1/18 Cars Info Advice & Rules
General info on 1/18 Cars
Since January 2002 the club has run a class for 1/18 cars, originally we raced 4wd touring cars (Micro RS4, Xray M18,) but this gradually changed to off road trucks and buggies, the intention is for fun racing, and to allow people to develop their driving and car maintenance by running a more sophisticated vehicle than the Mardave V12, and also add the fun and challenge of a bumpy course with ramps.
By Autumn 2005 almost all our 1/18 drivers have moved over to the Associated RC18 1/18 4wd off-road Trucks/Buggies, so we now generally have an off-road style circuit with jumps or obstacles - Micro drivers are still welcome, and we would ensure the circuit suited both (by having a chicane or similar around any jumps to give an on-road option).
Why do we now race 1/18 cars?
Purely for interest and fun. There is no question of us stopping racing Mardave V12s, as they are still amazing fun to race, tough enough for full contact racing which we all enjoy, and cheap enough for anyone to afford to race.
The intention is that some members wanted to try something new, and at 1/18 scale these 4wd cars are a lot of fun to build and race. Running on a small circuit layout means handling is more important, with ramps and obstacles which is a lot different to the rough and tumble of V12s. Car to car contact is not encouraged in the 1/18 class races, but due to close racing the cars still make contact from time to time.
Obviously due to their small size, we do not race 1/18 cars alongside the
bigger, more robust V12's, but with 4wd and low weight, they have
more grip and can manage tighter circuits, so we adapt our V12 oval
to have an inner section purely for the 1/18 cars, and add ramps and jumps as added off road style obstacles for them to negotiate.
What about Rules?
The intention is that the RC18 style trucks and buggies run as close to standard as possible, although reliability upgrades (wide bumpers etc), and simple home made modifications will always be allowed. See the 1/18 Rules section later on this page for details, or come and ask at the club as to what we would prefer you do or do not run on your car, as the rules may not always be up to date :-)
1/18 Advice & Guidance
- How do I get started?
- What upgrades will I need to race?
- How do I stop losing bodyclips?
How do I get started?
Firstly, we suggest you come along to one of our race meetings to
see the 1/18 cars, and how they run etc, before you rush out and
buy anything !
Once you have decided to go ahead, you will need:
A car - the RC18 Truck and Buggy come Ready To Run, so they include radio gear, battery and a 12hour slow charger. For racing you will need a 2nd battery, and unless you are happy to run in one heat and the final, you will also need a fast charger (so you can re-charge your battery between races)
You may also need a set of crystals so you can run on a channel which is not used by someone else, as the Trucks come on only 6 channels (solid colours, Blue, Green etc), there is a good chance you will be on the same channel as another car, so having a spare set (preferably a split colour ie blue/green), will mean you can race alongside the other trucks without any radio interference.
The front suspension of the RC18 Trucks/Buggies can get knocked, so we mostly run a wider front bumper (made by RPM), to protect them, also if you find your shocks leak or the spring clips pop out, then you can just unclip them, and put them on upside down (spring at the top)m, and this not only stops them leaking, but it also means the end clips can't get knocked off !! Its a free mod which takes about a minute to do, and saves a lot of hassle looking for lost end clips !
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How upgrades do I need to race?
Our intention with all our club racing is to make the racing as fair
and cheap as possible, so it is driving skill and preparation which
wins races, not chequebooks ! It is very difficult for us to keep up with rules for other types of car, so the general guidance is that we would prefer all trucks and buggies to be run as close to kit standard as possible, however reliability upgrades (stronger parts which give no performance benefit), or simple home made modifications will normally always be allowed - please check with a club scutineer before making any modifications to be sure that you will not be overstepping the line.
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How do I stop losing bodyclips?
The small bodyslips for the 1/18 cars are fiddly to remove, and easily lost, so I have attached them together with a loop of cotton thread. This not only makes them very easy to remove (you just pinch the cotton and twist and it pulls both clips out), but it makes it much harder to lose them, as they are attached together !
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Our general guidance and preference is to run all cars as close to kit standard as possible, however reliability upgrades (stronger parts which give no performance advantage such as wide bumpers), or simple home made modifications will always normally be permitted. Please check with our scutineer before buying upgrades or changing your car to check this will be OK.
The points will be scored across all finishing cars, with 18 points to the A final winner, dropping a point for each place through the rest of the finishers. FTD will gain 1 bonus point.
1/18 Cars - general rules
- Cars must be commercially available 1/18 model racing cars/trucks ie Associated RC18T/MT or similar. And must maintain the same layout, and basic configuration as the original kit car (ie if original kit is 4wd, car must always run as 4wd).
- Associated RC18T/MT trucks should be run as close to kit standard as possible, using kit or equivalent batteries, motors and tyres, although reliability upgrades which give no performance advantage (wide bumpers etc), or simple home made modifications are allowed.
- Rubber mini-pin tyres, as kit standard, are preferred (ASC21060 RC18T Mini Pin Tires on Wheels)
- Motor additives (ie com drops) are forbidden.
- Tyre additives are strictly forbidden.
- Any bodyshell may be used providing there are no sharp surfaces on the car which could injure a marshall (ie carbon front splitter, or excessively sharp edges anywhere on car.
