Congratulations on deciding to join the exciting world of electric RC.Here on RC Universe’s forum you’ll find tons of help on every aspect of the RC world.This forum is designed to help you get started.The following contains information on touring cars, drifting car, pan cars, stadium trucks, short course trucks, buggies, truggies, batteries, chargers, hop-up parts, and motors, and ESC’s.

1.When deciding what kind of RC vehicle to get you should first consider what kind of driving you are going to be doing.If you are going to be strictly driving on-road then go to number 2.If you are going to be driving off-road then go to number 3.If you are going to be doing a combination of both then go to 4.

2.On-road driving is any type of driving that happens on pavement, asphalt, concrete, or carpet.When driving in these conditions there are a few different car styles to choose from.The first is touring cars.Touring cars are 4WD and run good on all on-road surfaces.They are fast and very agile.Some good touring cars are the Traxxas 4-Tec, the XRAY T3, the XRAY TR2 Pro, and the Hot Bodies Cyclone TC.Another type is drift cars.Drift cars are for drivers who enjoy the fast paced, twisty-turny, power-sliding action of drifter racing.Drift cars also do better on prepared surfaces like fresh pavement or concrete.Some drift car models are the HPI Spring 2 Sport RTR Drift, the HPI E10 Drift, and the Thunder Tiger Sparrowhawk DX.The third type of car is the pan car.Pan cars are very fast and very low to the ground for quick, high speed turns.These qualities make it best for smooth concrete or carpet surfaces only.Anything else is too rough and will damage or flip your car.Some popular pan cars are the Team Associated Factory Team RC12R5.1, CRC Gen-XL Carpet Knife, the CRC Gen-X 10 Pro Graphite, and the XRAY XII.

3.Off-road driving is driving that takes place in dirt, rocks, gravel, grass, mud, or even snow.Racing in these conditions are rare and most drivers just bash.Bashing is a driving style in which the driver drives for fun and to just pull some cool off-road tricks, not to smoke someone else in a speed contest.For this kind of driving I recommend monster trucks, 4WD or 2WD.4WD trucks provide more torque, power, and they handle larger obstacles.But they are also more expensive and require larger more expensive battery packs.2WD trucks are cheaper, have good torque and power, and handle less challenging terrain with ease.But they are sometimes slower, and do have more limitation in what they can conquer.Which type you choose mostly depends on the harshness of the terrain you will be driving on and how deep your pockets are.Some good choices for both 2WD and 4WD drive monster trucks are the Traxxas Stampede, the Traxxas E-Revo, the Traxxas E-Maxx, the HPI E-Savage, and the HPI Wheely King.

4.If you plan on doing a combination of on-road driving and off-road driving there are several types of cars you can choose from.There are stadium trucks, short course trucks, buggies, and truggies.Stadium trucks are good all around trucks that have good ground clearance and good torque for off-roading.They also have good speeds, and can be tuned to ride low, for fast and aggressive on-road handling.Some good stadium trucks are the Traxxas Rustler, the HPI E-Firestorm, the Team Associated Factory Team T4, and the Duratrax Evader EXT ST.Another popular truck style is the short course truck.Short course trucks resemble actual off-road racing trucks and have shortened track lengths with fenders that cover the wheels.This allows for fender to fender, paint trading racing and realistic bashing.Short course trucks are very versatile and since their introduction they have quickly become the most popular race/bash truck.Some favorite short course trucks are the Traxxas Slash, the HPI Blitz, and the Team Associated SC10.A third fun car to drive is the buggy.These trucks work well in dirt, pavement, and especially well in the sand.Just slap on one of the many styles of paddles and you’ll be popping wheelies and throwing up roosts with the best of them.Some good buggies are the Traxxas Bandit, the Losi XXX-CR Competition-Ready 2WD Buggy, the Hot Bodies Ve8, and the Team Associated B4.Your other option is a truggie.Truggies are basically buggies on steroids, or the technical term is they are a combination of a truck and a buggy.They have larger wheels and ride heights but they also retain that buggy look and performance.They’re good cars for driving in the sand, the dirt, and on pavement.

5.Now that you have decided what kind of car you want its time to choose a power supply.When it comes to battery packs there are three different types of packs.There is NiCad, NIMH, or Lipo battery packs.You may also hear about Li-ion and Life (A123) battery packs but the three previously mentioned are by far the most popular.Here are some general things you should know about batteries.The first thing you’ll see when shopping for batteries is the volt rating.The number of volts tells you how powerful the battery is.An 8.4v battery is more powerful than a 7.2v battery and an 11.1v battery is more powerful than an 8.4v battery.The number of cells a battery has directly translates to the number of volts a battery has.NiCad and NIMH battery cells each have 1.2v of power each.So a six cell battery will have 7.2v and a seven cell battery will have 8.4v.In Lipo batteries each cell has 3.7v of power.So a two cell lipo has 7.4v of power and a three cell has 11.1v.The next think you’ll see is the mah rating.Mah ratings tell you how much run time that battery will supply; the higher the mah rating the longer the runtime.While exact runtimes will vary based on the car and its motor, a general rule to figure out the runtime is to divide the rating by 100 (4000mah/ 100 = 40) and subtract five (40 – 5 = 35 min. of run time).Now on Lipo batteries you will also see a “c” rating.This stands for current, or how much punch the battery supplies.Alone the “c” rating doesn’t mean much but when you do a little math it means more.To find out the constant current a Lipo battery can supply first you have to figure out how many amps it has.Let’s use a 4000mah 35c battery for an example.First take the mah rating and divide it by 1000 (4000/1000 = 4).Then multiply that number by the batteries “c” rating (4x35 = 140c constant current).When choosing a Lipo battery you should see how many c’s you ESC (Electronic Speed Control) needs.Then get a battery that can supply more than enough c’s.Don’t worry, the excess c’s will not hurt the ESC.But if your battery doesn’t supply enough c’s you can hurt either you ESC or your motor.Now that you know the basics lets talk a little about each battery.NiCad stands for Nickel-cadmium.NiCad packs are an older technology and don’t see much use anymore.They have mostly been replaced by NIMH batteries, but if you are looking for a very cheap and low capacity battery NiCad works pretty well.Personally though, I would recommend a NIMH battery.These packs have a good punch, have high capacities, are relatively inexpensive, and they don’t have some of the memory issues that NiCad batteries have.There is a huge selection of NIMH batteries to choose from.Some of them are better than others.Some of the most controversial batteries in the RC community are the Tenergy batteries from all-battery.com.I have done hours of research on these batteries and have personally purchased one and run it in my Rustler XL-5.From what I have read and from what I have seen in my own experiences, Tenergy batteries are great for brushed (refer to the motor section for more info on the term “brushed” and “brushless&rdquo trucks.They have good punch, good run times, and they are really cheap.My 8.4v 4200mah battery was $22 shipped to my door.Most batteries cost twice that without shipping.However they are not put together the best.They are only super glued and the glue melts because of the heat generated by the battery.However if you reinforce the pack with duct tape, electrical tape, or even shrink wrap it yourself and are careful with it works very well.But, please avoid these batteries in all brushless applications.The lower quality cells just cannot hold up to the extreme power draw that brushless motors have.Only use them in brushed cars.Aside from Tenergy batteries, almost any packs available on the major RC sites are of good quality.If you want further information on specific brands you should readily find info on it here on the RCU forums.Lipo batteries are completely different animals from NiCad and NIMH.They are a favorite among RC driver who run brushless cars due to their obscene amounts of power.Lipo packs provide more power, longer runtimes, and are way lighter than NIMH batteries.However, Lipo batteries are more expensive, require special and more expensive chargers, are very finicky during charging, prone to explosions if charged wrong, and must be balanced during or before each charge.Most of these downsides are avoidable if the battery is handled correctly.And due to this easy solution to most of the downsides and many the many upsides, Lipo batteries have quickly become a favorite of RC enthusiasts everywhere.Due to their high prices, Lipo batteries may be outside the budget of first time RCers.But here’s a tip.The site hobbyking.com (also know as hobbypartz.com – both work) sells highly regarded Lipo packs at very low prices.

6.Once you have chosen your style of battery you need a charger.If you know you are going with NIMH batteries and only NIMH batteries you will need a peak detecting charger.They are readily available and inexpensive.If you are going with Lipo batteries and only Lipo batteries then go with a Lipo charger and balancer.You can buy a charger and a balancer separate but I would recommend finding a charger/balancer combo since there are so many out there.While these can be expensive, the sites mentioned above in the battery section also sell inexpensive high-quality chargers.If you want to go with NIMH batteries, but there may be a possibility that you will convert to Lipo or you want to go with Lipos but you may need one or two NIMH packs you can find chargers that charge both Lipos and NIMH packs.Again, I recommend the sites in the battery section.I also recommend the Thunder AC6.It has very good reviews and has everything you could ever need for charging batteries.

7.Now it is bound to happen that you will either break parts or the performance of certain parts will not be up to your standards.And so you will start shopping for hop-up parts.Hop-up parts are any part that is not stock on your car that either increases the performance, or the appearance of your vehicle.There are two materials that hop-up parts are usually made of.They are either made of a high grade plastic, or aluminum.Plastics are very durable and will bend when put under stress.This allows them to take strong impacts without breaking.Aluminum is more rigid then plastic.Because it is stronger it can also take hard hits, but because it is more rigid it has a definite breaking point.When choosing which material the part you are looking for you should ask yourself a few questions.How much stress will be put on this part?Do I want to eliminate as much weight as possible in this area?Is this part purely for performance or is it adding to that “bling” effect?If you want a part that is in a medium to high stress area, can take substantial hits, and does not have to look cool, plastic is the route to take.The best RC plastic parts available are made my RPM.RPM makes very high grade plastic, they make parts for a wide range of vehicles (although not for all models so you must consider part availability when choosing a vehicle), they are available in either black or blue, they are lighter than the stock parts they replace, and if they do break there is a lifetime warranty on all of RPM’s products.If the part you are looking to replace is in a low to medium stress area, can take good hits, and would preferably look cool, aluminum is the way to go.I recommend aluminum parts that are either made by the manufacturer for that vehicle, or that is made by STRC (ST Racing Concepts).STRC makes very high grade CNC machined aluminum parts for several vehicles.Most parts are available in either silver, gun metal, red, or blue.Another manufacturer of aluminum parts you may come across is Integy.Now the reviews of Integy’s parts are varied.Some people have had good luck with their parts and bad luck with their parts.I personally have had both.From my experiences and what I have read on various forums, Integy parts work well in low stress areas and areas that will take little to no beating.Parts that have higher levels of stress and will be hit with some regularity will not hold up as well.

8.Another upgrade you may make to your car is to change out the motor for one with more torque or more top speed.But when looking at motors and the information about them the terms may confuse you.Here is a general rundown.There are two types of motors: brushed motors and brushless motors.Brushed motors are rated in turns and winds.There are also hand wound and machine wound brushed motors.The number of turns refers to how many times the wire is rapped around the armature.The more turns the more torque, the less turns the more top speed.To decide what number of turns is right for you evaluate what you want in a motor, lots of torque and quick acceleration.Or good acceleration and high top speeds.Then compare your needs against the motor you are currently running to figure out how many turns you should get.Winds refer to the number of strands of wire in the wire rapped around the armature.Most motors are either single winds (if a number a winds is not indicated then a motor is single wound) or double winds.Double wind motors are usually more powerful that single wind motors.Also, the motor may be labeled as hand wound or machine wound.Hand wound motors are more powerful and provide longer runtimes, but they are also more expensive.Machine wound motors are a little less powerful and have shorter run times but they are also less expensive.Also, brushed motors will require maintenance as their brushes do wear out and will periodically need to be replaced.Brushless motors are the alternative to brushed motors.They are more expensive, require specialized ESC’s, and need powerful lipos to reach their full potential.However, brushless motors are much more powerful, are virtually maintenance free, and provide speeds beyond your wildest dreams.The power of brushless motors is measured in kv’s.Kv relates to the number of rpm’s per volt.Higher kv motors are faster, but they require extensive knowledge in gearing because if they are geared wrong they are very prone to overheating.Also, high kv motors are only really best for street or drag racing.Lower kv motors are much more versatile.They run good on a variety of surfaces and are the best for off-road use.Plus, low kv brushless motors are much more forgiving in the gearing department and rarely overheat.Most RC bashers will agree that the “sweet spot” for a good all around brushless motor is between 3500 and 4500 kv.Some highly regarded brushless systems are the Traxxas Velineon, the Castle Creation Mamba Max, and the Novak Havocs.

9.When considering purchasing a new motor you must consider your ESC (Electronic Speed Control).ESC’s have certain motor limits and they can also have battery limits.Most ESC’s have a limit on the number of turns that it can handle.Never use a motor with a lower number of turns than your ESC can handle.Also, make sure you never use battery packs that have to high a voltage for your ESC.This will over power your ESC and eventually cause it to burn out.

I hope that this has helped all you new guys out there who have had questions about electric RC.If I have not answered a question you have please let me know and I will try to answer it as soon as possible.Also, if some of my information was unclear or you are still a little confused about a topic let me know and I will try to clarify.

To all you long time RCers, if any of my information if incorrect or there is something that needs to be added just let me know.

Good luck to you all in the world of RC!