Touring Cars

Touring car racing is huge in the UK. These are amongst the best attended meetings in the UK just now, with hundreds attending meetings every weekend. If you want a car that is fast, reliable, enjoyable and relatively strong, then this the class for you. Unfortunately they have taken a slight decline in racers in Scotland so it is best to check out where the majority of racers are before purchasing a car. 

These cars are not as economical as the GT12 cars, but they are a lot faster. To start racing you should start with a good chassis that you can get parts for locally and quickly. It is no good having a car lying about with something either broken or worn. If you are new to the sport, don't have a car yet, read on. Don't make the mistake of buying a car because you like the look of the car, all the bodyshells are interchangeable between the different makes. The most popular cars at the moment are XRay, Yokomo, Losi, Associated, HPI, Schumacher & Corally, in no set order.

The radio equipment consists of a 2 channel transmitter. This is held in both hands to control the car whilst racing. There are two types of transmitter, either stick or steering wheel. The stick type is the most popular in the UK, with the steering wheel type more popular in the USA. Both types have interchangeable crystals (you should have a minimum of 3) so as to avoid clashing with other cars on the same frequency in your race. 2.4GHz is also now available that requires no crystals, channels are automatically allocated from 79 available frequencies. They each have rechargeable batteries, enough power to see you through a days racing. to receive the signal sent by the transmitter in the car, each car is fitted with a receiver. These all look very similar, and are approximately the same size. It is best to try and get a Transmitter/Receiver with a fail safe option, so that in the event of either signal loss, or two people switching on at the same time with the same crystals, you will still have control of your car, saving the possibility of expensive repairs (shouldn't be a problem with 2.4GHz). One other item you require is a servo, this a device which controls the steering. This will cost between £40 and £80. Basically the more you spend, the faster and higher the torque the servo will have.

To control the speed of the car you will also require an electronic speed controller. These will allow you to control the proportional speed of the car, usually forwards only, but you can purchase speed controllers with reverse as well. The controllers with reverse tend to be slightly larger and less efficient. They also tend to be slightly cheaper.
The electronic speed controller takes the first channel from the transmitter and controls the speed of the motor. These are now very complex electronic items, offering different current limiters, active braking, recharging circuitry as well as being able to control 100's of Amps of current. Prices vary from £50 up to currently £140. Again, typically the more you spend, the better the product you get to a certain extent. Check when you buy the controller where and how fast you can get it repaired.

Now that we have a controller we need something to control. The motors used in radio control car racing come in two forms, either brushed (£59) or brushless (£70). The brushless motors are by far the most popular now as they are almost zero maintenance, as well as having a lot more power whilst being very efficient..

There are many different types of batteries available now from different manufacturers. To start with, buy mid ranged matched cells, approx £35 per pack. These come in various configurations, you will need to buy them or make them up to suit your car layout. If you do make cells up, make sure you use a good soldering iron, with a large tip. You should be able to solder the cells together without getting the cells hot. If you want to go racing, look to buy at least 3700mAH cells which are matched, and possibly voltage increased as well. There are new cells which are higher capacity, but currently they are very new and have not been tested in racing conditions by club drivers. If in doubt, the best advice is to talk to members from a local club to see what they are using.

Well that's about it, you are just about ready to visit your local club.

Have a shot of your car to make sure it is working OK. Practice driving clockwise round a couple of cones, then try anti-clockwise. Once you have mastered that, try doing a figure of 8. Lastly, try driving towards yourself doing a figure of 8.

Good Luck
Be prepared when you visit a club to race, you may have to buy some tyres to race with. Just like full size racing, different compounds and patterns work better in certain circumstances. Make sure you have a selection of tools, you will have to adjust the car during the day, and if you are unlucky you may have to fix it so remember some money. All you have to do now is GO ALONG AND RACE.

 

 

 


2015 Club Rules

  • Only 13.5t brushless (on blinky) or 19T motors (which will be reviewed as the season goes on) as per BRCA list allowed for Touring cars
  • Any rubber tyre (with additives) on carpet for scale touring

 

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