Rc Drift Beginners Tutorial V1

jareb

New Member
hey ninja, there are plenty of nitro drifters, some of the guys say its easier to drift electric because of easier throttle manipulation, but nitros drift just fine and can do the same stuff that electrics do, I drift with a traxxas 4tec 3.3 with a 350z body and does great with rubber or pvc tires. I just have to run the engine slightly richer and use a pipe that gives better torque, but when put the rubber tires on this car still achieves 65mph easily. Have fun drifting.
 

Ninja

New Member
Thx. But isn'it bad for engine temp to have no openings on the body like this one on that video?
 

jareb

New Member
well it depends on a lot of different factors, like what temp does the motor run with the body off versus body on and I think the yokomo guys were running the motor pretty rich to be safe anyways. Ive run my 3.3 motor with a the stock body and the windows are not cut out, the only hole in the body is the one for the cooling head but its only there for clearance, 3.3 has a large head, but anyways it only raised the temp about 8degrees and I run the car rich when drifting the nitro motors have so much power anyways you dont need to run a lean setup. plus the extra smoke adds a nice effect. I personally like the traxxas 4tec because its cheap it may not handle as well as a yokomo or some of the other cars but I cant notice a difference I turn similar lap times with a 2.5 4tec and any hpi car, but with the 3.3 I have it destroys the .18 and smaller cars. But I have just finished my 5th gallon of 20% nitro in the 3.3 and it still runs the same about 4 gallons of that were spent drifting in apartment parking lot in Phoenix AZ hint hint 115degreee wheather. hope this helps feel free to ask for more help
 

Ninja

New Member
And drifting depends a lot on the chassis, right? So how about my CR-4 then? Is it gonna be OK? I didn't have the opportunity to test it yet, cause i don't have a radio yet (any recomendations on that maybe?) so i'm a little impatient... Everything you tell me will come in handy.. Thanks a lot!
 

Ninja

New Member
Oh, and one more thing. 20%? How much is the limit? I thought my 16% is pretty risky.. thx again
 

jareb

New Member
I never heard of the carson cr4 before so Ive been looking it up the web and from the pics of it I think thats a cool kit, all the pages are either UK based or german though, are you outside the US. Anyways I think your car will drift fine, try the pvc tires first they make drifting alot easier, drifting on rubber is very doable too but it gets costly, you may try locking the rear diff and maybe the front too. but my car drifted fine with open differentials I filled them with very 10,000wt silicone fluid just to tweak the car to the way I like it, I also drift my tao3rs porsche too. TO answer the fuel question you can really use any percentage of nitro you like up to about 33% you just have to make sure you use high quality fuel I personally like traxxas top power fuel, or odonnell's. when using high nitro content you have to run a different setting on the carb because it will burn hotter but you makeup for that by running richer setting, but you cant go down from high nitro to low nitro, you can start out with low and then switch to higher nitro %. I always use 20% but thats a really common % it give good power and is fairly easy to tune with. Radios!!!! I use a futaba 2ch am radio with high torque servos, it was about 80 dollars, I like the airtronics stuff also, the guys at the track are all going with the dsm spektrum radio because you dont have to worry about someone on your frequency, but just find something you can afford the dsm is about 150 to 200 dollars. dont worry about the servo strength at first anything with 50oz of torque will work with a touring car, you may want to opt for higher speed servos for steering though. Keep the questions coming
 

Ninja

New Member
Yeah, I'm waay outside US.. Croatia, Europe.

Um.. OK, since you're so willing to answer questions, I still got a few.. There's a lot I'd like to know and I'm glad I got someone to ask.. Now.. I am familiar with spectrum modules and all, and yeah I know it's expensive, these guys here use them for races.. I really don't think I'm gonna use that, so I'm kinda into the Futaba 3PM. I need a 3 ch radio, a 2ch wouldn't cut it cause I'm into body customizing and that kinda stuff, so I'll use the 3rd channel to turn my lights on and off..

But anyway, let's get to my question for today.. Does the color of the fuel mean anything?? The guy I got this car from gave me a quarter galon of 15% nitro and it was red. Now, I got a galon of 15% nitro from a local modeling store (is that the right term?) and it's green!! Do all nitro fuels have the same ingridients? If so, how come they're different color? If not, is there a quality degradation in one of these? Thanks a lot again!

PS, I think we're off topic...
 

jareb

New Member
Ok the color of the fuel doesnt mean anything, the manufacturers of the fuel just different dye to be different than everyone else, purple, red, blue, green, that doesnt make a difference, but manufacturers do blend their fuel different from each other, some use castor oil in the fuel and some use synthetic oil, and some use different quanity oil in the fuel, check with the model store to see how much oil is in the fuel you buy, Usually 10 to 15%. Im not sure whats brands you can get there but usually the generic stuff at the hobby shop or modeling store is a lower grade, that doesnt mean it wont run well for your car youll just have to experiment, the only fuels Ive tried and liked were made by Traxxas, Trinity, Odonnell, BlueThunder. But since you already have some fuel try it out and keep tabs on how hot the motor gets.
Radios the futaba 3 ch radios are all very good, Im sure youll be happy with that model. I dont think it matters if we re off topic Its all rc and we're all drift crazy. Maybe Ill buy a camera and send in some pics of my drift car.
 

jareb

New Member
I think my dad might have a digital camcorder I ll check later this week, all I need now is for santa to bring some nitro my way, the can is now completly dry
 

Ninja

New Member
Since some guys told me that I should watch out for too high as well as too low engine temp, can you tell what is the optimal?
 

jareb

New Member
all around engine temp

Okay the engine temp question,
TOO COLD - well when breaking the motor in you have to be very careful not to let the motor run too cold because then the piston and sleeve wont seat properly and may cause poor performance later or take longer to achieve max potential. you should keep it above 160 degrees when breaking in 200 to 210 farenheit is supposed to be ideal. Also try not to do break-in during cold outside temperature 35 degrees or less.
TOO HOT - try not to ever let the motor reach higher than 270 degrees if it gets close to 270 try richening the hi speed needle about a 1/4 turn,90 degrees.
My car usually runs about 205 to 215 degrees. But not all engines are the same, some may need to run hotter than this. Plus I always run my car on the rich side to keep it safe, more lubrication equals longer engine life, and if your drifting youll be holding the car at constant engine speeds more often.

Check out www.NitroRC.com they can give you very detailed info on engine tuning and also they a engine porting article there that is very good.
 

tealage

New Member
hi, im very new to this rc drifting. i got into it by watching a few rc drifting videos. its pretty. where do you guys recommend getting the cars? are there cars out there that are already fixed up and ready to drift? how much would this all cost... :d thx in advance
 

teamblizzard15

New Member
newbie

so what do u think i should get to make this car a better drifter......a 19 turn motor? some pvc tires?....an my friend has a nitro car he says nitro is better for drifting....which is better nitro or electric.
 
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