old-new driver needs advice

[TommieG]

Hi,
I'm quite new here, as I have just rediscovered the passion of my youth.
Being away from the "scene" for 20 years, I'm quite aware of the changes that have taken place in that time. Brushless motors (with special ESC's), Lithium batteries, 2.4 GHz radios, new brands of cars etc. etc.

Different from 20 years ago, I now have the economy in place to literally buy whatever I want, so I'm seeking advice from you guys as to what's the "hot stuff" of 2008.

I bought a Lazer ZX-5 Readyset as I stumbled in to a Kyosho store in Sweden this summer, and I had lots of fun with it. But I want to take it further, probably buying a Tamiya 501X or the new Schumacher Cat.

What brushless motor should I buy if I want to race the 501x or the Cat?
What ESC is the hottest today?
Are there any Lipo packs preferred by racers? ....and what charger should I buy? It must be able to charge NiCd and NiMh as well as Lipo's, and it should run from mains (220-240v).
Are Futaba still top of the line, or are other makes preferred nowadays?
What servos are the smallest, lightest, fastest, and best suited for a 1/10 Off-Roader?

Hope to get some constructive answers, and thanks for making this great site!

Tom
Norway

[ashleyb4]

Hi welcome back

Wo can on worms eeryone thinks there kit is the best.

But ill try to help you as much as possible.

Brushless motors: The best are proberly novak motors closly followed by orion/peak they seem to be the most reliable out of all of them from what i have heard and seen. But for the money the Losi motors are very very very good at just under 50 pound they are a true bargain. as your getting back into it a 6.5 would proberly be best.

Speedo again for the money the losi xcelleron has had alot of good press another one to look at is nosram matrix range and the LRP sphere range.

As Lipo cells are currently not legal for UK BRCA nationals or regionals not many racers run lipo it is a very difficult situation as you dont want to splash out on NIMH cells to find out next season lipo is made legal but as the season is almost over you might want to try lipo but make sure any clubs or series you want to race at alow lipo.

Most chargers these days are 12v only so you will require a power supply or a 12v leaiure battery. There are many many good chargers out there such as the Orion advantage carbon edition, Robotronics Overloader 2, LRP pulsar 3.

Radio gear futarba are still one of the top brands with th 3vc and KO is also one of the big brands with the new KO esprit 3 Universe.

Again servo's many people swaer by the brand they use so this what im going to do and that is KO I have a 2324 in my xx4 and its is proberly the best servo you can have for 1/10th off road with high quality metal gears and a good alround speedo and good torque.

Hope ive helped.

A

[mark christopher]

hi tom

looks like ash has done his norm and not read your post!!

personally i rate nosram motors, i dont like the motors with fixed sensor wring, seen to many damaged, nosram you can just fit a new wire.
same for speedo, never had problem, but as your in norway id see whats available round you, a 6.5 or 5.5 would be suited to 4 wheel drive

as your in NORWAY (CAPS FOR ASH!!) brca rules do not effect you, an i believe you can run lipo, Trakpower are one on the market leaders and have a full range of car specific packs.

as for charger look at the bc6 from bantam http://www.flighttech.co.uk/Products...Bantam/bc6.asp does all you need and will need.

futaba are still up there and the 9551 servo is small and light.

[Lee]

Ash thought he was actually called Tom Norway

I think everyone should copy ash though, he seems adamant that what he has is the best and if you look at his results you would struggle to argue against it

[millzy]

Originally Posted by TommieG

Hi,
I'm quite new here, as I have just rediscovered the passion of my youth.
Being away from the "scene" for 20 years, I'm quite aware of the changes that have taken place in that time. Brushless motors (with special ESC's), Lithium batteries, 2.4 GHz radios, new brands of cars etc. etc.

Different from 20 years ago, I now have the economy in place to literally buy whatever I want, so I'm seeking advice from you guys as to what's the "hot stuff" of 2008.

I bought a Lazer ZX-5 Readyset as I stumbled in to a Kyosho store in Sweden this summer, and I had lots of fun with it. But I want to take it further, probably buying a Tamiya 501X or the new Schumacher Cat.

What brushless motor should I buy if I want to race the 501x or the Cat?
What ESC is the hottest today?
Are there any Lipo packs preferred by racers? ....and what charger should I buy? It must be able to charge NiCd and NiMh as well as Lipo's, and it should run from mains (220-240v).
Are Futaba still top of the line, or are other makes preferred nowadays?
What servos are the smallest, lightest, fastest, and best suited for a 1/10 Off-Roader?

Hope to get some constructive answers, and thanks for making this great site!

Tom
Norway

I

think any brushless speedo will fit in the Cat or 501x- the current popular line up is Novak -LRP-NOSRAM there all tall Speedos - Speed Passion do a Low profile brushless Speedo Tekin also do this with there RS unit.


Losi have released a 10th scale unit that a few people on here have run and say is good.

Motors, Novak do a range of Light and Race motors, the lights are smother from what I’ve been told, LRP and Nosram both offer a good range of motors, as do Orion most drives run Novak or LRP but this does not mean they are the best just what the norm have

Lipos are meant to offer more power and better run times but are not BRCA legal for 2008- however a proposal for the 2009 has been put forward


Futaba are still good I believe, Neil Cragg has switched from Ko to Futaba- 2.4 is the way a lot of driver are going with regard to handsets and receiver, 2.4 eliminated the need for xtals. You will need a spektrum or 2.4 module and receiver for this

as for servos, I think there all the same personally, Ko are still the big boys with a huge line up of fast- torque and low profile - a lot of drivers are trying the AE line up and also

I hope this helps

[TommieG]

Wow, just got up from bed to find lots of good answers. I uderstand the fact that people likes to recommend what themselves are driving. Nothing unique to RC ;-) You won't get a Canon photographer to recommend a Nikon, or an Audi driver to recommend a BMW. Thanks to everyone that took their time to "re-educate" me. I will look into your suggestions, and decide what to get. BTW I have decided to buy the new CAT, but I believe the demand for it would be huge when it finally hits the shelves. It would probably be on back order for quite a while.

Tom

[mark christopher]

wrong area

[TommieG]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

wrong area

Really?
My questions are about the electric parts like motors, batteries, chargers, radios, servos and esc's.
What would be the right area for questions about such items?

Tom

[CODMAN]

Have you given the Associated B44 a thought? Here in Canada, they are the best deal for the money! For the price, nothing even comes close (the other competitive 4wd cars are at least 100$ more expensive). I don,t know how much they are in europe, but it's a wicked racing machine and definetly worth a look...

As far as speedos are concerned, I chose the Mamba max system from castle creations because the local racing around here is non-sanctioned and we don,t have to follow any association rules... If you local racing scene permits them, I would definetly have a look at them. Once again, excellent value and the esc is incredibly programmable! You can really adjust almost everything you want (even the power and braking curves) via a USB connection. Just more food for thought...

Welcome back! I'm like you; just came back to RC after 15+ years! Last time I used to race, I was 16 and had a limited budget going up against big guys with all the toys... Now I can pretty much buy all I want... Unless my girlfriend finds out... Oopps, I can hear her coming around... I had better log off...

CHEERS!

CODMAN

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by TommieG

Really?
My questions are about the electric parts like motors, batteries, chargers, radios, servos and esc's.
What would be the right area for questions about such items?

Tom

no i replied to a topic in the wrong area my post should have been in another section,!!!

your post is not wrong mine was

[TommieG]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

no i replied to a topic in the wrong area my post should have been in another section,!!!

your post is not wrong mine was

haha, being a new member, I'm a bit edgy about doing the wrong things!

Tom

[millzy]

one thing you need to think about is where and when are you racing?

are there spares track side for the car you want?

are there people in your racing area who could offer advice on the day with your speedo?

[TommieG]

Originally Posted by CODMAN

Have you given the Associated B44 a thought? Here in Canada, they are the best deal for the money! For the price, nothing even comes close (the other competitive 4wd cars are at least 100$ more expensive). I don,t know how much they are in europe, but it's a wicked racing machine and definetly worth a look...

Yes, I do have that one in mind, too. I'm a bit nostalgic, and always fancied the old CATs back in the days. But I'll take you up on your advice, and look some further in to the Associated car.

Tom

[Lee]

Its ok Mark still scares me

[TommieG]

Originally Posted by millzy

one thing you need to think about is where and when are you racing?

are there spares track side for the car you want?

are there people in your racing area who could offer advice on the day with your speedo?

Well, living in one of the worlds outposts makes the idea of trackside spares like a wet dream, and the 1/10 activity is rather low in my area.
I will do some learning and practicing for a while, before eventually travel to race.

Thanks,
Tom

[millzy]

Originally Posted by TommieG

Well, living in one of the worlds outposts makes the idea of trackside spares like a wet dream, and the 1/10 activity is rather low in my area.
I will do some learning and practicing for a while, before eventually travel to race.

Thanks,
Tom

Sounds like you have worked out a good plan of attack.

what ever you buy people on oople will allways give you advice

[Lee]

Originally Posted by millzy

what ever you buy people on oople will allways give you advice

My advice for the day would be, never ever under any circumstances listen to any advice given by (Cr) ashley.

[millzy]

thats made my day reading that

Ash may think he as the best stuff , but you have to look at it that if a basher like ash, who dose regionals and club days is happy then the stuff cant be that bad

[ashleyb4]

Im not a basher. Im as serious with my racing as anyone else. Things just get in my way of racing like work but without work i cant go racing at all. And why would i ont recomend my kit i bought it because imo its the best for the job.

A

[millzy]

Sorry didnt mean it as you dont take it seriouse.