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07-17-2011, 11:09 AM | #1 (permalink) |
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Anyone with RC Car experience ?
Hello, guys.
I am still on vacation and having an excellent, quality time with my family. Last week we where visiting a toy store and my five year old boy wanted a RC toy car but I told him he couldnīt have it because he already have lots of them back home. But his mother was weak and promised he could get it. I refused and told them that for the price of all those lousy RC toys he got already we could instead have bought one real good RC car. So that evening I located a LHS and the next day I took my boy with me and bought a HPI E-Firestorm 10T along with two batteries. http://www.hpiracing.com/kitinfo/104703/ Itīs the older version of that kit which lacks waterproof electronics and donīt have a 2.4Ghz radio so the guy at the LHS gave me a very good price on it. You should have seen the look on my boys face when he realized what car I was talking about and for sure that toy thing was forgotten forever He have had so much fun with it and is driving all the time. My icharger is working constantly on the next battery he is going to be using, hehe.. And my brother inlaw was so impressed by it that he went to the LHS too and got himself a Traxxas Slash 4WD. Now to the point, I also went back to the LHS and bargained with the clerk on a display model of the excact same car I got for my son but without any electronics except for the servo. So I now basically have a kit that I need to finish. I plan to make this car run on 3s lipo so what I need is a motor, pinion, esc, tx and rx. and probably batteries, if I canīt make use of some of those I already got. I got my eyes on some good priced stuff from HobbyKing but I would like other peoples opinions first. So keep the suggestions coming, What should I buy for my new toy ?
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07-17-2011, 01:21 PM | #2 (permalink) |
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First off, the Firestorm is doing really well lately. It used to be the Traxxas Rustler which everyone would go on about, but now the HPI have released the brand new Firestorm Flux, it's left the Rustler in the dark IMO. No doubt Traxxas are going to come up with something soon to compete with the new Firestorm, but until then, Firestorm rules.
It's my birthday on Tuesday and I might even get one myself. You did the right thing with your son. Some of the crap they sell at toys 'r' us etc aren't much less than the older brushed firestorm anyway. I bet he is thanking you for swaying him from the toys and getting him into the hobby grade stuff I'm not up on electric rc cars, but if I ever get any more RC car's they will probably all be brushless and lipo from now on. Nitro cars are starting to hurt my ears. Motor and ESC, well, the new Firestorm Flux has a decent motor and ESC combo. They call the ESC the 'Vapour Flux' and the motor 'VEKTOR 4800(kv)'. But really they are a rebranded castle creations combo. I mention this because the motor is great and the ESC will handle 3s also. It's also waterproof. Though you might not want to go for the same electronics that the stock Flux has? I highly reccomend the motor though. As for TX and RX. Take a look at the Spektrum radios. You can get a 3 model memory one for something like Ģ80 or so... Maybe slightly less. As for the lipo, you might want to look at hard case ones. As you can imagine, the lipos get bashed around a lot on off road fun. Also, you need to look out for the cables coming out to the side of the pack and not out of the top of the pack. Because of the way the firestorm battery compartment is. I think this lipo will just about fit in the firestorm battery compartment. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html As for a steering servo, I think Hitec is a good choice. I remember seeing a guy talk about a Hitec servo which he uses is most of his cars. I can't remember it at the moment, but I will have a look and get back to you when I do. Hope that helps. Jonny EDIT: I'm trying to find a 3s lipo with less depth than the one in my link so I'll post it up when I've found it. EDIT: I can't find one that has a slimmer profile. I have no idea how deep the battery compartment of a Firestorm is. However I just remembered your son has a firestorm, so you can measure it. If it is deeper than 32mm then the pack in my link will be more than enough for your firestorm. Be warned that 3s will be super powerful in your firestorm and you'll be doing wheelies all the time if your not careful with the throttle. I know all this because I have asked about a firestorm and what lipo to use in it, recently on an rc car forum.
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07-18-2011, 04:15 AM | #3 (permalink) |
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Jonny, thanks for your suggestions.
At first I was planning on going all Hobbyking with this car. After all, helis are my main hobby and thats where I want to spend my hard earned money. And my plan when bargaining for this kit was to get some good fun cheaper than the flux RTR package. Not so sure now though, because the CC branded version of the Flux ESC/Motor combo is quite reasonable. http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...le-1406-4600kV As for steering servo, the stock one is in the car. so I guess thats all good. And my brother-inlaw bought 3 of those batteries you linked for his Slash ( the 20C version) so Iīll just try them in my Firestorm and see how they fit. I canīt quite make up my mind on what TX/RX combo to get. I know from helis that a good radio is one of the best investments that can be made. But I donīt know how much that applies to cars and I suspect that cars is not going to be so much of a hobby for me, more some fun and good time I can share with my boy. Anyway this one is on the list of potential radios : http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...o_System_.html Guess Iīll have to read up on pinions and gearing before making any purchases. And all other sugestions are ofcourse welcome.
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07-18-2011, 04:48 AM | #4 (permalink) |
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I'm also looking at getting my son an RC car for Christmas as the wife was rather peeved that the one sat on my bench the other day belonged to a friend and not us!
I'll also be looking at something decent and one of the nitro trucks I am looking at comes with a DX3 and I'm wondering if this comes with programmable throttle curves or a throttle stop of some description?
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07-18-2011, 04:49 AM | #5 (permalink) |
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Yea the stock servo should be fine as it's only a light vehicle and rear wheel drive so there's not much stress at all on the front.
That motor and ESC combo looks good to me. The ESC I think is the same one as the one they supply in the new rtr firestorm flux. The motor is very similar too, except the one supplied with the new flux is 4800kv. Not too much difference, yours will have slightly less speed and slightly more toque, probably... As for the gears, surely the supplied you with the spur gear? Anyway, if not, this is the default spur gear you get with the E-Firestorm: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=29419 And this is the default pinion you get with the E-Firetsorm: http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/10290/ So that's the stock gearing. Whether that pinion will fit your motor shaft, I don't know (as it's not stock motor) however, I would have thought that it's pretty much a standard for 1/10 size motors. Jonny
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07-18-2011, 04:56 AM | #6 (permalink) |
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Oh and as for the radio equpiment. All I can suggest is to make sure the receiver offers FAILSAFE.
I'm currently running my HPI Trophy 3.5 on the stock radio equipment and there is no failsafe! Plus it's nitro! I'm to scared to go more than like 30 meters away from me lol. As for the lipo, I would go with the 20C myself over the 30C, so your mates lipos sound like the perfect lipos to test on your Firestorm. The reason why is because it's cheaper, probably a bit lighter. I must say, I think your son is going to be sad when you beat him in a drag race at half throttle Your setup is going to be super fast, it should reach around 45 mph and it will have loads of accelration on 3s with that 4600kv motor! Inverse, I'm not to sure, there are different Spektrum radios. I think they do have 3 point throttle curves but I might be wrong. Jonny
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07-19-2011, 01:13 PM | #7 (permalink) |
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Jonny, get a return spring for your buggies, they cost a few bucks and work like a charm, hell I got one on my heli too.
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07-19-2011, 11:31 PM | #8 (permalink) |
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Last I checked hobby king had a flysky 2.4 ghz for
Rc cars, I bought one for my kyosho inferno mp5 1/8th scale nitro, it had a failsafe, and very good reception I never had a problem with it, it was cheap too, I paid 30, shipping included. |
07-20-2011, 06:43 AM | #9 (permalink) |
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Well I went and bought the newest firestorm flux with the help of the birthday money I got (I know, how sad).
First impressions out of the box. Nice little kit, it looks stunning. On closer inspection with the shell off, I was slightly disappointed. The reason for this is because I bought the hpi trophy 3.5 2 years ago and it is of much better quality and it cost the same price of the Firestorm (bear in mind this is the new flux so it was Ģ245). You get A LOT more for what you pay for with the trophy than this e-firestorm. I'll explain. It's clear that in rc cars, nitro is still the preferred choice. The nitro cars come with aluminium chassis, alu shocks, alu shock towers, beefy ball links etc etc... Whereas electrics are all plastic. Even the shock SPRINGS are plastic on this firestorm. This is where the attitude comes from that electrics are toys. With our helis it's a completely different story. Nitro, electric, petrol or turbine, the kits are still made the same with the difference being the power source. Not the case with cars, e.g. Nitro firestorm alu chassis, alu shocks etc... Electric firestorm, plastic everything. With all that said, I'm really happy with the kit overall and I'm sure I will be happy with it when I drive it, too. The E-firstorm is known for it's durability, I guess that's where the plastic benefits as the flexibility absorbs all of the impact. And to be fair, the kit is of good quality, just not so much when compared to my trophy. I'm really looking forward to bashing the crap out of this little beauty. I'll be running a 2s lipo on it for now, as I'm not to bothered about it pulling wheelies every time I hit the throttle. Jonny
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07-20-2011, 06:49 AM | #10 (permalink) |
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Just think, you could have gone FBL on the 500 for that. Ah well, each to his own, lol.
Just kidding Jonny, I know you'll have a blast with it. Nice little diversion from the concentration required for flying helis too, but still a heap load of fun. Cheers Sutty
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07-20-2011, 07:02 AM | #11 (permalink) |
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Nice :-)
For future reference the Hobby King HK310 is fantastic. I use mine every week with 25-40 other 2.4 radios all running drift cars at the track an it never misses a beat :-) Also the EZRun 60a esc combos are fantastic. I have 3 of them. :-) Cheers Russ |
07-20-2011, 07:31 AM | #12 (permalink) |
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Oh Sut, nothing will come between me and my helis. I've always had rc cars and for rc helis to come along and take over cars, says something about how much I love my helis.
Like some guys have rc planes as their backup fun from helis, my equivalent is rc cars. I love the fun and action involved in rc cars, and there's no concentration involved. It's just a really relaxing alternative to helis. Speaking of helis, I don't know about you but the weather is still a bit crap in Wales. You can fly in it. But the grass it wet, the skies are constantly over cast etc... It's just not the type of weather I like to fly in. If I had a big field as a garden I'd make the exception, but I find it hard to make the effort to go and stand in a wet field. Still, I have been flying my 500 and 250 when the sun has been out. It's great. But I miss the summers we used to have when we had a few weeks straight of sun. Jonny
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07-20-2011, 07:54 AM | #13 (permalink) |
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Just a couple of pictures. Credit where it's due. HPI always nail the cosmetics. I love HPI.
Jonny
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07-20-2011, 10:33 AM | #14 (permalink) |
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Jonny, grats with your new Firestorm. Indeed itīs plastic all over but this is no E-sky plastic. Hope we both find that aluminum really isnīt necessary on this kit.
Oh. and itīs not at all sad to spend your birthday money on a RC car. Itīs what you wanted and you got something that will last you a long time. Good investment if you ask me :-) Iīve just put in an order for the Castle Creation Sidewinder v2 . with 5700kv motor. I just couldīt resist. Iīve been reading up on gearing and decided that I may want to max this car out later which would be about 65Mhp / 104Km/h with that motor and standard gearing. That is ofcourse a completely bonkers speed. I have the stock spurgear but picked a 16T pinion so my max speed should be 50Mph / 80Km/h After reading about you choosing 2s for your car, I got second thoughts about my 3s setup . for 5 seconds. Sure I can tame it down with endpoints, right ? As for my 5 year old boy. I donīt think he will get sad when I get my car together. He knows what I am about to do and he knows that things canīt always be equal. I am quite impressed with him how good and responsibly he drives his own car. He got no problem at all with orientation and if someone else comes close to his car while he is driving, he slows down or completely stop. If he keeps that up, he will get his own brushless setup as well. Besides, he did a dragrace agains his uncle and his Slash on 3s setup. Guess who won ? yep, the little boy because he managed to actually control his car. lol. Iīve decided to skip that fancy looking HK-GY3B radio and go for the HK-310 instead. Several posts on different forums suggest, and RJGowrie here just confirmed that this is the one to pick from Hobbyking. Now I just need to wait for my brother-inlaws batteries to arrive so I can test them in my Firestorm before placing my order. The ESC/Motor combo will arrive in a few days so I might try to drive my car with the Heli radio in the meanwhile :-)
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07-20-2011, 10:57 AM | #15 (permalink) |
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No no, it's great quality. I was expecting black alu shocks but that was about the only disappointment (which was only a slight disappointment).
I'm very happy with it tbh. When choosing to go electric, I was aware that most electric cars are built on plastic chassis (unless you spend like Ģ500 for something like a Vorza + a 6s 5000mah lipo). As I was saying, I was expecting mostly plastic, and I couldn't be happier with the car itself. What got me is that I spent the same Ģ250 for the trophy which is amazing. In fact, I'm more amazed at how cheap the Trophy 3.5 was, rather than how expensive the E-Firestorm was! Which brought me to the conclusion that the rc car market must, at the moment, focus more on nitros. Like I said, for an electric with the same quality as my Trophy, your looking at Ģ380 minmum, easily (excluding lipos). Can't wait to receive the lipo! It's teasing me just sitting there! That said, I hate getting it dirty and bashed up for the first few times. It does kill you inside a little. But then once you stop caring about keeping it looking new, the fun really begins! Jonny
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07-20-2011, 05:48 PM | #16 (permalink) |
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Hereīs some aluminum for you Jonny
http://www.amainhobbies.com/index.ph...filter_mfr=263 About those stock tires. Do you know what surface these are made for ?
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07-21-2011, 07:09 AM | #17 (permalink) |
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Yep, plenty of aftermarket upgrades for the firestorm which is good. I'd probably prefer to keep everything stock but I would like the aluminium shocks
I pretty sure the stock tyre configuration is meant for a fine, dry dirt sort of surface, which is dusty. The firstorm is a stadium truck so I guess it would be the kind of texture you would see in a monster jam stadium floor. For clarification on what the differences are in types of cars (especially stadium trucks and truggys). Buggys, we all know what they are. Mainly 4wd but you can get 2wd too. Usually designed for racing. Stadium trucks are usually 1/10th scale (e.g. you wont find too many 1/8th scale ones), they are normally rear wheel drive, but can be 4wd and have a similar shape chassis and configuration (motor down the back etc) to the firestorm. Truggys are a hybrid of a buggy and truck. They would have the chassis similar to the typical buggy chassis. The main differences are; they will have a slightly higher ride height, bigger wheels, more powerful motor and a truck body shell. They are usually 1/8th scale, however will look bigger than the 1/8th buggys because of the height and bigger wheels etc. They are 4wd. They are designed for racing. Short Course trucks are what Tjomps friend has, the Traxxas Slash. You can't really confuse them with anything else. They are ugly IMO, but they are still cool. I wouldn't not get one because of it's looks. Jonny
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07-21-2011, 09:51 AM | #18 (permalink) |
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Yeeeeah.. My motor/esc arrived in the mailbox today. so did my brother-inlaws batteries.
Iīve stolen one battery from him and so he will just have to wait for my HK order to arrive before he gets the last one. hehe.. The packs fits nicely in the compartment of the Firestorm but they are too high to mount the cover back on. I just attached a rubberband on the two poles the cover is supposed to be mounted on. Worked like a charm. Since I donīt have a radio for my car yet, I hooked it up on my Hitec Aurora 9 and assign the steering servo on the rudder channel and moved the throttle over to the right hand stick (wouldnīt want to drive without spring return on throttlestick) This worked very well and I liked controlling the car this way. Think I might just keep it like this. No need to buy another radio when I can use my excelent heli radio for the same purpose. So I am just back from the first spin with my new car. WOW. that was fun. Itīs really fast. Fast but still controllable. Think I hit the spot with the combo of motor, pinion and 3s setup. I am driving on a fotballfield with gravel as surface. That gravel is spluttered all over the place I can go wheelies from a standstill or I can be driving at high speed and then go wheelies But still I find it no problem to keep the car with all four wheels on the ground. I am very happy with this setup. Another thing that is not so fun. My sons car died. Motor wonīt start. I can see from the lights on the ESC that it gets forward and reverse input. But nothing on the motor, not even a studder. Is there a way to measure wheater itīs the motor or ESC that is the problem ? any tips ? My son might end up brushless sooner than expected. lol EDIT : Itīs the motor that is at fault. I can meassure the voltage from the ESCīs output and it does indeed increase when I hit harder on the throttle. And it gives negative values when I go reverse.
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07-21-2011, 10:34 AM | #19 (permalink) |
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I know nothing about cars, but are these normal heli type motors, just different KV? Could you not just connect a motor from your belt, or similar? Don't have to run it up fast, or for long, just a 1/4 second burst would prove it?
I know you said you know it's the motor now, but maybe that could be a nice double check. Anyway, no doubt I will soon find out what motors these little beasties have. Sounds like you had fun, but your boy is not going to be too happy. You'll just have to let him play with Daddy's supercar! You know what he'll want next, lol. Cheers Sutty
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07-21-2011, 12:36 PM | #20 (permalink) |
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interesting this thread turned up my friend who used to race rc cars is having a clear out and has a 4x4 nitro mint condition with new tires yadeyada and hes selling it to me at mates rates..gonna let me have a play first before i descide.and before you ask i dont know the make brand or even price. nitro isnt what i want BUT hay could be fun.
fuel is my worrie as i dont live near a local hobby shop..just a case of when i do go buy enought for a while(been told they dont drink alot) so might bin the plank idea and get the buggy and rip up the field with a 4x4 am i being stupid
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