aERonAUtical96

Can someone explain the difference between electric on-road classes/types? I see TC/Oval/Pan/Drift. Are the differences the underlying body chassis or the body? Can a car run in multiple classes? What is stock vs super stock?

When racing, what do most people use as a power source for things like chargers, etc? Do you guys bring an extra car battery or just tap off of their existing vehicle? This of course, assumes the track doesn't have outlets available, i.e. a parking lot racing series.

Mrs. CRC

are you from utica, ny?

party_wagon

iTrader: (29)

You want as many people as possible running in the same class so you will still have a full track when there is a bad turnout. If someone has a generator then that is the most ideal way to power your things. The different classes vary in size, 2wd//4wd, and limitations on the motor. If you are trying to get into racing then I would just go out to your local track & see what others are running. If your trying to start a series then talk w/ your lhs about what classes have sold the most & then try to get those people out to run.

Ferrarimk13

i dont think he is, because i think his username has nautical in it, not utica, lol.

aERonAUtical96

No on the Utica... from East Central Florida, Melbourne area. I enjoy the warmth to much to move north

There, unfortunately, aren't any local tracks. I have to travel up to Daytona or over to Orlando so it's difficult to just head to the track. I was just trying to find information more for my own knowledge. I've seen a lot of posts on the different classes, but really havent' seen the definition of the classes. Picked up a custom/older car at a garage sale and am trying to determine what class it would potentially run in.

Didn't think about the generator. Hmm another usage of the hurricane generator

Thanks for the responses.

Pauly6401

iTrader: (53)

Hey! I live in Melbourne too, and just got back into RC after a long hiatus. I've gone to two races in Orlando at Superior Hobbies and raced my Losi XXX-S in the Sportsman class there. Maybe we could carpool sometime...

FYI, there may be some racing starting up at the Cinemaworld on US 192. The guy that used to run races at Andretti's Thrill Park works at the HobbyTown there now and they are trying to get him to start up races again on the weekends. There's also an off-road course being built down in Palm Bay, and hopefully that will be up and running in the next couple of months.

To answer your questions - as far as onroad goes here in Central FL you'll see Touring car and oval. Touring car is a full suspension, 4WD class that's the most popular around here. The cars are driven with belts or shafts to provide power to all the wheels. In Orlando you can start out in the Sportsman class, which is for stock motors (brushed, 27 turn) and non-LiPo batteries. Then they have various classes for faster motors (Stock is stock brushed motors or 17.5 brushless, super stock is 19 turn brushed or 13.5 brushless, and so on).

Pan cars are simpler, with 2WD in the rear and less complex suspension. They are usually only 1/12, but 1/10 pan cars (Pro 10) are making a comeback. I haven't seen any classes for that around here. You'll see a lot of those in carpet, indoor racing because you want a nice, smooth surface.

Oval cars are like pan cars but with the batteries and things mounted so they can just turn left, like in NASCAR. I'm sure there's some subtleties there that I don't know about but I've never really dealt with them.

That's the primer, and I may have used some terms that don't mean anything to you. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll explain what I can. If you want any more info, just PM me.

Pauly6401

iTrader: (53)

Also,

- Yes, there are differences in the underlying chassis, suspension, layout of components, and drivetrains.

- A car can run multiple classes in the sense that you could have one car and run in multiple stock or modified classes as long as you could change the motor out quick enough. You wouldn't be able to switch between touring car and pan with the same car because the chassis and drivetrains are fundamentally different.

- Most people just charge off their car batteries. The fancy ones have trailers and generators, and some tracks provide pit power (AC). Most of the best chargers are DC only, so you would need a power supply to convert the power over to something your charger could use. You really only have to charge up batteries a couple of times, so typically you aren't running down your car battery. It's when you get fancy with soldering irons, tire warmers, fans, etc. that you need some sort of external power source (and believe me, the first time I saw the setups some of these ppl have I was in awe. It's like a full-scale race operation!)

Trips

iTrader: (16)

TC = Touring Car. These are 4 wheel drive 1/10 scale full suspension cars. They run on rubber or foam tires. Typically it has been rubber tires on asphalt, foam on carpet, but rubber tire on carpet is gaining popularity.

Drift cars are very much like touring cars, except for much stiffer tires with less grip to allow for controlled sliding.

Pan cars are two wheel drive cars, with somewhat simpler suspensions than touring/drift cars. Pan cars typically have a solid rear axle with the motor and rear axle mounted in a "pod" which is hinged to the main chassis. The front tires typically have springs, but usually not shocks. Pan cars come in both 1/10 and 1/12 scale.

Oval cars are usually pan cars purpose-built to race on ovals, with much of their weight offset to one side. There is some oval racing with touring car chassis, but it's not all that common from what I've seen.

Stock vs. Super-Stock... these are two motor classes. Stock motors are 27 turn motors (each segment of the armature is wound with 27 turns of wire) with bushings supporting the shaft. Super Stock motors are wound with 19 turns of wire and have ball bearings. The Super Stocks are more powerful. Those numbers are for brushed motors. There are brushless motors that are equivalent to the Stock and Super Stock motors, typically a 17,5 brushless is considered the equivalent of a Stock motor, and a 10.5 or 13.5 brushless would be considered the equivalent of a Super Stock.

At outdoor venues that don't furnish A/C power, some folks bring small generators, others might just run off the car battery. I don't know anyone who brings an extra car battery, we usually just run off the battery in the car, every so often we'll want to start the car and let it run a while to prevent the battery from going dead. AC devices like soldering irons and such stay home... I use a butane powered iron for outdoor racing where there is no A/C. Other folks I know use a DC to AC inverter and just use their AC irong off that. Of course, with a generator, all your AC stuff is good to go...

Hope that helps...

fender_guy

iTrader: (7)

Hey Pauly are you heading out to Superior this weekend? What bodies do most of the guys out there run? I know it has to be ROAR approved but I was thinking of the MazdaSpeed6 which is what I usually see on touring cars these days. I'm hoping 4, 4200mAh packs will last me for Saturday. What are you running?

Pauly6401

iTrader: (53)

Unfortunately my wife has a triathlon in Miami this weekend so I am going down there with her to cheer her on, and will be missing this month's race.

I've only run the Sportsman category with my Losi XXX-S and an old Protoform Chrysler 300 body. They don't check the bodies at all for that class, so I don't know that it matters that much. As far as the other classes, you typically see a range, including the Protoform DNA bodies from what I can tell. I'm not super good at recognizing them on sight quite yet. I'm sure your Mazdaspeed will be just fine.

They usually have 2 qualifiers and a main, so 4 packs will last you all day long. The first day I went I even ran a qualifier and main on the same pack since there was no way my stock motor was going to use even a 3600 in ten minutes. Do you have a way to charge them up if you use a couple of packs to practice with? I was told that to get the best punch out of the NiMhs you want to charge them up just before you run (maybe a few minutes in there to let them cool down and then go) for the most punch.

Anyways, hopefully I will catch up with you in June. Have you decided what classes you are running?

Desolas

iTrader: (2)

Read the rules..

roarracing.org

aERonAUtical96

Thanks for the info.

Pauley, I had also heard about the guy at Hobbytown and how someone was trying to convince him to startup racing again locally. I also saw both spacecoast hobbies website about the track in Palm Bay and an article in FT.com about the track.

I'm not sure I'm ready to race anytime soon as I'm returning to the hobby from some layoff also. Trying to build equipment up, specifically, battery packs and charger.

I would be interested in possibly riding over one day to watch. Let me know a day in which you might be heading over and we can see if we can connect to ride over together.

Pauly6401

iTrader: (53)

It will probably be the race in June, as long as I am not gone for work. If you want to get together before that sometime to go over your car setup, that could work too. RC is never as much fun by yourself, I've found!

I'd recommend http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com for some good packs (you can get them custom-made with any connector, cell, etc). I got two 4000 mAh packs from them that work great. I picked up a Team Checkpoint TC1030 charger that is nice too, but you need a 12V power supply if you are planning on using it with wall power. I have heard some people having issues with the pulsed 10A and 30A discharge feature (it fries the FETS), but other than that it's worked great for me.

What kind/brand of car did you get?

fender_guy

iTrader: (7)

Wow wish I could run a triathlon! Good luck to her. Yea I think I will go for the Mazdaspeed as later on I might want to run in the mod class with a Reedy Kr 12x2 I have never used. What kind of motor where you running? Just in case I will take a charger with some alligator clips to charge from my car battery.

Pauly6401

iTrader: (53)

I was running a Putnam Performance Excessive Force Stock Motor. Pretty much an amped up Trinity Green Machine 3/Epic stock motor. It ran well, but I had it geared too high so it was getting too hot, and I had no punch out of the corners. That's the next thing to adjust...