Remote control cars

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
When I was young, we had a couple of Tamiya remote control cars. I always loved mucking around with them and have always had the urge to do it again. On the weekend I had a look at the local and very new track they have put together and yeah, I got the bug straight away. I went to our local store and was impressed to see an updated release of the old Hornet I had and nearly bought it. I asked more questions and was helped by a former Australian RC champ. He put me on the right path and I've gotten a Aarma Mojave desert truck. It is a "ready to go" kind of thing and was cheaper than needing to buy the controller, batteries etc so it's the one for me. It has a few things I can upgrade so I'm pretty excited to get going.
Any on the forums keen on this stuff? Seems like ti could be a pretty pricey thing if you get into the nitro based stuff.
 

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
When I was young, we had a couple of Tamiya remote control cars. I always loved mucking around with them and have always had the urge to do it again. On the weekend I had a look at the local and very new track they have put together and yeah, I got the bug straight away. I went to our local store and was impressed to see an updated release of the old Hornet I had and nearly bought it. I asked more questions and was helped by a former Australian RC champ. He put me on the right path and I've gotten a Aarma Mojave desert truck. It is a "ready to go" kind of thing and was cheaper than needing to buy the controller, batteries etc so it's the one for me. It has a few things I can upgrade so I'm pretty excited to get going.
Any on the forums keen on this stuff? Seems like ti could be a pretty pricey thing if you get into the nitro based stuff.
I was a Tamiya kid too. Brought a cheap Losi SCT desert truck off one of the kids at work, that had died, and replaced the motor and ESC to a brushless setup for shits and giggles. I run a big 2s Lipo battery. This thing rocks. 65km/hr at the moment but I keep shredding the big drive gear in the gear box so I think I need to look at the clutch system... Get a decent battery and balance charger. You don't need to pay the earth. I got a charger off ebay for $40 that charges everything from pb to lipos.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
The charger advice is good, thanks Dman. I had planned to grab a second battery to keep freshly charged.
The guy explained the brush and brushless systems to me and for ow I'll run the brushed system but will upgrade in time. The model I got is painted already but I do have my eyes on a new shell and I plan to paint it in custom colours. I build my own models so it won't be too much of a task. Photos in due course. ;)
 

moorey

call me Mia
I always had them as a kid. They are fun if you can race with others, a bit boring if not. I bought another petrol powered one 18 months ago, a few mates said the were going to buy one...they didn't...used it for a few weeks, got bored, it's say unloved ever since. :pout:
 

camoshop

Banned
id like to get a petrol powered one, a mate had one years ago and it was crazy, can upgrade exhausts pipes 2 speed gear boxes suspention etc etc, mum couldnt afford to get me a good one when i was young, i remeber getting a cheap one from kmart, took it to a remote control car specific track, there were a few around in the early 80s

so got there put it down on the dirt, didnt even have enough power to move 2 inches in the dirt.. any ways some older boys came along with their expensive cars and were sreaming around the track with them. one guy came up to me and said here ill show you what to do, picks up my car and throws it againts the brick wall, it smashed in pieces.. never got another one after that day..
 

oriion

Likes Dirt
I have a few 1:10 Team Associated ProLite 4x4 LiPo cars that i've converted to NiMH, and race them often, and the dogs. Bought these in the states a few years ago for $250 US. They are double that here.

More info here: http://www.teamassociated.com/cars_and_trucks/ProLite_4x4/RTR/

They get up to around 65kph, and are highly tuneable. If you are a tinkerer and enjoy pulling apart nitro cars knock yourself out, just not worth the effort anymore with the technology in batteries.

said pics of cars and dogs enjoying them below.

RB2.jpg

RB6.jpg
 
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stirk

Burner
I have a few 1:10 Team Associated ProLite 4x4 LiPo cars that i've converted to NiMH, and race them often, and the dogs. Bought these in the states a few years ago for $250 US. They are double that here.

More info here: http://www.teamassociated.com/cars_and_trucks/ProLite_4x4/RTR/

They get up to around 65kph, and are highly tuneable. If you are a tinkerer and enjoy pulling apart nitro cars knock yourself out, just not worth the effort anymore with the technology in batteries.

said pics of cars and dogs enjoying them below.
That second photo of the hover dog is awesome!

I have neighbor cat issues at my place, they seem to like my front yard as a toilet and fighting arena, might need a car to chase them away :)
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
guy came up to me and said here ill show you what to do, picks up my car and throws it againts the brick wall, it smashed in pieces.. never got another one after that day..
Holy dooley, thats how you break a kids heart!

Oriion, I reckon my dog is going to attempt to destroy the thing when I fire it up, she'll think it's a new toy so I'm hoping it outruns her. ;)
 

moorey

call me Mia
Can't see myself using mine again. I'll dust it off, track down all the gear for it, and post up a pic. Swap for something I MAY use, like a motorised butt plug.
 

fridgie

Likes Dirt
Haven't had my crawler out in ages, got an axial ax-10. Slow as all hell but can drive over almost anything...
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
Can't see myself using mine again. I'll dust it off, track down all the gear for it, and post up a pic. Swap for something I MAY use, like a motorised butt plug.
Please do, I'd be interested cobber.
 
Can't see myself using mine again. I'll dust it off, track down all the gear for it, and post up a pic. Swap for something I MAY use, like a motorised butt plug.

is that another term for dropper post ?

One of my whippets froths every time she sees an RC car, give it a run with yours mate !!!
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
I've got a traxxas mini e revo, brushless lipo setup, its a lot fun. Small enough to not need a shit ton of space, but fast enough to scare children and animals. Reminds me I need to strip it actually, last time out a mate was driving it and must have been mashing the throttle, cause it looks like its broken the rear driveshaft.
 

oriion

Likes Dirt
Holy dooley, thats how you break a kids heart!

Oriion, I reckon my dog is going to attempt to destroy the thing when I fire it up, she'll think it's a new toy so I'm hoping it outruns her. ;)
My dogs have a few teeth marks in the body shells, but they are reasonably durable and can take a solid beating.

Rusty and Bella have caught them a few times, but I have taught them that the cars, when not bitten are a treat. If they bite them, they go in the car, along with the cars :)

Borders are not stupid :)
 

oriion

Likes Dirt
I have neighbor cat issues at my place, they seem to like my front yard as a toilet and fighting arena, might need a car to chase them away :)
The cars work well solving this. HOWEVER - I also have a Helichoptor - nothing screams fuck off more than a helichoptor chasing a cat :)
 

Jim Junkie

Used to sell drugs, now he just takes them
I've got a .28cc 1/8 scale GV Dominator Buggy collecting dust downstairs.

I used to use it a fair bit & tinker with it, tuning, fixing, etc. Great fun to race, but the fact that it was a 2 person job to race (needed a re-fuel mid-race) and all the tuning needed to keep it going was what stopped me in the end. That, and they're quite loud so you generally have to head out to the bush to drive them.

Easy to spend money on it though. Upgrade to digital radio, auto kill switch, replace exhaust after close encounter with a tree, fuel, etc. etc, it adds up. Fuel goes off after a month or so too, so you've got to drive regularly.

I'll probably look at getting an electric when the little one grows up. I used to love building the Tamiya I had as a kid up from parts & learning all about how it works. That was a great hobby. Kind of a shame it's hard to get one these days that isn't pre-built, but still a lot of fun to be had when the inevitable smash & required fix comes along.

For those in Brisbane, there's a race track for RC right next to Bunyaville/Jinker Track. They race electric / nitro on alternating Saturdays & it's easy to go along & join in. Plus you can take the bike & have a ride after, win-win.
 

camzh

Likes Dirt
I've got a traxxas mini e revo, brushless lipo setup, its a lot fun. Small enough to not need a shit ton of space, but fast enough to scare children and animals. Reminds me I need to strip it actually, last time out a mate was driving it and must have been mashing the throttle, cause it looks like its broken the rear driveshaft.
I have one of these too. 2S is fast enough, but 3S just takes it to something unusable other than speed runs.
Mine did in the rear diff, but not too hard to fix it.

Other than the original steering servo being junk and my Mrs smashing the front a-arm its been very robust.
 

stinky1138

Likes Dirt
I have one of these too. 2S is fast enough, but 3S just takes it to something unusable other than speed runs.
Mine did in the rear diff, but not too hard to fix it.

Other than the original steering servo being junk and my Mrs smashing the front a-arm its been very robust.
Maybe it got smashed because some fuckhead built a bad jump ??? :noidea:
 

Zam

Likes Dirt
Yeah I have 5 all up, started with a Traxxas Slash 4x4 and upgraded that with a 550 can motor, geared right it will do 90km, since then I have changed motor back and geared down for my 5yo, plus also have a few Team Associated RS10 short course trucks and 2 RC10 4.1 buggies, one for the boy and one for me, all running lipo 2S batteries, got a quad charger to keep em all charged and ready for use while at the track.

I am lucky as I have a track about 2mins from the house so plenty of fun to be had.
 
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