Second Nature…a term used to describe a task that you perform so often that you can do it without any conscious effort. For instance, operating a computer mouse is something most of us do without even thinking about it. But, …

What is a BEC? That’s a question I’ve heard quite a few times over the years. Before the BEC (we’ll get to what it is in a second), drivers used to install small, four-cell battery packs on their cars to power the electronics. Why? Well, back in the day, we’d need to use as much of the power in the NiCd and NiMh battery packs as possible to run the cars in a simple four-minute race.

How fast does you RC car go? It’s a pretty simple question, however, it’s typically a very hard one to answer. Unless you have access to a police officer (and his radar gun), chances are you will be giving a general guesstimate. Fear not, young speed demons.

I really enjoy my Axial Yeti XL and wherever I take it, it constantly gathers a crowd. People seem to love its enormous size as well as its alarming amount of power! While I don’t run it on 6S much anymore (it was scaring the local children as well as many small animals), I figured it was time to start investing in some hop-ups to bolster its wow factor even more.

It’s funny how things turn out in life sometimes. For the past 2-½ years, I’ve been a resident of Connecticut, enjoying the warm summers and cold (more like frigid!) winters. I’ve had the pleasure of building many different types of project vehicles, however the one I missed was some type of snow plow.

As we certainly expected, Team Associated announced an E-version of their highly anticipated RC8B3 Nitro buggy shortly after its release. Using over 90% of the parts from its Nitro cousin, the RC8B3e has all the same track manners, but with the explosive nature of electric components.

One of the biggest killers of RC components is heat. An overheating motor, ESC or battery can cause major failure or even result in your car catching on fire. I’ve seen both events hap- pen and, up until now, there’s not been an inexpensive way to monitor heat build-up in a vehicle.

The world of RC has many different facets; there’s really something for everybody. One of the areas I’ve set my sights on mastering is the drift segment. It basically goes against everything I’ve learned when it comes to driving sliding is better than grip, more power does not mean a faster vehicle and tire compounds, well, plastic is better than rubber.

You Got Questions? Tony has your answer! This month: The Gift Of Giving, Upgrading My Buggy Tires, Big Scale Late Model

As a racer, I try to keep all my rides in tip-top shape, both on and off the track. Unfortunately, one of the trucks that hasn’t seen much stick time is my 2WD short course truck. I don’t know what it is, but the SC segment just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Well, anymore until I got my hands on Team Associated’s new SC5M.

Tuning your car to track conditions can mean the difference between winning a race to even making the Top 10. It's an important aspect and there's a lot of information both in print and on the web on how to tune your car. Most of the information, however, pertains to offroad buggies, truck and touring cars. That's great, but what about the pan cars or, in the case of this article, F1 cars?

Touring Cars. They're some of the fastest surface vehicles out there. Top level drivers control overpowered TCs through tight courses with long straights, all with the precision of a fighter pilot. One of the companies at the forefront of this has been Team Associated.

You Got Questions? Tony has your answer! This month: Father/Son Track Time, Project Predator, A Battery With It All

The Pro5 is HB’s first competition level TC since the TCXX was released back in 2012. This all new road rocket sports some unique features that are sure to catch the eye of even a seasoned on-roader. Being the only asphalt guy in the office, there wasn’t too much of a fuss when I yanked the Pro5 from our UPS delivery and started running down the hallway to my office! Mine, I say, mine! It’s my Pro5 precious.

A couple of issues ago, The Vogel (as he likes to be called) did a review on Hitec’s X1 Pro Multi-Charger and 17A ePower Box. This system is great; simply install the pair of bullet plugs into the top of the ePower Box and mate them to the input holes on the bottom of the X1 Pro.