PACKING FOR RACE DAY

1) 1 or 2 days before race day get all of your batteries charged up in the car and in the radio. If you use AA's make sure that you have a set of 8 or 12 brand new ones in your toolbox. 8 for the radio, 4 for the car. Also check your glow plug ignitor, if it is rechargeable then charge it up. If it takes a D cell battery make sure you have a new one in the toolbox.

2) Check your tires, if they are worn go buy a new set. If you buy foam tires they are ready to go out of the box but rubber tires have to be assembled and glued which takes a few hours (if you count the time to let the glue set-up). Do this at least a day before the race. I like to get tires in order a week early in case my local hobby shop needs to order the exact kind I want.

3) Make sure you have enough fuel to run a tank or two of practice laps and then plan for 4 more full tanks for the races. Why 4 tanks? That's for 3 qualifying heats and the mains. I would say 1/2 gallon is plenty. Less than 1/4 gallon and you risk running out.

4) Check the car over for any missing or broken parts, fasteners, etc. Again, doing this a few days early gives you time to buy whatever you need.

5) Most tracks require you to run a body on the car so don't show up with a clear plastic body that you try to cut out the morning of the races. Even a solid color looks good on these cars. If your painted body has been used and has any small cracks you can repair them with Shoe Goo, available at hobby shops and Wal-Mart.

6) The actual toolbox should have small phillips and flathead screwdrivers, allen keys, needle-nose pliers, glow plug wrench, zip-ties both small and large, fuel filler bottle, and a 4-way wrench to take tires on and off.

7) As you pack for race day you want to make sure you have your toolbox loaded with everything noted above, car + body, radio, a chair, small folding table to work on if the track you are racing at does not have pit tables (most do not), and a small cooler with some food and drinks is really nice to have.

8) As for spare parts to have in your toolbox, you need a few glow plugs since they do burn out w/o notice, extra body clips since they can fall off during a race, and miscellaneous fasteners that go through the chassis such as motor mount screws.

When you show up to race at a track you must sign in. This consists of (3) things - paying your entry fee, choosing the class you will race in such as Nitro Touring or Monster Truck and getting your radio channel into the scoring system. The race director will make sure that no 2 racers will have the same radio channel in the same race. It is possible that (2) people can have the same channel but they will be racing in totally different classes (Nitro & Electric for example). If 2 drivers have the same channel in the same class then someone has to change their radio crystals to another channel. This is why you should have a 2nd set of crystals in your tool box!

We are now seeing 'Synthesized Radios' from JR and others. What took these guys so long to figure this one out? These radios allow you to select any channel you want with the simple turn of a dial! Never have a frequency conflict again - Sweet! Check out this review of JR's XS3 to better understand the concept of a synthesized radio.

Don't block the driver's view. Drivers need to be able to see their cars on the track at all times. In some cases, this may mean that a marshal has to crouch throughout the race. A tall marshal may prefer to take a post on the perimeter that allows them to remain standing, and leave the squatting positions to shorter/younger marshals.

Watch your section of the track, not the race! I know everyone's heard this one before, but it bears repeating over and over again. The majority of complaints I've heard about turn marshals stem from their not paying attention and staring off in another direction while there's a car on its lid right behind them. How many times has this happened to you?

Help other marshals when/if they need it. At the same time, you need to keep an eye on your nearby fellow marshals and back them up if they're running to help someone. A crash may occur that's technically in their territory, but you may see it first and be the only marshal who can do something about it in a timely manner.

Always marshal a car so that it points in the right direction when released. Obvious, you say? You'd be surprised how many times I've seen cars placed facing backwards on the track that crash again as they attempt to turn around.

Don't throw a car into oncoming traffic and cause another crash! Wait until the track is clear before you set the car back down on the track. Always place a car back onto the track at the point where it crashed. You may think you're doing someone a favor by helping them cut the track a little to make up for the time they lost on their lid, but they could end up being penalized a lap because of it.

All things being equal, strive to be fair in your marshaling. I hope you will resist the urge to help one of your buddies before someone else. Remember the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The car that crashed first should be marshaled first, and if you're watching your section of the track and not the race, you should know who crashed first! Of course, if I've got a lot of ground to cover to get to a crash victim and someone else crashes in front of me on the way, I'll usually help them first.

If you notice that one car caused another to crash, help the innocent guy first. The guy who caused the crash doesn't deserve to be rewarded for it by being marshaled first.

For "equal" crashes, use a two-handed technique if possible. I recall the 1/10 scale A Main at the OFNA Challenge at Ranch Pit Shop in November 1994 where the two leaders had been neck-and-neck the entire race. Near the end, they tangled and locked up. I grabbed one in each hand and held on tight as I pulled them apart and released them simultaneously amid cheers from the crowd as they resumed their neck-and-neck rivalry. I wonder if anyone ever caught on to the fact that this was deliberate on my part. No one could say that I gave one an advantage over the other. I don't remember who won, but I did feel really good about my marshaling that day!

Never, ever cross oncoming traffic until it's safe to do so, for both you and the other cars on the track. Some drivers whine about how the marshal could have been there sooner--if you don't like the marshaling, don't crash in the first place! (I think a really interesting race would be one where the drivers have to run down off the stand and marshal their own cars!)

Safety First! I have seen more athletically inclined marshals actually pull off some amazing feats of daredevilry, saving the day for some poor driver in a truly grand fashion. If you choose to go this route, don't say I didn't warn you. I just hope you don't fall on top of an innocent driver's car and take him out of the race in your efforts to get someone else who's already crashed back on the track. Safety first should be every marshal's primary concern and no one can fault you for it. If you do pull it off, I'll be the first to applaud you, but you better be absolutely sure you can do it, okay?

A pair of inexpensive gardening gloves can really save your hands. They don't cost much--around $3 at your local supermarket. Gas engines and exhaust pipes get hot enough to sizzle flesh in a fraction of a second, and burned, painful fingers can impair your driving in your next heat. Sharp edges on Lexan bodies can slice you pretty good without your even knowing what happened until you see the blood dripping. Turn marshaling without gloves can also wreck your fingernails (before you conclude that I'm a "whiny chick" more concerned about her nails than doing a proper job of turn marshaling, let me add that I am a classical guitar player; my nails are my "picks" and one nail broken to the quick means about six weeks of trying to play with the equivalent of my big toe!) Ergo, I look out for my own best interests and always wear gloves when marshaling.

Thongs and sandals are NOT appropriate footwear for turn marshals! Think about it-RC car barreling along at 70mph vs. exposed feet-guess which wins (duh!). Steel-toed Redwings are not overkill.

Please be very careful about letting your children "help" you. Turn marshaling gas cars can be extremely dangerous! Your day at the track will be ruined if it ends with a trip to the emergency room!

Racers - Get off the throttle when you're being marshaled! If you can't hang upside down for two seconds without flaming out, then you need to work on your tuning. Spinning wheels give turn marshals the equivalent of serious "rug burns" on their hands. When faced with a car that's being constantly gunned, I've gone so far as to stand back, put both hands up in the air and stare up at the driver's stand until the crashee lets off the gas. It's a very effective technique and the next time they crash, they are usually much more courteous.

A few thoughts on turn marshaling on-road versus off-road:
Turn marshaling off-road is easier, because falling on dirt is more forgiving than landing on pavement. <g> Also, by nature of the course layout, off-road vehicles travel slower, though they can really pick up speed on the straight-aways. The main hazard with dirt tracks that affects turn marshals is that the tracks are often watered to keep the dust down, and the resultant mud can make slick going. I've seen more than a few turn marshals slide on their butts in the muck! (White slacks that have to be dry cleaned are an obvious bad choice for your track outings!)

Marshaling on-road is trickier and more dangerous due to the high speeds involved. Don't just look to the next corner to see what's coming, look well beyond it! Once at Revelation I looked both ways before crossing the track to turn a car, but hadn't taken into account how fast someone could round a corner which was 50' away. Everyone thought I got hit by the car and knocked down, but in retrospect I realized my instincts made me jump to avoid the car. The damage came when I fell and landed full force on my left knee, shredding my cotton leggings and putting a serious 3"x2" gash into my knee as I slid on the pavement (I still have the scar to prove it). Luckily, gloves protected my hands, or my palms would have been hamburger as they slid, too. If I'd been hit by the car, the damage could have been much worse.

Immediately after this little mishap, someone regaled me with a story about how another marshal had five toes broken at once when their foot went head-on with an on-road car while wearing athletic shoes. Probably not too many guys turn marshal in cotton leggings, but I've seen plenty of 'em out there in shorts, which offer no protection whatsoever. Then again, here in sunny Southern California I often see motorcyclists wearing shorts and sandals. Guess they like to live dangerously. It's your choice. Mine is to turn marshal as safely and effectively as possible!

How should I clean my RC Car?
There are a few tricks that can make cleaning your car much easier than you might think. For dust and debris that is not oily at all you can use a dry paint brush. K-Mart sells a set of 3 brushes for about $5. They work great for getting dirt out of the tight spaces in an RC Car! For a really dirty car you can take a leaf blower to it before using the paintbrush. Keep the end of the leaf blower at least a foot or so from the car and of course remove the body before you begin! If the car is oily it is best to use a cleaning product like windex or an automotive degreaser. I find it easier to take the car apart to some extent, remove the gas tank, remove the radio tray, take the wheels off, etc. to make it easier to clean. And once or twice a year you should consider tearing the whole car down not only to clean it but to thoroughly check for worn or broken parts. If you wrap an old t-shirt or shop towel around a flathead screwdriver a few times you can often get into tight spaces and remove that hard to get at gunk.

My Nitro Car won't start?
There are only a few things that have to happen to make your car start so let's check them first. Do you have gas in the tank and is it filling the fuel line all the way up to the carburetor? If you just ran your car completely out of gas then it will take a few presses on the gas tank primer to get fuel up to the carb again. Or if you do not have a primer it could take 5 or 10 seconds on a starter box or 30 or 40 pulls on the pull starter! Sometimes I will pull the fuel line off of the carb and hold the end lower than the tank so that gas drips out, then quickly place it back on the carb. That will ensure that fuel is in fact in the fuel line and up to the carb.

You also need a good, strong glowing plug. To check for this, remove the glow plug and connect the ignitor to it, hold the plug with a pair of needlenose pliers to avoid burning your fingers! Just connect it for 2 or 3 seconds, you will know pretty quickly if the plug is good or not. If the plug glows bright red then it is fine. If not, replace it with a new one. This test will also dry off a wet plug if your engine was flooded, another reason why your car might not want to start. On that note, turn the engine over a few times while you have the glow plug out to make sure that any excess gas is removed from the engine itself. Do not look into the hole when you turn it over since fuel might shoot out as you turn the engine over! This is especially true if you are using a starter box since it will spin the engine so quickly. Put the glow plug back in the engine and try again.

If your car still won't start then the mixture adjustment screw might be set wrong. When the mixture setting is suspect, I like to set it back to the original factory setting which is normally 2.5 turns out or counterclockwise after you have turned the screw all the way in. When you tighten the screw make sure you are gentle, don't wrench the thing down, just turn it nicely until it stops, then back it out according to the owners manual. Remember, once you make this adjustment your car will be running rich like it did for the break in period. If your car starts you will want to slowly turn the screw back in until optimal temperature and speeds are reached. It's just like the break in but you can make adjustments and take a lap, make adjustments and take a lap, etc. as opposed to burning a whole tank of gas after each adjustment. Make sense? You want the setting to be more lean than the factory setting but not too lean to where your motor burns up. Lean means less fuel for the same amount of air so the motor runs hotter and your car will be faster. Running a little on the rich side means more fuel for the same amount of air, this is where you see white smoke under acceleration since some of that extra fuel (which has oil in it) is burning out the exhaust. Your mixture screw(s) adjust the amount of fuel, the air flow is adjusted by opening or closing the throttle.

There is also the chance that your engine has no compression anymore. If you have run through 3 or 4 gallons of fuel you might consider this as a possibility. I have seen engines go out after 1+ gallon and other make it through 7 or 8 gallons. It all depends on how well that exact motor was built, how much oil content your fuel has, and how rich or lean you run your motor. If you have no compression then you need to buy a new motor or rebuilt the one you have. Your local hobby should be able to help you decide which way is a better investment. A new piston and sleeve are not cheap but will have your motor back in new condition. In fact, you have to break in a motor again after re-building it

In general, always make sure your air cleaner is clean and never, ever run without one. Let your engine warm up for 30 seconds or so before hammering on the throttle. Use the same fuel all the time, like O'Donell 10% Nitro or Blue Thunder 20% Nitro etc. You may have to adjust your fuel mixture settings if you change fuel brands or nitro content. Never remove your header when the motor is still hot. This should be hard to do anyway w/o burning your fingers but I have to say it. If cold air rushes into the motor it can cause damage. And when the engine is 300 degrees even 90 degrees is cold air!

Batteries are costing me a fortune!
Make the investment in rechargeable Ni-Cads or Ni-Mh batteries and charger. The batteries are about $3-$4 each and the charger is about $20. For your car I highly recommend a 5 cell hump pack or flat pack depending on what car you have. These are not cheap, $35-$50, but they can last a whole day and can be used over and over again. Plus the packs can be secured in the car permanently. This way you never have to worry about your battery pack coming out (it's happened to all of us!) and watching your car smash into a tree! That will cost you more than a battery pack ever will. So spend the money up front on the rechargeables, you will save a ton of money in a short amount of time.

Which Car Should I buy?
This is never an easy question. Let's assume that you want a Nitro car. HPI is one of the most popular cars out there. Their racer kits and Ready-ToRun (RTR) kits are affordable and somewhat durable. The HPI cars are really designed for the beginner-to-Intermediate hobbyist though. I started out with an HPI RS4 RTR and have since progressed on to a kit car, one that needs to be fully assembled and you choose the servos and radio to use. Most racers follow a similar patter, start with HPI then progress to a more advanced kit, usually more expensive too! Mugen's MTX-3, Serpent's Impulse, Yokomo's GT-4, Associated's Nitro TC-3, are all similar. These cars are more expensive but they will pay off in the end. The parts hold up better for one thing. People say that RTR kits are no fun because the car is already built. That's simply not the case. I had my HPI RTR car apart and back together countless times. You can download the entire owners manual from HPI's web Site to assist with rebuilding the car . The higher performance cars do not usually come RTR but more and more you are seeing an RTR version being offered like the Nitro TC3. Still, the kit versions once assembled will always outperform the RTR version of the same car.

The reviews out there are helpful but don't lose track of what you need. Some cars are bashed in a review because of something that would never make a difference to you anyway so who cares? Shop with an open mind and remember that you usually get what you pay for. Things are cheaper for a reason. RTR kits are a great deal but everything on them will be entry level from the Servos to the included AM radio. But when 3 or 4 of your friends all buy the same Kit and go race each other it becomes a battle of pure drivers skill and a whole lot of fun! That is how I got started into all of this racing stuff. You have to experience the thrill of going head to head with your buddies around the track even for just a few laps and you will be hooked! Whatever you buy, take it to your local track and give racing a try. You will learn quickly, everyone was new at one point and will want to help you at the track, and believe it or not the track is not as hard on your car as the giant parking lot where you are constantly going full speed, full brake, full speed, and so on.

So buy what you can afford and make sure you add up everything you need before you start buying anything. The non ready to run or 'kits' will not come with servos or radio gear. If you want one of those kits decide what servos and radio you want and add it in the price. If the car you buy does not come with a motor (rare these days) decide which motor you want to run and add it in there. Same goes for an extra set of tires (why not just face the inevitable, you will wear out tires), fuel, spare glow plugs (just the break in process can burn up 1 or 2 plugs), Fuel filler bottle, paint for the body, glow plug ignitor, batteries, and some basic tools to keep your car tuned and running throughout the day like small allen wrenches and small screwdrivers.

What Upgrades should I buy?
If you have an HPI car the list is endless. 2-Speed Transmission, Graphite radio plate, CVD's, Racing clutch, Fiber Disc Brake, better engine & pipe, and so on. See my HPI RS4 page to learn more about these upgrades and what you may or may not want to buy. The more advanced cars will come ready to race (not Ready to Run) so the options for these cars make less of an impact to the overall performance, kind of "Fine Tuning" upgrades. Mainly, changing the shock springs, repacking the front and rear diffs with different thickness grease than what the cars come with, and titanium or aluminum replacement parts (usually I buy these when the stock plastic parts break).

Do bodies make a difference?
Absolutely! And if you want to spend money on something just to spend money, buying different bodies for your car is the way to go! You will eventually need them since racing will tear up these lexan bodies over time. Don't worry, a body can last for a while even if you are a bad driver! Most racers feel that the Dodge Stratus Body makes the car handle the best. Always install the rear spoiler, it will help the handling, it's not just for looks. For ease of painting and overall usability I like the BMW 328i body and the Porsche 911GT3 body. But any body will work so have fun with them! HPI's web site offers the best selection of 200mm wide bodies with excellent photos.

What if my pipe falls off while I am driving?
If your pipe falls off you should bring your car in and either shut it off or push the pipe back on while wearing gloves. Besides being really loud and usually against the rules at most tracks, running w/o the pipe connected can damage your motor. Once the pipe falls off for the first time you will need to take some time to put it back on properly. On race day or just to get you by for the day, push the pipe back on as mentioned above to keep you running. But the right thing to do is to pull the rubber connector off, clean the connector, pipe, and manifold thoroughly with a degreaser, let them all dry, then put the pipe back on and use 2 small zip ties around the rubber boot where is goes over the pipe and the manifold. If the boot is tightened on a clean surface the rubber forms a kind of bond to the metal which will be a big help in keeping the pipe on your car.

How do I become a better driver?
The best way to become a better driver is to practice, practice, practice. Get used to your car. Learn how it handles based on how you have it set-up. Get the brakes dialed in to where you like them. Sometimes having too much brake is a bad thing. And not enough brake can cause you to crash. Don't try to see how fast your car can go right away. If you are not running on an actual track, set up some cones that you have to drive around. We started out with 5 or 6 cones in a simple pattern like you see below. Try to time yourself or have a friend time you and call off your lap time each time you pass a certain point. Try to keep improving your time, drive different lines like by making wider turns or tighter turns, brake and accelerate more or less each time at different points to see if your time is improving or not. You will find out very quickly that one spin out or crash and your time will get much worse! So control your car and be patient. These cars are a lot slower when they are upside down J If you are in the Chicagoland area then come out to our track and give racing a try. We have a novice class for beginners and plenty of time to practice before and between races. Once you experience the thrill of running side by side with 2,3, or 4 other cars, you will never want to go back to the Target parking lot again!

What should I bring with me to the race track?
The basics are Fuel, Charged up batteries in your car & radio plus a spare set of AA's for your radio, basic tools which include a 4 way wrench for the tire lug nuts, a glow-plug wrench, a small phillips & flat head screwdrivers, needle-nose pliers, zip-ties, fuel filler bottle, spare glow-plugs, and a spare set of belts if your car is belt driven if you have the extra money to spend. For a detailed breakdown of tools you should consider buying click here.

To take it a step further, a 12V car battery and Battery charger for your cars hump pack, spare clutch, extra tires, spare dogbones, an extra set of crystals for your radio in case someone else shows up using your channel, a table to work on, chairs, lunch (most tracks just sell pop,water, and maybe chips), and a positive attitude! Racing can get competitive but we are all doing this to have fun.

Where should I buy my R/C car and/or parts from?
You can find a lot of sites that sell RC products on-line, everything from kits to hop-ups. Often times you will find guys that are just starting out by making 1 or 2 parts for say a T-Maxx or a Mugen MTX-2. These guys could eventually be the next MIP, Robinson Racing Products, and so on. They usually have a machine shop at work or at home that they use to make aluminum or titanium replacement parts. A good way to locate these guys is by going to e-bay and searching in the remote control section. Of course there are thousands of items on e-bay everyday. To find parts for your particular car or an entire assembled car, try using the search tool provided.

Another site is Tower Hobbies On-line. This site offers great information about what parts are compatible with what along with photos of most parts and of course prices. They are in Illinois so if you order from them outside of IL you can save the sales tax! You do still pay shipping so don't be too quick to forget about your local hobby shop. And if you go to your local shop and get help from a sales person and they stock the product you want then buy it! We all need to support our local brick and mortar shops!

That should cover it. If you can't find what you need from your local hobby shop, Tower Hobbies, and e-bay, then they probably don't make it!

What's the different between 1/8th scale, 1/10th scale etc.?
There are many scales of cars out there 1/4, 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, and 1/12 are the most common Radio Controlled cars. 1/4th and 1/5th scale cars are big and expensive. They are always gas powered and run a 23cc or bigger chainsaw type engine. Go to the 1/5th scale page to learn more about these really cool cars.

1/8th scale cars are much smaller than ¼ and 1/5, a little less expensive, but really considered to be the highest performance class in R/C. For on road you have 1/8th scale cars like the Serpent Vector and Mugen MRX-2. These cars use a .21 size motor that can put put as much as 2.5hp or more! These cars race in their own class and can hit speeds in excess of 60mph. For on-road they run wide foam tires which can wear quickly and be expensive to keep fresh. You have to check out a race, these cars are amazing! For off-road you have the buggies which also run a .21 engine and a wide variety of tires. These cars will cost you anywhere from $500-$2000 to get into. My Mugen MBX-RR kit was $475 + $180 for 2 servos, $100 PCM receiver, $45 5 cell hump pack, $275 RZ-V99B OS Engine, and $70 for a spare set of on-road tires and wheels = $1145. I did not count my Futaba 3PJS Radio that I already owned ($300), or paint and glue for the body and tires (about $10). These cars are the ultimate thrill though. They will run circles around a T-Maxx and take jumps that would send most 1/10th scale trucks to the R/C graveyard. 4 wheel drive, super heavy duty parts construction, lots of aluminum, low center of gravity, and really fast, make these buggies a must have for off-road enthusiasts.

1/10th scale cars are probably the most common scale out there. The recent popularity of on-road Nitro touring cars has been a big boost to the hobby. These "TC" cars are 4 wheel drive and run a variety of tires varying in width from 22mm to 30+mm. Kits can cost as little as $280 for everything you need including radio, servos, body, motor, etc. These kits are called RTR or Ready-To-Run kits. HPI owns the market for these RTR cars and for good reason, they make an affordable, easy to maintain car, what more do you need to get into this hobby? For more advanced enthusiasts there are plenty of kits that come un-assembled and without key parts like motors and servos. This gives the owner a chance to pick and choose exactly what he needs. I recommend a fast, strong servo for steering and a basic servo for the throttle. Airtronics, Futaba, and JR make great servos. For the throttle, go cheaper if you can, a fast servo is not necessary here. But remember this is your brake also so for faster and/or heavier (1/8th) cars make sure there is good torque to pull the brake hard.