OT: R/C-racing?

Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, but what to choose? A car running on methanol is probably most fun, but requires most money. Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its vast amount of peripherals, but they look too small to possess any "fun" handling properties. (http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) Anyone with opinions on this subject? -- /S

ThermosBoy (TM) wrote: > that would be hardware racing then. Expensive :) > Sorry, no idea.. :D Big Scale Racing on the PC is fun tho.. yep, I know that PC-racing is fun. I am doing it already in GPL, Rally Trophy, Live for speed etc. etc., but I'm trying to find a "cheap" way to get away from the computer once in a while... hehehh... -- /S

"Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8lbtq$hv5$[email hidden]...

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> Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? > > I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, > but what to choose? A car running on methanol > is probably most fun, but requires most money. > Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its > vast amount of peripherals, but they look too > small to possess any "fun" handling properties. > (http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) > > Anyone with opinions on this subject?

Couple of guys in our league are R/C boys. Drop me an email if you want me to get them to contact you. Regards, Mark Davison V8 Thunder OVAL Deputy Admin Car #69 http://www.v8thunder.com

Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from there. -- See ya in the pits, Dean I have a terrible memory. In fact my memory's so bad I can't remember how long it's been since I've forgotten anything. "Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8lbtq$hv5$[email hidden]... > Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? > > I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, > but what to choose? A car running on methanol > is probably most fun, but requires most money. > Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its > vast amount of peripherals, but they look too > small to possess any "fun" handling properties. > (http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) > > Anyone with opinions on this subject? > > -- > /S >

Dean Purdy wrote: > Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The > big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to > cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from > there. That's the tricky question. I guess I'll have to start to learn to drive in empty parking lots or gravel surfaces and do some simple competition with friends. 1:5 cars with 22 cc engines and real brakes looks really nice, but ought to be kind of expensive. On the other hand, Mini-Z is cheap and has a lot of peripherals, but only works indoors. I'm just afraid that the Mini-Z won't handle as a real car due to its size. I would also find it nice to be able to tamper with settings like camper, toe in/out, suspension stiffness etc. etc. (to use knowledge from the sim racing to "real" cars) I don't think I'm interested in Buggys or Monster trucks. I'd rather want to get some kind of rally car. Tarmac racers seems to be dependent on really smooth surfaces. Any advice on where to start looking for more information on this subject would be appreciated. I don't know what brands there are except for Kyosho, Thunder-Tiger and such... -- /S

Well, I know this guy. What he *really* wants is an R/C for cruising up and down the main street of the village he came from, shouting obscenities at girls in the belief that it will make them like him, and playing, what he thinks is, cool music (boyzone and such) loudly in the car stereo. Any nice R/C for these requirements? ;-) /hall Dean Purdy wrote:

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> Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The > big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to > cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from > there. > > -- > See ya in the pits, > Dean > > I have a terrible memory. In fact my memory's so bad I can't remember how > long it's been since I've forgotten anything. > > "Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:b8lbtq$hv5$[email hidden]... > >>Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? >> >>I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, >>but what to choose? A car running on methanol >>is probably most fun, but requires most money. >>Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its >>vast amount of peripherals, but they look too >>small to possess any "fun" handling properties. >>(http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) >> >>Anyone with opinions on this subject? >> >>-- >>/S >> > > >

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http://teamcrc.com/ "Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8lbtq$hv5$[email hidden]...

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> Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? > > I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, > but what to choose? A car running on methanol > is probably most fun, but requires most money. > Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its > vast amount of peripherals, but they look too > small to possess any "fun" handling properties. > (http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) > > Anyone with opinions on this subject? > > -- > /S >

Dean Purdy wrote: > Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The > big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to > cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from > there. It's a tricky question. I guess I want to start practice on parking lots made of tarmac or gravel. It's tempting to get a 1:5 car with lots of tuning details like camber, suspension stiffness etc. etc. but it's probably expensive, and I don't know which brands to look for. (I know of e.g. Franz Gr�schl). The Mini-Z class is interesting due to that it is relatively cheap, but they are not recommended to run outdoors. I am also worried about its handling, i.e. that they'll just slide around like toy cars due to its size. I don't like the look of the off-road vehicles (buggys, monstertrucks). The tarmac racers are too low to use off-track (bad parkinglots with lots of cracks)... The rally cars (like Subaru Impreza) looks most interesting. I've seen several scales of this... 1:8 and smaller. Well, any advice is appreciated. -- /S

"Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8m68o$8d8$[email hidden]... > It's a tricky question. I guess I want to start practice on parking lots > made of tarmac or gravel. It's tempting to get a 1:5 car with lots of > tuning details like camber, suspension stiffness etc. etc. FYI; you can do this on 1/10 scale cars as well. From the rest of your post, I'd say that a 1/10 sedan is probably your best bet. Personally, I'm an Associated nut (www.rc10.com - take a look at the RC10TC3 (mostly TC3 for short) and the TC3 Nitro there) but there's quite a few other brands...Yokomo, Schumacher, and HPI come to mind immediately. The classic recommendation is to find a local hobby shop and see what they stock parts for. While you can order parts for pretty much any car online, if it breaks and you still want to run right then, you'll much sooner drive to the shop and pick up the part rather than wait for days for it to get there by mail. Milhouse

>I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, >but what to choose? If you want a competition car, Serpent is the way to go. I might be a tad biased though. I'm flying to the Netherlands on May 6th for a week (staying in Zandvoort, woohoo! :-)) to get into the finishing-up stages of the physics engine for Serpent's RC car game, Virtual RC Racing with Pieter Bervoets, the owner. Nice guy, and they build the most competitive 1/10th and 1/8th scale cars in the world :-) I watched the 1/10th scale world championship in Cincinnati a few months back and had a lot of time to talk with Michael Salven and the rest of the team. Awesome. Imagine getting paid to design and race RC cars? They cost some $$ though; not sure how much you're willing to spend. The latest and greatest is the 1/8th scale Serpent 950 (does over 70mph). Although you could probably get a Veteq or the older Vector NT for a couple hundred less. The 950 has variable roll center geometry and two different types of suspension for the front. Techy stuff, but they've been doing extremely well with the cars. Everything is adjustable on these cars and they respond the same way full sized cars do. Check into http://serpent.com and http://mytsn.com for more info. Todd Wasson Racing Software http://PerformanceSimulations.com My car sim http://performancesimulations.com/scnshot4.htm

Hi Stefan. It sounds to me that you might be on the right track by getting yourself a rally type car. They're more versatile than a dedicated racer, and will be fine to get you started in the hobby. If you find that you really get the bug for it you can always step up and get yourself a car better suited for racing. Who knows, with any luck you might even be able to find a local track that runs a rally class. Just keep in mind that a rally car will be okay in most environments, but won't really excel in any of them. But that's where the versatility thing comes into play. You can just set it down and start cruising. Whatever you decide on good luck, and for anyone that's interested and may be from the New Jersey area and is looking for a place to race, here's a link to our clubs website. http://www.jacksonrcracing.com/ -- See ya in the pits, Dean I have a terrible memory. In fact my memory's so bad I can't remember how long it's been since I've forgotten anything. "Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8m68o$8d8$[email hidden]... > Dean Purdy wrote: > > > Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The > > big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to > > cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from > > there. > > It's a tricky question. I guess I want to start practice on parking lots > made of tarmac or gravel. It's tempting to get a 1:5 car with lots of > tuning details like camber, suspension stiffness etc. etc. but it's > probably expensive, and I don't know which brands to look for. (I know > of e.g. Franz Gr�schl). The Mini-Z class is interesting due to that it > is relatively cheap, but they are not recommended to run outdoors. I am > also worried about its handling, i.e. that they'll just slide around > like toy cars due to its size. > > I don't like the look of the off-road vehicles (buggys, monstertrucks). > The tarmac racers are too low to use off-track (bad parkinglots with > lots of cracks)... The rally cars (like Subaru Impreza) looks most > interesting. I've seen several scales of this... 1:8 and smaller. > > Well, any advice is appreciated. > > -- > /S >

Stefan Larsson wrote: > Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? > > I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, > but what to choose? A car running on methanol > Anyone with opinions on this subject? I did "some" R/C racing several years ago (still have the Associated RC12L and all the tx gear to prove it). If you want to go for the "GPL" kind of challenge, the toughest category there is, it'd be indoor (carpet) 1:12 Electric racing. Because of the insane cornering speeds, (WAY faster than real race cars due to huge levels of grip) it all happens so fast, there is almost no room for error whatsoever, especially in the higher 'Modified' classes. Compared to that, I've found both off-road and fuel outdoor racing almost... well.. tame. So much time to catch a slide. Off-road electric was more fun though.. I'd personally stay away from fuel r/c, apart from it being less environmentally friendly and more expensive it'll also limit the number of locations you could practice in (due to the noise and the BIG spaces needed). And those little bugger engines simply won't always START, less of a problem with electric. Regards, Rudy (local off-road r/c club champion 1989/90 and not much else to show for, save having been severely ass-whupped in Modified ;)

J. Todd Wasson wrote: >>I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, > If you want a competition car, Serpent is the way to go. Well c'mon, we've got Corally too, you know ;) (Personally, I always was an Associated fan. Liked the efficient designs and the "Team A" spirit. Serpent's always been cool too though - I've still got several magazines with racing stories from the late seventies somewhere.) > I might be a tad biased though. I'm flying to the Netherlands on May 6th for a > week (staying in Zandvoort, woohoo! :-)) Don't try to follow the GPL lines - half the track layout is different these days ;) I'm betting you're going to see Heemstede (the track) though. Regards, Ruud PS. Feel free to drop by for coffee :)

Let it be known that on Tue, 29 Apr 2003 10:08:24 +0200, Stefan Larsson <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? > >I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, >but what to choose? A car running on methanol >is probably most fun, but requires most money. >Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its >vast amount of peripherals, but they look too >small to possess any "fun" handling properties. >(http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) > >Anyone with opinions on this subject?

http://www.geekjoan.com/ This page has a bunch of videos of the Mini-Z cars in action, to help get you an idea of what they are like.

"Ruud Dingemans" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:b8nkmb$6rt$[email hidden]... > I did "some" R/C racing several years ago (still have the Associated > RC12L and all the tx gear to prove it). > > If you want to go for the "GPL" kind of challenge, the toughest category > there is, it'd be indoor (carpet) 1:12 Electric racing. Haha, I thought nobody knew about 1:12 anymore!!!! That's actually where I got started, was running 1:12 on an indoor paved track...an Associated (is there any other brand?) RC12i (yes, an i...before the T-bar) and later "got back into it" with an RC12LW (my dad's). Since nobody in AZ seems to want to race them anymore, though, I had to go to 1:10 sedan...of course, I stuck with the AE boys...man, I've got a LOT of their stuff; two RC10TC3's, two RC12LW's (one fiberglass, one carbon fiber), two complete RC12i's and parts for many more, and one gold-tub RC10 buggy with a swiss-cheesed chassis. Of course, I also have a pair of Losi XX buggies, not bad, but offroad isn't really my main thing... I might "get back into it" yet again this summer, when I'll have a job, hopefully the time, and the disposable income, and I might even go so far as to clean up one of the XX's and run offroad just to get more driving time...the track here in Tucson has both tracks, I don't remember if they're on the same night or not though. Milhouse

Well, I know Stefan. What he *really* wants is an R/C for cruising up and down the main street of the village he came from, shouting obscenities at girls in the belief that it will make them like him, and playing, what he thinks is, cool music (boyzone and such) loudly in the car stereo. Any nice R/C for what Stefan really wants, but are to shy to ask for? ;-) /hall Dean Purdy wrote:

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> Hi Stefan. I'm heavily involved in r/c cars and might be able to help. The > big question is if you plan on doing some actual racing or just want to > cruise around parking lots and such. Let me know and we can take it from > there. > > -- > See ya in the pits, > Dean > > I have a terrible memory. In fact my memory's so bad I can't remember how > long it's been since I've forgotten anything. > > "Stefan Larsson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:b8lbtq$hv5$[email hidden]... > >>Hey, any of you out there doing R/C-racing too? >> >>I'm thinking of trying out some kind of R/C-car, >>but what to choose? A car running on methanol >>is probably most fun, but requires most money. >>Kyosho's Mini-Z class looks fun too, due to its >>vast amount of peripherals, but they look too >>small to possess any "fun" handling properties. >>(http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyod01x1.html) >> >>Anyone with opinions on this subject? >> >>-- >>/S >> > > >

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Stefan Larsson wrote: > On the other hand, Mini-Z is > cheap and has a lot of peripherals, but only works indoors. Another option bridging the gap between 1:10 and Mini-Z's is the HPI Micro RS4, which is 1:18 scale. Large aftermarket support, but has less adjustability compared to 1:10 sedans. http://www.hpiracing.com -jde

Milhouse wrote: > Haha, I thought nobody knew about 1:12 anymore!!!! That's actually where I > got started, was running 1:12 on an indoor paved track...an Associated (is > there any other brand?) RC12i (yes, an i...before the T-bar) I still got an RC12E, even before that (true antique I guess ;) Regards, Ruud

Dean Purdy wrote:

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> Hi Stefan. It sounds to me that you might be on the right track by getting > yourself a rally type car. They're more versatile than a dedicated racer, > and will be fine to get you started in the hobby. If you find that you > really get the bug for it you can always step up and get yourself a car > better suited for racing. Who knows, with any luck you might even be able to > find a local track that runs a rally class. Just keep in mind that a rally > car will be okay in most environments, but won't really excel in any of > them. But that's where the versatility thing comes into play. You can just > set it down and start cruising. Whatever you decide on good luck, and for > anyone that's interested and may be from the New Jersey area and is looking > for a place to race, here's a link to our clubs website.

Thanks for the advice... I'll start by going to the local major R/C store (http://www.hobbycenter.se) and discuss more specific details with them. Maybe I'll go to the local R/C-racing club and speak to them too... (http://www.vast-8.se/indexe.html) their tracks are looking very well maintained... (http://www.vast-8.se/eng/banor.html) Thanks again... -- /S

On Tue, 29 Apr 2003 10:48:59 +0200, Stefan Larsson wrote:

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> ThermosBoy (TM) wrote: > > > that would be hardware racing then. Expensive :) > > Sorry, no idea.. :D Big Scale Racing on the PC is fun tho.. > > yep, I know that PC-racing is fun. I am doing it already > in GPL, Rally Trophy, Live for speed etc. etc., > but I'm trying to find a "cheap" way to get away from the > computer once in a while... hehehh... >

Hi, we have to Tamiya (sp?) f1 cars (scale 1:18, I believe) running in the family, electrical thingies that do about 30-40km/h I would think. Great fun to slide them around on a big car park on a Sunday, they even "crash" like the big ones when you (accidentally, of course) drive over each other's wheels ;-> Also, not too expensive if you're just picking up the hobby: you should be able to start at around $250-$300 including servos, recharger and the remote control unit (we're using pistol style controls here), you even be able to pick up some used gear on e-bay. Cheers, uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61