What Motor Should I Use In My RC Car?

The RC Car and Radio Control Racing Web Site

WHAT MOTOR SHOULD I USE?

I have two comments to make about the speed of a motor.

First, there is only one straight away on most tracks and nobody wins on the straight away. I've seen many people drive with excessively fast motors only to crash many times per lap because they cannot handle the power. There is not much point in saving 3 tenths of a second per lap with a faster motor in the straight away if you are going to crash 4 times causing you to loose 12 seconds. Pick a motor that best fits your driving style but keep the infield in mind. I'd say more than 90% of your lap time is from the infield section so try to keep this section fast and forget about the straight away. Anyone who passes you on the straight away is sure to crash within the next few turns (If they don't then they are good drivers and are ready for the fast motor they are using).

Second point, this is more of an advanced race tip and it will sound like I am contradicting what I said in my first point but if you read it carefully you will see that I am not. Your car will only go as fast as you pull the trigger (or push the stick) so you can put a super fast motor in the car and only use what you need. This is very hard to do as you need a lot of self control but if you can learn to do it you will become a much better driver. I personally over power my cars but I stay in the 3/4 throttle range for most of the race. When I need a little more power to pass a person or clear a triple, I juice it! I'm not recommending that you put an 11 turn in your car so that you can smash the wall faster than the competition, I'm just saying that you should be controlling the car instead of the car controlling you. I hear too many people say that their cars are over powered when it is their fingers that are over powered. Try installing a really fast motor in your car but only drive at 1/2 throttle (you will still go fast because the motor is insanely fast to begin with). Every once in a while pull the trigger all the way to see how the car reacts. Don't always drive at full throttle. As your driving skills increase you will only use the extra power when you need it and you will see your lap times getting faster and more consistent.

The simple answer to the question "What motor should I use?" is, there is no answer. It is up to you and your driving style to determine the fastest motor setup for your vehicle. The most important thing to remember is that fast drivers win races, not necessarily fast motors.

Let's take off a few tenths per lap,

"PRO"