Anyone race road cars (rc)

[Bollucks]

Hey everyone.

The local hobby store runs races in their parking lot every couple weeks and it looks like a blast. I would love to ask these guys what they are running but with the Covid craziness I didn’t want to walk into peoples pits and ask what they were running. So just wondering what you guys that race run and would recommend for a beginner to parking lot racing.

I know everyone usually recommends what you can get at the local store, but they are usually bad at keeping parts in stock so I usually just end up buying stuff from online sources.

anyhow thanks for any info and would love to see some pics of what you are running.

 

[RackwitzG]

I don't race (yet) but am in the topic. For a hobby racer I would recommend the Tamiya TT-02R. It's well affordable and you can easily get spares and all kinds of upgrade tuning parts. It's worth checking it out on youtube. You can find out which components are best (ESC, Motor etc.). You can also buy the TT-02 as a kit with motor and ESC. You then just need to paint the body and install a radio.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

You may want to ask the hobby shop if they have rules, so that you do not buy a car that you cannot race with. For example:
Only 1/10 electric
Only 190mm cars
Only 200mm cars

You can have plenty of fun and good parts availability with a RTR like a 1/10 Traxxas Ford GT VXL, however if you want to be competitive in racing you will want to look at a race brand kit. These are generally:
Serpent RC
XRay RC
Mugen Seiki
Team Associated

 

[biggman100]

Hey everyone.

The local hobby store runs races in their parking lot every couple weeks and it looks like a blast. I would love to ask these guys what they are running but with the Covid craziness I didn’t want to walk into peoples pits and ask what they were running. So just wondering what you guys that race run and would recommend for a beginner to parking lot racing.

I know everyone usually recommends what you can get at the local store, but they are usually bad at keeping parts in stock so I usually just end up buying stuff from online sources.

anyhow thanks for any info and would love to see some pics of what you are running.

Are you looking for a kit or RTR? For a kit, you cant go wrong with Tamiya on road cars. There are a ton of them, in every configuration from front, rear, and 4 wheel drive, and, as previously mentioned, there are a ton of spare parts and upgrades available. For an RTR, you can go cheap (Exceed RC, Redcat Racing) to extremely expensive (Kyosho, Vaterra) to in between (Traxxas). It all depends on what kind of racing (drift, rally, touring), your budget, how much you want to get into it, brushed, brushless, or nitro, along with a few other factors.

I have no experience with Traxxas, of any kind, and my only Kyosho's are off road buggies. I own one Vaterra, but rarely use it. I have several Exceed RC on road (they are strictly drift, its the only on road Exceed sells), however, Redcat's Lightning line (drift, touring, on road stock car style race cars), and Exceeds Mad Speed and Drift Star cars all share parts. and there are tons of parts available, as well as aluminum upgrades, which can be bought individually, or in kits. The only car that doesn't share parts between the two brands is the Redcat Thunder Drift, which is belt drive. Redcat and Exceed are direct copies of HSP cars, so almost any HSP on road car part or upgrade will work. If you are going drifting, and end up getting an Exceed or Redcat, the first two upgrades i would recommend would be rubber shielded bearings, and CVD's. since the cars tend to lose dogbones easily, even the touring cars. I don't typically take pics of my stuff, but, i have three of the car in the pic (Exceed RC Mad Speed), one converted to a touring car, one a rally car, the other all original.

 

[Bollucks]

I don’t mind kit or rtr. They run stock 17.5 sedan, mod. sedan, USGT, formula E mini 13.5 (non-race body), Tamiya spec euro truck, outlaw euro truck 21.5 max, and F1 2.5.

I would imagine the stock sedan would probably be the most entry friendly. The Tamiya spec euro truck would be easy to get into but don’t know if I can get into the looks of it.

 

[biggman100]

I don’t mind kit or rtr. They run stock 17.5 sedan, mod. sedan, USGT, formula E mini 13.5 (non-race body), Tamiya spec euro truck, outlaw euro truck 21.5 max, and F1 2.5.

I would imagine the stock sedan would probably be the most entry friendly. The Tamiya spec euro truck would be easy to get into but don’t know if I can get into the looks of it.

I keep forgetting other places actually run spec races. Where i race at, we don't do anything spec. Its basically a bunch of thrown together classes with very few rules.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

I don’t mind kit or rtr. They run stock 17.5 sedan, mod. sedan, USGT, formula E mini 13.5 (non-race body), Tamiya spec euro truck, outlaw euro truck 21.5 max, and F1 2.5.

I would imagine the stock sedan would probably be the most entry friendly. The Tamiya spec euro truck would be easy to get into but don’t know if I can get into the looks of it.

The Hobao EPX is a pretty cool RC for the Euro Truck class. You could use that one for the Sedan class also just with a change of body and body mounts. I have had my eye on that one for a while....

I have used Michael's RC hobbies for a while now. They have a good selection of cars to look through https://www.michaelsrchobbies.com/cars-trucks/on-road/110-touring-car/

 

[arrma_tigger]

If you intend to run at this hobby shop, please support them by buying items you can from them. Without our support, these stores will not last.

 

[RackwitzG]

I don’t mind kit or rtr. They run stock 17.5 sedan, mod. sedan, USGT, formula E mini 13.5 (non-race body), Tamiya spec euro truck, outlaw euro truck 21.5 max, and F1 2.5.

I would imagine the stock sedan would probably be the most entry friendly. The Tamiya spec euro truck would be easy to get into but don’t know if I can get into the looks of it.

I fancy those racing trucks and many youtubers who are specialized in Touring Cars that bought one say they're loads of fun. The trucks are based on the Tamiya TT-01 chassis and are very affordable and spares are readily available.
If you buy a Tamiya kit make sure you get a set of bearings with it. The usual plastic bushings are trash.

 

[SrC]

I used to race TC carpet last I raced on road. AE stuff. I couldnt see myself running anything other than competitive race stuff. TT-01 wouldn't cut it for me. I looked at them before. Truck class and all. Too budget in my opinion out the box. And without BB's too???Like BB's are gold or something. And parts are overpriced. And what's with still using the Tamiya battery connectors? Horrible old stuff to this day and needing a special battery to fit the old school Nim pack shape chassis to get a lipo in there??? IDK ?‍

 

[Bollucks]

What yours opinion on belt vs. shaft drive? Seems like a lot of people I have see recommend shaft for parking lot racing so you don’t have issues with rocks. I was looking into the tamiya t-ao7 pro kit looked to be reasonably priced some of the other kits get a bit rich for my blood.

 

[RackwitzG]

I was looking at the TA-07 too. What I don't like so much is that radio etc. seem to be pretty crowded inside due to the stabilized structure. You'll need a rather small RX and ESC. The price is nice though and a shaft is not a bad choice for a hobby racer. If you want to look at a "cheap" belted model you can look at the Xpress XQ1S which is around $120 here in Germany. You can get it assembled for just a bit more. Then there is the Serpent 411 Sport which is around the same price but an old model.
But, if you're looking for a rather simple construction, the TA-07 is probably for you. Being able to tune everything is overrated on parking lots. You want to have fun and not worry about Camber, Caster and co. You still can adjust the important parameters and select suitable tires - which is the most important part anyway.