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Body painting inspiration

November 5, 2018 by justin Leave a Comment

When I first registered MeatballRacing.com in 2006, I had an idea to write a post called “Ban the Stratus” – here’s an excerpt:

For a while the Dodge Stratus seemed to be the body of choice for 1/10th scale radio controlled touring cars. It is the body that every company makes that all R/C racing sanctioning bodies approve of. While many racers have recently sought alternatives, I will not be happy until the Stratus is gone entirely.

To quote one rulebook: “Bodies used in ROAR-sanctioned events must resemble vehicles used in full scale racing for the type of event being conducted.” But you’re more likely to be hit by a Stratus in a car crash than you would see one on an actual race track. If everyone’s going use the Status body, why not paint them faded Chrysler burgundy and require torn cloth interiors, as they’re seen in full scale?

There are several other sedans that could be approved by racing bodies that are actual race cars, why not them? Admittedly, I must give props to those racers who have already switched to the Mazda6 body, which can be seen in the Speed World Challenge Touring Car series.

Bleh, I’m glad it’s gone! That’s why I like the Vintage Trans-Am (VTA) and USGT racing series. I want to see race cars like this:

supergt-fontana-2004-8-autobacs-racing-team-aguri-arta-nsx-katsutomo-kaneishi-daisuke-ito
img_4123

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: 200mm, AE, HPI, TC6, Team Associated, USGT, USVTA

Vintage Trans-Am Go Green Envy Challenger

October 26, 2015 by justin 7 Comments

In the spirit of Crawl, Walk, Run, after racing twice in the USGT class and doing nothing much but crashing and annoying lapping traffic, I decided it was time to slow down. I repurposed my HPI RS4 for US Vintage Trans-Am, commonly known as VTA.

Go Green with Envy

I wanted to drive a great looking muscle car, something I could see myself driving in real life. One image that was stuck in my mind was this Challenger:

1970-ta-challenger

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: 200mm, AE, budget racing, Duratrax paint, HPI, RS4, TC5, TC6, Team Associated, USGT, USVTA

Crawl, Walk, Run

September 28, 2015 by justin 6 Comments

This is a rule we use in life. You have to learn to crawl (or scoot), then walk, then run. I’ve treated my (re)entry into R/C racing the same way.

Alternate Crawl – Tamiya Mini

There is an alternative way to enter on-road R/C racing than Vintage Trans-Am (which I’ll talk about below) which is slower, but still a ton of fun. It is the Tamiya Mini class.

Tamiya Mini Cooper

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: kids, Mini, USGT, USVTA

1S-2S Electronic Speed Controllers

August 31, 2015 by justin 4 Comments

Looking for an electronic speed controller (ESC) for your R/C car than can handle both 1-cell (1S) and 2-cell (2S) lithium polymer (lipo) batteries has proven to be a difficult landscape to navigate. Some of this has to do with what the market will bear. Typically if you’re running a 1/12 scale car, you’re only running 1S batteries. If you’re running a 1/10 scale car, it’s 2S.

The 1S need for me comes from the fact that here in Minnesota, the local track runs a variant of Vintage Trans-Am (VTA) that uses a 17.5 turn motor and single cell battery. It was a carry-over from 1/12 scale cars that ran on 4-cell NiCad or NiMH batteries. The idea was to keep the VTA cars relatively slow, and to keep the cost down.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: battery, brushless, budget racing, ESC, USGT, USVTA

Half Off R/C Racing Gear List

July 20, 2015 by justin 5 Comments

Here it is, a list of how to get into on-road R/C racing in two different classes (your choice) on the cheap. I’ll update this list and go into detail about the the components I find important. Mostly I wanted to make a list of everything I’ve purchased to keep things honest.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: brushless, budget racing, ESC, HPI, rally, RS4, RTR, USGT, USVTA

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