How Tos

If the time has come for you to get your first hobby grade electric RC car and be permanently finished with lackluster toy store cars that are short on performance, durability and upgradability, this guide is for you. The best thing to do is not to just jump right in and buy the first thing you find.

You bought your electric RTR (ready to run) short course truck because you just wanted to play in dirt lots and go fast. But you didn’t count on the racing bug biting you so soon. Do you need to give up on the RTR to buy another vehicle to race? No, sir!

A workspace can be something as simple as a bench in your garage or basement, or something as extravagant as an all new exterior building for your hobby. We’ve tried to work in the garage (living in Florida that’s rarely an option without having heat stroke), and our home doesn’t have a basement either.

We love our LEDs nowadays. Younger readers may not realize just how far LED technology has come, but LEDs have never been as small, bright, colorful, and efficient as they are now. They make our world much more vibrant and brightly lit, especially for the RC crowd, where weight and power consumption are always a concern. There are several companies producing lights specifically for RCs...

Our picks for performance, durability, and/or appearance upgrades:ECX 1-8 Revenge Type E Hop Up Here are our accessory and hop-up picks for today’s popular vehicles that can boost performance, durability and/or appearance and leave you with a sweet custom ride.

Our picks for performance, durability, and/or appearance upgrades: Axial Yeti Hop Up Here are our accessory and hop-up picks for today’s popular vehicles that can boost performance, durability and/or appearance and leave you with a sweet custom ride.

Attached to the transmission of almost all 2WD electric off road vehicles, many 4WD electric monster trucks and some 4WD electric off road buggies is a slipper clutch. The slipper clutch has several useful purposes. It helps reduce wheel spin as your vehicle accelerates, something very useful on low traction surfaces.

Our picks for performance, durability, and/or appearance upgrades: Arrma Raider Mega Hop Up Here are our accessory and hop-up picks for today’s popular vehicles that can boost performance, durability and/or appearance and leave you with a sweet custom ride.

We’re going to take a look a common topic that comes up at any hobby shop: what is broken? It is a story many have heard time and time again. You're just driving along and suddenly your RC stops. Or an alltime favorite, it was working the last time I put it away. Tracking down what is really causing the problem can be a nightmare in itself.

Our picks for performance, durability, and/or appearance upgrades: Helion Animus 18Sc | Hpi Crawler King upgrade Here are our accessory and hop-up picks for today’s popular vehicles that can boost performance, durability and/or appearance and leave you with a sweet custom ride.

We’ve all heard the saying, “practice makes perfect,” which is very true, especially in the RC racing world. Even in other areas of this magazine you’ll read interviews with pro drivers who will tell you that you need lots of practice to place high at big races and be considered for sponsorships. But did you know that practice isn’t just about driving your car on the track?

How do you keep your car clean? I suppose the most simple and basic answer to this would be to just leave it at home… on the shelf… where it’s dusted regularly… But, somehow I feel that our editor had a bit more in mind about this article so I guess I’ll take it a different direction in search of a ‘good guy’ award.

When fine tuning 1/8 buggies and trucks, most drivers begin with shock oils, camber, toe, tires, and so on. Often overlooked is a very important and useful tuning option on a car, the clutch. A clutch offers a variety of tuning options for different circumstances, but like the rest of the car it requires good maintenance to perform at its best.

When Team Associated released the RC10B5 and B5M, the RC community was in shock that AE released two cars for specific types of tracks rather than just one buggy for all purpose use. There were mixed emotions from some who did not want to buy two kits and two sets of electronics to run the AE cars.

Our picks for performance, durability, and/or appearance upgrades: Arrma Typhon Hop Up Here are our accessory and hop-up picks for today’s popular vehicles that can boost performance, durability and/or appearance and leave you with a sweet custom ride.