Getting started in 1/10..

[icebreaka]

Hi,

I m thinking of getting started in 1/10 racing after i saw some racing today..

Now I m not sure whether i wanna go electric or gas, but I have a budget of no more than $300.. And I want a car that i would be able to race in the local club, which happens to race nitro cars.

The TL-01 is what seems to be popular for electric. Can you s give me tips on what I could get. Do remotes come with the cars? If not how much are remotes etc…

thankyou

Edited by – icebreaka on 03 November 2003 21:37:25

[icebreaka]

Alright I’ve dones some research..

If you buy a kit, what exactly do you need to do to get it running? What building is required?

I’m deciding between a TL-01 or TA-01 for a kit…

If too much building is required, I’m thinking of just getting an RTR HPI Sprint Mercedes.. Are these any good for a beginner like me? Do many hobby shops carry hop up parts for these?

Thanks

[peedee]

Yea…i got a tl-01 its great it was my first true 1:10th on-road its great, tough as bricks, i got a esc bearings and speed tuned gears etc..if ur interested u can get it hella cheaper from america but ur choice, ne way if u want i can send u pics of it stock b4 the upgrades

i wuld get one and i dont think i am being bias, they are good hpi sprint are sh8t as i said my forst i built it nop worries

[icebreaka]

Hmm ok.. but since the Tl-01 is a kit, what does it require to build it? Because I’m hopeless at soldering..

Also, where in america c an u get it super cheap? Towehobbies seems cheap, but delivered to my house would reach $204… and thats more expensive than hobbyco.. ??

[peedee]

Yes u dont need to solder anythig towerhobbies is cheap also check out http://www.rcmart.com it is cheaper than aussie hobby stores they are rip jobs

[PandaBear]

Quote:

If you buy a kit, what exactly do you need to do to get it running? What building is required?

If buying an electric kit, you’ll need:
-2ch radiogear
-7.2V battery
-charger for the battery
-paint for body
-AA batteries for the radio

A kit means you assemble everything from all the parts.
You’ll need basic screwdriver, snippers etc – nothing special.
Thekit should give a good instruction manual, its not hard.
It will take you a few enjoyable hours, just take your time.

Quote:

I’m deciding between a TL-01 or TA-01 for a kit…

Tamiya’s current are TL01 and TT01.

The TA01 does exist but its long discontinued, the ‘TA’ is
Tamiya’s top line of which the latest is TA04.

There’s also the TB01.

Quote:

If too much building is required, I’m thinking of just getting an RTR HPI Sprint Mercedes.. Are these any good for a beginner like me? Do many hobby shops carry hop up parts for these?

HPI Sprint is a pretty decent design… BUT here in Oz the
supplier/s is pretty dismal so parts & kits are hard to get.

Personally I wouldn’t risk the hassles… methink if they
can’t get their act together, why should you take the risk
and give your $$$ to them?

Tamiya’s RTR cars are called the XB (TL01) & XB-Pro (TT01).
These are definitely worth the $$, parts easy to get.
They all hopup identical to their kit brothers.

[icebreaka]

OH.. XB is TL-01?? oh i never knew that.. might go to my LHS tomorrow to have a look.. Is it EXACTLY identical chassis?

and yeh i didn’t mean TA01 i meant TA04.. im still wondering what the differences are tho.. is belt drive better? Considering that im still just gonna begin 1/10 racing, which would be the better pick?

Thanks for all the help!

[PandaBear]

Quote:

OH.. XB is TL-01?? oh i never knew that.. might go to my LHS tomorrow to have a look.. Is it EXACTLY identical chassis?

Yup, all the bits are identical plus you get the radiogear installed.
Pricewise an XB box is pretty much the same as getting a kit and
the radiogear. You still need to BYO battery & charger for either.

XB-Pro (TT01) cars come with a Electronic Speed Control unit
instead of the XB’s Mechanical Spd Ctrl + 2nd servo.
An ESC is a worthwhile item to have.

Quote:

and yeh i didn’t mean TA01 i meant TA04.. im still wondering what the differences are tho.. is belt drive better? Considering that im still just gonna begin 1/10 racing, which would be the better pick?

TA04 is a highly adjustable chassis and is a great design… but
if you’re working to a tight budget, the TA04 kit alone is $300+.

It is an eternal discussion re Belt & shaft drive cars better?
Belts do pickup dirt (best kept to clean tracks) & can break belts.
Shafts have more gears and can chew up its gears also.
But I think shaft needs less maintenance so that’s why
Tamiya chose it for simplicity.

[peedee]

yea icebreaka pmed u with all the details of the tl01 and a brief review of mine, if u have any more questions just ask

yes the ta04 will not come close to ur budget pandas right they aint cheap, schumacher missions are nice cars but have to be imported

[PandaBear]

Local supply of Schumacher is good, in Melb at
least. Standard Mission is ~$300 and the carbon
one is ~$500 so they’re good value down here too.
But they have been out for a while now, dunno if
there’s something newer coming out from Schuey soon.

[icebreaka]

hmm.. looks like i’ll prbably get a TL-01 now to get started.. then maybe when i go to america in april, i could beg one of my uncles up there to buy me a better car .. do things come cheap in amercan hobby stores? :shy:

or maybe i’ll get started into miniZ’s who knows.. 🙂 anyways thnx for all the help..
i saw XB in my LHS today wrx for $500 :S not sure if batts were included.. but sounded a bit expensive.. but i don’t wanna paint the shell.. too complicated.. so i’ll prolly go for XB ..

anyone know any cheap hobby stores in sydney?

thnx for the PM peedee.. im trying to open it now.. but my net is too slow.. been loading for about 5 mins now 🙁 ..

thnx for all the help!

[peedee]

you will find that stuff in america is a lot cheaper especially if u dont have to pay shipping

[PandaBear]

There’s heaps of other places *cheaper* than US
too, if you don’t bother factor in shipping. blackeye:

[peedee]

lol…my lhs trys to sell a savage 21 for 1100.00 without a radio

[icebreaka]

hey jus a quick question..

how much for a batt 7.2v plus a wall charger? and where?

I’m lookin for REALLY cheap but still worthwhile to use..

thanks

[peteWah]

icebreaka, this should come with the car itself in the bundle you buy
p.s dont buy a TLO1… :D:D:smiley2:

[icebreaka]

but i’m going to buy parts seperately… get a pistol controller instead of bundle which has the futaba stick one..
and why not tl-01..? peedy said its a pretty good car for a beginner.. ?

[PandaBear]

Quote:

how much for a batt 7.2v plus a wall charger? and where?

Most of the “wall chargers” plugpacks take Overnight to
charge your batt, who can wait that long?

If you must have something that runs off 240V, there’s an excellent
unit from Stadium/Arlec that’s the size of a housebrick, it takes
240V as well as 12V DC (car battery). Most reliable unit, amazing
value at ~A$30 these days… look for it at LHS or even DSE!
(nb. it does nicad only, no NiMH)

Battery pack… you get what you pay for.

Buy something decent, say A$40/pack minimum otherwise you’ll buy
twice. Whatever the brand of the batterypack, ask what cells are
in it… ‘Sanyo’ is best, ‘Panasonic’ ok too.

Do not get NiMH unless your charger can handle them.
For general use, the high capacities (3000, 3300) aren’t
as vital as when you are racing so the extra hassles of NiMH
isn’t worth bothering with.

Nicads come in up to 2400mAh; usually the 1700s & 1900s are
the best value for $$.

[icebreaka]

oh so it takes a whole night to charge? and on a tl-01 how long would this charge last? damn..

towerhobbies battery pack and charger which is bundled with the car packages is $45? Would that be worth the money?

[PandaBear]

Your $$, your choice.

Any foreign AC device, just make sure it runs on 240V; if its 110V its useless.

[peedee]

Panda i have a e wall charger and dc in one “stadium” i thnk just from the lhs, charges in 45 mins, not a charger for racing but still good just for street

[PandaBear]

Don’t fret, that ‘Stadium’ (previously aka Arlec 167) with the AC/DC is one damned good machine!! We call it “The BRICK”, no guesses why.

That huge heavy transformer inside is fully capable of the load – others with tiny transformers often fail. It does its job without fuss, its totally reliable, charges at 3A whether from 240V or 12V… when it was Arlec used to be like $65 and even then it was good buying. These days you can often find ‘Stadium’ for ~$30…!! 😯

We usually have at least 1 on the workbench… sometimes, when rushing to get to the track, we’ll grab a powerboard + up to 4 Bricks to juice up multiple batteries. :smiley2:

[Aaron]

*nods* Agreed on the Arlec/Stadium… We have one in our work ‘group’ and I have to agree it’s tough, reliable and never does a bad thing…

I wouldn’t buy anything but a Sanyo based NiCd pack as they seem to be the best for a decent ($40) price range.

A.

--
Site Owner Guy.

[jamiekulhanek]

Just a question PandaBear….

I bought a couple of cheap 2100mAh NiCad packs.

They are model engines brand, and the code is SC2100MAH7.2VNiCAD.

I am aware of what all of that means…but the SC??? Does that mean Sanyo Cell???

[PandaBear]

James:-

Used to be, if its Sanyo cells then
SC = “standard charge” and comes in yellow wrap,
SCR = fast charge (5 hrs) in red wrapping then
SCRC (black)for the RC fast discharge ones
which later became just ‘RC’ as in RC2000.

But with the Model Engines packs, not sure who
even supplies the cells so its impossible to tell.
Could be just some generic stuff from China or
Mexico, anybody’s guess.

[magtec_racing]

ice i had a tl-o1 and i used a 1500 “back in the day” and got about 25min run time off it.

the tl-o1 is a nice car to start with not to hard to put togher handles well for its price and most of all its kinda quick for beaing a lvl 1 car.

i would say get a duratrax inpulse peek charger if you can get them in aus. they make a really nice $50 charger that i use as a back up becouse its about the size of my hand and fits in my pit box easy.

as for the batt pack this is a good deal and some deacent cells, Team Orion V-Maxx Super Duty 2400 E-Maxx Battery (2) $37.99 for 2 packs good deal

those will give you some run time and when your driveing 1 can be chargeing.

[Author]

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