In need of some touring car electrics and gearing advice.

[Oh How Original]

So I recently found out a place very near me has a little 10th scale touring car track and they meet every Sunday.
I quite fancy getting involved in it, meet new people etc... My background in RCs is basically large scale stuff, so not used to smaller scale or electric.
I'm looking at the Schumacher Mi1 or Team Associated TC4.
Firstly, are these a good basic car to start off with?
Not wanting to blow the bank as I don't even know if I'll enjoy it yet and how often I'll be going.
Also wondering for a relatively small tight circuit, what brushless system would be good for 2s lipo running and can anyone give me advice on gearing?
I'm not sure if it'll help at all, but I've put a picture below of the track, to give you some idea.
So any advice on the above subjects would be greatly appreciated
(ideally don't want to spend over £150 if I can help it, in case I smash it on the first corner )

[qatmix]

Looks like a great little club.

TC racing is still probably the best class for close wheel to wheel action, its also one of the cheapest (especially at a club level)

I would suggest you pop down and see what cars people are running. They may have a TT01 / 02 class (Cheap indestructible cars).

I personally am not a fan of Associated TC4's they seem quite delicate, the MI1 is much stronger.

If I was to buy a cheap TC which would be competitive out of the box (And assuming you know your way around RC cars) I would look at the Sakura Zero S, or the Spec-R S. Both less than £100 inc post.

Although as I mentioned take a look at the club and get a feel for what's there and you can always pick our minds again.

[Oh How Original]

Originally Posted by qatmix

Looks like a great little club.

TC racing is still probably the best class for close wheel to wheel action, its also one of the cheapest (especially at a club level)

I would suggest you pop down and see what cars people are running. They may have a TT01 / 02 class (Cheap indestructible cars).

I personally am not a fan of Associated TC4's they seem quite delicate, the MI1 is much stronger.

If I was to buy a cheap TC which would be competitive out of the box (And assuming you know your way around RC cars) I would look at the Sakura Zero S, or the Spec-R S. Both less than £100 inc post.

Although as I mentioned take a look at the club and get a feel for what's there and you can always pick our minds again.

Well judging by the pictures on Google of the pit area and from talking to one of the racers, they race pretty high end RCs to be honest.
And thanks for throwing those spanners into the works lol, as if I didn't have enough to choose from but joking aside thanks, it gives me something else to look at too.
I was offered a brand new still in sealed packet Mi1 for £118 posted, but with motor, esc, servo and lipos on top, it'd just work out at too much.
This is the combo I'm looking at, not sure what folk think of these on here; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2510046380...84.m1423.l2649

[Lee24h]

Where is this club?

[Oh How Original]

Originally Posted by Lee24h

Where is this club?

Morecambe... Morecambe Model Car Club.

[fidspeed]

from photo looks quite a small track so massive power and top end speed is not going to be a primary issue to start with

why not look for a s/h outfit retiring racers often have good value kits for sale

get involved first at the club look at what the regular drivers are using its always a good benchmark

schumacher have excellent spares back up xray are definitely strong the tamiya trf range is good but spares arent always quite so easy to come by

regards dave

[reg]

superstox would be good

[Oh How Original]

Originally Posted by fidspeed

from photo looks quite a small track so massive power and top end speed is not going to be a primary issue to start with

why not look for a s/h outfit retiring racers often have good value kits for sale

get involved first at the club look at what the regular drivers are using its always a good benchmark

schumacher have excellent spares back up xray are definitely strong the tamiya trf range is good but spares arent always quite so easy to come by

regards dave

Sorry not sure what s/h means?
And it's actually not as small as it looks, if I remember correctly he said it's 60ft wide and 100ft long, plus they regularly change the track, so sometimes it's set-up for faster stuff, sometimes more tight and technical, which I like the idea of.
They mostly seem to run Schumacher Mi4's and Xray T4's I believe they are.

Originally Posted by reg

superstox would be good

They also do Supastox, although I'm not sure it'd be for me personally.

[fidspeed]

oops sorry second hand /used is what i was referring to

my apologies

dave

[Oh How Original]

Originally Posted by fidspeed

oops sorry second hand /used is what i was referring to

my apologies

dave

Duhh, I should have realised that!
And yeah I'd prefer to buy a reasonable condition second hand fully complete (willing to pay more than the original £150 budget, that was a for a roller/kit) then I don't have to worry about soldering and setting up the esc etc... It's all very new to me lol.

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by Oh How Original

Sorry not sure what s/h means?
And it's actually not as small as it looks, if I remember correctly he said it's 60ft wide and 100ft long, plus they regularly change the track, so sometimes it's set-up for faster stuff, sometimes more tight and technical, which I like the idea of.
They mostly seem to run Schumacher Mi4's and Xray T4's I believe they are.



They also do Supastox, although I'm not sure it'd be for me personally.

There's no way that track is 60ftx100ft! It's half that, those are 4m rolls of carpet and it is 2 and a half rolls wide, track depth is a tight 8 lanes which would be around 16m.

TC's greatest curse is the tendency for people to buy "bling" cars and accessories that you don't really need, particularly at the club level. An Mi1 is just as fast around the track as any of the newest high-end cars (if there is a gap, it can be measured in tenths) - like all RC racing, it's driving, tyres and motors that make you fast, and on a small track like that motors make hardly any difference.

The choice between a high-end second hand car and a new low-end car is a personal one. Some second hand cars are well cared for bargains, others are overpriced bodge jobs. You won't know until you buy it. I would go new, and the Mi1 is a UK manufacturers car with good support. Some of the far eastern imports have a more modern spec but support is thin on the ground.

As far as motors and ESCs go, the club is sure to have a motor limit - so buy that wind of motor. There are some very decent sensored motor and ESC combos available from UK stockists these days, the Speed Passion Reventon combos are very competitively priced right now and come with a good BRCA legal motor.

Other electrics shouldn't be too hard to piece together, I'm not generally a fan of mid-price electrics but the Alturn brand seems to be working well for a few local racers.

LiPos should be in a hard case, any modern pack will do for stock racing. If you can get away with recharging the same LiPo throughout the racing you only need one (I only have one).

Apart from the electrics you have tyres and setup to worry about, but to be hionest it's quite straightforward; good tyres work, and a well built car works too. Just concentrate on the driving.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by Oh How Original

And it's actually not as small as it looks, if I remember correctly he said it's 60ft wide and 100ft long, plus they regularly change the track, so sometimes it's set-up for faster stuff, sometimes more tight and technical, which I like the idea of.
They mostly seem to run Schumacher Mi4's and Xray T4's I believe they are.

As sosidge says, it is a small track. A decent size touring car indoor track looks like this.

We race in a similar size hall, and while most drivers have the latest chassis they still get beaten by one of our best drivers with an ancient Associated TC4.

Motor wise I think Morecambe have a 10.5T motor limit, and from our experience I would suggest a 13.5T motor instead. The higher wind means for the small track you can gear it up a bit and the power delivery is smoother, all our faster drivers have moved up to a 13.5 or even a 17.5 and they are lapping faster than with a 10.5 because the cars are easier to drive.

If you are looking for a cheap way to go racing there's nothing cheaper than GT12, and the simple Mardave and Supastox chassis means there's a limit to what you can do with them and they are fun to drive, it's the biggest class in many clubs.

Before buying anything go down to the club and see what they are running and what takes your fancy. The drivers there can tell you what works and what doesn't and there might even be cars or electrics for sale, drivers are unlikely to sell rubbish if they know they are going to be seeing you again.