Introduction to the Hobby
 Hi
my name
is Joel. I was 8 years old when my parents bought me a 1/10 Tamiya Ford
Ranger
radio controlled truck. That was over 32 years ago, yet that memory is
still vivid in my mind.
(Right: 1/10 Tamiya
Ranger jumping over a ramp. I took that photo over 30 years ago)
I remember opening the
box and the smell of the
rubber tires. It was also a kit, so I had to read the manual and
assemble it myself. It was a new world to me and I savored the build
process.
Being a young kid and
first time to build an rc car, I made several mistakes. Notably I cut
the receiver antennae because in the drawing in the manual it looked
like it was short and cut. Lesson learned, never cut the antennae else
you will get exercise chasing your runaway rc car. Yes, it happened to
me.
My next radio control car
was a Tamiya
Wild Willy. I loved it cause it did wheelies. The large tires and jeep
body was fun to run. And so started my life in the r/c hobby. And
throughout the years I've made a lot of mistakes but at the same time
learned a lot of good tips from experienced racers. My collection also
grew, on-road, off-road, electric, nitro, Tamiya, Associated, Kyosho,
HPI and so on.
This hobby is my life.
Not only do I enjoy building and racing, I also enjoy writing about rc
cars. And that's when RCCarTips was born in 2003. And till today I
enjoy doing reviews, taking photos and posting videos of my rc
experiences.
So hopefully I can give
good advice to help you get started and enjoy this hobby as much as I
have.
Electric RC Cars
 Let's
get
started. I would recommend you buy a kit, an unassembled model. This
will give you the satisfaction of building your own rc
car.
Open the box you will
usually find electric rc cars are powered by
a 540-size Mabuchi / Johnson motor. This is what we call brushed motor
technology. But this is slowly being replaced by brushless
motors which
are faster and better.
Beside
the kit, you will
need to buy the following:
- Radio controller
- Battery pack
- Charger
- Tools and paint
(Right:
1/10 Tamiya Mazda RX-7 kit. Electric powered
with Mabuchi 540 motor and electronic speed controller)
There are also
Ready-to-Run kits. These make it very easy to get started. The rc car
comes 80% - 100% assembled out of the box. Simply charge the battery
pack and you are ready to run. Great as a gift or if the person is
still too young to assemble a kit.
For more information,
please visit the electric rc cars
page.
Fast RC Trucks
My first true hobby
quality rc car was actually a Tamiya off-road pickup truck. I liked the
idea of kicking up dirt and jumping over ramps and sand dunes.
Till today rc trucks are
still the most popular.
Short course, 4x4,
stadium, monster,
mudding, crawlers... you
name it, the hobby has it.
For beginners I would
recommend the slower models such as the 1/10 Tamiya Stadium
Blitzer R/C
Racing Pick-Up (photo on right).
Large tires and big ground
clearance
allow you to jump and run on almost any surface.
There are also
popular short
course rc trucks. Originally
rear wheel drive, the newer models are now 4WD. Easier to drive and
faster on slippery dirt tracks.
If you want bigger, there
are 1/10 and 1/8 scale rc monster
trucks.
Big tires and 4 wheel drive
allow them to go where most vehicles cannot.
And for the experienced
hobbyist and speed freaks, some of the fastest
rc trucks
like the Traxxas Nitro Jato 3.3 can reach 65mph. Definitely not for
beginners. And for safety, please run on rc tracks or isolated
areas
away from people and moving objects.
Finally, there are
also realistic scale
looking rc 4x4 pickups, crawlers
and
mudders for those who love
realism
over speed.
RC Drift Cars
 Gaining
popularity very quickly is rc drifting. The main attraction are the
realistic looking bodies, blinking lights and driving
sideways.
Plus you do not need a
large space to enjoy, you can drift in small spaces like your garage or
driveway. A lot of rc
drift events are staged inside
malls where the hobby is exposed to a lot of people.
To get started, there are
a lot of models
and brands to choose from. The Tamiya TT01 Drift Spec and HPI Sprint 2
Flux Drift, are entry level models, great for beginners.
Or if you want the best,
go for high end drifting chassis like the Yokomo Drift Package, Hot
Bodies TC-FC and the Tamiya TA05 VDF.
You then buy the rc drift
body of your choice. Toyota Trueno AE86, Datsun 240Z, Mazda RX-7,
Nissan Skyline GT-R, Nissan Silvia and more.
Then add the radio
controller and electronics. The trend now is to run brushless motors
(in the 8.5T - 13.5T) range and Lipo batteries. Popular tires are the
Tamiya Super Driftech and HPI T-Drift.
There are also nitro
powered remote controlled drift cars, but these are not so popular. The
only model that comes to my mind is the 1/10 HPI Nitro RS4 drift.
Cheap and Fast Nitro RC
Cars
 And
speaking of nitro,
what is popular are the 1/10 on-road touring and 1/8 on-road pan cars
powered by 2-stoke engines.
I've owned many types of
rc vehicles over the past 33 years. And nothing excites me more than
playing with nitro powered
rc cars.
Nothing beats the speed
and realism. Best of all, ready-to-run models from HPI and Kyosho makes
it easy to get started. And they are surprisingly cheap.
If you are new, I would
recommend you buy the HPI Nitro RS4 Evo 3 and the Kyosho Fazer. These
are 1/10 scale, ready to run with various sports car bodies to choose
from.
Fastest nitro rc cars
like the CEN CTR 5.0 can reach 90mph out of the box. Speed is nice but
you would need a big rc track to even reach anywhere near 60mph, let
alone 90mph.
I think the companies are
marketing the speed too much. In all honesty, I find driving a 40mph
r/c car already very challenging. Any faster and it becomes real scary.
Mini RC Cars
 I
love mini
rc cars, these allow me to
practice driving even in small spaces like
my garage rc track. The smallest I have is the 1/36 Losi Micro-T. It
has taken a lot of abuse from me yet still runs strong. Even though it
looks like a toy, the radio controller and electronics are top notch.
The 1/28 Kyosho Mini-Z
(some say 1/27) is very nice. The on-road models come in rear wheel
drive (2wd) or 4 wheel drive (AWD) chassis configuration. These are
very popular because of the speed and the very detailed scale looking
Kyosho rc bodies. The radio control that comes with the kits are ok.
But serious racers will replace these with higher quality eletronics.
(Photo: 1/36 Losi Micro
T, 1/28 Kyosho Mini Z, 1/24 Tamiya Tamtech and 1/18 Nanda NRX18 mini
rc cars)
For off-road, there are
the 1/16 electric and nitro powered
mini rc
buggies. These are the
scale down mini models of the 1/8 off-road buggies. Here I have the
1/16 Kyosho Mini Inferno. It came ready to run with radio controller,
esc and steering servo.
One thing I noticed
though, is that the electronics that come with ready to run kits are
sometimes of poor quality. They simply stop working after only a few
hours of playing. Though an exception is those made by Losi, these seem
durable. My recommendation is to buy a mini car kit, then supply your
own high quality electronics of your choice.
RC Car Tips Newsletter
 Back in
the 80s I was so excited
to see an RC Car Magazine in the news stands of New York City. I bought
it and read it from cover to cover, several times over.
I then bought their
yearly subscription. Every month I eagerly
awaited for the new magazine in my postal mailbox. Remember back then
there was no internet and no websites. Magazines were the only source
of information about rc cars.
It was called Radio
Control Car Action magazine. Popular then
as it is now. Happy to see they have lasted this long in the
hobby
industry.
Though I am not close to
being as big as them, I hope that
this little website of mine can provide tips and reviews that cannot be
found elsewhere.
I am
surprised to see that I've written over 75 newsletters and
hundreds of tips going back to 2003. That's over 8 years of writing. I
guess I really enjoy this hobby.
I've also written a free
pdf book
"Secrets
of Nitro RC Cars" for those
who need help with nitros.
Speed secrets, improve
driving skills, win races, new products, reviews and more rc tips.
Come back often and
thanks
for reading.
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