If you are interested in starting to race radio control cars, but think they are to expensive, think again. With Mardave cars costs are kept to a minimum, expect to pay £200 for your first years racing, this includes car ready to run, power supply, 2 sets of tyres (foam & rubber), club/BRCA
membership & 1 years race fees.

Once you have purchased your car you must build it. The cars come in kit form, and will take a couple of nights to build and paint. Follow the instructions in the kit, paying particular note to removing any plastic
sprues and flashes. Also take note NOT to over tighten the self tapping screws. You will require a couple of tools, the main one being a good quality flat blade screwdriver. Once the chassis is built, install the radio
equipment as shown, charge the batteries and you are just about finished. All that remains now is to paint the bodyshell, use any good quality cellulose spray paint available from most car accessory shops. Once the
paint is finished, cover it with clear lacquer, and when this is dry, attach any stickers you wish.

All the racing is controlled by a strict set of rules designed to reduce costs, and to make the racing equal. In the event of breakages, most spares can be bought for about £1. the most expensive part which you are likely to need to replace is the motor, which costs £9.

Once the car is built and the paint is dry, check that the car goes forwards in a straight line, and can reverse. Make sure the wheel arches are cut correctly so that the wheels do not catch when turning. If you have any problems with building the kit, either see the shop that you bought it from, or bring it along to a club night and let us get you started racing that night if possible.

At the moment the Mardave brushless system is very popular at the track, these have provided enough power for everyone, as well as being very cost effective in comparison to a brushed setup. There is currently a lot of interest in moving to a 1s (cell) lipo battery with a 13.5 brushless motor in the UK, but we have not moved this way just yet. For those that want to use LiPo in their car, and want to know how to add a voltage booster so that the speed controller works of the 3.7V instead of the normal 4.8V, see below: