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1/18 scale or 1/10 scale car?

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jared1970

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I've decided I want an electric road car, but I'm wondering if I should go with a 1/18 scale or 1/10 scale. 1/18 scale is appealing because of the cheaper price, but I don't know much else about the differences between the two. Do 1/10 scale cars offer considerably better performance over the 1/18 scale? I would like to have something fairly quick, and it looks like there are a ton of hop up parts for the 1/18 cars, but even hot rodded, do they keep up with the 1/10 cars? What are the advantages and disadvantages of 1/18 vs. 1/10 scale electric cars?
 
The main difference between the two is size. You can make an 1/18 do 50-60 MPH with a good brushless setup. But you could do the same for a 1/10 and possibly more.
 
I think 50-60 mph would be plenty fast for my needs. What models of car and what motor/battery/ESC setups would be recommended?
 
$300.00 in the for sale threads there is a RC18T Brushless that should fit your needs.

I say go with 1/18th RC18 series, though I am partial to 1/18th. :)

I have a 2s LiPo / Mamba 25 esc / Mamba 6800kv and I'd say mine is in the 40-45mph range easy. I haven't turned up my settings either.
 
I have a 2s LiPo / Mamba 25 esc / Mamba 6800kv and I'd say mine is in the 40-45mph range easy. I haven't turned up my settings either.

that thing sounds sweeeeet! :LoL:


I am partial to 10th scale just because you can get some wicked strong motors for them and you can fit larger batteries. 18th is a blast but its hard to beat a big ol brushess 540/550 motor
 
Isn't the RC18T an offroad buggy? It looks like a buggy on their website.
 
RC18T is a truck, RC18B is a buggy, RC18R is a car, etc...Its like $10 to convert B to T, minus a new lid.
 
I have an Xray M18 and it's a REALLY nice car. If I were to put a crazy brushless motor and Lipo battery in, it would be sickly fast.

I know one major difference is the adjustability... that is to say, the way they are adjusted. For example, on 1/10 you would probably adjust camber by turning a turnbuckle. on my M18 I have to completely swap out the upper suspension arms to do that... parts that DO NOT come with the car.
 
$300.00 in the for sale threads there is a RC18T Brushless that should fit your needs.

I say go with 1/18th RC18 series, though I am partial to 1/18th. :)

I have a 2s LiPo / Mamba 25 esc / Mamba 6800kv and I'd say mine is in the 40-45mph range easy. I haven't turned up my settings either.

What kind of run time do you get with a setup like that?
 
The RC18T is running around 1hr or so on the 20C 1500mah 2s lipo, but I do have to slow down the pace from time to time to cool the motor a bit especially in this 85+ weather we have been having. I make quite a few high speed runs and still get those run times. If you were able to keep the motor cool and run it hard the entire time I'd say 35-40 minutes tops.

Honestly, everyone should own a 1/18th brushless and lipo setup. The acceleration on these really adds another element to the driving experience and takes a little time to get used to but when you can control it, you will fall in love. I have yet to find someone who sees my RC18T zip off the line not drop their jaw in amazement. "How does it go so fast and be that little?!" is usually the comment I hear most. There are so many people that once they see it wished they had one just to show it off.

My RC18T gets more run time than all my other rc vehicles combined simply because it is so easy to pick up, run, and put away. I haven't broken anything other than the stock buggy shock tower simply because they are exposed. I now have RPM towers/arms/bumper on here and I've not broken anything since. It's very durable, the only real killer on these are curbs, and even then you may replace $10-20 max in parts on a bad wreck. Obviously it can get worse, but a typical slip up won't break the bank.
 
If I were you, I would call the LHS and see if they are running any 1/10 or 1/18 scale races, and consider that. Even though you aren't thinking about racing now and you just want a basher, things could change in a few months and you might not have to build another car. With the brushless systems and LiPo batteries, you're looking at CRAZY run time in a mini scale.
 
Trial and error really, each car/climate is going to be different. I noticed a big drop in temps just by switching from a buggy body to truck body when I did the conversion. I've seen a few people actually fab up ram air cooling onto their rides, some use fans. The fan kits seem like a great idea, I may actually get a fan setup soon on mine. In all honesty, if I drive hard and I notice the temps get up, I just drive around easy on the throttle around 10-15mph and it cools off very fast. A good heat sink will do the job.
 
i got rid of my 1/10 for a 1/16. slightly bigger than my mini-t but small enough to comfortably run around the house.
 
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