'm concerned, most drift variants of the regular electric cars mainly have different hard tires, which are easily swappable. The drift tires are usually extremely hard and don't offer much traction.

 

Cool! I think I may pull the plug on these! Any other need-to-knows? And also what kind of gear are you selling? And forgot to ask, what are lipo batteries?

Sorry for all the q's

 

Well, you'll prolly need a can or two of RC spray paint and some tire glue, but they should only be $4-5 each. Oh, also, some Tamiya kits come with an electronic or mechanical speed control.... hopefully most of the recent kits have the electronic speedo in the box already. Ball bearing kits are a must too if your kit doesn't have it. Usually $10 on eBay.

I have a Team Associated radio (the ones that come with RTR kits), a 1700mah NICD battery pack, and a 15 minute quick charger that I need to get rid of. Its all yours for $35 and I'll even throw in a couple of extra motors. Pretty much enough to get you running and to see if you like RC's enough to make it a new money pit.

lipo = lithium polymer

 

Can I use regular model paint on the bodies? My dad has gobs 'cause he still builds boats/models.

He said he would help me build it.. going to check out our local hobbytown today