Goodbye, RC Cars...

[racer234]

Wow, in the last three years of my life I've been completely consumed with RC. I guess I was an addict. I mean, my favorites list was full of various RC sites, I had a folder for RC Videos that was over 2 gigs, I have every Car Action dating back to February 2001, neatly organized. I own an RS4 3, E-MAXX, Evader ST, two Stampedes, Delphi Car, RC18T, and a T4. Now that I'm 16 and can start wrenching on real cars it all seems so childish to me. It's like why would I spend $300 on a new radio, when I can pick up a Performer RPM manifold for my real carfor that much? I guess it's just lost its appeal, and this is coming from someone who was completely into this hobby. I was to the point where I was racing my T4 every week, and throwing a ton of money into it to keep up. Plain and simple, this hobby just seems so overpriced. Sure, a RTR only costs $250, but if I add up how much is into my T4 (which I refuse to do :p ) it's ridiculous! And this all happened so fast, a month ago I was still spending nearly every day after school at the track, constantly tweaking my car. I swore that I'd never give it up, but now it looks like I am. I'm holding on to all my stuff anyways though, just in case. Oh well, it's on to bigger and better things for me.

[cnk]

You're still young. Plus, if you think that R/C was/is expensive, wait until you really start modifying cars. This is coming from someone that has been doing it for a while. My current car has over $20K in mods and there are still things that I want for it. In comparison, R/C is much cheaper.

[TimisTim]

Yeah I have to say that my 73 Nova took alot of money and that was with cheaper gas prices a few years ago. I recently had the tranny blow up on me and it was about $750 to fix. Luckily now I work close enough to my house that I can ride my bike (which is a whole other amount of money) and save a ton of cash on gas.

All in all this is not a bad hobby. Sure it takes money, and you may not be in the right part of your life to be dumping money into it. Just dont expect 1:1 cars to be any cheaper. My dad is a retired mechanic and chose this as a cheaper alternative. Also where else can you take a car like these and race against other people in an all out speed war. Local drag strip....yeah but thats just a straight line and hardly any excitment compared to an r.c. track.

Just my .02

[jtlee75]

All I can say is $13,254 for my engine. And it is not even that competative. We are building a turbo engine now. $17,000+ and just getting past the half way point. RC on the other hand, an expensive engine $500+having it modded say $300= about $12000 cheaper than my current engine in my 1:1. RC is not really that expensive of a hobby if it is done as a hobby not a career.

[DaveG]

This hobby overpriced??????? Nah, not really.
You'll soon find out that cars are much worse. And when you get tired of them, and you probably will, there's always PWC's and boating and flying and motorcycles and snowmobiles and skiing and......well, you get the idea.
Personally, I've got about $20,000 in jetskis, $35,000 in boats and maybe 3 thou in R/C stuff. It's all hobbies and it's all expensive but even if you get into r/c choppers you won't get near what you'll spend on some of your future hobbies.
I would for sure keep at least some of your r/c stuff. You will likely come back to it someday. I know I've been in and out of it at least 4 different times. Heck, my first nitro r/c car is two years older than you are and I've still got it and it runs fine.
So, enjoy your latest hobby, keep some of the old and get ready for the next one.
And, most importantly, do well in school so you can get a job that will support your toys!!!
Dave

[Ed237]

I can drive my RC vehicles hard because if something breaks it will usually cost less than 25 dolars to repair.

I wish I could say the same about my Z28. 4 new tires just set me back $700.

Oh, and you don't have to buy insurance for a RC vehicle.

[racer234]

It's true that RC is literally cheaper, but for me the gains of a real car are far greater than those of a toy car. I'd much rather be putting the money into my new car.

jtlee75- I'm assuming you're into the imports, due to you mentioning the next motor you're doing is going to be turbo'd. I was just curious what the story was behind your "$13,254" motor was for? What's it going into, etc.?

One last note- I'm surprised how many car guys are into RC. At my track alone there's a guy who owns a 7 second street car, well he doesn't 'own' it, but he's the driver for a local team; another guy drives a '68 camaro, another one has a '72 corvette, and the list goes on.

[stangeroo]

haha i picked up rc as my "cheaper" hobby, I love being able to get new tires and wheels for $40 and if your chassis is tweaked its like $20:cool:

Its not really very expensive even compared to many mainstream hobbies, snowboarding/skiing you have easily $500-$800 in a good setup, $300 in clothing and then lift ticket, gas, food and on and on. Personally I think that RC stuff is one of the most fun "bang for the buck" hobbies out there:whoknows:

EDIT: although I can see how it would get expensive very quick with multiple cars and racing :)

[hctechno]

you say that now but you'll be back. once i started working on my car, i found it still fun to tinker with rc stuff because its so much more inexpensive that working on my 1:1 car

[stangeroo]

you say that now but you'll be back. once i started working on my car, i found it still fun to tinker with rc stuff because its so much more inexpensive that working on my 1:1 carhaha thats why i did it too, plus being at college I can "work on the car" in my room :D

[djgrom]

It's true that RC is literally cheaper, but for me the gains of a real car are far greater than those of a toy car. I'd much rather be putting the money into my new car.

jtlee75- I'm assuming you're into the imports, due to you mentioning the next motor you're doing is going to be turbo'd. I was just curious what the story was behind your "$13,254" motor was for? What's it going into, etc.?

One last note- I'm surprised how many car guys are into RC. At my track alone there's a guy who owns a 7 second street car, well he doesn't 'own' it, but he's the driver for a local team; another guy drives a '68 camaro, another one has a '72 corvette, and the list goes on.

you think 13000 on an engine is alot? wow, Look I am nineteen and work both on my rc cars and a certain 88 celica with a 3sgt very nice celica might I add. But when you talk about real cost, just dont assume money is everything. You forget the man hours it takes to work on real cars v r/c which is where your real loss will come from. If you get obssed with real cars you are going to lose alot more then a few dollars. Example, exhust job on a r/c car five minutes with a new manifold, exhust job on a real car from manifold back can be an all day job depending on how your exhust manifold is located on your head. Not to mention that with new pipes, muffler tips, down pipe, headers, exhust manifold you will be spending near 800 or more if your going for performance, now with say 8 hours of labor at normal shop rate, another 200 so basically 1000. Dont even get me started on the head job we are doing on the celica now. I am imagining that your my age, and your being a little niave about it. Dont give up rc, you think you spend alot of money but you dont, and where else can youtalk to other people while driving your respective cars around.

[ApriliaRacer]

You being 16 I can understand your point of view. Its a matter of "Priorities".

For me, this hobby is way less expensive than my Motorcycle Roadracing. With that "hobby", between May and October, I'd dump 7k into racing.

I'd also get a new bike every year with the mods, I was spending about 10k. So, roughly 17k a year on racing.

So, even if I were to come home with a new MT every month thats the equivalent I'd spend on one race weekend and there were 2 of those a month....

[TBone77]

I'm 27 now, but I got into this hobby when I was 13 or 14 years old. I was in it for about a year or two but, with no local tracks nearby and a budding social life, it fell off the face of the Earth. Fast forward to now. I have a wife, two children, a career, and a dog that won't stop scooting its **** covered ass across my carpet... I jumped back into R/C as I desperately needed a bastion of sanity in my life.

I appreciate it now more than I ever did!

You'll be back, but it might not be for a decade or so ;) .

[ducati777]

Yea I did a thread once on how the typical RC'r is either younger than 16, or out of college. You're not alone in getting out of RC at your age. Besides 1:1 cars are new for you so it makes sense that you'd be into them.

Keep or don't keep your rc stuff, it doesn't really matter. With some of the new technologies coming out, RC is really going to change over the next few years. When you get back into it, it'll be all different, thus you'll probably end up buying all new gear anyway.

[jgrs4]

For me RC cars are the closest thing I will ever get to real racing. No Trailers to transport my race car, no waver on my insurance and nobody gets hurt or killed. To me RC cars give me all the fun of real racing at the fraction of the course. :D

[performula]

I feel the same way as you, sometimes... I have spent $1500 on RC Cars, $800 on the motorcycle, $700 on vintage (early 80s) GI Joes, $550 on video game hardware/software and $300 on model trains between December 1 and April 2. That is not incuding the things I bought for Christmas, so don't let December in my equation bracket fool you. :)

It's time to eliminate them all and stick with one or maybe two. Once I get fully established career wise I would like to take up Kart racing. So as I weed out some, others make it into my life. So when you give up RC something else will takes its place. Hobbies are expensive and a sign of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder aka OCD. j/k!

[ITurnLeft]

I've got so many stupid hobbies I could vomit. I always end up neglecting 10 to focus on 1. Right now, it's my racing cuz our season starts TOMORROW.. After that, it'll be guitar again, or one of the various stimulii my wet noodle of a brain demands of my time.. Saying "goodbye" to a hobby is a futile act. You call it childish now, but in 10 years, it'll be a delightful break from the annoyances of the real world.

[streetracer]

I completly understand. My advice is to get a nice job for after school real close to you, save your money, take a brake from RC if you have to, and just save a load of cash, then get your hands dirty on your real car. Dont get into the car with little cash. Wait till your ready to pour money into it. Im kinda tied between two things. I would like to take a brake, but really i cant as i signed on with Tekin, and then again, I dont think i could take a brake. RC has always been a great hobby to me. Im also looking into buying a real diesel locomotive from union pacific, so now a loan is being considered. So, im twisted between the two. Just stick it out bro.

[SpeedballTrix]

Take it from me: RC is SO much less expensive than fullsize cars.

When I say "SO" I mean probably the largest thing known to man compared to the smallest thing.
The maintenance costs on a car driven "enthusiastically" for two years could buy you a competetive 1/8th buggy.

On top of that, the money you spend on a fullsize car gets you so little return, unless you build from the ground up. If you've got a car that gets to 60 in 7 seconds... it will take you probably $5k-10k to get it down another second. A decent exhaust can run you from $500-5000 depending on the car; and net you between 5 and 20 hp, depending on the car... for a total gain of -maybe- .1 seconds to 60. Maybe.

If you spend $500 on an RC car... well... thats a Black Magic or a Maranello (depending on if you run onroad or offroad) right there. Depending on what you had before, you're looking to make your car probably twice as fast.

As for you spending a million dollars on your T4... well... that was your choice. No offence, but chances are most of that spending was unnecessary. Unless your a professional racer, all you really need is to keep your car properly setup and tuned. That'll cost you maybe a couple hundred a year for a new motor each season, and maybe a hundred on fuel.

Fullsize cars are great...but the first time you blow a synchro and spend your ENTIRE weekend (and probably more than one weekend) tearing into the tranny to replace it... you'll understand why I got into RCs =P

[microrcdude]

Man im getting out of R/C too. Im keeping 2 cars though, but they will be put away for now. Im moving on into real racing. But i will still be ont he board giving help to others.

[MikeWz]

You know what's a lot of fun...replacing a clutch. Because if you've got a decent car, you'll need a decent clutch. So figure you're spending about $1K on that. Then you have to jack the car up, and take out the tranny to get the clutch in. Getting the clutch in can be a royal PITA to make sure the plates are lined up correctly. R/C is much easier to work on...and definitely not as expensive. Although if I gave up R/C right now to be rewarded with a Supra...I'd do it :cool:

[primuswoostinkinhoo]

dont quit the hobby, just buckle it into the back seat of your real car.

hopefully this summer i get back to what i used to do every summer before the last.

GOLF

Last summer i only golfed twice and raced a bunch.
this summer im putting rc in the back seat and hopefully golfing a ton, and through a lil mountain biking in there maybe.

theres a million hobbies out there, and i for one dont know anyone that completely quits a hobby, you usually come back to it at some point, or at least read about it from time to time

[SpeedballTrix]

"Although if I gave up R/C right now to be rewarded with a Supra"

No doubt... but you could just skip the racing wheel or the gauge pod and buy a Savage =P

Then you can race the Supra and still have an RC ;)

Plus, RC doesn't really take a ton of time. As long as you spend two seconds finding a good reliable engine so you dont have to spend an hour tuning it every other run, and stay out of too much trouble (like lake/roof jumping) you'll never spend more than the time it takes you to turn a wrench or a screwdriver a few times and put the truck/car away.

[streetracer]

I dont think anyone heard me when I said im going to buy a locomotive. :confused:

[primuswoostinkinhoo]

i heard it, but my uncle did the same thing a few yrs back, so it didnt phase me

[Dan H]

Real cars drain 10x the money respective to RC size. I would know. :(

1:10 RC $300
My 1:1 car ~$3000 when done (thats not counting tools, insurance, registration, etc.)

[McKB]

Real cars drain 10x the money respective to RC size. I would know. :(

1:10 RC $300
My 1:1 car ~$3000 when done (thats not counting tools, insurance, registration, etc.)

Agreed. It cost me $350 cdn just to put a wheel bearing and a block heater in my car. and labour only cost me a case of bear for my uncle, I saved about $200 just for labour plus his mechanic discount. :rolleyes:, But you will get more recongnition for you're 1:1 Car if it looks good.
By the way what kind of car did you get?

[Dan H]

Mazda RX7 Turbo II (and thats just one of my RX7's) LOL I have too many money pits.

[McKB]

Rx-7 Eh!(i'm from canada) Very nice. I have a Dodge Avenger.

[racer234]

Well I guess I fall into the same category as alot of the people here. Afterall, I was huge into HO trains when I was younger, huge in 1:32 Slot Cars, I own a Specialized BigHit for Whistler, and I'm always saving up for something on my guitar, whether it be new pickups, or a new amp. Overall I think I'm just doing too much at once :p Maybe if I can focus on one hobby things will get done a little faster.

streetracer- that caught my attention when you said you're purchasing a locomotive. What type? Like a switcher? Oh and where do you plan to run it? I remember a few years back Port Townsend Paper Mill was selling a SW1500 for like $5000. If I remember correctly, you're located around Olympia? I'm up in Bellingham.

[italiannitroman]

RC and Paintball probably have to be my 2 cheapest hobbies. I have spent alot of money wrenching on cars to get minimal hp gains. For my monte carlo i have sent 3k just to get 50 extra hp. :(

[djgrom]

All of you who spends lots of money making your cars gain horsepower shame shame shame........just put some decals on 5hp a decal

[yellow15]

I'm getting tired of real car as the real car cost me WAY too much money. I've spent about $8k on my real car (just the mods, doesn't include the cost of my S15 Silvia) and the car is only slightly modified. I only got to race my real car once or twice a year when i go to the track. And even so i have to be very careful as even a smallest smallest accident and a few month's salary will go to the panelbeater. So that's why i get into this hobby. the car is 1:10 scale and it cost me only only 1:10 (or less). A few thousand dollars can get me a top of the line car/radio/servo with all the other goodies. If i spend the same amount of money on my real car, it's not even enough to upgrade the suspension.. The best thing is .. i can race it every weekend (or even after work if i really want to), don't have to worry about crashing it as the worse comes to the worse, a complete brand new car is only a few hundred dollars!

But as other people said, you are new to the real car scene so i can understand why. Have fun and you may back to this hobby again few years later.

[streetracer]

Im looking into buying a Road Diesel, formerly owned by Rio Grande. It will probubly spend a year or two being restored at the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation's "Roundhouse", ware the steam engine who's group I am apart of sits. It will be restored back to 1989 specs. For those that understand all this, its model type is known as the SD40T-2 "TunnelMotor" type, which was comminly known for use in long tunnels. Ile post a pic of it later if im able to. Anyway, it will be used as a Cab Unit for the steam engine, and might also pull some of its own trips.

[space_doc]

racer234 - not to sound patronizing but never say "i'm getting out" of the hobby. hehe, I hear so many guys say that in a post just to show up ten years later, like me. TBone77 I'm right there with ya. I'm 28, started at 12, left for a few years during my dating years in high school and college to spend time with the ladies, and then came back. And its cheaper than my other hobbies...

scuba - equipment anywhere between $400 - $1000, then you gotta spend big cash on flying all your equipment to exotic locales for weekend trips - not cheap.

golf - a good set of clubs can run $500 - $1000 for just irons, then your drivers are $200 each, and again, gotta pay big cash to fly and play those great courses down south. and just like rc, every year they come out with something new i just gotta have....

biking - a decent road bike runs me $1000 - $2000. And then all the upgrades - deraileur, arm rests, ergo wheels - start to add up. travel for races, entry fees -- it all adds up.

Sure, RC isn't cheap either. but starting costs are low compared to other hobbies. Have fun tuning your car. I never got into big cars. Not my thing. But keep one or two RCs around. Trust me. I was glad I did.

[racer234]

streetracer- Holy crap! you're getting an SD-40? :eek: That is awesome. I absolutely love the look of the normal ones, with the long platform. Thats pretty cool man. Aren't they on the same chassis as a SD-45? I'm pretty sure they are. With something like 3000HP, you should be able to pull a lot of cars ;)
For those who don't know what we're talking about, here's a pic:
http://img35.echo.cx/img35/8634/sd40t8rc.jpg

[ducati777]

Ummm you can just buy a train? the heck do you do with it after that?

[4DMNYC]

lol^^^
Yeah.uhhhhh, I think I'll go into town today and pick myself up train. I've been eyeballing that sweet SD-40. I'll put some spinners on it and tint the windows, and then I'll go pick up some chicks :D na..I'm just bustin chops :p

Thats cool that you have the means to buy a TRAIN! and restore it. Let alone have somewhere to keep it while your fixing it up. More power to ya.

[streetracer]

Thanks Racer, thats exactly the type im looking at. Usually, it has to be going to an organization, non profit. But, i have my means to ware I will buy it, and it will belong to me, just under the name of the O.R.H.F. This way, after all said and done, it will help the 4449 on excursions. Im looking at a $14,000 loan for this thing. Doyal M, the engineer of the 4449 owns 3 locomotives at the moment. So, this isnt real uncommon. Being under the name of this group, it will have a place to call home, and will be well kept. Now, i just need to get my engineering License. :D

[Supa]

how the heck did a mod get banned?