Buying
a Radio Controlled Car
Part One – Nitro vs Electric
by Nishaam Ebrahim
- No thats NOT me in the pic... ;)
So
… you’ve decided you want to buy a remote control car.
But do you really know where to start. If I knew half of what I know
now, a year ago, my RC life would have probably been much different.
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I
have only really been into the hobby for about a year now …
and I only bought my first RC car in the beginning of the year. So
these articles won’t really help the old time RC guys. Its more
aimed at the guys who want to get started in the sport. (If you can
call it that). I am by no means an expert in the field, so bear with
me. |
Where to start. The first decision I think would have
to be whether to go Nitro (Fuel Powered) or Electric. Depending on who
you asked the question, you would probably get ten different answers.
Electric fans would say Nitro is crap, difficult to master, high maintenance
and costly. Nitro fans would say Electrics are slow, uncomplicated and
don’t really offer the realism of a real racing car. In the end,
having owned both … I would say it comes down to personal preference
… whatever floats your boat. So take something that you think you
would be more interested in … not what someone else tells you to
do! Advice is all fair and good, but at the end of the day, its your money
and you will be spending time playing with your new “Big boys Toy”
… not the next man or woman for that matter.
Nitro |
Electric
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| Speaking
of Toys … lets just clear something up. When I talk about radio
controlled cars, I am talking about real radio controlled cars. NOT
the ones you can buy for R500 from Toy’s R Us … NO …
I am talking about the real McCoy. The ones made by Tamiya, HPI, Yokomo,
Traxxis, etc … the ones that range from R2000 – R20000
(Yes, they really can become that expensive). I remember when I bought
my first RC car. The wife was quick to point out that I had bought
yet another “Toy” to play with. I on the other hand was
quick to point out a little statement on the box, which read, “This
is NOT a Toy” . These tarmac terrors reach speeds that vary
from 35 to 90 km/hr in standard form. In modified form, some guys
have seen over 200 MPH. That’s 320km/hr … in a damn Radio
controlled car … insane I tell you … INSANE. |
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(I’m drifting off the topic, I know. So lets get
back to it shall we)
Here
are most of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Both types of Radio Controlled
Cars. In the next issue we will be going into some more detail of the
various categories one should consider when buying a Radio Controlled
Car.
Part 2 of this Article coming soon...
Cheerz
Nish
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