Nitro Radio Cars

A Beginner’s Guide To Buying And Racing Radio Controlled Cars

Product Description
Boys of all ages love radio controlled {RC} cars and this guide will help you to make great decisions on topics such as which cars to choose; FCC regulations; electric RCs or nitro RCs?; fuel; two & four stroke engines; maintenance; what you will need if you decide to build your own; on-road or off-road, with even brief descriptions of RC trucks, planes, buggies, helicopters, boats & watercraft; standard, micro or mini?; costs, where to race; online sources for ROAR… More >>

A Beginner’s Guide To Buying And Racing Radio Controlled Cars

Tuning a Rc Nitro Engine for Optimal Power – a Guide for Beginners

When I first started racing Gas Powered RC cars, I used to struggle to get the engine into tune, while I was able to get the engine to start on a dime and it used to run fine for almost an entire fuel tank, it always seemed to over-heat near the end of the run. After many hours out on the track I can now finally say that I’ve got it down, tuning for me is now a 5 minute operation before I take my RC car out, and once it’s dialed in I only need to adjust one needle a fraction of a turn to get it back to it’s optimal settings.

I assume that your understand the basics of a RC Nitro Engine and how it works, if not please see my other articles which you can find on my website, see the resource box for details.

The Idle Screw

I always start with the idle screw, I adjust it so that the car will idle high when I’m first dialing in the engine. Once I get the engine up to temperature and with a tube that can keep it running without stalling I slowly adjust the idle down to the point where it’s about to stall, then I turn it back about 1/4 to 1/2 turn depending on the temperature. If your car stalls often it can be worth while increasing the idle to prevent this, it’s only a temporary fix while you sort out the other tuning issue, but it helps keep frustration levels down.

Low Speed Needle.

One of the great debates is which needle to adjust first, if your carburetor only has one needle adjustment screw then it’s not a problem, but if like most glow engines you have two you need to decide which to tune first. I always start with the low speed needle, this is because when you adjust the low speed needle you change the high speed needle. Once the low speed needle is dialed in you shouldn’t have to adjust it again. Make sure you keep it slightly on the rich side, when you RC Car idles the combustion chamber should start to fill up with fuel, this helps keep it cool. After a while the engine will stall, by measuring this you can tell if it should be richer or leaner. A good time is about 30 – 60 seconds before it stalls. The RC Car should pull off quickly from a standing start and should not bog down or flame out when you apply full throttle.

High Speed Needle.

Once you have your low speed adjustment needle dialed in it’s time to start getting the power out of the RC engine. This is done with the high speed needle, which adjusts the air to fuel mixture of the engine while it as high RPM (about 40% and up). Keep an eye on the trail of smoke as this is your first clue about the tune. You want to have a lot of smoke coming out of the engine at all RPM, if at some point there is little or no smoke then you are running too lean.

Hints, Tips and Tricks

Turn the needle clockwise to lean out and counter-clockwise to richen the mixture.

A lot of smoke means you tune is rich.

The sound can tell you about your tune.

Reading your glow plug after a run will tell you a lot about your tune.

Make sure to run your engine on the rich side, this will extend it’s life.

A lean engine will always put out more power, but it will shorten the life of your engine.

Temperature, air pressure and humidity play if big part in the tune, different days will need different settings.

Nitro Engines for Beginners

Sure, there are loads of benefits a nitro engine offers but maintaining it has to be a regular chore. Also, there’s absolutely no doubt that in order to keep up with proper tuning and extra care for its engine to last longer, it will have to take more than your precious time and attention – your budget has to keep up too.

Before you ever try to go for a nitro engine for your RC car, you have to consider immensely how experienced and knowledgeable you really are with both its regular and monetary needs. This isn’t a way of discouraging you from getting a nitro engine for your car though; just a simple word of advice.

Nitro engines can be bought already assembled without anything else you need to do except for testing it on the road. This is an absolute must-have for beginners who literally are in doubt in building nitro engine from assembled parts since you will have to forgo the trouble of choosing the separate parts for your engine alone.

Of course, the big and obvious disadvantage here is that already made nitro engines could cost a lot compared to the ones you could possibly assemble. But on the brighter side of things, ready to run kits doesn’t deprive you of adding, maintaining and even repairing it yourself if it happens to require any of the action words mentioned. All three are possible; you just have to follow the instructions which come with the box.

But then again, if you’re a newbie with regards to the entire RC cars shindig, it isn’t the choice recommended for you…still, RC cars run by nitro engines are the most popular among RC car racers and if you want to feel the thrill as if you have a real nitro-powered car, this is the closes to having one.

Gas-Powered RC Cars and Trucks: A Beginner’s Guide

There are many ways on how to start with gas-powered RC car or truck. There are many realistic features offered by these remote-controlled cars and trucks. They come in a variety of styles and types in the industry. In choosing one, there are many considerations you should take before eventually owning one.

Radio-controlled cars and trucks lack the power and running time. But if you want to consider, you can convert them into gas powered RC cars, with the use of nitromethane-based fuel. This fuel provides RC cars a level or realism or performance, which are absent on other battery-powered vehicles. Aside from this, they are also highly customizable making it possible for you to integrate RC car accessories and personalize them. There are options of engines and transmitters available to allow you to choose one depending on how you’d want the RC car works.

To help you begin in finding the right gas-powered RC car, the following are the factors you should consider:

1.    Engines. The most important aspect in a gas RC car, you can choose from the variety of engine models available to choose from. Generally, most RC cars use a specific type, which is commonly called as “glow” engine. It is a 2-cycle combustion engine, which creates power to the RC car preparing it for realism that also produces exhaust in the process. In replacement of spark plugs utilized by automotive engines, a “glow plug” is used for this engine. It is being heated in turn by a “glow starter.” The heat will be held by the “glow plug” to which this is now used to fire engine strokes for rest of the running power.

2.    Fuel. Just like the actual gasoline used in automobiles, the nitromethane-based gas fuel the RC cars. The fuel mixture is formulated with special lubricants so that it protects the engine from the excessive heat produced by the combustion process. The lubricants are the same with the gas-oil you use with your small engine equipments or some chainsaws. Accessories such as a special bottle pump may be needed to get nitro-fuel into your fuel tank of the RC car. Filters are also used on these cars and the same with your automobile they require replacement at a proper time interval.

3.    Radio. Radio controller is used to control the RC car and could be same type used on electrically-powered RC cars. It is radio controller operates on 2-channel system that needs batteries to make it work. Additional batteries would be needed to power the receiver though there are other receivers that are fed from the motor itself.

4.    Sport or competition. This is an aspect you most considered when choosing body style. There are different options for you; you have choices from sedans, trucks, buggies, stock cars, and other popular car models. These are basically available in two versions: sports, and competition version. Sports RC cars typically cost less than the car you intend to race, which of course would need more power and higher speeds. Ball bearings and oil shocks are some of the advanced options included for the competition RC car version.

Depending on the type you need, RC car kits and ready-to-car or RTR kits are available. If you are a beginner, RTR kits are what you need as this comes out of the box ready for the fuel. RC car kit, on the other hand, requires heavy work but allows you to decide how they would be put together.

Purchasing RC Car – Useful Tips For Beginners

Nowadays, kids and grownups alike have similar hobbies. Radio controlled cars are the latest buzz and everyone is rushing to the toy stores to purchase them. People find them enormously thrilling and a great way of spending free time.

There are two components to a radio-controlled car- the car itself and its radio controller. Some cars run on rechargeable batteries while some have batteries powered by gas engines. The ones powered by gas engines are costlier than the electric powered ones.

The different types of RC cars are the on-road and off-road vehicles, racing cars and touring vehicles, buggies and trucks. Also, there are a range of types, colors and size to choose from. The types of cars include Lamborghini, Porsche and Ferrari. You also have a choice between a truck or car type and an electric or powered engine.

There are 4 main parts to a radio-controlled vehicle – the motor(s), the power source, the transmitter and the receiver.

The transmitter, also the radio controller, is held in the hand and it is usually battery powered. Steering, and other commands that you make, are relayed by the transmitter to the receiver via radio frequency. The receiver in turn has two components – the antenna and the circuit board located within the car. It is responsible for receiving the frequencies from the transmitter and relaying them to the concerned part of the car.

There are different types of engines featured in radio-controlled vehicles. The motor is the most complex when it comes to assembling an RC car.

There are two versions to the radio controlled nitro powered motors- the 4-stroke version or the more common 2-stroke version. The 2-stroke motor which produces an amazing output of 2.5 hp, is the most popular. The high speed and breathtaking acceleration of this motor is loved by all RC racers.

The 2-stroked motor has a displacement engine of 23cc and it needs fuel oil mixture. It produces higher rpm’s and hence is more suited for car racing. The 4-stroke motor runs on straight fuel and contains an oil reservoir. It has better torque and power and is suitable for off-road purposes. It is applied in trucks that run on rough tracks and dirt.

If you want to run your car in your neighborhood then you will want to go for the quiet running electric car. Whereas if you want to make your presence on the racetrack you might want to choose the nitro-powered motors. When it comes to pickup, though electric motors have immense speed, the nitro-powered motors steal the show.

Though the initial cost of an electric RC car is much less than the expensive nitro powered vehicles, there are additional costs like battery charger, battery packs and other accessories. These costs, however, depend on the type of car and the kind of battery pack required. But it is advisable to purchase quality battery packs and charger if you want to cut down on repeated replacement of cheaper batteries.

The advantage of electric motors over nitro powered ones is that not much tuning of the engine is required and maintenance is low. It is also more suited for beginners as all they have to do is condition it and store the battery packs properly. This done, the car can run smoothly for years.

Additionally, there are two types available- ones without and ones with a pull start. The pull start version, though cheaper, needs a starter box.