"What tips can you offer for running in cold weather?"

For running in the snow I use big paddle tires for the rear wheels on my RC10 GT. These grip nicely and when there has been a dusting of fresh snow, the rooster tail coming off these tires is just plain awesome!


Running in Canada can get quite cold, sometimes to -40 (-28 for you U.S. guys). We use tire warmers to "pre-heat" our engine heads and get them warm enough to start. If it is too cold, it can make the parts too brittle to use, but I have found that -15 is safe (BFT!!) As well, the salt they lay down to help clear the roads can wreak havoc on all your metal parts, and CV drives. Do your self a favour, and remove the electronics and engine (where applicable) and hose that beast down well and use a hair dryer to dry it right away. This has kept my BFT clean and running like a dream since November, no broken parts, no mishaps.


spend the whole winter adding hop-ups so that you have the trickest car at the track, or buy a snowmobile.


5wt thinner oil and get rid of the graphite parts, they get brittle and snap easily in the cold.


well for good traction you should use tires that are for cold surfaces


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when its cold u need to get tryes with a bit more grip but that's all


Tire grip depends on the temperature. An increase in temperature means an increase in grip. To a point. After this point an increase in temperature means a decrease in grip. This is called the temperature sensitivity of tires. The tires grips best at a special temperature, this varies from tire to tire. What is the same for all tires, is that this point is difficult to reach in the cold at this time of the year. So all you have to do is suit your driving style in a way that heats the tires up. And set up your car that it is very hard to your tires and heats them up. If you reach this, everything is o.k. If not, then it could be that the temperatures of the tires are so low that the tires lose their elasticity and get hard and inelastic. On a car this point is reached when the air temperature is below 8°C. Then it is time to change to winter tires which are beginning to get elastic a little bit over this temperature. I hope this helps, I am not sure whether you can understand it cause my english is bad. Good luck and have fun.


Make sure you let your nitro car warm up first.


get tire warmers and warm them up before a race, bring along a blow dryer and preheat the head of a nitro motor before starting it...it will make it easier to start...


Dress warmly.


Hi, Use a hair dryer and blow the engine with warm air for a min or so. This will help the engine start-up. -- elnino


(Nitro) Get correct tires. stay away from Ice. preheat tires before running. wear gloves. (iceatomers) Keep fuel in warmer place. (Electric) Leave car in cold with out batt for cad Leave ni-mh out in cold. Colder engines perform better. cold ground has less grip most of the time.


Dress warm and keep those pack discharging..they make good hand warmers!


gas cars-- give them time to warm up


Tune your engine to leaner for cold weather.


run a higher nitro fuel, keep it in your warm car.


To Start you car in a warm area so that it starts up easer


TRY TO HAVE A HEATER AND STAY WARM BY HAVING A TENT AND A PORTABLE HEATER. TAKE ONE THING AT A TIME-aLAN


I don't really have any tips I would just run it in the cold weather because I don't see why you can't.


Don't over lean the engine just because its cold!


Take the first couple of laps easy, it will lengthen the tire use and your car will push with cold tires. The first laps warms them up.


I have seen many using foil tape ( normally used for duct work in houses) to wrap their heat sink to keep temp in the engine


Dress warm and make sure you use shock oil that does not change it's consistency during cold or even hot weather.


Hello, My name is Roy Selis I live in Stavanger, Norway and here we sometimes have minus 19C which is VERY cold and I run my Savage 25 in this weather with a lot of oil in the fuel 4-5 times on the high speed needle and full almost on the low speed needle. Hope this helps.


I don't know about nitro, but for electrics, take it easy. Don't try long distance jumps and WFO powerslides, anything that kicks up a lot of snow into the car. Straight line burnouts should be OK, and slick ice patches can be fun. Always run with the body and have a hairdryer ready when you come back inside. And stay away from salty roads (your aluminum parts will thank you) -TheMissile


keep your ESC well covered, condensation, or even snow, are your arch nemesis


don't run it at all-- the plastic will become very brittle and will break more easily than it running in normal temperature.


Run lots of droop and warm up your tires to the fullest. If nothing comes to mind and you don't have any other choices, use a "drifting" style of driving. . . . Tony


It depends if humidity is high, if its low, go for a thicker needle settings, if the humidity is high, go for a thinner needle setting. - Jones


Use a heater on the drivers' stand.


keep batteries warm and charged.


Well, first of all it depends on how cold it is. If its 70 and lower you will probably experience the trouble of not being to get the car/truck started. To fix this you simply run a hair dryer over the header for about 10 minutes. this should allow you to start the car/truck.

Also, when you run your car as you know the tuning pipe gets very hot, this also makes the tubing up against it hot. The hot tube against the cold gas tank will eventually cause the gas tank to shatter. That is why you should try to find a piece of rubber or even some foam from compound tires and glue it between the gas tank and the tube.

One more little helpful hint, when your tank is very low the car will probably want to rev. Believe it or not this can blow the engine. First you check to see how much gas is in the tank after you've seen one of the signs of a low tank. What do you do? You simply stop the car/truck when you see signs of a low tank. signs of a low gas tank usually include the following: . revving . offset idling . offset settings

Sincerly, R/C racer of the NITRO TC3, and Nitro RC10GT. p.s. hope this info helped


if you are running a nitro you might want to put a smaller engine head heat sink.


Whenever running in cold weather always let the car warm up for about 30 seconds to a minute before giving it any throttle, usually it will stall if you don't. And always ease on to the throttle when first taking off, don't just slam it all the way down.


i run my car on the treadmill so the car gets warmed up, and use all plastic parts


Make sure you don't run in any frozen leaves or grass.


blow dry the car before and after. Do it before so parts don't break because when they get stiff they get cold. Do it after to just warm the car up. -Eric from New Jersey USA


Warm up your engine with a hairdryer before you are going to drive


run a little rich, and if it's "that" cold outside, find another hobby


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Here in Washington, we run outside (when it's not raining) in the winter--in temps ranging from the mid 40's down to the low 20's. When racing in these conditions, I set up my TC3 for maximum grip. The following is my best set-up yet--along with some general tips. -Sorex 24r w/HPI Orange inserts *on 26mm rims* #1 pistons with 50 or 60wt. -Silver springs (fr/r) -Stk tower on front shock tower -Shock mounting: *Front--inside lower, middle upper *Rear--outside lower, middle upper -R+3+O, F+2 -4deg Castor -Upper/Inner C-link (fr/r) -Batt. forward -Stock Ackerman, .100 bumpsteer -.5 fr. toe-out, -1 deg. camber (fr/r) -diffs (fr/r) *Standard chassis, supports (more flex) -Higher freq on speedo -Larger spur -High-down force, long/flowing body (i.e. 300m) -Use brakes (not simply "drag") Good luck! Brett Sisley


Do not Cut any Cooling holes in your body unless your engine or motor Overheats. You can also heat engines with a hair dryer or a heat gun to warm them up and make starting them easier


Make sure every thing stays dry-- put a balloon around your receiver


run the engine richer because the air is denser so the engine will get more horsepower, and u need to keep the engine form over heating


keep your engine warm by blowing it with a blow dryer, and if running in the snow cover it with saran wrap to keep the parts dry.


You may need a heatgun to get your motor to turn over (nitro)......Wear a jacket and thin gloves.....and like a turbo charged automobile..Electric motors like the cold......OH and hot-chocolate is also a must!


be more careful in cold weather, as parts are more brittle and can snap or break much easier. As for nitro engines, buy a shorter heat sink or wrap a aluminum sheet around a partial part of the heat sink to bring up the running temperature. Nitro engines like running at the same temperature all the time so be careful and watch the temp of you engine. seal up you electronics if you're going into wet areas such as snow. and Have fun!


Heat will dissipate faster in cold weather. You may be able to run a lower pinion/spur ratio or a slightly leaner nitro carb setting for those who push the edge. Wear gloves with the finger tips cut off so you still have the feel of the transmitter. Don't wear a Jacket with a large hood that can blow in front of your face at the wrong time and send you into the wall.


preheat, preheat and preheat.


Cover up the servo with a balloo


Don't hit stuff! Cold makes parts brittle, and you don't want to break anything. If you're running a nitro vehicle, make sure to retune the engine and possibly cover up some of the heat-sink fins.


heat the cooling head and then start your vehicle


when cold outside, the humidity jumps up. so lean your carb and let the weather cool your engine


first and foremost make sure the motor is tuned for that altitude cause I know when I travel for a race I have to tune my motor at different altitudes, and make sure you give the motor plenty of time to warm up


keep aluminum foil wrapped around the head of your motor


Your plastic and nylon parts will be more brittle, so be careful not to hit anything. And don't stand there shivering with your cold hands shaking the steering wheel, GET SOME GLOVES ON!!


run it rich, and always clean and oil the truck or car as soon as you finish


crank up your idle speed and run it a little richer than usual. Also if it is snowy ALWAYS waterproof your servos. I use balloons


For extremely cold weather (Minnesota winters) Overheating your electronics is not a problem. I actually put balloons over my electronics. Where the balloon is over the wire I take a string or rubber band and close the hole. This keeps moisture off the electronics. Snow tracks are really fun by the way.


Use a lighter shock oil.


Make sure you run a longer glow plug to increase temp of head. Also run higher % of fuel instead of 20% run 30% nitro fuel.


if you are running nitro , you may wanna start by covering the engine head with a napkin around it. Later after running the vehicle for a few speed passes , and reaching normal engine temperature, keep track of it, if engine starts to run colder than the temperature suggested by your engine manufacture , you may have to richen the fuel mixture about 1/4 of a turn on the high speed needle , you don't want to lean it , because the engine may not get proper lubrication. It is not suggested to run your car or truck if the outside temperature is 25 degrees or colder, because low temperatures may cause the servos to loose performance by starting to get slower, due to the cold temperatures.

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