1/18th Project
 

Well, I was contemplating getting out of RC completely, but that just doesn't seem in the cards at the moment. The 1/8th conversion proved to be just too much for my running area and maintanence wise. Don't get my wrong, I like wrenching, but the layout was not ideal.

So for my new project I want to do a 1/18th, preferbly a 4wd truggy like car. There are just too many options for trucks, and then systems, it's mind boggeling.
I have however, narrowed it down to a few choices. Either the Team Associated rc18mt, Team Losi M-Lst, or the Kyosho Mini Inferno Truggy.I realize all would need hop-ups, but its meer pennies in comparison to 1/10th and then monster stuff.

For the powerplant, I've already decided upon a Neu motor and Quark or Castle Creations controller, whatever is the smoothest. For batteries, I like a123 systems Li-ion packs, so I'll pick up something with decent mah so I can have only one pack.

Let me know what you think, and ohh for servos and radio systems, what should i look at? Thanks

Go for the Mini Inferno. It has sealed diffs that can be tuned with fluid and not ball diffs like some. They should be super strong as well. As for motors and ESC's, go for either the Quark and Neu, or a Quark and Lehner. I would probably try a Neu motor. As for radios, go for the best you can afford. The DX-2 would be a good choice. Or maybe a DX-3 if you might be able to use the third channel in the future. Servos, not really sure. I guess it would depend on if it uses a 1/10th or a small micro servo. Not sure on that.

I too was thinking of a 1/18th scale project (RC18T factory team) for basically the same reasons; it's comparatively cheap to hop-up. Plus, the ESC/motor is much cheaper. I'll probably just get a CC Mamba package. Anything bigger may just be overkill IMO. The A123 batts might be kinda big to fit in a 1/18th though - maybe someone else will chime in about that.

As far as servos, pretty much anything will work. Since you don't need super high torque on such a small vehicle, you can get a fast one for steering. Anything around 50 oz.in should be more than enough (I'm using an 85oz-in in a Jato and it is fine).

For radio, I'd pick one that has a receiver unit that is as physically small and light as possible. I like the Spektrum DX2/3 and I heard there's even a smaller receiver available.

Yea, that new reciever is almost to small! I think the Quark 33 amp controller would be a great choice as well as a small Neu motor. As for batteries, I would go for like some Tanic packs or something.

I'm not looking to blow a ton of money on this project, although I do want a different setup than the Mamba as that is the most common out there and leaves some to be desired in my mind.

As far as upgrades, I'm looking for a solid base platform with a good driveline. That way I can spend less time buying that kind of stuff and more resources on the electronics. The a123 stuff may be more 1/10th oriented, but I'd really like to shy away from Lipo and Nimh, so its my only option.

For the radio I was thinking the Hitec Aggressor FM, nice and cheap yet not cheap on features.

I'm not really sure, but I don't think the A123 setup would be a wise choose. Weight for one thing...

I too think those A123 cells would be comparatively heavy and hard to fit. I would measure what room you have set aside for batteries and then post the dimensions. There are a few options.

I would go for something like a 2S or 3S2P setup with Tanic cells.

Nobody mentioned the miniquake, I've heard it's pretty tough

I personaly don't like the regular version. The SE version is pretty nice though.

I've got the rc18t tf, and i love it! it's a great little car, and pretty tough!

I run it on a mamba 8K and 6 cells gp1100's run times are about 25 minutes! imagine a 2S 2000-2100 pack..

here she is.

I should have a Kyosho Mini Inferno ST here in a few days, and I do plan on finding a way to make the A123Racing cells work. I may have them make me a custom 2s saddle pack. Considering 2 of their cells are less than half the weight of a 6-cell nimh pack, I don't think weight will be a concern once the brushless system is in it :003:
The only concern will be the lower nominal voltage and mounting the cells themselves.

I probably won't get to the project for about a month, but I'll take some pictures when I get the ST in, if anyone's interested.

I would be very interested in seeing that batfish. I was going to do a revo, but decided to do a 1/18th instead. maybe a rc18t too, but not sure yet...nice vid Serum!

I'm thinking for a while about the new Tamiya Tamtech Frog which is a 1/16th
scale buggy with the same body of the old Frog with different chassis like the 1/10 DF03 chassis. The problem is that it is only 2wd and I dont know when is Tamiya going to release a 4wd 1/16 buggy.
It looks pretty nice, though.
BTW, did anyone of you try the new Tekin brushless system for micro cars?

I think Cemetary Gates uses it.