[tc3]

Hello all. I am new here and love the site so far.

Many of years ago I decided to get into RC cars. My first purchase was a Team Associated TC3 RTR. I used to go to the local shops with my dad to look at/buy RC plane stuff. I'd always venture into the 'car' section to daydream after looking at the plane stuff for a while. I finally saved up my money and purchased a TC3, and had so much fun with it over the years. So much so that we went back soon and my dad bought one for him/my cousin to drive so we could run both at the same time. My car has pretty much stayed stock over the years, except for replacing the motor once. I also bought many of battery packs, a few sets of tires, and a handful of suspension arms when we would break them.

Anyways, things eventually got in the way and the cars have kind of set by idly for a while. I've been itching to get them out, and get them back on the pavement again. I know a lot of years have gone by and a lot of things have changed in that time. I want to bring myself, and my car up to date here in 2017.

First of all, what does everyone recommend for batteries these days? I was running some battery packs that I had picked up over the years from the stores. Originally I think I was running 1800 or 1900 mah batteries or something like that. I know one of the last sets I purchased were Peak Power-maxx 2400 mah batteries. I just want to know what are good overall batteries just for bashing around in parking lots and in front of the house.

Secondly, what is a good motor these days? I had purchased a Trinity Chameleon 2 19t motor by recommendation at one of the local stores. I loved this motor, ran circles around my stock motor it replaced. I guess I'm seeing years later that these are race motors, and not intended for prolonged use? We ran this motor back to back to back some days, oops. But I'd like to know what is a good motor to run around on these days.

Look forward to learning and getting this thing back on the street! Thanks.

suburban_hooligan

nicd and nimh battery's are pretty much obsolete now-a-days. hell so are brushed motors, brushed esc's, and AM radio's. so just take the electronics out, set them aside and start over (except for maybe the steering servo)
get yourself a nice brushless system, a lipo battery, and upgrade to a 2.4ghz radio.
you don't need to get crazy with the motor something like a 13.5 (3300 - 3500 kv) range should do it, it will be faster than you remember but still usable. (i stuck an 8.5 motor (ruffly about 5000kv if i remember right) in my TC4 and can't drive it in the street in front of my house cause it's to damn fast)
you'll need a new charge for the lipo battery to.
basically prepare yourself to spend about $300 bucks.

[tc3]

Thanks for the help! I've been doing some reading on my own as well (that's overwhelming, there is a LOT of stuff to get up to date on), and that's pretty much the conclusion I came to on my own. My batteries, chargers, motor, radio, esc, and others are all out of date. I was happy with the way the car ran before I parked it, so even a slight bump in performance will probably keep me happy. You say you can't drive yours in the street anymore just because it's too fast for the space you're driving in? I'm just looking for something for fun at this point, to be driven on my street and nearby parking lots, so I don't need any kind of crazy power. I just want enough speed to enjoy and have fun throwing around. Of course more power is normally better, but I have reasonable expectations. I definitely don't mind spending the money to get her fixed up, I assumed it would take quite a bit to get the car up to the times. It's still cheaper than buying a new car. It may not be as sophisticated or have as much cutting edge technology, but for my intended use I think it will do well. Also, do I spot the Konami Code there?

suburban_hooligan

yeap, that is the konami code.

originally when i set my car up i put a 13.5 motor in it. the car worked really well. speed was good (probably about 35mph), run time on a 2 cell 6200mah lipo battery was about 20 minutes. temps were good. the car was usable just about anywhere.
then i started running in a big empty parking lot all the time and started to get board, so i put an 8.5 motor in it. and now its fun in a big empty parking lot, but scares the hell out of me to run in the street anymore (just a normal suburban street). i was used to a nitro touring car, 45mph on a good day. i ran that in the street with relative confidence. the 8.5 motor in my TC4 is noticeably faster than the nitro car.

[tc3]

Man, that sounds awesome. I'll probably start with a 13.5 motor then, since it sounds a little more reasonable. Like I said, I'll probably be mostly running in the street outside of my house, and probably start spending some time in empty parking lots again. I don't want to get anything that will be too hard to handle until I start getting the feeling for the car again. What all does it take to swap from a 13.5 to the 8.5 later, if/when I decide to make the swap? Is it literally just swapping in a new motor to the existing battery/electronics or does all of that need to be swapped with the motors as well? I'm getting even more excited about this now.

suburban_hooligan

if the ESC can handle the kv rating of the motor and the battery can supply the power needed you can swap just motors and gear it accordingly. my car has always had a Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro ESC (now discontinued), when i put the 8.5 in it all i did was change the motor and figure out what gearing i needed to keep the temps within a safe range for the run times i was looking for.
there is some good info on this forum about battery mah and C ratings, its probably easier to search and read those threads than it would be for me to try to explain it.