but I was thinking today... yea... it's true...

As many of you know, I used to race RC cars. Did it for nearly 20 years. I only retired after my brother Roy was diagnosed with brain cancer.

My thinking took me way back to the summer of 1985. The dark ages of RC car racing. There were no electronic speed controllers... batteries were junk... but we had fun! The chassis' were many times better than the electronics that were available.

At that time, Associated Electronics released their all new RC10 off road buggy. My local track was a dirt oval, rather small and narrow, and no banking to speak of. At the time, most of us were racing various Tamiya chassis'. I had a "Hotshot," which was a 4wd car. Heavy and complex as hell, it was still a well built car and very durable. Not fast, but fast enough, and it could carry almost all of its speed through the corner.

Then came the new car... the RC10 was a total revolution. The suspension was so supple... so controlled. My memories have this thing floating along the track, with zero motor speed changes - the suspension was so perfect that the bumps were all being absorbed, the tires were accepting them and the chassis wasn't budging.

It made me think about some preconceived notions about what makes a great handling car... skid pad #s, slalom numbers... track times... A lot depends on use, tho... will the surface be smooth or bumpy?

The bigger question to me is "street or track?" If it's street, soft is king. Sure, it feels responsive and such, but the reality is that if the tires come disconnected mid-corner, your boned.

Soft springs, adjustable shocks, stiffish bars.

Discuss.

I agree. And even race cars are set-up in this direction much more than they used to be. Just stiff enough for the job at hand is perfect. Anymore, and you're going backwards.

I can't remember, did I ever tell you that I raced RC cars too? I did it in the early 90s though. I was sponsored by a smaller company called "Cobra". It was fun as hell, I have debated many times going back and doing it again, but it was expensive, and I wouldn't have the time.

But yeah, I am with you on the setups. It was amazing the changes each little difference in spring rates and so forth. And that was at 10th scale!

I remember you telling me about that. If you ran Cobras, then you were into clay oval racing. I have a Custom Works.

A friend of mine still drives professionally for Custom Works. Tony Stewart bought CW a few years ago.

At some road course tracks, Sebring for example, are SO bumpy that a conventionally tight setup will result in broken cars.

Actually, it was oval carpet indoors and oval concrete outdoors. Some of the most fun times of my life.

I have an RC10 in a drawer in the garage, hasn't seen the light of day in years

My son and I raced trucks (Lunch Box heavily modified) and RC-10's in a Gym on a tile floor. Talk about slippery, and soft suspension was the only way to go along with camber adjustments.
Fun stuff though!

I used to race my 1/8th scale touring car with the 1/10ths at a local weekend race meeting once a fortnight, the one thing that made them allow me to race that with the 1/10ths was the turning circle was much bigger, and the weight was more than double, so it seemed to be a big disadvantage to me. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The 1/10ths had 2 speed auto, so did i. They had all wheel drive, so did i. They had 4 wheel double wishbone suspension with oil filled coilovers, so did i. They had foam slicks, so did i.

Then came the turning point in my favour. They had either a 75ml or an 85ml fuel tank, i had a 125ml. They had a single disc brake that controlled all 4 wheels, i had twin stainless discs on the front of the transmission, and single stainless on the rear. They had dirrect full time 4wd with diffs front and rear, i also had a diff in the center. They had an engine size between .11 and .18, mine was a .21 OS RZ with a top speed of 43,000 rpm, and 2.4bhp at 40,000rpm.

With the extra weight, i could use a clutch spring to allow lockup as lat as 12,000rpm and still get off the line without too much wheel spin, the smaller cars became hovercrafts with these clutches not only off the line, but out of the slower corners.

I had the stiffest springs i could get for it, which were still pretty soft for the weight of the car, but with clip on shims to hold the springs down tighter stiffened it up more, and it always held on alot tighter with it set stiff. I also used Tamiya 900 shock oil to make the dampers nice and stiff, and that was a huge improvement over the 200 and 500 id tried before that. Response was alot better, and so was control.

With the 1/10th, i use the stock springs that came with all the cars ive got, they always seemed to be good enough. I NEVER use the stock shock oil, cause its way too soft. I always use something right up the thicker end of the scale.

Too soft leads to bottoming out, which in turn can mean wheels off the ground in RC racing, and i run my cars very low.







The one above is a 1/10th, chassis is a Mugen Seiki, and the height you see it there, is the height it went on the track.