What Petrol r/c car?
Discussion
Newbie here 
Basically, ive been looking at petrol r/c cars, and have about £150 which i could maybe stretch to £200 if i needed to, and as this would be my first r/c car, well, my first petrol one anyway, is there anybody who could recommend a good one for me please?
Thanks
ETA - http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/condor-nitro-radio-contr... just seen this, does anybody know anything about them?
Also, what i would much prefer to have is a full function remote control, would i be able to swap it over?
By full Function i mean this kind of thing.. http://www.wholesaletip.com/image/12/e-sky-honeybe...
Edited by TheVillageIdiot on Wednesday 20th July 22:25
Do you want a petrol engined car or a nitro car. There is a significant difference. Petrol engined cars as the name suggests run on a 2 stroke mix of petrol and oil, similar to lawn mower and chain saw engines. Nitro cars run on a mix of nitromethane and methanol. For the money you want to spend you are unlikely to be able to afford a new petrol engine model as they are generally larger scale(1:5) and over £500.00. While nitro cars are good they can be hard to set up and keep running reliably. Hope this helps
TheVillageIdiot said:
Newbie here Basically, ive been looking at petrol r/c cars, and have about £150 which i could maybe stretch to £200 if i needed to, and as this would be my first r/c car, well, my first petrol one anyway, is there anybody who could recommend a good one for me please?
Thanks
ETA - http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/condor-nitro-radio-contr... just seen this, does anybody know anything about them?
Also, what i would much prefer to have is a full function remote control, would i be able to swap it over?
By full Function i mean this kind of thing.. http://www.wholesaletip.com/image/12/e-sky-honeybe...
Edited by TheVillageIdiot on Wednesday 20th July 22:25
I have one of these, albeit a model from about 5 years ago, but it still performs perfectly and has never let me down.
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobao-hyper-7-tq-sport...
I have been able to get spares easily, and have even purchased the two speed gearbox, which really makes it fly.
As far as a radio is concerned, you only really need two channels for an IC car, but there are lots of options on radios.
The one I have mentioned comes with a 2.4 radio which means not worrying about people on the same frequency or interference from other sources.
If you are looking at Radio sets for other models such as aero planes or helicopters you would be better off saving for a dedicated 6 Channel Stick Radio.
I like the new models from Spektrum, but these generally only come as combos, so you would need to add servos:
http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?Pr...
Whatever you get you will have great fun, and a lifetime hobby, I have been building RC models for almost 30 years!!
Modelsport is a good company to deal with too, lots of good stock and fast shipping.
Can I ask why petrol or nitro? In my experience they are messy, difficult to work with and noisy making it difficult to run them anywhere. I would seriously recommend you look into electric and specifically lipo power. Electric cars are almost as fast top end as nitro, but typically being smaller and much lighter, the acceleration to top end is much much faster in electric cars. You can also run them pretty much anywhere as they are quieter and there are more clubs around for electric.
I was actually looking for the nitro cars, sorry, thought they were the same
I might be able to stretch my budget, im waiting to get paid for some work i have just done at The Open in Sandwich, so I am waiting for that to come through, hopefully tomorrow, and then i will see how much i can spend. Thanks for the help
Out of interest, are there still many r/c clubs about? My dad used to race them in Ashford in his twenties and thirties but he hasnt really got an interest in any of them any more.
I might be able to stretch my budget, im waiting to get paid for some work i have just done at The Open in Sandwich, so I am waiting for that to come through, hopefully tomorrow, and then i will see how much i can spend. Thanks for the help
Out of interest, are there still many r/c clubs about? My dad used to race them in Ashford in his twenties and thirties but he hasnt really got an interest in any of them any more.
Brooklands will be your local club if you are near Ashford. http://www.brooklandraceway.co.uk/
I'd pay them a visit and and look at the different classes they run, and be led by that.
No point looking at a nitro if you really want to race a FG trcuk, and vice versa!
As with all the posts regarding power suppply, don't discount electric thinking they are slow. Even on a large track like Brooklands they will not feel slow.
Can I ask why you are dismissing electric power?
These days all that you gain with nitro is a whole lot of noise, hassle, cost and sticky goo. People that were running nitro 10 - 15 years ago are moving or have already moved to electric power in their droves. With modern battery technology run-times are vastly improved as is performance with the high current delivery now possible. Paying similar money you will probably end up with the same sort of top speed from electric or nitro but with better acceleration and handling coming from electric. Plus, you'll be able to repeat that performance over and over with electric where nitro is so finicky that it will quite possibly require mixture and possibly clutch adjustments to make it run the same each time out just because of a change in the weather.
Whatever you get, make sure there is a decent parts supply at a sensible cost.
If you don't want to be disappointed then look at the recognised names in the industry like Hoboa, Ansmann, Traxxas, HPI etc etc.
These days all that you gain with nitro is a whole lot of noise, hassle, cost and sticky goo. People that were running nitro 10 - 15 years ago are moving or have already moved to electric power in their droves. With modern battery technology run-times are vastly improved as is performance with the high current delivery now possible. Paying similar money you will probably end up with the same sort of top speed from electric or nitro but with better acceleration and handling coming from electric. Plus, you'll be able to repeat that performance over and over with electric where nitro is so finicky that it will quite possibly require mixture and possibly clutch adjustments to make it run the same each time out just because of a change in the weather.
Whatever you get, make sure there is a decent parts supply at a sensible cost.
If you don't want to be disappointed then look at the recognised names in the industry like Hoboa, Ansmann, Traxxas, HPI etc etc.
TheMighty said:
Can I ask why you are dismissing electric power?
These days all that you gain with nitro is a whole lot of noise, hassle, cost and sticky goo. People that were running nitro 10 - 15 years ago are moving or have already moved to electric power in their droves. With modern battery technology run-times are vastly improved as is performance with the high current delivery now possible. Paying similar money you will probably end up with the same sort of top speed from electric or nitro but with better acceleration and handling coming from electric. Plus, you'll be able to repeat that performance over and over with electric where nitro is so finicky that it will quite possibly require mixture and possibly clutch adjustments to make it run the same each time out just because of a change in the weather.
Whatever you get, make sure there is a decent parts supply at a sensible cost.
If you don't want to be disappointed then look at the recognised names in the industry like Hoboa, Ansmann, Traxxas, HPI etc etc.
Im not sure, I really only looked at Nitro cars, but i have found this on Nitrotek (link below) which im actually thinking of getting as it seems decent enough for me at a reasonable price, and also, it is starting to sound like electrics are a lot easier to upgrade than nitros, so of course, there is that advantage.These days all that you gain with nitro is a whole lot of noise, hassle, cost and sticky goo. People that were running nitro 10 - 15 years ago are moving or have already moved to electric power in their droves. With modern battery technology run-times are vastly improved as is performance with the high current delivery now possible. Paying similar money you will probably end up with the same sort of top speed from electric or nitro but with better acceleration and handling coming from electric. Plus, you'll be able to repeat that performance over and over with electric where nitro is so finicky that it will quite possibly require mixture and possibly clutch adjustments to make it run the same each time out just because of a change in the weather.
Whatever you get, make sure there is a decent parts supply at a sensible cost.
If you don't want to be disappointed then look at the recognised names in the industry like Hoboa, Ansmann, Traxxas, HPI etc etc.
http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/fs-racing-bolt-2wd-elect...
Or
http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/xstr-electric-radio-cont...
Before you buy anything, check you can get spare parts for it.
Shock towers, output cups, gears, driveshafts, c hubs etc..
Parts break, and if you cant replace them you have a very expensive paperwieght.
Tamiya are the easiest to get spares for, schumacher/losi/hpi/associated are ok.
Anything else check really carefully (and maybe buy some spares just in case!)
If your looking at a low end nitro car don't waste your money.
They served their purpose while electric was in the expensive transition from nicads to lipos in providing good performance cheaply. But cheap nitros do not last long and by the time you have bought replacement engines and a few upgrades you may as well have bought a good quality model. Case in point I've owned a few cheapies and they last a few months. I tend to get them cheap as failed projects and throw them away when they are done with as the cheap chinese junk they are. I also had a Schumacher Fusion 21, it was an expensive model but was used hard, not particularly pampered and other than a new clutch cost nothing in bits and sold for more than I paid for it.
But they are noisy and you struggle to find somewhere to run it without complaints, personally I tend to keep a model in the boot for fun and works car parks, supermarket car parks, beaches etc. Are all places I have used in the past, but it's sometimes nice especially if you have fitted something new to the model to just run it up and down your street. You can do that with electric but not with nitro (not without pissing off your neighbours)
I'd buy a decent budget lipo powered electric buggy to be honest.
They served their purpose while electric was in the expensive transition from nicads to lipos in providing good performance cheaply. But cheap nitros do not last long and by the time you have bought replacement engines and a few upgrades you may as well have bought a good quality model. Case in point I've owned a few cheapies and they last a few months. I tend to get them cheap as failed projects and throw them away when they are done with as the cheap chinese junk they are. I also had a Schumacher Fusion 21, it was an expensive model but was used hard, not particularly pampered and other than a new clutch cost nothing in bits and sold for more than I paid for it.
But they are noisy and you struggle to find somewhere to run it without complaints, personally I tend to keep a model in the boot for fun and works car parks, supermarket car parks, beaches etc. Are all places I have used in the past, but it's sometimes nice especially if you have fitted something new to the model to just run it up and down your street. You can do that with electric but not with nitro (not without pissing off your neighbours)
I'd buy a decent budget lipo powered electric buggy to be honest.
Nitrotek stuff might be cheap but I have to say that the one the g/f bought me was great fun and it was only me putting it away for a couple of months without draining down and so on which means it will take a few hours stripping and new fuel lines to get rolling again.
I'd also add that I do/did use mine hard and I found that I was able to order spares on line and get them within a few days as a rule.
All of the above said the next r/c car I buy will be brushless unless I go mad and buy a 1/5th Petrol.
I'd also add that I do/did use mine hard and I found that I was able to order spares on line and get them within a few days as a rule.
All of the above said the next r/c car I buy will be brushless unless I go mad and buy a 1/5th Petrol.
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