Thinking about a speed run car
 

It seems to me like there are 4 types of rc. You have racers, bashers, "blingers"(all aluminum), and speed runners. I did some speed runs with my little micro t and I want to go up a little bigger in scale. I want to keeps costs down, so I'll probably go for an 18th scale or 10th scale touring car on 4s lipo. Dont really have a goal, but 60-75mph would be sweet.

I want something with good diffs and a strong drivetrain. Off the top of my head, a mini T seems like a good, cheap platform. Can I get some recommendations for a speed car 18th scale or 10th scale touring?

Sportwerks recoil? TC3/4/5?

I would go after a good used (cheap) touring car, like maybe a TC5...

lots of good options, bodies, tires, etc... and they look better and are much nicer to work on imo

I should mention I'm going to do this all with hobbycity stuff, so it all going to be cheap/used. If I go with a touring car I might try to squeeze my 5000mah 4s 30c flightmax in there. It's 140x50x35 if you were wondering.

IIRC std stick packs are 134mm long. With some dremeling/ battery post placement you should be able to fit 140mm no problem.

Sounds good... I think you can fit that pack lengthwise... but prob need some tweaks for the thickness (trying to picture a TC5.. there may be a top plate that needs mods, but I'm thinking it's just a battery bar)

how strong is the drivetrain on a mini t? What do I need to make it strong?

id get a Gt2... 8th scale driveline so you dont have to worry about i.

I would personally stay away from 1/18th for speed runs. i have a rc18 w 10th scale touring wheels 3s 8000kv quark 33, and getting to full throttle was a real pain in the ass, any little bump throws that thing around over 40. i have now purchased a 4800kv so it might actually be fun. good luck

I wouldn't recommend a mini t for high speeds. I never really spent much time trying to get mine super fast, but even trying to get to about 40 mph was hard enough not flipping it on its back. It was hard to keep in a straight line, it always swerved all over the place (maybe just my setup), and the transmission and diff didn't seem that strong (don't know what upgrades there are). People say MT's are hard to control at speed, but mine have been easier than the mini t. Oh and I hate working on it, which is probably part of the reason I never got it setup that well, so I got sick off it and it's been sitting for the last year or so.
I say get a semi decent 1/10th on road. Half the stuff you need to do to get mini-t to handle at those speeds will be standard on the 1/10th. Still pretty light, and 1/10th setups aren't that much more expensive than decent 1/18th stuff.
Have you seen this 120mph tc4 with mamba max combo? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ssL...e=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwSb...e=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u7nU...eature=channel
Here's the thread for that car http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11633

I have a mini-t that I think is fairly stable @40, but Thats with 10 nimh cells weighing it down and I still wouldn't want to go much faster. The drivetrain is decent, weakest link for me was cvd's would get bent up. For speed runs, the easy way out is a 1/10 touring, also probably about the cheapest too.

If you have a large blacktop area that is smooth I would go with a 10th scale electric touring car. Something like a tc3-4 or a tamiya tt-01 would be an inexpensive choice. I got my tt-01 up to 75mph with a MM and 3s with a 5000kv motor. Pretty cheap too, car with everything that I did to it with a good body and foam tires was less than 200 bucks, all new as well.

If you plan to run on the street I would say to go up to an 1/8 scale car like a gtp...

Mini-t is too fragile for much over 35mph.

Definitely stick to a 1/10 on road or 1/8 on road.

Hell you could probably pick up a Ofna LX-1 buggy and change the shocks and tires out for really cheap and pretty much have a GTP. Thats what I was looking into until I realized I dont have too many good roads to run on in Louisiana....

1/10 and 1/8 for speed runs. If you have a wide enough smooth road, you can do it with 2wd pan cars.

Well 10th scale touring looks nice. What are the differences between the tc3 and tc4? The tc3 is cheaper..

Also, how should I go about making a body? How do I mold and shaps the plastic and where do I get the plastic?