Comparing an RC Truck to a Real Off-Road Car

(Photo courtesy: Jen, contact: jen@blogondirt.com)

Deciding to buy an RC truck is no different from buying an actual off-road car. I’ve been a huge fan of RC toys from an early age. After college, I decided to buy a real off-road ‘monster.' Interestingly, even though the RC trucks are imitations, they share similar features with the actual models. Some of these also helped me in settling on the best off-road car. Because of the experience I had with remote control trucks while growing up, I could ask about suspensions, tire sizes, and models as well as other vital features.

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, below are just some of the related features that you’ll come across:

Ground Clearance

RC trucks usually have large areas of ground clearance to give them room for handling all sorts of obstructions. These include debris, rocks and other barriers that may encounter during their off-road course.

As I was buying my off-road car, I made sure that it had proper ground clearance. Of course, real off-road trucks will come with many improved features. Even so, I found that my experience with handling the RC trucks gave me an edge in getting the car with an excellent ground clearance!

Suspension

Real off-road cars have more massive amounts of suspension travel, softer shock springs, and more significant shocks to handle those larger bumps. Even so, I notice that the manner in which these features are accurately replicated in RC truck is quite shocking! The best RC trucks ensure that you can jump on rocks and move past them like a pro monster truck driver!

Tires and Wheels

RC trucks have smaller tires with narrow widths and low rolling resistance as compared to the real models. In spite of this, they move and behave like the actual off-road cars. How do they do this? Well, I found that their larger tires give them more aggression and support in the off-road environment.

Such a similarity is standard in all Off-road trucks. I discovered that even in the real model, you’ll want an off-road car that handles, mud, dirt, sand, other different conditions while still keeping you safe.

Gearing

Real off-road trucks are usually geared to handle extreme road conditions such as climbing rocks and other rough terrains such as mud, gravel and even sand. Most of these models are equipped in a way that gives them better power and acceleration. These are features you’ll also find in remote control trucks which even climb and jump rocks. These were features that I gave close attention to before I decided on the best vehicle to buy.

Engines

In different cases, the larger RC trucks have better and greater nitro engines commonly known as big blocks. Personally, this makes sense as they usually have to pull more weight. Even in the real models, it’s good to buy a truck with a powerful engine. I like my engine because it has the power to handle more rolling resistance in all off-road conditions. 

Article written by Jen. All rights reserved,