RC Drift Cars
Getting started with RC drift cars
Successfully maneuvering a drift RC car is one of the most fun, exciting, and crowd-pleasing things you can do in the radio control car hobby. Though it looks challenging, drifting with RC drift cars isn’t all that difficult once you understand the equipment, surfaces, and control techniques that make it possible. Horizon Hobby offers RC drift cars for sale in kit form and ready-to-run that have been engineered especially for RC drifting. With the right modifications, some other on-road remote control cars can also be made into effective RC drift cars.
In case you don’t already know, drifting is moving your RC drift car through the curves and corners of a track by intentionally losing traction and sliding or skidding. It’s faster and certainly more dramatic than doing it the conventional way, steering nose-forward with all four wheels keeping their grip. The drift RC car driver purposely over-steers so the tires lose traction and the car starts to slide. Through a precisely timed sequence of braking, accelerating, and counter-steering, the driver then controls the direction of the slide and uses its momentum to maneuver the RC drift car quickly around the corner.
How do I choose the best drift RC car?
The type of RC car you drive plays an enormous part in how well you’re able to drift. You will not succeed at RC drifting with an RC monster truck or other heavy off-road RC vehicle with high-traction spiked or knobby tires. For the best results, you want to buy one of the RC drift cars for sale that was designed with drifting in mind. Most drift RC cars are electric powered and have a stiffer suspension and less ground clearance than the typical RC buggy.
What else should you look for when selecting an RC drift car? Make sure that you get a two-wheel drive drift RC car that has a rear wheel drivetrain. Four-wheel drive RC vehicles are intentionally engineered for high grip, and they generally weigh more than 2WD cars for additional traction. That’s precisely what you don’t want in an RC drift car! It’s possible to make a 4WD RC car drift, but it’s much easier with 2WD RC drift cars. Use the 4WD vehicles for other kinds of RC racing.
In addition to a 2WD drivetrain, you’ll want to make sure your drift RC car is equipped with a clean set of slick tires. Anything that will cause the tires to stick to the track surface will interfere with your ability to drift. Even a light tread pattern will make it difficult for the tires to slide well enough for RC drifting. When you find tires that work for you, pick up extra sets because you’ll be replacing the tires often. Drifting creates a lot of friction, and friction quickly wears down your tires. Brands such as Integy have tires specifically made for RC drift cars for sale.
The 1/10 scale, rear wheel drive Redcat Racing RDS RWD Competition Spec is a good example of a ready-to-run RC vehicle that has been designed from the ground up as an RC drift car. Its slick tires let you drift through corners effortlessly and with steady momentum. The chassis is made from lightweight carbon fiber and features numerous adjustments for improving drift recovery and responding quickly to direction changes.
The best RC drift cars for sale come with chassis that allow for many tuning options and modifications. They also feature suspension geometry that’s fully adjustable out of the box and include drift-specific spring and shock setups. With a little practice, you’ll be able to tune and upgrade your drift RC car to get the exact handling you want. Top your RC drift car off with your favorite scale body, and it will provide unbelievable realism in looks and RC racing performance.
More advice for succeeding with RC drift cars.
RC drifting has become so popular that many hobby shops have tracks made specifically for it. In some areas, groups of RC drifting enthusiasts have created their own RC drift clubs and set up their own tracks. The idea that special tracks exist underscores the fact that, to succeed at drifting, the surface you drive your RC drift car on is as important as the car itself.
If there’s no RC drift car track nearby, your best alternative is to look for a surface that’s as smooth as possible to drive on. Indoor floors, especially when varnished, are perfect for drifting. A driveway or paved surface may also work, as long as they’re really smooth. But even pavement can sometimes be too rough for successful drifting, and surfaces like gravel or soil will not accommodate RC drift cars well at all.
When in doubt, check with your local hobby shop and the drivers at your local RC car track or club. Most likely they can point you toward a good location for practicing with your drift RC car. You’ll probably find that other RC hobbyists who’ve mastered drifting will be eager give you advice and support. Take them up on it — you’ll learn a lot from their experience and will soon be sliding through those corners like a pro!
Getting started with RC drift cars
Successfully maneuvering a drift RC car is one of the most fun, exciting, and crowd-pleasing things you can do in the radio control car hobby. Though it looks challenging, drifting with RC drift cars isn’t all that difficult once you understand the equipment, surfaces, and control techniques that make it possible. Horizon Hobby offers RC drift cars for sale in kit form and ready-to-run that have been engineered especially for RC drifting. With the right modifications, some other on-road remote control cars can also be made into effective RC drift cars.
In case you don’t already know, drifting is moving your RC drift car through the curves and corners of a track by intentionally losing traction and sliding or skidding. It’s faster and certainly more dramatic than doing it the conventional way, steering nose-forward with all four wheels keeping their grip. The drift RC car driver purposely over-steers so the tires lose traction and the car starts to slide. Through a precisely timed sequence of braking, accelerating, and counter-steering, the driver then controls the direction of the slide and uses its momentum to maneuver the RC drift car quickly around the corner.
How do I choose the best drift RC car?
The type of RC car you drive plays an enormous part in how well you’re able to drift. You will not succeed at RC drifting with an RC monster truck or other heavy off-road RC vehicle with high-traction spiked or knobby tires. For the best results, you want to buy one of the RC drift cars for sale that was designed with drifting in mind. Most drift RC cars are electric powered and have a stiffer suspension and less ground clearance than the typical RC buggy.
What else should you look for when selecting an RC drift car? Make sure that you get a two-wheel drive drift RC car that has a rear wheel drivetrain. Four-wheel drive RC vehicles are intentionally engineered for high grip, and they generally weigh more than 2WD cars for additional traction. That’s precisely what you don’t want in an RC drift car! It’s possible to make a 4WD RC car drift, but it’s much easier with 2WD RC drift cars. Use the 4WD vehicles for other kinds of RC racing.
In addition to a 2WD drivetrain, you’ll want to make sure your drift RC car is equipped with a clean set of slick tires. Anything that will cause the tires to stick to the track surface will interfere with your ability to drift. Even a light tread pattern will make it difficult for the tires to slide well enough for RC drifting. When you find tires that work for you, pick up extra sets because you’ll be replacing the tires often. Drifting creates a lot of friction, and friction quickly wears down your tires. Brands such as Integy have tires specifically made for RC drift cars for sale.
The 1/10 scale, rear wheel drive Redcat Racing RDS RWD Competition Spec is a good example of a ready-to-run RC vehicle that has been designed from the ground up as an RC drift car. Its slick tires let you drift through corners effortlessly and with steady momentum. The chassis is made from lightweight carbon fiber and features numerous adjustments for improving drift recovery and responding quickly to direction changes.
The best RC drift cars for sale come with chassis that allow for many tuning options and modifications. They also feature suspension geometry that’s fully adjustable out of the box and include drift-specific spring and shock setups. With a little practice, you’ll be able to tune and upgrade your drift RC car to get the exact handling you want. Top your RC drift car off with your favorite scale body, and it will provide unbelievable realism in looks and RC racing performance.
More advice for succeeding with RC drift cars.
RC drifting has become so popular that many hobby shops have tracks made specifically for it. In some areas, groups of RC drifting enthusiasts have created their own RC drift clubs and set up their own tracks. The idea that special tracks exist underscores the fact that, to succeed at drifting, the surface you drive your RC drift car on is as important as the car itself.
If there’s no RC drift car track nearby, your best alternative is to look for a surface that’s as smooth as possible to drive on. Indoor floors, especially when varnished, are perfect for drifting. A driveway or paved surface may also work, as long as they’re really smooth. But even pavement can sometimes be too rough for successful drifting, and surfaces like gravel or soil will not accommodate RC drift cars well at all.
When in doubt, check with your local hobby shop and the drivers at your local RC car track or club. Most likely they can point you toward a good location for practicing with your drift RC car. You’ll probably find that other RC hobbyists who’ve mastered drifting will be eager give you advice and support. Take them up on it — you’ll learn a lot from their experience and will soon be sliding through those corners like a pro!
