The Remote Control Car Hobby Offers a Wide Variety of Models to Thrill the Kid in Every One of Us

Remote control cars come in various styles, sizes, and designs for operation on paved, dirt, or gravel roads, sidewalks, carpets, and off road, rough terrain. When you've decided you're ready for a new RC toy figure out where you want to play with that toy. That knowledge starts you toward selecting which type toy is best for you.

Among your choices are cars modeled after "road legal" real-life cars you see every day. Some are family models like the sport utility vehicle, station wagons, mini-vans, and the full size sedans. Others are young couple or single people cars including sports cars, Mini Coopers, Ferraris, BMWs, Porches, Camaros, Mustangs, and Mercedes. You also have a choice of military cars, police cars, and other service vehicles.

If you want off-road adventure you have plenty of options too. From low-end buggies to the ultimate in high performance vehicles, they all await your selection. Next you'll look at size. RC minis are small, and designed more for indoor use than the larger models. For instance, a 1:18 scale radio control car is 18-times smaller than the full-size car it's modeled after. That's small.

On the other end of the ruler the full-sized car is only six times bigger than a 1:6 scale remote control car. You need lots of space to operate something that big. Okay. You know what terrain suits your pleasure, and you narrowed the style of the best radio control car for your playtime desires. What kind of power do you want to propel your vehicle with?

Manufacturers provide two types of power plants for RC toys, the electric motor, and the NITRO engine. NITRO powered cars are internal combustion. They burn a special fuel that you fill the tank up with each time you get ready to run. Electric cars run on batteries.

Electric cars are cleaner operating, and have higher torque to the drive wheels, but preparation time for operating the electrics is longer due to battery charging. NITRO RCs are ready to run as soon as you fill the tank, and are much faster than the electric models. Some of the NITROs reach 80 - 90 miles-an-hour. NITRO cars are loud, spew exhaust fumes, and require more frequent maintenance than electrics.

Of course you want your operator skill level to match the model you're running. Those faster NITRO models require experienced, and practiced, skills if you don't want to crash, and destroy, the car. Before you make that final decision look at prices.

Electric remote control cars typically cost less than the NITRO models. Minis are often cheapest, but not always, of the toys available. Prices range from around $10 all the way into the thousands for those high performance radio control models I mentioned above.

Remote control car selection involves many options, but find that model that best matches your playtime personality, or that of the person you're gifting, and you'll enjoy unmatched RC thrill and adventure to last many years.

Joseph Jackson provides information for learning and pleasure to help improve his reader's quality of life.

He also searches for, and makes available, products that improve the enjoyment of his playtime activities.

For more stuff on radio control cars visit Joe's remote control cars website.

For a wide selection of remote control models see Radio Control Toys.

Remote Control Toys - What to Ask Your Hobby Dealer

Especially if you are new to remote control hobbies, you may be overwhelmed by the dazzling array of RC vehicles on the market today. These include helicopters, trucks, planes, tanks, boats, motorcycles, and more. Some fine RC toys can be had for under $100, perhaps even under $50, and fast hobby grade vehicles can sell for over $1000. Some are electric, while others run on nitro fuel or gas.

Electric toys need to have their batteries recharged, which takes time. How long will it run before it needs to be recharged? How long does the recharge take? You can simply pour more fuel into gas powered RC trucks when they run empty, but what are the maintenance and fuel costs?

Most planes, even those sold as "ready to fly", require minor assembly before flying. How much is "minor assembly"? What if your plane crashes - can it be fixed or will you have to get a whole new plane? How hard is it to learn to fly one? Can you find spare parts for the remote control helicopter you've been eyeing? If so, how expensive are the spare parts? Can you get these parts locally or will you have to get them mailed to you? What if you fly your RC helicopter and then decide you don't want it. Can you return it?

Due to the nature of the hobby, dealers generally will not accept returns of used vehicles. They certainly will not take returns of any crashed RC helicopters or trucks, which is why you should be sure to do some product research before reaching into your wallet. In general, most RC toys are covered under warranty from the manufacturer in case you do find a problem after playing with it. Electronic components such as the radio are often covered for 30 days and most other parts are typically covered for 90 days.

You want to be happy with your purchase and your hobby dealer wants you to be happy, too. Discuss your needs with your dealer before you buy anything. If you've never had a remote control toy before and you think LiPo is a type of cosmetic surgery, speak up! (LiPo is short for lithium polymer, a type of rechargeable electric battery.) If you have kids and want one toy for each one, ask your hobby dealer to make sure you get toys that work on non-interfering frequencies. A good dealer should always take care of this without your asking, but you should remind him anyway. Also, if you already have a toy that runs on a fixed frequency, you need to tell your hobby dealer so he can get you a new one that won't interfere with it. For example, many surface vehicles like RC trucks and boats will operate near 27 MHz. There is a set of different frequency bands near 27 MHz that these toys are able to use under FCC regulations. Suppose you have one truck that is on 27 MHz channel 4, which is 27.145 MHz. You could get another one that is 27 MHz channel 6, which is 27.255 MHz, and use these remote control trucks simultaneously. If you instead get another toy that also runs at 27.145 MHz, each toy won't know which radio transmitter signal to follow. You and your kids will only get frustrated trying to play with them.

Now that you know some essential things to check before buying, it is time to go visit your hobby dealer!

Radio Controlled Toys Online is an RC hobby shop in Cincinnati, Ohio that sells gas powered RC trucks, remote control helicopter models, and other RC toys for hobbyists of all ages.