RC School

This section provides all the information you need if you are new into radio controlled cars, or are thinking of getting into the hobby.

Tell me about radio controlled cars
What are all the different parts?
What do I need to start?
What are the costs involved?
Is it a difficult hobby to get into?
Is it dangerous?

How do I speak RC?
Help! I've broken/lost something!
How do I find spare parts?

I like the sound of it all, where do I start?

Tell me about radio controlled cars

Vehicles can come in one of three types:
Electric - (Left picture) These are quiet, clean and relatively easy to run. However, they can lack power or suffer from short run times.
Nitro - These have a two-stroke engine that runs on a specially blended model fuel. You need some patience to learn to run these engines for they need tuning to operate correctly. They are also quite messy and loud! Not suited for driving around your local neighbourhood. The engines need to be started using a glowstarter to ignite the fuel and something to turn it; either a pullstart, rotostart or starterbox.
Petrol - These are usually the reserve of the more expensive 1:5 scale cars, have the similar demands as nitro engine powered cars.

Furthermore these are divided into different classes, the most common being:
Rallycross Buggies - Low chassis, high speed design suited for racing
Monster Trucks - (Right picture) High chassis, long travel suspension and toughened to suit casual offroad driving fun (bashing)
Truggies - A hybrid form of the trucks and buggies, with "fat" wheels for offroad terrain but designed with a lower chassis for racing.

Car sizes vary:
1:36 to 1:16 - Common size for most electric indoor cars
1:10 - Manageable size suited for beginners and usually have low maintenance costs
1:8 - The more common racing class scale for intermediate/serious hobbyist
1:5 - Usually powered by petrol engines for serious hobbyists, much more expensive!

Regardless of the car type and class, they are all controlled by a transmitter/receiver system. The transmitter is what you use to operate the car's steering and speed. The receiver is mounted inside the car and uses the received signal to control the servos that operate the car.

What are all the different parts?

DJP has kindly let us examine his freshly cleaned car, so let's take a look at the various parts.

Here the car type is a rally-cross buggy, but you will find most vehicles share the same major components.

1. Spoiler/Wing - Not only does this make your car look good, it is vital for maintaining stability during jumps.

2. Antenna/Aerial - A plastic tube with a wire running through inside to receive the radio signals that control the vehicle.

3. Air filter - You will find one with every nitro engine vehicle. It's purpose is to make sure the air entering the engine for combustion is free from dirt and other impurities that would otherwise damage your engine. NEVER run a nitro engine without an airfilter!

4. Battery, servos and receiver - Converts the received radio signals into the actions that control the vehicle. The battery powers the receiver and both servos. The steering servo turns the front wheels, the throttle servo controls the fuel/air mixture to the engine.

5. Shocks - Allows your car to absorb all the bumps and jumps that it encounters. The responsiveness in the shocks can be adjusted for different track conditions by changing to firmer/softer springs and/or changing the viscocity of oil inside them.

6. Engine and its cooling head - The heart of the car! This lump of metal uses a glowplug to combust the fuel/air mixture flowing into it and produces the power that drives the wheels. You will probably find that the engine is the one single component that gets the most attention, because patience is needed to tune it to run smoothly and efficiently.

7. Exhaust/Pipe - The gas from the burnt fuel is fed through into this pipe and the compression created inside help to ensure the engine runs efficiently. The hot gas prevents unburnt air/fuel from leaving the engine prematurely and so improves the engine's power output.

8. Fuel tank - Don't forget to fill this up before a race ;)

9. Wheels and tyres - Wheels are mainly cosmetic, although some are lighter to give a better weight advantage, or are spokeless which help prevent stones from getting stuck inside which can lock them up during a race! The choice of tyres is very important, the spikes type shown here are excellent for dirt tracks like the one at SRC, whereas smooth treads are better suited for on-road use.

What do I need to start?

The best way to start is to buy a Ready-to-Run (RTR) package. This will include the car, transmitter/receiver, engine/motor, and usually the batteries/fuel and all the basic tools to use your car straight away.

Alternatively you can buy an unbuilt kit, but this is usually more expensive because it normally have higher quality components and you need to buy the engine, radio system and servos separately. The purpose of these kits is to allow the buyer to choose their own preferred major components or to save money by not buying another radio system if they have one already.

What are the costs involved?

Once you have all the basic car and radio system, the main running costs are fuel and batteries. You should also expect to spend money on replacing broken, worn or lost parts. Another possible cost is if you want to upgrade parts, for example better tyres that have more grip, or metal alloy parts to replace the same weaker plastic parts.

Is it a difficult hobby to get into?

All you require is patience, a willingness to learn and carry out maintenance. Running RC cars is only one part of the hobby. A large proportion of "bench" time is needed to keep your car in good shape and running order.

Is it dangerous?

A high geared car with a well-tuned powerful engine like the racing buggies can reach speeds up to 50mph! So if these hit anyone/anything it *will* hurt. As well as that, hot engines, spinning wheels and metal parts can all cause injuries if you are not careful. Therefore like most hobbies, care and attention should be given at all times.

How do I speak RC?

Here's a quick glossary of RC terms:-
Bashing - Casual freestyle driving, usually offroad and jumping, but not racing
Lean - A low fuel/air ratio, makes for an extremely fast/powerful engine setup but potentially shorten its life!
Rich - A high fuel/air ratio setting for the engine. Makes for a sluggish but safe running engine
Carb - Carbueretta, the device that controls the fuel/air mixture and speed of the by use of the throttle
Shell - The plastic (usually lexan) body that fits onto your car
Top/Low end - The revving state of the engine
Lid landing - Messing up a jump by landing on your roof!
Marshal - A person tasked with trackside duties of returning upturned cars to the track and removing stalled vehicles.

Help! I've broken/lost something!

If you have never broken anything then you have not driven your car to its full potential :) Seriously, broken parts are an expected part of the hobby. The great thing is that everything is replaceable, admittedly some more expensive than others e.g. engine.
You can also expect lose parts every now and again. Components can work their way loose and fall off the car before you realise it is gone. With some care, the chance of losing parts can be reduced, but when they do they can always be replaced.

How do I find spare parts?

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, finding parts have never been easier. You can order from stores all around the world. If you don't fancy that, you can always ask at your local hobby store (LHS) and they can order it for you if they don't already have it in stock.

I like the sound of it all, where do I start?

Great! Come down to the SRC Offroad track and see for yourself what it's all about. We're confident it won't be long before you consider owning your own car and racing with us!