On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

So here is the deal. We race in the winter on a carpet track. Alot of the guys at the shop have upgraded 1/16 scale and 1/10 scale On Road setups. I have been running the stock shop cars for a while now. I do not have the money yet but I want to figure out the vehicle I would like to carpet race with. What do you guys think would be the proper car? I would prefer 1/10th scale but I can go either or. Then a recommendation on motor and ESC would be nice. I am familiar with the offroad stuff but for the most part this onroad stuff is new for me. Ok after that I just want any On Road advice you guys can provide in regards to racing. I want to Snowbirds a few years ago and I saw some guys using some kind of solution on the tires? Anybody have an idea what that stuff was? or what it was for? I dont expect to get all the good secrets but a few tips to get me started would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Unfortunately, this is just about the only thing that forums aren't very good for. Advice about racing on specific tracks or surfaces.

There are some things that apply to carpet racing under 99% of circumstances, however, the best way of getting the 'right' car and setup for racing is by asking the people at the track where you plan to run.

Tire traction compound is critical in carpet racing, there are many types and brands, I can't really offer any advice on that as I've never used it, I used to race outdoor on foam tires, I assume you're going to be indoor on rubber.

On road folks can be a clicky bunch, as every small advantage counts, but you should find one or two willing to share the basics with you.

The best tip I can give you is to get yourself an Xray t3 rubber edition, or if you're on a budget, the t3r (same car, same geometry, just less carbon fiber and no anti roll bars) (you will want to buy those, but its the only thing you 'need' that the car doesn't have stock) its half the price of the full blown T3 with very little compromise in performance.

For the tires and the tire compounds, as well as setup in general (including recommended motor type, which is often determined by racing rules anyway), you're going to need to either suck up to some people or do some spying at the track. ;) If you do get an Xray, remember that they have a MASSIVE setup sheet database, you may be able to find a setup that was a winner at the track you want to run at if you search.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Thank you for the info. It is a private indoor carpet track that a bunch of my buddies/coworkers race at. I dont want to use their setups. I want something unique. Something that makes them turn their heads. Thanks for the advice on chassis. Money is always a concern for me so thanks for the budget option as well. They all have different setups. Any other recommendations?

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Are you looking for a 4wd sedan or pan touring car?

For touring car, Foxy is spot on. If they have a pan chassis class, that is what I would run. It's more of a driver class as the cars carve the track rather than skid and drift around it.

The RC10R5 or CRC GEN X10 are both good choices for the pan touring class.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

They are definitely running touring cars. Not pan cars. They even do drifting as well. Just with a change of tires. I like both. I think the Xray T3r is the way to go to start. I have never built a kit however. I am not seeing this available online. I found a foreign site that has it but I would rather get it from the US. Is this setup still being sold or has it been discontinued?

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Xray is now up to a T4 model. \

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Don't Laugh but this would officially be my first full build. I have repaired all sorts of stuff on my other RTRRCs but I have not built my own to date. Any tips in this regard? How long does it take to build a kit on average?

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Taking your time, you can easily build your first kit in 3 or 4 evenings (2-3 hours a night). If you take your time and read (and re-read) each step before assembling the step, you will have a fun, easy time.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

depends how fast you are at ooking at pictures, and locating screws
like tweety said some people 3-4 nights at 2 hours a night
me I can have a kit running in 2-3 hours flat*, and that usually includes doing mods along the line that I had pre-planned. Only ONCE did a kit take longer than that, but that wasn't my fault as I spent 50 mins alone looking for a part through all the bags that turns out was missing from the box, and had to wait 3 days to get it in the mail...


*not counting paint job that takes 20 mins to 7 hours depending how much detail I do, and method I use to paint. If I do 1-2 color basic by airbrush about an hour to mask, and paint, single color 30ish mins, and I've done detailed multicolored striping(on my hornet to mimic the sticker exactly) by hand before that took 7 hours with a brush just for the stripes if you count drying time.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Thanks for pointing that out, I've been writing about the new 4wd buggy (X4) lately, I'd completely forgotten they updated the touring car too. Perhaps not an R version yet though (more budget oriented)? The T3r is still a great car for an unbelievable price.

The build takes as long as it takes, take it nice and slow. Xray kits are a total joy to build. High in my list of things all RC car enthusiasts should experience, is building an Xray kit.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

While I have never raced a carpet track I do have some experience with on road nitro with a Mugen MTX 3 which is a 3 belt car. Onroad I would run 40 Shore tires for pavement. I do not have much experiance with carpet tracks.

I do have in my collection of R/Cs a Team Kit electric a RC10 TC4 which I almost wanted to run on a carpet track. The TC6.1 is out now and looks like they went back to Belt drives instead of shaft driven.

The Belt drives were always faster then the shaft driven R/Cs

Foam Tires on a carpet track are a on a shore base rating the lower the shore rate the softer the tires are. So a 30 shore tire is going to have a softer rubber compound than a 40 Shore tire.Softer the tire compoundmeans more traction some outdoortracks allow a rubber compound softener but most indoor tracks do not because it leaves a residue on the carpet.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

When I look back to my onroad racing experience the cars have to be setup had to  almost perfect to handle the tracks with pavement.    I spent money on a Hudy Setup board and spent hours setting up the Mugen MTX 3 so the Toe was 0 degrees, the caster and Chamber were setup right for turning into corners.    Before I bought the setup board I was slamming into the wall all the time which inspired me to spend a few extra bucks to the setup the car properly.

Dirt Track running allows for imperfections in a setup but on road setups need to be near perfect or the car will slip and hit a wall.

This is where I insert a link for dynamics of Caster, Chamber and Toe.do not get me wrong the R/C cars have to be setup like real race cars on this one.

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

Oh yeah. I deal with that issue quite commonly on my 1/8th scale buggy. the tire angles change over time as you repeatedly jump and corner that beast. I find myself constantly having to adjust them. I bet for On-Road it is even more intense.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

A Hudy set up board and any Xray chassis will set you back big bucks. If I remember Josh stated he was on a budget, like most of us are. I just started racing on road last fall and am taking first in the points series with a TC4 (I got used) and a cheap Integy set up station. It's a very tunable car, able to run in several different classes from VTA, US GT, to sedan. Just some well thought out upgrades and practice, practice, practice. You do not need to spend ridiculous money on your first car. Be smart and have fun. After all, we're all just big kids playing with our toy cars vying for a $5 bowling trophy.

RE: On Road Carpet RC Choice?
 

I'm kinda old school, been racing on and off since the late 80's. To me, the only way to race indoors on carpet is wih a Pan Car. I've bee into off-road for years now, but I'm getting the on-road bug and have started to look at the CRC Pan Cars. BTW, my last Pan Car was a Bolink!http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...sn/biggrin.gif