My First Racer

[Xangi]

Hello,

A few months ago I bought a Special Edition Midnight Pumpkin kit, just for fun as I'd always wanted to try my hand at building an RC car. I really enjoyed building it however since building it has been left untouched.

A few of my friends race cars and suggested I give it a try. I was against the idea as it seems quite costly but eventually decided to give it a go on the premise that I buy 'cheap' equipment' and will buy the more expensive reliable gear if I enjoy it.

So far I have bought a chassis/shell, which is a Yokomo BMax 4 but I still need all other compopnents.

So, has anyone got any advice for what equipment to look out for? or even general advice for someone who's new to this?

[Si Coe]

Well the Bmax is a great car for starting with as its robust and easy to drive.

The first thing you will need is some batteries. There is simply no point getting anything other than Lipos but on the plus side you only really need one pack. However, the Bmax takes saddle pack lipos and these are more expensive than the stick packs.
For the esc/motor, the cheapest worthwhile setup would be an ezrun system, either 5.5t or 8.5t. The BMax is quite heavy, so I wouldn't advise the cheaper 9t version.
Any servo and radio will do at a pinch, but I'd suggest metal gears and a fairly small receiver are a good idea.

[RoyalCBR]

I was exactly in the same boat a few months ago.

Like you I got hold of a Tamiya kit to cut my teeth one - a Double Blaze was what I managed to pick up on Ebay.

But like you I wanted something that would be me racing, I picked up a 2nd hand Associated B44 on ebay - just a rolling chassis and with the help and advice on chaps on here and also the guys at my local club (Silverstone) I got my car up and running.

I went for a set of powerful but good quality LiPos from ebay, a HobbyWing speedo (which is a cheaper version of a Speed Passion) again from ebay, and was given a 10.5t Orion motor by a club member. Radio gear wise I opted for a Etronix stick 2.4Ghz transmitter and receiver. All have been excellent and have really helped in get into RC.

One thing I would suggest is stock up on parts such as suspension arms and shock towers as these are the sort of things that you will get through as you get to grips with the car (because of crashes).

Good luck and have fun

[Si Coe]

For the Bmax shock towers and front wishbones. But switch to Extreme RC carbon towers and its really only wishbones.

[AfroP]

cheap and 2nd hand isn't always the best way to go. As somebody thats new to RC you could end up with a faulty item that you purchased in good faith and never know it was faulty until a more experienced racer told you. so be careful with this.