Any of you guys race R/C cars ?

rick 36dodge · February 18, 2004, 09:14:23 AM

I have been racing R/C cars for about 15 years. The thing I like about them is you don't have to sell the house to afford to race. You also don't have to worry about getting hurt. The guys are the same racers that race full size cars and are just competitive.
Thanks, Rick Harris.

Dirk35 · February 18, 2004, 10:47:20 AM

I have an old RC10 (dune buggy, for those that might not know) that I play with. Put a 4 turn motor on it with a huge heat sink and a Rooster speed control. I use the smaller monster truck tires on the rear.It goes so fast that the speed control shuts down if I have the quicker gear on the motor. I gear it down to keep it running for the battery life, but change it out when my brother wants to race them. I smoke his trucks in a bad way. My brother has a couple of TMAxx's and an EMaxx (both the monster truck looking things) that we thrash durign the summer. But no real racing, just for fun at the park.

Ohio Blue Tip · February 18, 2004, 10:57:12 AM

I did some indoor electric racing in the 70's when it was popular in town. Haven't done anything lately but have been in RC since I was 14. Mostly planes but some choppers, boats and cars. Someday, when time permits I will return to the hobby. Still have a lot of gear, planes, kits, engines etc. All my radios are out of date and would have to be replaced with the newer frequencies.

41ChevyTrucker · February 18, 2004, 12:28:46 PM

Quote from: "rick 36dodge"I have been racing R/C cars for about 15 years. The thing I like about them is you don't have to sell the house to afford to race. You also don't have to worry about getting hurt. The guys are the same racers that race full size cars and are just competitive.
Thanks, Rick Harris.

I used to race them. I still have a JRX2 and an Optima sitting in a box in my garage. I lost my charger or I would try to run them again. I did it for a few years starting with RC10s. We used to race off road and banked dirt oval. I remember using some pretty awesome Twister motors in Oval where we could barely get 4 mins on a charge. The biggest race I was ever in was part of the Mickey Thompson Offroad series in Anaheim, CA. I took 5th place in the C main which was actually pretty good if I remember because their were something like 20 or more mains.

Has the technology improved a lot? Is it still 6 cell and 7 cell battery limit?

phat46 · February 18, 2004, 04:23:46 PM

Quote from: "rick 36dodge"I have been racing R/C cars for about 15 years. The thing I like about them is you don't have to sell the house to afford to race. You also don't have to worry about getting hurt. The guys are the same racers that race full size cars and are just competitive.
Thanks, Rick Harris.

I used to go with my nephew when he raced cars/buggies indoors on carpet, I was amazed at the tuning you could do to the suspensions and steering on those things! I also remember the "carpet" tires they used, I don't know what they were but they sounded like velcro ripping in the corners!

unklian · February 18, 2004, 06:22:40 PM

I looked at getting into it about 10 years ago.
To be competitive in the popular 2 wheel buggy class,I figured you would need a midengine chassis.But at the time,they weren't available in 2WD.
I was looking at buying a 2WD and a 4WD so I could put together a midengine buggy.Plus a stack of motors,batteries,wheels,tires,etc.Plus spare parts.The after market wasn't geared up the way they are now,
so I'd have to make a bunch of trick parts from scratch.
And to get real sharp,I'd have to race 2 or 3 nights a week.
The price tag,and the hours required,went up in a hurry,
and it didn't seem worth it.
The 3 local indoor tracks have since closed,
I don't know if there are any new ones.

Mojo · February 19, 2004, 01:41:34 AM

I was really into them for a while, but not lately. I'd like to get back into them when I can afford it. I had a Hotshot (if you know what that is, you're really dating yourself!) and an Ultima. I also have a USA-1 Monster Truck I got in a trade for the Ultima. Interesting truck with it's twin engines and 4-wheel steering, but it was a good idea with bad execution... it was hard to drive.

I was always messing with them.. twisting armatures, changing the timing at the endbells on the motors, filing gears to make them run smoother... always tweaking. I had an idea of making a 4wd Monster Truck using the USA-1's tires but never built it. I was going to take 4 small cordless drills, and stick the motors and gear reductions in each wheel. I think it would be interesting to play with...

41ChevyTrucker · February 19, 2004, 12:41:58 PM

Quote from: "Mojo"I had a Hotshot (if you know what that is, you're really dating yourself!) quote]

LOL the HotShot was my dream machine back when I had a GrassHopper. My friend who was always wheeling and dealing got enough money to get a Hot Shot. We put that thing together and just stared at it and drooled over it. Then we got it out to the track on raceday and it fell apart. He never did have much luck with it. All that plastic couldn't hold up with the 4wd modified motors. Then I moved on to RC 10s and the HotShot killer became the RC 10 with the 4wd conversion kit. Then came the JRx2 and the JRx2 truck.

Wow I had forgotten how much of an RC geek I was until this post. Man those were good times. Once I got my Driver's license though I kind of forgot about my RC cars. I should see if they still run.

elVago · February 19, 2004, 09:51:48 PM

Quote from: "rick 36dodge"I have been racing R/C cars for about 15 years. The thing I like about them is you don't have to sell the house to afford to race. You also don't have to worry about getting hurt. The guys are the same racers that race full size cars and are just competitive.
Thanks, Rick Harris.

Haven't done any racing with them but have a few.Mostly garage sale finds but have a New Era 1/4 scale Corvette that was factory built(for a raffle)and never run.I traded a couple of pistols for it just because I thought it was neat looking and I like things in miniature.wanted to get a Conley V-8 for it but can't justify the price.Maybe someday when I hit the lottery(if I ever decide to play).Picked up one of those 1/6th scale Minis awhile ago which is kind of neat.
My youngest son lives in Massachusetts and is pretty serious into 1/10 cars.
Ray

KustomLincolnLady · February 19, 2004, 10:14:57 PM

Rob does, he has a rc 10 Associated touring car and a full tube frame clodbuster monster truck. There is a new r/c track that opened in town, him and about 3 other guys from the shop go there once in a while. But the guys at the shop all chipped in and bought carpet that they put down in the shop and go most every sunday during the winter, just for fun!! we even just bought our 5 yr old grandson one of the new mini r/c (not tiny tiny) can't remember the name of it. He now goes to with both his grandpa's LOL