New and needing some advice/guidance

[westers]

Hi all, my name's Ian and for my midlife crisis (I'm 40 later this year), I've had a sudden urge to have a go at RC car racing. Needless to say I need some guidance/help.

Ok, strictly speaking I'm not a complete novice at this as I had a short dalliance with a Hong Nor nitro truggy, but it got no further than messing around with it. That soon fizzled out as it's hard to find areas to run a nitro car without upsetting people, and racing at weekends ate into my little free time, so that avenue stopped before it even started.

Anyway, electric seems to be the way forward, especially as the race meetings are on Friday nights

Now then, the question that everyone gets sick of seeing asked, but...what's a good car to start off with?

Actually, here's some more info: I want to race a buggy to start with, and from my nitro experience I now know to go down the second hand route to start with; I may spend as much as a new car, but I should get much more for my money. The question is though, what's a good buggy to be looking for, and what sort of add on parts should I look for?

I'm happy to go up to £200, but I also need to factor in a motor, battery, plus radio gear. Is it worth buying radio gear second hand, or is it best to buy new for that?

Cheers

Ian

[Robbiejuk]

Hi mate, Good to hear you are looking to get back into the sport and you are definatly coming to the right club.

So £200 pound is not much to play with I am afraid but we will do the best we can.

If you are going for new I would suggest one of these two :

http://www.ar-uk.com/product/Ansmann...24_Ghz_id43411

or

http://www.ar-uk.com/product/Ansmann..._24Ghz_id45297

So both under 200 pounds, and both come with brushless speedo, motor servo and Transmitter + receiver. So all you would need to get it going would be a battery and charger. Out of the two the Mad monkey has a newer speed controller which I believe is better than the rebadged m-tronicks that comes in the rat and mid motors are great indoors on carpet.

Only things I would suggest upgrading on the cars to start off with would be that the car comes with bushings instead of bearings (this always has bugged me as it is a brushless rtr but i guess they need to make savings somewhere to keep the cost down). A full bearing set is about ten pounds so not a major expense and definatly worth doing straight away.

A lot of people change the shocks as they have a tendency to blow the tops off after a hard landing off a ramp. Ansmann do their own cheap alloy shocks or you can upgrade the shockbodies and tops to be the same as what come on the pro kit for around a bout 30 quid. There are some decent aftermarket shocks that will fit this car on the bay of e that some people run as well which equally do a good job. The shocks are not majorly critical and you can probably get away with running the kit ones for a while till you save up for some better ones.

Other thing I would say is look at replacing the diff balls when you can, the ones that come in the car are ok but have a tendency to wear out quickly. Upgraded ceramic balls are readily availiable at the club for these cars

So you would still need to get a battery and charger. If you go the Lipo route, which is the best way to go, then you can get away with only having one battery whcih you top up between races. all of them are pretty good these days, even the cheap ones are more than capable. Make sure you get one that is Hard cased as we run a hard cased only rule at the club.

Here is an example:

http://www.ar-uk.com/product/Ansmann...0mAhHC_id43685

Charger wise there are a massive lot of charges out there at competitive prices. Here is a good example:

http://www.ar-uk.com/product/Ansmann...2V240V_id45279

Does all types of batteries including old style nimh and has all the features you really need such as balancing and inputs for 12v battery or mains supply. I use the newer version of this and it is absolutley fine.

My best advice would be to talk David Dodd at Autocare and cycles in cotgrave, He is a club member and also runs a model/autorepair shop. He can order things in for you and assuming the supplier has stock he will have it in two to three days.

Daves shop:

http://www.autocareandcycles.co.uk/

And if Mr Ken Dodd is reading this, get some bloody stuff uploaded to the web shop!

[jamie 6.5t]

i think rob has covered it for yourself i started of with a mad-rat and really enjoyed it it is a nicely balanced car with some really neet specs it is the perfect car to start off with and as far as the mad monkeys concerned i don't have anything to tell you about it as i don't know a lot about it

[westers]

Cheers guys, will have a look at that, although I wasn't that clear in my message. I meant a max budget of £200 for just the car - radio, battery and motor I'd buy seperately so I know I'd need another £200 or so for that lot.

[jamie 6.5t]

well then if you meant £200 for the car personally ide either go for the Schumacher cougar sv s1 kit or maybe the associated rc10 b4.1 factory team kit personally ide have the Schumacher just down to the brand name there reliable and ive also heard that there really easy to setup once setup you wont need to touch the settings again.
but if you want to go down the ansmann rout then ide strongly advise the ansmann racing x4 pro kit down to ive been told that it is one of the most agile and rigid chassis from ansmann and it has all top spec parts from the alloy oil filled shocks to the ball raced diffs anyone of these cars are spot on for the price range of £200 cant really go wrong with the brands listed above hope you find what your looking for pall

[jamie 6.5t]

and hope to see you racing in the near future

[westers]

Cheers Jamie.

I need to think a bit more on this. In terms of motors, speed controllers and radio kit, what should I be looking for for each of these? Assume I've got another £200 to spend for all of that gear.

Is there much difference between the 2WD and 4WD models? I'm guessing 4WD corner better, but perhaps don't accelerate as fast/lower top end speed?

[/tobys]

Before you take the plunge, go to your local club (West Bridgeford) and see what others are running. Keep an eye on what the better club racers are running - and ask them for help if you need it...most experienced racers will be able to give you good advice.

2wd will be less of a learning curve than 4wd IMHO and should be easier to build and maintain = more enjoyment!

If you fancy running outdoors, Broxtowe have their first winter series a week on Sunday so you can see even more kinds of buggy running around a different type of track before you make a decision.

There are also some good bargains to be had by buying second-hand - either off here or from fellow racers at one of the many meetings in the Mid East region. Remember to research the cost and availability of spares and factor the cost of consumables, such as tyres, into your budget.

The Bridgeford crew are a good bunch and run a great meeting. Enjoy!

[westers]

Cheers Tobys, and yes I'll be going along to one of the meetings at the Bridgford club as I live in West Bridgford.

[jamie 6.5t]

right 4 wheel drive and 2 wheel drive all really depends on what you find more easy to control they both have very similar characteristics the only difference is the 4 wheel drives tend to have the moor grip round the corners right ill make you a list of what ide put in a buggy if i had £200

:alturn USA high performance race servo £34
:fusion exceed race brush-less combo 10.5t £90
:futaba 4y combo 2.4g fhss dry receiver and transmitter £81
:a full setup barring battery or charger for :£205

but if you shop around you may get them cheaper ive just done a power search of my thoughts of the best possible setup for your price range

good luck

[Robbiejuk]

£400 will get you a very nice second hand set-up.

As Toby says come down the club and talk to us, we are always keen to help. We always try to steer people in the right direction, don't want you forking loads of money on a lemon.

[chris brown]

Yes, I second that.
Come and have a chat on friday. My name is Chris Brown and I'll probably be racing a mini this week. I do race both 2 and 4 wheel drive buggies too.

[Dave Dodd]

Originally Posted by Robbiejuk

My best advice would be to talk David Dodd at Autocare and cycles in cotgrave, He is a club member and also runs a model/autorepair shop. He can order things in for you and assuming the supplier has stock he will have it in two to three days.

Daves shop:

http://www.autocareandcycles.co.uk/

And if Mr Ken Dodd is reading this, get some bloody stuff uploaded to the web shop!

Thanks Rob

and yes i know it needs stuff adding

[westers]

Cheers all, I will pop down to the club and have a chat - probably this Friday, depending on work, etc.

I may reduce my budget a bit after thinking about this for a bit (got a bit "kid in a sweet shop" recently), as I have to be a bit sensible/realistic about this to start with. I guess my main priorities are as follows:

• Get something that will allow me to learn - I don't have much experience with RC cars, so I'm really a complete novice. The latest and greatest hot poop car and gear is going to be wasted on me at this stage (and possibly wasted in the future - I really don't know what my skill level is going to peak at).
• Something that I can upgrade at a later date if necessary.
• Value for money - that doesn't mean cheap, but it also doesn't mean expense for expenses sake.

I'm pretty sure I've still got the controller and receiver from my nitro Truggy so I may be able to reuse that to start with (saves some expense).

Need to have a chat and think about it a bit more before I rush in.

[/tobys]

Sounds very sensible! Don't rush into anything you might regret later!

[The Doctor]

Simple - go 2WD and get a Cougar SV. Best 2WD buggy out there at the moment and seeing as there are so many people flogging them to try their hand at Losi 22s, Vega whatevers, and no doubt soon the Durango DEX210, there are quite a few knocking around at good prices. Check out dbizzle's which is in the For Sale section now. Seems like a bargain to me, and within your £200 budget with change for some new tyres etc.

Oh, and my infamous little black book is full of set-up info for West Bridgford for the Cougar SV so I'd be happy to let you have a look...

Now I'm awaiting the inevitable onslaught of abuse from the non-Cougar drivers...

...who are all wrong of course.

[chris brown]

I have found the Couger a bit Marmite-ish if you know what I mean. If you dont then you are probably really confused right now.
I reckon the best car you could go for that would fit your needs is an associated b4 or an x-factory x6 which is a mid motor conversion of the b4. Spares are relatively cheap but they are a really strong car and you can easily fit in your electrics. There are loads and loads of set ups on the net for either car and they have been national and international winners. You can use it in or outdoors without much setup change.
They are easy to drive too (as much as a 2wd drive car can be).
You can easily find a second hand one on here or ebay. If you see one then just post up a link and we can advise you.
You are probably dissy with all the advise so I'll leave it there.
Cheers, Chris.

[reg]

The cougar is a good car,but is let down by weak points built into the design,the after care and track side suport is among the best,

I would totaly agree with Chris

[/tobys]

Shameless plug (sorry ), but I have my old B4 FT ready for sale, used it when I returned to racing for the 2010 season and was good enough to get me my F2 license.

It's in good condition, has a few spares and can come with some part-worn tyres mounted or just plain wheels.

Just getting it ready to list it on here.

PM me if you are interested. I can send photos if necessary.

[westers]

Thanks all, the advice is actually helping lots and not making my head spin.

I've been trawling the net for the last few days looking at cars, reading different car forum posts, and generally just soaking up what people say.

Second hand is the route I reckon.

And yeah, I know what you mean about Marmite