Gas Remote Control Cars

The purpose of this website and this page in particular is to provide information on gas remote control cars. In addition to providing information on gas remote control cars in general and 1:5 scale rc cars and trucks in particular, we will look for the best deals from the best suppliers of gas remote control cars and trucks for you too.

Gas Remote Control Cars

Radio-controlled or remote-controlled (or R/C) cars are customarily classed as either of toy or hobby grade. Remote control vehicles are generally either one of two types: type one is where control of the vehicle is by radio transmission and type two involves control by a wire connecting the transmitter and the car.

RC cars are powered by various sources. There are electric cars powered by small but powerful electric motors and there are those powered by rechargeable nickel-cadmium, nickel metal hydride, or lithium polymer cells. There are also brushed or brushless electric motors.

However, until recently the most powerful model or toy RC cars used liquid fuel-powered glow plug engines, which are small internal combustion engines fueled by either a special mixture of nitromethane, methanol, and oil (in most cases a blend of castor oil and synthetic oil). These are called "nitro" cars by enthusiasts.

However, there is always a call for bigger and better and in answer to this call, recently, very large 1/5 gas remote control cars have been introduced. These 1/5 scale RC cars are powered by small gasoline engines, similar to small, domestic petrol driven grass cutter motors, which use a mixture of oil and gasoline. Electric cars are usually considered easier for the beginner to work with compared to fuel-driven models, although they can be equally as complex to use at the higher budget and skill levels.

Then, within both of those categories there are both on-road and off-road vehicles available. Off-road models are built with fully functioning off-road suspensions and can be used on all types of solid terrain. In contrast, on-road cars generally have a limited or non-existent suspension and are strictly limited to smooth, racetrack or paved surfaces.

Gas remote control cars have engines that are powered by petrol or gasoline. These RC cars are also known as "fuelies" or "gassers" and they run on a premixed mixture of gasoline and oil. These are the top of the range machines and often come in 1/5 scale these days.

However, this means that they cost a lot more (often up to $1,000–$3,000 ready to run or RTR) than nitro and electric cars. Because they are so much bigger, they therefore require much more space to run around on. However, they are invariably all-terrain vehicles, so space is usually not a problem.

To many people's surprise, despite their size and powerful engines, 1/5 scale gas remote control cars do not usually have high top end speeds, compared to nitro and some electrics that is, but have lots of power and do not take a lot of fuel to run.

This leads to the anomaly that over a fairly short period of time, the cost of 1/5 gas remote control cars, including running costs, can actually work out less than some of the nitro-powered vehicles, mainly due to the high cost of nitro fuel and the cost of replacing the far less sturdy nitro engines when they are worn out with new ones.

Furthermore, the 1/5 scale gas remote control cars rarely, if ever, require tuning and have a very long lifespan due to their rugged construction. These large 1:5 scale gas remote control cars have been popular in Europe since before the turn of the millennium.