Introduction
RC is the abbreviation of Radio Control, which literally means remote control or radio control, and it covers a wide range of products, such as remote control cars, airplanes, boats, and even drones and combat robots used in the military, all of them belong to the category of RC. It should be emphasized that children’s RC toys do not belong to RC catagory.
Compared to RC aviation model and RC boat model, the RC model car we introduce today, no airspace control and the requirements of the water. The site and environment requirements are relatively loose, and easier to get started. As long as there is a field, you can play anytime you want.
The history of RC model car
The origin and history of RC model carsRC cars arose in the mid-1960s and electric RC model cars began in 1974.
In 1967, major companies such as DM began to manufacture kit model cars, and RC model cars thus began to distinguish themselves from toy cars and develop independently. Off-road RC model cars originated from Tamiya’s release of the “Wild Rider” in 1979, which broke the design of model cars traveling on flat roads, and for the first time, the model cars were driven on the field roads covered with rocks and water.
In 1993, the “Monster Truck,” or Bigfoot, was born, and it caused a new trend. After half a century of development, a large number of RC model car manufacturers in Europe, the United States and Japan have quietly developed. Their technology is mature and they have a large number of loyal fans. On the contrary, China’s promotion time is later, but the feedback of the current bigfoot car market is currently not bad.
Differences between RC car toy for kids and RC model cars
Remote control cars on the market of about ten dollars can only be counted as children’s remote-control toys, and it has a clear difference with RC model cars that cost at least more than one hundred dollars:
- Control distance is different. RC model car belongs to the remote remote control, the minimum remote control range of more than 100 meters; and ordinary children’s class remote control toy car in 20 meters or so has been the limit.
- Different control methods: RC model cars are “proportional control”. What is “proportional control”? Let’s say, in the remote control on the steering wheel to make a rotation of 15 degrees, the wheels on the frame also corresponds to the rotation of 15 degrees; remote control on the throttle trigger keyed down by 30%, the power output on the frame is also 30% of the power; But most of the toy cars use “switch type” remote control, which can’t do the precise command action, and the steering and speed only have two states of “0%” and “100%”.
- Mechanical principles and internal structure are different, RC model car is a scaled-down version of various real racing cars, with the same mechanical principles as the real car, the same suspension system, and supercars similar to the feeling of handling and amazing acceleration; and ordinary toy cars do not have.
- RC model cars can be assembled, repaired, modified and upgraded, while ordinary RC toy cars can not be assembled, modified and upgraded, and extensive repairs.
What is the fun of playing RC model cars?
If you are a beginner, the fun of controlling an RC model car is that it can reach the same starting speed as a real sports car, make all kinds of climbing, cross-country, drifting, rolling, tail-swinging fancy moves, and enjoy the thrill of the adrenaline rush.
For advanced players, modifying, assembling, repairing and tuning vehicles, sharing ideas with friends or teammates, and participating in various events such as speed racing, players fully enjoy the control and sense of conquest over the machinery and events brought about by the greatest fun.
How many kinds of RC model car power?
There are two main types of power for RC model cars: fuel and electric, one is powered by internal combustion engine and the other is powered by battery/electric motor.
The internal combustion engine is mainly powered by two types of fuel, one is gasoline, but not just gasoline, just a mixture of gasoline and two-stroke engine oil; the other is a synthetic fuel based on methanol.
Battery/electric motor powered ones generally use lithium or nickel-metal hydride batteries to power the motor. Electric energy sources can be recharged and used for long periods of time when used in the right way, but relative care should be taken in the use and maintenance of the batteries.
Comparing gasoline and methanol, gasoline will be limited to purchase at gas stations, while methanol blended fuel is easy to buy, but in general, the adjustment of the use of methanol cars will be relatively complex.
Catagories of RC model car
RC model cars, like real cars, will also be divided into many categories based on speed, climbing ability, off-road passability, etc. In order to facilitate a simple and comprehensive understanding of the RC model car models, we will introduce you to the two major families of RC model cars: the off-road family and the leveling family, in a pictorial way. (For the time being, we will not introduce MiniZ, Cabinet Car and Formula 1 car.)
The first big family: off-road car family (Buggy)
RC model car off-road family, often seen in the domestic models can be roughly divided into: Baja, short-distance trucks, desert trucks, racing trucks, Bigfoot, competitive off-road vehicles, climbing cars.
Baja models
Simple, sturdy and violent is my first intuitive feeling of Baja. The word “Baja” comes from an off-road vehicle race through the Baja Desert in Mexico. Model Baja was first developed by the United States HPI, which HPI Baja 5B car opened up the era of 1:5 gasoline vehicles. Baja models are mostly 2WD, Baja 5B appearance is beautiful, rugged through the wild power, due to the cottage behavior of the domestic manufacturers, the 5B in the country’s retention of a very large number of parts are quite convenient to replace.
Short-haul truck
RC Short-Course Truck (RC Short-Course Truck) is also known as RC Field Truck, short for “short truck”. Short-course trucks have smaller ground clearance, shorter suspension travel and smaller tires than bigfoot trucks, so they are not as passable as bigfoot trucks, but their performance on cross-country racing tracks is remarkable, with faster speed, lighter body, more flexible handling, and relatively low maintenance costs.
Bigfoot
Bigfoot is known as the RC Monster Truck. Although the speed and maneuverability of RC Monster Truck is not as good as that of Baja and Short Truck on the cross-country race track, the speed of RC Monster Truck should not be underestimated. 0-75 kilometers/hour acceleration can be accomplished in 3 seconds, which is a real “Monster Truck”.
Competition Buggy
The Racing Buggy is actually a separate model designed for RC model cars. At the beginning of its design, in addition to cross-country performance, another design feature is that under reasonable control, the car body in the high altitude leap state can be relatively smooth landing and unharmed, there are a lot of players specializing in the use of Racing Buggy to do extreme high-altitude leaping stunts.
Racing Truck
The Racing Truck is an evolution of the Racing Buggy. The most intuitive way to describe Speed Trucks is as a big spider car that lies on the ground and moves quickly. At high speeds, the body of the Racing Truck will rise above the height of the tires to maintain a better driving position and passability.
Crawler
The RC Crawler is not known for its speed, but for conquering rough and dangerous roads.
Desert Trucks
Desert trucks are similar to short-haul trucks, and their chassis are usually modified from traditional off-road vehicles.
The Second Family: The On-road Family
The biggest difference between the On-road and Off-road families lies in the different requirements for road conditions.
Flat running on the requirements of strict road conditions, because flat running needs to be the speed or coherent drift action, while the cross-country on the road conditions is basically not much requirement, the more complex the road conditions, the more you can play out the flavor of cross-country.
In order to facilitate everyone’s understanding, we will roughly divide the flat running family into: racing flat running, drifting, street car three kinds.
Racing Flat Track Cars
If you’re an aggressive person with a serious obsession with acceleration, this model is the one for you. In order to achieve amazing speeds, the Racing Flat Runner is a bit harsh on the road surface. Another feature of it is about the design of the car shell. Most of the simulation car shells of racing flatcars by model manufacturers must be authorized by major car manufacturers before they can be made, so the general simulation of racing flatcars will be higher.
Drift Cars
Drifting RC car (Drifting RC Car), referred to as drift car. Beginners only need a little practice, you can immediately experience the “Head D” in the Fujiwara Takumi driving a racing car drifting thrill. However, Drifting RC Car is also the most technical and difficult RC car, and it takes a lot of practice to accomplish accurate drifting through corners.
Street Cars
Street car, as the name implies, the general road can be silly car, but the ability to adapt to the road surface can not be compared with off-road models, after all, street car suspension and chassis design is more biased towards the need for speed.
It can be said that the RC model car is a “scaled down” version of the real car, both from the appearance to the tires are scaled down. In the field of RC model cars, there are many scale options, such as 1:5, 1:8, 1:10, 1:12, 1:16, 1:18, 1:24, 1:32, etc. The smaller the scale (the larger the number after the colon), the lighter the weight, and conversely, the larger the scale (the smaller the number after the colon), the heavier the weight.