johnnyxray

Hi i am new to rc racing. Is there any advice you could give a rookie on his first venture into this hobby?

John

mb racer

iTrader: (1)

Be willing to learn about : car set up ... maintaining your equipment Ask aloto Questions from other racers at the track you race at . and if running the same car as your buddies ,Have them help you out ... Car maint .. good driving and having fun is the key . Be fast on the track .. means driving clean ...and most of all the right attitude !!!! .... Have Fun !!! Its a great Hobby and enjoy yourself .....

speedracer008

practice makes pretty damn close enough

cyrrus

iTrader: (5)

This is what we tell all new driver. "Slower is Faster". If you stay off the board. Don't have to get marchalled. you will place faster lap times. Then you can gradually add more speed. Oh yeah and Practice.
Another hint of advise that good to know. Is learn your car. Ask many question. There is not stupid question except for question that aren't Asked.

thahookup

just curious...i'm a new racer too...i have a electric r/c...how much time on average would you say I would have to spend on maintaining and tuning my car per day/week ?

what exaclty would i be tuning/maintaining...?

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

The biggest things are practice and maintaining your car. I spend a lot of time working on my cars at home. Probably 8-10 hours a week. There's no set amount of time you should spend. Just enough to keep the car in good shape. Rebuilding shocks when they need it, making sure the diff is in good shape, checking and replacing broken, worn out, bent etc... parts. Keep things straight, especially if you're racing on road. A tweaked car can make driving impossible and can be frustrating for a new racer. Get a good base setup that's easy to drive and learn to drive. One thing I've seen more than once is a new racer coming out to the track and their car is just hurting. Setup way off. The suspension may be binding, radio gear setup wrong, etc... This will make the car really hard to drive and not allow the new racer to really learn anything. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask. Anyone who's fast should be able to help you get a car drivable. There have been a number of times at the track someone has asked me for help and I'll look at the car, make a few adjustments, and they won't believe how much easier the car is to drive. Once you've learned how to drive and make a full 5 minute run without needing to be turn marshaled, then you can try and go fast. Make sure you're running the right tires for your track too. That's another thing that can make learning to drive hard. Tires are the most important part of your setup. If you've got the wrong tires on the car, the best setup in the world can feel like you're driving on ice.

Also, if you're serious about racing, I don't suggest RTR's. RTR's are great for getting you into the hobby to see if you're going to enjoy the hobby. They're great for having fun around the house and bashing around. But if you want really race and try and compete, get a race kit. There's a few reasons. Most of the time, (not always) RTR radio gear is not going to be sufficient once you get above novice class. Also, even though the motors that come in most RTR's are slower then a good competition stock motor, they're not always allowed, especially once you step out of a novice class. They're usually 19 turn motors, which are not allowed in stock classes. The biggest reason I don't like RTR's is it's harder to learn how to work on the car. Buying and building a kit, you learn the car inside and out. You learn how to fix things that break. You learn how to set up a car and a radio system. You gain a lot more knowledge about the car in general when you have to build it. Plus the RTR's a lot of times are "watered down" versions of the race cars. You're eventually going to want to upgrade so once you know you're going to get into racing, it'll save you $$ in the long run.