RC cars??

slefain wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: Bad time for this thread to come around..cleaning out the shed when we moved, I found a box. In the box, Associated RC12 onroad, Tamiya TA01 tub & parts, and Tamiya FF01 complete. Couple of nicad packs, a charger, and bodies for for 1/12 and 1/10. If my ancient Magnum Jr. had been in the same box, I'd already be scaring the neighborhood cats.

I just had the same thing happen. Messing around in the garage found a box marked "R/C Cars" on the outside. It has my old Tyco Fast Traxx and a RadioShack 4x4 in it, along with my old battery charger. Five minutes later I had found my old battery packs and was charging them up. I used to have a couple of hobby grade R/Cs and the 6-cell 7.2v battery packs will make a toy-grade R/C car run like a scalded dog. The Fast Traxx is stupid fast for a toy and darn near unstoppable. I handed the truck remote to my 2-year old son and I was running the Fast Traxx. My son loved it, I even gave him a turn on the Fast Traxx. Sure he is pretty much only able to make them go in circles, but he will learn. I told my wife to expect matching Father - Son R/C purchases in the future. I've already been cruising Tower Hobbies for ideas. We have a pretty rough back yard so we may start with a Tamiya Lunchbox and a Midnight Pumpkin.

Look into Traxxas Stampedes. Damn near impossible to break, PILES of upgrades, available everywhere (Seriously, I saw them at Pep Boys) and just as fun as the Tamiyas. Plus they're a US company! Based out of Texas.

You wanna talk big money RC this was my last racing set up before I had to put a end to the addiction.

I HAVE to stay away from those!

1/8th scale gas on road is the devil!

grinch77 wrote: You wanna talk big money RC this was my last racing set up before I had to put a end to the addiction.

I had an 1/8 scale Inferno for a little while. What a little beast of a car. I used to run it around my ghetto apartment complex and draw a crowd every time. Downright dangerous to run in public really. The 2-speed gearbox was a trick setup, still not sure how it worked. All I know is when you nailed it the thing spun all four tires, took off like a scalded dog, then you heard it shift and it took off like a damn rocket. I had it about a year before I decided there was nowhere safe for me to run it, so it was sold. With the LiPo and brushless tech now it almost makes the whole electric vs nitro argument moot.

wvumtnbkr wrote: I HAVE to stay away from those! 1/8th scale gas on road is the devil!

quoted for the truth lol pretty much the f1 of the rc world.I raced for seven years competitively 1/10th electric on road,200mm nitro on road and 1/8th scale on road.Need less to say CC were maxed the berkeley out during those years.Honestly it's worse than crack.

I just spent too much time cruising Tower Hobbies and eHobbies.com. Not good...

I have an HPI RS4 in a box. Haven't played with it in years. It's got a WRC Ford Focus Colin McRae body, so I must've built it around 1998 or 1999 I'd guess.

If you think cars are expensive, start playing with airplanes.

Appleseed wrote: If you think cars are expensive, start playing with airplanes.

well they're certainly cheaper than they used to be, but still not "cheap" by any stretch

wvumtnbkr wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: I'm a big Futaba fan, their "budget" model is the 2PH. Find the right hobby shop, you can score it for $50. http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/futj13.html

The radio you listed does have crystals that need changed. If teh radio says AM or FM, it will have some sort of crystal device.

Y'know, I didn't even look. Thanks for the correction!

EDIT: fixed formatting

damn this thread.. just ordered a Grasshopper - first RC I had in the late 80's.. with my twin boys looks like I will be ordering 2 more soon

sorry to fuel the fire, but towerhobbies has a scratch'n'dent section too (for selling stuff with damaged boxes, demo models, etc). ive scored some deals there before (years ago!)

and all this rc talk, i need to inventory mine and put em up for sale hehe

clodbuster (entire chrome kit, so also the leftovers to build another if you get the screws/gears/hardware), midnight pumpkin pretty heavily modified, mountaineer, kyosho gas and electric ZR1 vettes, robbe jeep (i may keep that one), kyosho raider, polk kangaroo, and a richman toys batmobile. i may even be forgetting some...

Grasshopper FTW!!!!

i use to get made fun of for having the grasshopper - but thinking back I never had any issues with that thing..

I think I had the Sears RTR equivalent of the Grasshopper, or something similarly generic. No building involved but I sure had hours of fun with that thing!

I always loved the Tamiya rallycars that were based on their off-road buggies. There was an Audi Quattro, an Opel Ascona, and a Lancia Stratos. Can't remember which bodies had which chassis, but the Grasshopper was one of them.

wow, talk about a flashback, i was just thinking about the first not completely toy rc car i had. it was made by nikko, did some searching and there apparently are a few collectors out there. even found someone selling a parts lot: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1582513#post20556296

later on after that was long since toast, i got my first "hobby grade" rc, an associated rc10

http://www.rctech.net/forum/attachments/australia-sale-trade/153869d1152943133-vintage-rc10-championship-edition-dsc00007.jpg

My first one was a Hornet, which was a Grasshopper with a 540 motor and spiked rear tires, more or less. I got paddles for it later, 'cause I thought they were cooler.

When I started racing a few years later, I couldn't believe the difference between the Hornet and an RC-10.

I keep being tempted by the little 1/18 scale Associated and Losi trucks and buggies, but while there might just be room for a little run in the yard, without anybody to race I think I'd get bored pretty quick...

Curmudgeon wrote: My last bout with R/C became an obsession. Get thee away from me, Satan.

QFT. Back in my college days, I spent over $1500 I didn't have on stupid toys. And that was barebones, just enough to run stuff.

I would love to do a nitro 1/10 touring type car though... But then again, I would be POORER then what my poorass is now.

In the early 90s I bought a Team Associated RC10 and this body:

When I visited the local RC racing track I found out that even though they had a road course all the local interest was in racing on their very nice high banked paved oval and the dirt "off road" track. So I bought this body and hand painted it from the inside. Very time comsuming but the result was worth it.

I never had time to practice except once so I never got to race with them. I saw an event though and it absolutely blew my mind how fast and well driven the cars were. Spectators could watch from the stands very close to the track and you could watch the front runners drifting up the track in the corners catch them at the top before hitting the fence and then dive down off the banking for a fast run down the straights. Those guys had looootts of practice.

I have a Bruiser that needs a restoration, a TA03 WRX, and a Schumacher Top Cat, which was a 2wd buggy with inboard front shocks. I think I need to at least get the rally car going again. The FIL just built some ramps for the nephews' cars, and I'd like to try getting in on that action.

I had all kinds of Associated stuff, one car was an A&L trailing arm chassis with an MIP transmission, about the only true Associated parts on that car were the shock bodies and the front control arm mount blocks. In 1989, I had damn near a grand just in that one rolling chassis, no motor battery or other electrics. I had a truck based on an RC10 chassis, too.

Then there was the Schumacher CAT. That damn thing was the fastest 4WD off road car of its time. Mid motor, belt drive, I used to run split packs in it (like a pan car). It was British which means it was VERY quick but it broke all the damn time. That thing stayed broke more than my MG. But when it was running it was pure magic. CATs always stood out because they had this unmistakeable 'whir' from the 4WD belt.

I had two Futaba radios and then there was the Airtronics. Oh man that thing was nice; you could adjust the servo centering and the speed control's 'ramp up' on the fly. If the track started out slick, dial down the speed control, made it nice and soft on acceleration, think traction control. After a minute or two if traction got better make the speed control more aggressive and the car would literally explode out of the corners.

mmosbey wrote: Schumacher Top Cat, which was a 2wd buggy with inboard front shocks.

I always thought the Schumacher cars were incredibly cool, but I never ran one... Pretty much stuck with Associated/Yokomo stuff, though with one detour to Losi.

And then there was that local startup, A-Main Racing, that built front-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering cars called Bullets using mostly Associated parts on a carbon fiber chassis...

The Top Cat was basically a CAT without the front diff and belt drive, it had a lot of suspension changes too. I sold all my Associated stuff and bought two Losis, in retrospect that turned out to be a very poor decision.

Associated!

I still have my original RC10 that I bought in the 7th grade. It resurfaced along with my comics and baseball cards when my parents moved. So glad they didn't toss it into a garbage or garage sale.

This thing is over 20 years old! Charged up the batteries and it ran great. It's full of aftermarket crap and I've spent the last 4 months buying local CL RC10 stuff so my kids can have car races while Dad charges batteries.