What's the point of practicing from a racers perspective? I mean, why waste all this time and car wear? Yeah, right! Practicing is one of the core components to becoming a good driver. This is the time where you get to discover how your car, and your driving style adapt to a new track or layout. Take the first few laps slow, think of your car going from corner to corner hitting your target spots. We will call them targets because it's a target that you will want to place the inside front tire of your car on every lap. These targets are normally a few inches from the edge of the board at each corner. The distance out from the board where you aim to target is dependent on your skill level. Remember: the goal is to drive such that your inside tire passes directly over all of these target points every lap. The more confident you become of your targets location and the better you get at judging these targets, the more your lap times will drop. Tip: Always remain on or outside your targets. If you find yourself going inside your target then two scenarios will have happened: 1. You are finding that you crash a lot, or 2. You may have become a better racer and need to set your standards higher (or targets closer to the board). It is important to remain outside your target to ensure you are hitting your target well (not dodging in or mistakenly missing your target). The best line to drive on entirely depends on finding the best set of targets to hit on each corner. During those first practice laps, don't even try to go fast but simply concentrate on accurately placing the car within a foot of your targets. With each lap you will develop confidence of the location of these targets and a feeling of how to place your car near them. You will begin to drive a tighter line with the eventual goal of consistently hitting every target point on every lap. The most important thing to take away from this sort of practicing is to commit to memory all of these targets so you can make judgments and alternative routes when there are pile ups, lap traffic or corner marshals in the way.Your trying to get a feel for the line you want to take. Get comfortable with the targets locations and then you can start to build on your driving skills. When you drive through a corner decide how well you took it in accordance with your target and speed. Pay close attention to the sticky section of the track and then branch out. Focus on the ares of the track that require the most attention. While you are practicing, spend your time thinking about the two or three corners that you need the most help with and only worry about those corners until they feel comfortable. It's a good idea to constantly evaluate your performance in each corner while you're racing, and with each lap try to get closer to your target while carrying as much corner speed as possible. It is important to use your race heats and main to improve upon your target/speed strategy. Use these races, just like you do practices, as tools to help you become a better driver overall. Even evaluate your lap times with the heat posts to see how consistent you where.

About The Author
Todd Levi of TeamDogFight.com has been racing RC cars for years. Visit our new RC site at http://www.teamdogfight.com.

The glow plug is one amazing piece of engineering, the closest anyone has ever got to a true perpetual motion machine, you radio controlled cars engine will run without anything apart from fuel, no spark plugs or electrical ignition, these babies run on the glow.

Selecting the correct glow plug is not that difficult you just have to understand how they work. Truth be told they are not exactly perpetual motion machine, they still require a little kick with a 1.5V battery to start the glow, after that they will keep glowing as long as the engine is running.

Turbo or Standard

A turbo plug will only work in a turbo engine, these do not have tiny 1:10 Scale fans blowing air into the engine like there full sized counter parts, the turbo plug is tapered at the end to create a tighter fit to the engine head, this in turn increases power slightly, you can't use a turbo plug in a standard engine, these require standard plugs.

The Glow Plug Temperature Rating

You need to find the right temperature glow plug for your engine, a hotter plug will work better when the engine is a little short of heat, while you should use a cooler glow plug if you have a large engine that produces a lot of heat.Hotter glow plugs also make it easier to start your engine, while the colder glow plugs will give you slightly better performance during you run.

There is no right or wrong setup, everything needs to be taken into account, from the temperature of the air to the hight above sea level these all affect they way the glow plug will perform.

Quality over quantity.

When buying a radio controlled glow plug it's always, as so many things in file, worth your while to get the slightly more expensive glow plug, these generally have a more consistent tune and heat and will often outlast the cheaper plugs by several runs, which makes up for the extra cost.

Reading your glow plug

Using a few simple methods it's easy to find out how close you are to a perfect tune by inspecting the glow plug, if there is a surplus of oil on the head then they are running to rich and need to lean up your mixture, if your glow plug is a grey color with a small amount of oil then your spot on with your tune, likewise if there is little to no oil and your glow plug filament is bent or thinning where it connects to the base of the glow plug then you are too lean and need to richen your mixture.

Some general points about glow plugs

Never touch the filament, this is very fragile and doing so can break the filament and ruin a plug.

Protect your engine by only buying good glow plugs from decent hobby shops

Keep your glow plugs in a cool dry place, they don't like moisture

Always select the right glow plug

Follow the recommended break in procedures for your engine.

When Breaking in an engine chances are that the plug you use will be ruined.

Keep your engine in tune

Never tighten a glow plug too much, it doesn't need to be as tight as you think

Watch out for nitro detonation, this means your using the wrong plug or your tune is way off.

Use the right glow starter

Ask other racers for help, the RC community is an awesome one and someone will always be willing to help you

About the Author :

Gregory Alexander is a lead member of Karnage RC Drift and Race Team, and competes at racing and drifting radio controlled cars every chance he gets. Once a beginner he now shares his experiences with who-ever will listen. To find more tips and tricks like the one in this article please visit my site : The Ultimate RC Resource Site

For those of you who have been racing your RC cars for years, and have a friend or two who you have been trying to get out to the RC tracks, this article is for you. Feel free to forward it to them.
For those of you who are fanatical bashers, and have avoided racing your rc cars at the local track, hear me out, because I have 5 great reasons you should take a run at it.
1) Hanging out with other RC car enthusiasts- You will absorb new ideas on how to keep your RC cars running at peak performance, just by hangin' out in the pits. Not all of them will be good, some could even do more harm than good. but if you are careful who you listen to, you can learn some terrific stuff that will make your ride handle better, run faster, and be more durable.
2)The game within the game- Its not just about racing, and being first in the heats (altho, that is a huge thrill) but its also about pushing the limits of your RC cars, and fighting agianst the track itself in a measureable way. When your bashing, you don't really get a precise way of knowing how fast your vehicle is. When you race, you will actually know to the millisecond what your vehicle, limited by your driving skills, can do.
3)By being at the tracks, you get to see the latest RC technology in action- You can go to the hobby stores and look at boxes of RC cars and buggies all you want. But if you really want to see what a Hot Bodies Lightning Pro or an XRAY T1'FK05 can do, there is no better, and cheaper, way to do it than hang out at the tracks. You get an even better idea when you race against them.
4)Making new friends- Not that you need new friends, but it's great to have a friend who knows RC cars tips and tricks. Someone you can ask questions, or bounce ideas off of. Or catch rides to the track when your full scale car is in the shop.
5) Just like when your bashing and you finally nail that jump you set up in your backyard, mastering a track is a total rush- Everyone will tell you when you first start racing rc cars, just try to do crash free laps. Isn't that essentially what you are doing in your backyard?
Why not take your Monster truck to the track, and do some racing, and see if you can handle the track's jumps and rhythm sections? I bet it will be months before you have a crash free lap. Howse that for a challenge?
If you have put off racing rc cars because it looks intimidating, your worried you will make a fool of yourself, or smash up your car or buggy, or piss off someone by smashing THIER car up... well, your right!! All of that can happen!
In fact, when I first started racing my RC cars, I made every racing mistake there is. I embarassed myself, I smashed my poor little car up, I was totally confused. Frankly, I didn't have much fun.
But, I fought through it, learned from my mistakes, got some great advice, and now I enjoy every weekend at the track. I strongly suggest you give racing a chance. I think it's the best way to enjoy your RC cars hobby.

Believe it or not, Nikko is the manufacturer of the largest radio-controlled vehicles in the whole world.

What Nikko is

Nikko is the manufacturer of radio controlled toys and is a global producer of high quality RC products. Due to the fact that Nikko has its own factories, they effectively control, ensure and monitor quality in every product they produce.

Quality, quality, quality

Nikko is also one of the very few manufacturers of radio-controlled vehicles that provide customer service to its consumers. Every product that Nikko produces is tested individually for durability and quality in order to assure one hundred percent satisfaction to its customers. Also, Nikko RC products are covered with a warranty for sixty days.

Nikko product awareness

As much as possible, buyers should also be wary and aware of products that are mere imitations prior to purchasing. Believe it or not, Megatech spends sufficient time in ensuring that consumers receive the best and durable highly-performing products.Nikko products are generally tested carefully and the packages are specifically sealed with the Megatech quality seal.

Warranties etc.

There have been changes made lately; products by Megatech that are bought on the internet, (Yahoo or eBay etc.), are actually void of warranties. Also, any Megatech products that are purchased from hobbytron.com do not offer any repair warranty.

An example of a Nikko product

One product of Nikko is the RC Nissan 1/10th z turner with battery and charger. This particular product is able to steer exceptionally well and in a responsive manner; in the right or left direction, as well as back and forward easily. This Nissan as made by Nikko is orange in color and has windows that are tinted. A 9.6 volt battery pack is included as well as a nine-volt battery.

Nikko product features

Other features of this Nissan RC vehicle is its turbo extra boost that allows it to drive in a speed that is faster. It also has four drifting bonus tires included. It has working headlights, spinning wheels, front adjustable wheel alignments, suspension in the rear and front. Believe it or not, it also has a body that resists impact and a gear differential much better traction.All in all, Nikko remote-controlled cars and products are oriented towards quality and in efficient and consistent service to its various consumers.

About the Author :

The above article was written by Nicole Steffanson on behalf of Baby Gift Station, a Pet Gifts, Personalized Pet Gifts, Paw Prints Gifts for Pet Lovers and other pet gifts and baby gifts store.

The world of the RC car, can be an exciting one indeed, and it seems more people than ever are enjoying the power, speed and excitement that only radio controlled cars and trucks can provide. Many of us of course may remember those radio controlled cars and trucks we played with as children, and we may have fond memories of running those vehicles through the house, perhaps chasing the family dog, or the kid sister. For one thing, hobby quality radio controlled cars and trucks are quite a bit faster than those toys you may remember from childhood. Many electric powered radio controlled cars can reach speeds of 40 mph or more, while some of the best nitro powered RC cars boast top speeds of 70 mph or more right out of the box. With speeds like this it is easy to understand why RC car and truck racing has become such a wildly popular sport. For many enthusiasts, racing RC cars provides all the fun and excitement of racing full size cars, without the significant risk and expense of the more dangerous sport.Many RC car enthusiasts also love the fact that radio control cars and trucks are nearly infinitely customizable and upgradeable. Many manufacturers feature parts which are easily swapped out between models, making it easy to upgrade the engine, the transmission, the suspension and other important parts very quickly. Radio controlled cars and trucks come in two basic varieties