Essential gas powered remote control car info

Gas Powered Remote Control Car Explained
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The main thing that makes a
gas powered remote control car

different from electric cars is the engine. A gas powered remote control car runs off a nitro fuel powered 2-stroke engine. Much like their 4-stroke counterparts, these gas powered rc car engines have a carburetor, intake, exhaust, and cooling block.

We wont get into the specific workings of a 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke engine here, but we will go over the main parts of a 2-stroke engine that a radio control hobbyist will need to understand.

The carburetor is the part of the gas powered remote control car engine that mixes the fuel and air before sending them on to combustion. The mix created by a carburetor can be fine tuned for specific proportions depending on how much air you want to run in with the fuel. Running a high mix of air to fuel is called running a lean mixture, while running a high mix of fuel to air is called running a rich mixture.

Running an engine on a lean mix of air and fuel can result in a higher performance output, but if you run it too lean you will starve the engine of the necessary lubricants in the fuel. These oils found in the fuel are the only means a 2-stroke gas powered remote control car engine has of lubricating its engine parts. This lack of lubrication will cause the gas powered rc car engine to burn hotter and most likely shorten its life.

On the other hand, running a mixture too rich will deprive the engine of the fuel necessary to maintain the temperature needed for combustion. Getting this mixture at the desired level is what tuning a carburetor is all about. It is an acquired skill and depends mainly on what performance you want your gas powered rc car to achieve and what mixture of fuel you are using, but learning this skill is definitely worth the effort to the serious gas powered remote control car enthusiasts.

What happens when the carburetor finishes its mixing and sends the fuel and air mixture to be burned? First, the pistons pressurize the fuel in the engine. Then the pressurized fuel crosses paths with a part of the engine known as the glow plug. This glow plug is much like the spark plug of a 4-stroke engine. It is responsible for heating the pressurized fuel and causing it to combust. The burning of the fuel continues as long as it has air and fuel to feed it. The gas powered rc car engine then has the power it needs to turn this combustion into an energy transfer to the mechanical parts of the car.

This is a really simple overview of how a gas powered remote control car works. But its important to know the basics of your car so you can make the right decisions when it comes to how to tune it and how to care for it so that it provides you with many hours of fun. After all, it isnt supposed to be all work, is it?