Hi there, Ive been out of the RC scene for awhile but would like to get back started over the winter. Here is what I have:

Older TRC Carpet Knife
Futaba Magnum Jr Radio
Traxxas ESC
Protoform Monte Carlo body.

I still need a motor. What is more prevelant now adays, stock or modified? Also, can anyone reccomend a tire setup for pavement and carpet oval, as well as a battery pack?

Lastly, will the stuff I have be any good to get started, or is it all junk?

J.P.

Well it really depends on what you want to do with racing. Could you start with what you already have yes and no. It may be more cost effective to just get a newer car on ebay or from someone who has one for sale. The speed control is most likely rated for much more than a stock motor. That would leave a mod motor out of the question. As for tire's that will depend on the track and what class you are running. I would say keep the Monte Carlo body and hit ebay or the oval swap section.

Well it will get you around the track. If you can drive it and drive it good you will be very good.

Stock - Putnam Monster stock
Tires - RR- White LR- White
RF- Purple or Black LF- Green or Pink

Battery- GP 3300mah or if legal IB4200mah or EP4200mah or EP4600mah batteries

JPM31, why don't you visit your local track, if that is where you are going to be racing and see what they are racing and what you will need. You may find a class that will let you use what you have and still be competitive. Most all tracks are different and the tires you need will depend on what that tracks likes. Nothing beats first hand information.

Good luck and glad to see you getting back in.

jpm31, what you have will get you going, the only thing that I would replace before even trying to race is the traxxass ESC. The newer brushed esc's are relatively cheap compared to what was hi tec back in the day. you can pick up on a comp worthy lrp or novak speedo used in the 50.00 range and you will be much better off for it. I took a few year hiatas and when I came back I noticed that the newer speedos flowed current much more effeiciently than the old mosfet models that I had. simply by switching to a newer speedo I saw more torque and top end with extended run time compared to the dinosaurs I was running.and to me it made a difference because when I left race times were 4 min. and when I came back touring and on road pan was 5min, and 1/12 had jumped from 4min to 6miin or 8 min (8min is now the standard and running brushless 10 is possible)depending on where you were running.just like oval carpet is no longer 6-cell and is mainly 4-cell only.as for battery, any thing 3300 or higher. By the way if you are looking at re-equiping, look into brushless, it will save you having to buy a comm lathe, brushes , springs etc. to run competitive with brushed guys.I wish I had just went brushless when I came back, it would have saved me tons instead of playing the keep up with the joneses brushed game.Also you will find that even though you have a older radio frq. problems wont be an issue since most everybody runs either a synth system or a 2.4 ghz system now. Other than that if you can set up a car and drive then you should be good to go!

Thanks for all the replies. The closest track to me is Trains N Lanes hobbies, a 1/10 mile paved oval. I figured the ESC was the only bad piece I have, I bought it just to get the car running and its practically brand new. I could probably sell it for a decent price and pick up another one.

Now with the older cars such as I have, what on them if anything is adjustable? Camber, shocks, etc?

Ive been racing go karts for 8 years and have a decent handl on adjusting a car, RC car is relatively the same just smaller :)

What are you guys adjusting all for tracks? And as a good starter car used, what would you reccomend? An L4 or something of the like?

J.P.

If you watch the Swap and Sell here on HobbyTalk you can get some really good deals on a used car.

The 10L3's and/or 10L4's make a good starter car, they are durable, parts are available for them...and they are upgradable with conversion kits from many other companies.

If you were looking to jump into something more 'racy'

The MAVERICK kit, the RIP kit, the LEADING EDGE kit all have pretty good records, but I believe these are only available in upgrade kits for the 10L3/4 style cars.

Or you could jump up to a KSG, HYPERDRIVE or CUSTOM WORKS car. I don't know alot about the Custom Works stuff, but the KSG Gen1's you can find used here for $125.00 - 175.00 pretty regularly, and for that price they are AWESOME cars.

The Gen2's (Also KSG) are also great cars with a lot of adjustments, they usually run used (depending on how much stuff is with them) between $175 & $350 bucks, same goes for the HyperDrive Pro3 cars. These are another great car, guys here have a lot of setup help for...and the go used for about the same price range as the KSG Gen2 car.

Normal available adjustments on a Oval Pan car...

Once the car is set up (ie: Toe, Camber, Caster) you have spring changes front, middle and sides. You have what we call "Tweek" which is the adjustment to the rear side shocks...and other things like the stiffness of a T-Plate, location of weight (Battery) and the ability to move and/or shift that around. Wing angle, and location. Tracking widths and tire location (in and/or out)

On the Custom Works web site is some great oval car tuning information. www.customworksrc.com (http://www.customworksrc.com/) I believe it was in the Instruction manual for building their car. The Maverick chassis site also has some great tuning tips and information.

(Oh - here a link for a 10L3 currently for sale in the swap and sell oval area - http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=203335 for I believe $60.00 for a roller)

Yep SW, thats the exact car I was looking at. Coming from kart racing, RC stuff is unbelievably cheap. What I spend in one season on a kart I could buy every single item out of these classifieds and still be ahead of the game, LOL.

J.P.

J.P. It depends on how competitive you will be racing. If you want to compete for A mains at your track, your stuff is pretty much junk. You would be best off buying a used L4. I would pick up a Novak GTB with the 13.5 motor and a radio with the spectrum system. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used charger and 4200 batteries to get going, and then get a couple new battery packs later. As far as tires, you cant go wrong with BSR white rears, and BSR white and a black front. Go to your track and ask one of the "fast guys" to help you setup your car on the bench and adjust from there. They won't have a problem helping you because a new face is few and far between in oval these days.

If you just want to try it and see if you're still interested, get a stock motor and a 4200 pack and the tires and try it. you will soon be buying a newer car if you stick with racing.
As you get better, it would be a really good idea to convert the L4 to a LE, or any of the other conversions out there. They are definately a step up from the compromised L4 design.

Have fun!

J P unfortunitly t&l dosn't run but once a year on the paved track when the orl series comes to town. I beleive they are running 1/18th scale stuff upstairs though I don't know how organized it is. There are a few tracks around.you have marshalls up in honesdale which gets a very good crowd on saturdays, the strand in Mcadoo on sundays and kranzills in harrisburg. There are a few of us that live close to t&l that will be glad to help you out.
Your stuff sounds a little out of date but before you buy anything I think you should come up to marshalls and check out what everybodys racing. Anybody up there will be glad to answer any questions you may have.Also everbody around here has pretty much gone to brushless motors.Hope to see you at the track.

Thanks Capt. I just looked up Honesdale, man its a hike, 2 hours from me. Its somewhat discouraging to want to get back into this as there are no tracks around. I used to have a carpet track in Hatfield as well as the high banked one at T and L, now the closest is Mcadoo and Honesdale.

Capt, what type of motor for what class would you reccomend in this area? Whats most popular, the brushless?

J.P.

marshels the big class is 13.5 novak motors the strand runs 13.5 and some guys want to get a 17.5 class going

right now the only motors are the novak and speed controls are the novaks or the lrp

J.P. Honesdale is 1 1/2 hours from t&l. If you want to stay with pan car then you will need a novak 13.5 brushless motor. The first of the year we are going to 4600 man batterys. hope this help a little any more questions ask away.

I sent you a PM. Thanks

J.P.

J.P.back at ya

Thanks for all the replies. I think for the time being Iam going to go Novice/4 Cell Spec racing. The track closest to me (Strands) has a good following in the spec class, and I can pick up the motor and batteries extremely cheap. Once I get my feet and wet and see if I like it, I will go with the 13.5 brushless setup

J.P

JPM,

That SPEC class should bring you a lot of fun - and it's a wise direction to start out in...

J.P. I'll pm you back later tonight.