Raceway RC Cars and Trucks - Article Directory

Pit Stop Tips and Techniques

When you're racing your RC car in professional heats, you will notice that the winner of the race and the runners up are usually separated by mere seconds. The reason is that successful racers have learned to make pit stops quick and fast.

You can't race your RC car without making an eventual pit stop, learning to do whatever quick maintenance you need to do in a hurry is the key. First of all figure out approximately when your pit stops will happen in the race. You know how much fuel your Nitro RC car holds and if you do a race pace and run your car to see how long your engine will run on that track on a tank of fuel.

If you calculate your fuel to only stop your car when it is running really low, you will have fewer pit stops and be able to stay in the race longer and maintain a good time and lead. Plan your stops about a minute before your fuel runs out.

Learn to fill your RC car quickly. Use the same motions to pick up your car, fill with fuel and put back in the pit box so you can get back on the track. If you race your RC car with a buddy, use the same methods every time to cut down on wasted time. With practice you can get your pit stops down to mere seconds.

You can save time by putting a tie strap on your fuel tank lid to make lifting it even faster at pit stops. This will enable you to get your RC car back on the track even faster.
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

Customize Your RC Car with a Paintjob!

When you get an RC car or truck, many of them come with outstanding paint jobs and decals that make them look tricked out to the extreme.

However if you undertake the task of building your own RC car and eventually most hobbyists do, you'll need to know the basics for painting your own RC vehicle.

If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of painting your RC car with more than masking taping off the windows and blasting with a can of spray paint and then clear coating it, there are some easy tips for adding more colors to your RC car and making it uniquely "you".

First you have to prepare the body of the car. Wash and rinse out the body with warm water mixed with liquid dish washing detergent to remove any left over residue that might still be on the body. It is a simple thing, but one of the most commonly overlooked. Once the body has been washed and rinsed out, dry it with a microfiber towel.

Use masking tape, painter tape or liquid mask (it is a rubberized paint repellent that simply peels off) and then you can begin painting. It doesn't matter if you use spray paint or an airbrush, whichever you are more comfortable with. Use thin coats so there are no drips, it's better to make several passes with your spray can or air brush than one heavy blast that will just run down your RC car.

Work in a well ventilated area and when you're happy with your paint job, add decals or other items to make your car your own unique creation!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

HPI Nitro Driving Tips

HPI nitro cars are a lot of fun, they can hit speeds of up to 55MPH and if you learn some tips and tricks you can learn to handle this fast little speed demon on the corners and the straightways.

When you get an HPI nitro car, make sure you break in the motor correctly. This means running your car through three to five tanks of gas and using various speeds without actually topping out the speed on your car.

Make sure your car is assembled absolutely correctly. Sometimes RTR doesn't mean completely ready to run. You will need to make sure the wheels are aligned, it's a good idea to go ahead and glue them on before you race too. Install any ball bearings that are necessary and make sure your air filters are installed.

Also if you are looking to learn how to jump you RC car, approach the jump as squarely in the middle of the ramp as possible. Also, if your car begins to nose dive in the middle of the jump, just apply throttle and it will even out in midair. This will enable you to make a level landing. If you notice that rear end is lower than the front, apply the brakes, it will make your front end go down.

If your RC car begins to roll in midair, turn your steering wheel towards the direction of the roll. It will enable your car to level out and still make a 4 point landing. No matter what kind of midair correction you had to do, when your RC car does land, make sure it lands as level as possible and if your car bounces on the first landing, let it finish before you attempt to steer.
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

All About Your Nitro RC Car Fuel

If you're an RC car enthusiast, you probably have read a lot of magazine articles and websites regarding car fuels.

The main argue points among most people is what type of oil is needed for car fuel and how much should be used? First of all, skip the advice you got on using airplane fuel. Car engines work completely different from airplane engines. The workings are different and airplane fuel can be up to 20% oil, an RC car typically needs only 8-12%.

If you use fuel with a higher oil content, contrary to popular belief, it will not improve your engine life. Too much oil will actually degrade the performance of your car's engine and in some cases can lead to overheating of the engine. Keep your RC car engine running crisp at roughly 8% but no more than 12% added oil to your fuel.

The story that airplane fuel will run in your RC car better and give your engine better protection, is just that: a story. Use the fuel made for your RC car's engine and you will get a much longer life out of your RC car without the fear of damaging the internal workings of your car's engine.

Also, keep your RC car fuel tightly sealed and away from moisture as water will seriously degrade your car's fuel. If you have old fuel in your garage, toss it safely and invest in fresh fuel for your RC car, your engine is worth it!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

How Do You Know If Your Fuel is Bad?

If you picked up your fuel jug to go fill your RC car and noticed droplets of water inside, stop. Those droplets of water inside a fuel jug will contaminate the fuel. It is best to safely dispose of that fuel and invest in an airtight fuel jug and there are other ways to fight the moisture problem.One of the first ways you can tell you are using fuel that has been water contaminated is your car will have degraded performance or may not start at all.

Your RC cars fuel is made up mainly of methanol (alcohol). Methanol is hygroscopic meaning that it attracts moisture. This can cause your fuel to be contaminated with water, which will cause poor engine performance. Additionally, the UV (ultraviolet) rays in sunlight will eventually break down the nitromethane if the fuel jug is stored in sunlight for long periods of time.

Use a metal can first off out in the field. When you store your fuel at home, squeeze all the air out of the fuel container and an even better idea is to store your fuel in smaller containers that you have removed as much air as you can before sealing. When you're racing your RC car outside, especially in warmer weather, you can all but expect condensation to happen in your fuel bottle. When you're racing, just bring the fuel you'll need for the day and leave the rest safely stored at home, this will keep your fuel supply uncontaminated by moisture and always ready to run.
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

Tips for Running Your RC Car or Truck Safely

Racing RC vehicles is a lot of fun and best of all it is an activity that the whole family can enjoy as a group. It is very safe to run your RC vehicle and just by following a few safety measures that are mostly common sense, you can keep your new favorite sport a safe one!

Always run your RC vehicle in an open area, preferably one designated for RC cars. Avoid running your vehicle in crowded areas, busy parking lots, or around playgrounds. If someone suffers an injury, real or imagined, due to your negligence when running your RC car, you could wind up in court defending yourself from paying some hefty personal injury fines.

Also in the same line of thought, do not run your RC car or truck on roads where full size cars and trucks drive. Never run your RC car or truck on a busy street. There are only two outcomes for that scenario, you could cause a driver to get momentarily distracted and cause an accident or your RC car or truck could get accidently run over by a full sized car and become little more than a big, flat paperweight.

If you have an RC vehicle that can handle obstacles such as a Nitro scale model Monster Truck, puddles and rocks won't be too much for your RC truck to handle. However if you have a sleek and fast scale race car a puddle will be like driving it through small lake and large limbs will be like crossing a fallen Redwood. Survey the area before you drive so you don't run the risk of flipping or otherwise damaging your RC car.

Use these handy tips to run your RC car or truck at your favorite places and have a great safe time doing it!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

RC Nitro Car Basics

Now that you know the basic nitro RC car terms, you should also know the very basics about your RC car or truck itself.

You will need to prep your RC car or truck before a race. Prepping a nitro RC vehicle isn't too far away from the necessary preparations you need to make to race an electric RC car. However there are a few extras that need to be done:

Check your engine fuel settings. If this is your first race, even if your Nitro RC car said RTR (ready to run) the engine will probably still require a little breaking in. Read your manufacturer's manual to get the proper fuel settings and until you know your RC car, use those settings as the safe middle ground for running your RC vehicle. Generally, breaking in an RC nitro engine involves running your car through roughly 3 to 5 full tanks of fuel and while not hitting top speeds, using various different speeds to make sure all the gears are working. Don't overheat your RC car during break-in and take a break between runs.

When you're done running your RC car for the day. drain the fuel tank or you run the risk of contamination to your fuel through condensation. Also make it a point to clean and oil your air filter. Adding the after-burn oil to keep your RC vehicle lubricated so it will be ready to roll for the next race.

And those are just some of the basics for owning a Nitro RC car or truck. Use these tips to keep your RC vehicle running in tip top shape!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

Racing Your RC ATV

If you are looking to participate in some RC off-road excitement, the HPI Savage KFX700 Quad RTR - Nitro Offroad RC Quad will deliver that and more. Just a real ATV, this vehicle will climb rocks, obstacles and race around and give other nitro RC cars and trucks a run for their money.

The rider on your ATV is a real eye catcher and the entire quad is a 1/5 size of the real deal with just as much power. If you want to race this Quad, you'll find it zips fast around the track and the wheels really hug the pavement. Best of all, the designers thought of everything that RC vehicle owners wind up doing for their RC ATVs, the manufacturer even glues the wheels on this ATV so you won't have to.

If you just enjoy running your RC ATV off-road. Set up an obstacle course and take your RC ATV over rocks and other obstacles. For a little more extreme fun, you can build a ramp and jump your RC ATV. Have a contest with a friend and see who can jump the farthest. Bring your Nitro fuel bottle with you when you're out running your RC Nitro Quad, you'll probably run out of fuel before you're ready to call it a day when you're having this much fun with your RC ATV.

Fans of the Kawasaki style ATVs will be impressed with this smaller scale quad and its ability to keep up on the track with the other nitro RC cars and trucks. If you want a fun RC vehicle that will run on a track, parking lot or off-road with ease, add an RC ATV to your Nitro RC vehicle collection!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

Common Nitro RC Car and Truck Terms

If you're new to the world of nitro RC car and truck racing there are a few basic terms that you will hear over and over. If you want to go on the track and look like you've been racing for years instead of some green newbie, learn these terms and learn to talk the talk!

The first term you'll need to know the full meaning of is "nitro". It refers to any fuel powered vehicle or the fuel itself which is gas mixed with the fuel additive nitromethane. The mixture of the nitro can be anywhere from 10% to 40% added to the gasoline, but normally is in the 20% range.

Another common term you'll hear a lot is "glow engine". This is the engine of your nitro RC car or truck. The engines have a glow plug (definition coming) and they work in the same fashion as a spark plug. The filament inside the plug glows when it gets hot.

Which brings us to the next common RC car and truck term "glow plug". The glow plug heats the fuel mixture in your nitro RC car or truck and when it gets hot it begins to glow. The glow plug is heated with a battery powered glow started or glow plug warmer. Once the engine is running however, good old fashioned combustion takes over to keep the engine of your RC car or truck running.

The fourth definition you need to know is "glow starter". This is a battery powered device that you can attach to your RC car's glow plug to heat it up to get your vehicle going. If you are running your RC car or truck outside in colder weather, this is a very handy gadget to have around.

Now that you know the basics of the RC car and truck lingo. You can get out on the track not sound quite so new to the fun sport of RC car and truck racing!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments

Do you Know How to Carpet Race?

If you love to race you RC car and you live in a place where winter makes outdoor track racing impossible, you might enjoy carpet racing.

Indoor carpet racing is a great way to still be able to race your RC car or truck and not have it exposed to the elements. Mostly popular in the midwest part of the country during the winter months, carpet racing is also gaining popularity in places where the winters are mild but the summers are blazing as an escape from the extreme heat.

Driving on carpet tracks requires different techniques for controlling your RC car as opposed to pavement or standard track racing. When you begin carpet racing with your RC car, first of all - get in all the practice you can. Do several practice laps and learn where you need to begin turning your car at each corner to avoid crashing or rolling. Your RC car will maintain a pretty good grip on the carpet track so you can push the limit and make sharper turns on a carpet track than you can on a pavement track.

Start off a little slow and then go a little faster with each successive lap. Make a note in your mind where each turning point is and then you can go out on the track and look like you've been carpet racing for years.

Use the creep method for taking on corners. Maintaining your speed around corners is easy if you let off your throttle slightly and then the resulting slight braking action will cause a weight shift to the front of the car. This lets the RC car hug the track when going around a corner and with practice you will be able to take corners faster than ever before.

When carpet racing your RC car, the inside line is prime position. Most carpet races have stagger starts that greatly reduces the chances of the first lap pile ups that you have no doubt experienced. Most of those pile ups happen on the outside lines, go for the inside and you can normally escape the damage if someone else causes a pile up.

Carpet racing is a blast with your RC car, ask your local hobby shop if there's a carpet racing track near you!
 posted by  Raceway RC Cars and Trucks    0 comments