I'm a low/mid pack driver at our club. I regularly buy our fast guy's batts and motors. I used to use the excuse that I was running "used" batts and thats why I sucked.

Well - Race #1 of the season came around and the fast guy didn't have his batts yet so I lent him batts I bought from him a year ago. I cherry picked the worst numbers and lent him 3 packs.

My a$$ was handed to me on a silver platter with gravy on the side.

Natural talent and practice will overcome equipement anytime. The problem is very few people will admit to themselves that they just don't have the talent and/or practice enough.

I also beleive that if you have 0 talent, no amount of practice is going to make you a A-main regular.

So buy smart - some stuff used - some new stuff - some high end, some low end....and enjoy the hobby. Race at your level and strive to improve a little at a time. A pit full of Much More bling won't make you faster - but you will look cool!!!

Its not about how high-end your equipment is, it is about how much time do you put into it. You can spend monies on the highest end stuff but will still suck if you don't know how to build the car properly, set it up to your driving skills, and practice your butt off to become better at it. If your car is not set up to your style of driving and you don't take time to practice, practice, practice, it would not matter if you have batteries with the best numbers, etc, etc, because you will still finish behind the folks that take the extra time to do those things.

First: Setup, setup, setup, it's all about the setup.

Second: Learn how to setup your car first before blowing your wad. $$$$.$$

New stuff: Be practical and buy what you can afford. This does not mean buy the cheapest stuff, but remember that to race you will need extra parts, tires, and batt's. If you run brushed motors, you will need some basic motor maintenance items as well.

Tools: As mentioned, good tools go along way in helping you finish repairs quicker and better, and then also with the setup of your car. Start with purchasing a few high quality tools of the most common used, then buy more over time.

Need: Of course you have to start with the basics, a good set of batts, charger, etc... but the most important difference in how my car drove was a good servo, period. I use a Futaba S9550 as recommended by many here and most at my local track.

Driving to win: As noted several times before, you have to develop the skill and reflex's to race in a confined area with other cars. Practice or regular racing is important to developing the skills and reflex's. This is second to learning how to setup your car, but both are very important.

Money: As explained above, it's not about how much money, it's about setup ability and skill as a driver. We have a few drivers that run with good equipment at my local track, not the top/top end stuff, and they will simply out drive most people. You may be faster in some areas, but when I make mistakes, I get passed or break the car.

Barry Baker used to put the TC4 in the A racing against cars that were what, 4 generations ahead? That's just one example, but a wheel is a wheel. I also think people are overlooking the importance of car setup and preparation. Look around the pits, I bet you'll see plenty of guys wheeling $500 sedans with great batteries and motors that are constantly in disrepair, and haven't even begun to approach a proper setup for their racing conditions.

To answer the original question.... for road course, it is much less important to have high-end equipment. Oval racing does tend to reward high-end equipment a little more. You can buy a little speed in oval. But in general, driving skills and car setup far outweigh high-end equipment.

arghhh...where else would i be spending my hard-earned money :lol: :lol: :lol: let my boys work their ass for their money later

high end Equipment Makes difference but not a Magic...
At Last Club meeting one of my club mate raced against me with brand new cells and guess What :D

here's some food for thought, get all the world drivers to race spec cars and only option would be the transmitter and see who's really fast, I call it the IROC of RC hehe

anyways highend? I've been laying low for a year now and my stuff is dated however it was high tech a year a go and many of it can still be bought in the used section and you'll be just as High tech as last year... just make sure your motors and cells are new and make sure your car is setup properly (square and easy for you to drive it) and you should be just as fast "in a straight line"... nothing has really changed though the years just the ones with the best motor and cells have it easier. BUt that's not to say 3800's still can't hack it cause I know I can place decently its simply my driving that stinks not the gear

here's more food for thought my long time friend took some time off and recently raced his RC12L; with the help of my more current motors and cells he was able to hack it with the people whom been racing year after year.

How high end???
 

Equipment doesn't need to be high end to be competitive at a most club levels in sportsman stock TC. You can make the A at most clubs with about 500 worth of equipment. It just takes skill. It kinda remind's me of that golf movie with billy bob thorton, where the women shows up with all the latest and greatest golf stuff to make her good and she can't even hit the ball. Granted if everyone in your class is a great driver and running the latest and greatest then your going to have to have the latest and greatest to compete. But in most stock sportsman classes you have those guys that have the latest and greatest but can't drive worth anything and then you have the guys that have $500-$600 woth of stuff and they are consistantly in the top 5.

To start spending money you should look at your lap times, if your consistant. By new batts, then see if you stay consistant now that your a little faster, then upgrade to maybe a pro-spec motor. Again check your lap times. The real question is, did you just gain your moneys worth in speed. If you paid $90 for a matched pack and then you gain 1/10th of second at a club event. Save your money!!! Base your purchase on lap times, but the only way to do that is to drive consistant.

If I were to do it again I would pay for a permanant corner marshall, that way my car would get flipped back over faster, that would have made me faster then anything else I spent money on. :-)

At the club level, it all depends on how much success you want to have. If you want to be a mid pack, racing because it is fun, kind of racer... then you dont need to have the best of the best. You just need something good enough to get you started so that you can learn how the car is going to react to a certain setup change. But if you are past the entry level, and are looking to win some races, then some upgraded equipment is not a bad idea. Just this year I decided that I wanted to race touring cars and be competitive. So I got a TC5, Ko Propo Helios, Ko Propo low profile servo, Novak GTX ESC, 3800 battery, and a CO27 motor. Sure it was a big investment... But I have yet to second guess whether I made the right choice for electronics. I constantly finish in the top 5, and have even won a few races. And I do not feel that it would have been possible with my old T-Spec car that I started out with. So I say yes, you have to pay for the high end equipment to be competitive. Even at the club level. But if you just want to have fun, than you can get by with compromising your equipment. Just dont expect to be a front runner...

K_Spec_RC

What you stated is not entirely true. I have been to some club races in other parts of the country recently where some of the faster racers at the club race older equipment (ie, AE TC3, 3300/3800 batteries, Losi XXX-KE, etc). The one thing that I noticed that those racers were dialed into their cars. These guys also find the time to practice alot during the week between club races. So, don't always buy into the hype. It is nice to have the high-end stuff but why spend the extra money if you don't do anything to improve your driving skills or learn how to set up you car for different track conditions. If you suck as a driver, you will just suck with more expense stuff.;):lol:

Probably the most important thing you need is a good radio and servos. Servo being the most important. I have seen beginners try to run the $20 servo that come in the radio kit and it just does not have the power to make the car drive correctly. Depending on the class get the best servo possible.

A good radio is very important, if you don't finish the race or lose interest because you are having nothing but radio glitches, you will be ready to give up. I was talking to one of the guys that runs TC with me yesterday and he said I was about to give up, because I could not get my radio to work right. I was in the same boat, myself until I bought a Spektrum. As far as servos go the same is true buy the strongest fastest that you need for your class. I stripped the gears out of 4 steering servos in 2 weeks before I quit messing around and bought a high torque metal geared servo.

Find a racer at your local track that has a car that he would be willing to part with, and start with a used chassis and work from there. I am sure you will be able to find something, every race day at my local track there are peoele selling some car or another.

I totally agree with that. However, in addition to the new equipment, I also practice every opportunity that I get. I would agree that more than anything, practice is what will make you better. But as per the context of this thread, I believe that what I stated is true in a general sense. But as you stated, there are the few who do just as well with older equipment. But what you have to remember is... Those drivers have been racing their particular chassis for quite some time. Just because they bought them a few years ago (most likely brand new) does not mean that they spent any less on their equipment than anyone else did. And I think that further proves the point I am trying to make.

I think radio and servo is the most important equipment, presume you know how to set the car properly and have a decent car. this is because you could drive and better feel of the car> this will make you drive more consistent as well.

EngTat

Slower is faster.

Speed comes from good practice.

When your racing, concentrate on someone who is close to your speed. Race them, not the TQ. This keeps it fun and you always have a chance to win. When you have that person covered, move on to someone else.

Most important...
Don't get caught up in the "game". Run your own race. If your painfully honest with yourself, you'll know when your equiptment is holding you back.


Ben