Petrol RC Cars

The world of radio controlled cars is a very fun and addicting hobby. Firstly you have a choice; should you go for electric, nitro or petrol RC cars, all of which can be fully customisable and tunable, offer a great amount of speed and most importantly are all a lot of fun! In this post I am going to look at why electric cars are a good starting choice, even if you are dying to race around with a nitro or petrol model.

For somebody new to the hobby of RC car racing, the best place to start is with a smallish electric RC car, ideally a 1:24 or 1:16 scale model, which makes for a manageable size that lets you gat the feel for RC cars without spending exorbitant amounts of money. This last point is especially important, as you don’t want to be spending too much on something that you are almost guaranteed to crash. It would be like buying a £200 000 Lamborghini as your teenage sons first ever car. It just isn’t wise. You need the experience before stepping up to the next level.

Most electric RC cars have a top speed of around 25mph, with the best maxing out at around the 40mph mark, which makes it perfect for beginners. Having a slower top speed means that it is safer to drive, and means you can get used to how a RC car behaves, hopefully meaning you will learn how to not crash into anything. Even if the top speed is a little limited, electric RC cars tend to accelerate faster than nitro RC cars or petrol RC cars and have better throttle response times, meaning that it will do what you tell it to almost instantly. The electric RC car is safer not only in the fact that its being slower speed means it is less likely to hurt somebody or the family pet, but it avoids the use of flammable fuels (petrol or nitro) making it much safer for use by children. It also has the added bonus of being able to be used indoors, being not too large, fast, nor encouraging death the way exhaust fumes have this nasty habit of doing.

Apart from being cheaper to buy than the other RC car types, as mentioned previously, they are also by far the cheapest to run needing only a battery pack to power the motor, and requiring some batteries for the controller. This is especially true in the world of today, with petrol prices only forecast to rise. Most electric RC cars run a 7.2 volt rechargeable battery pack which consists of six AA batteries in series, or a lithium polymer (LiPo) battery pack. LiPo battery packs usually hold more charge and charge faster, but are also more expensive and need more carful handling than a normal battery pack. When your electric RC car car runs out of power, all you need to do is replace the battery pack (if you own a spare, which is highly advisable) or plug the battery into the recharger for 15-30 minutes, and then you’re good to go again.

There are two other major points to note about electric RC cars. The first is that they are not nearly as complex as their nitro or petrol counterparts. They consist of an electric motor to turn the wheels, a far more simple device to understand than a petrol engine, and thus do not require much in the way of tuning, especially at the beginner level. This means that you waste no time getting started and actually having fun with your car. The second is the noise level. If you have ever witnessed a nitro or petrol RC car running you will know that they are unbelievably noisy, far more so than your average lawn mower, and more akin to that of a chainsaw. Electric cars are quiet, and will draw no complaints from neighbours or visits from the noise police if you just happened to fancy a late night race in your back yard.

After you have gotten used to an electric RC car, and what you’re really after is more speed you can upgrade it either a faster, more expensive electric model or step-up to a nitro RC car or petrol RC car. This is entirely an individual choice however. Some hobbyists stay with electric RC cars for their entire lives, never needing the extra speed or indeed extra aggravation that come with petrol or nitro models. They are perfectly content with the electric’s cleaner, quieter and all in all more peaceful experience.