RC car client specification

[Theo Cray]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a student taking a design class and one of my assignments is to design an electric RC car. It would be easy for me to make it for myself but I think it would be better to ask enthusiasts what  things they look for in an RC car.

 

I would be really grateful if you could give me some if your opinions on the following:

- What is the most important factor when buying an RC car?

- How important are the aesthetics to you?

- Do you prefer a sporty look or something more like a monster truck, or maybe any other shape?

- What layout do you prefer the remote control to have?

- Are there any problems in current RC cars on the market that you think could be improved?

- What is your prefered transmission and suspension in an RC car?

- What do you think about stunt RC cars?

- Do you mostly use RC cars for stunts or racing or for anything else?

- Do you prefer a pre-built RC car or one that you can build and modify yourself?

- What is your opinion on a model with interchangeable wheel types (normal wheels, omni-wheels, and tank treads could be swapped out on one model with a clipping mechanism)?

- How much damage would you expect the RC car to take?

- What is the avaerage life-span of an RC car?

- What price are you willing to pay for an RC car?

 

Thanks for your time, I don't expect anyone to answer all the questions, but I would be grateful for feedback. I don't have much knowledge on RC cars so I appologise if I got some things wrong. If you have any other ideas but I haven't asked a question relating to that topic I'd like to hear the feedback anyway; everything would be helpful.

 

Thanks,

Theo

[BlackSeaRC]

Hello Theo,

 

It sounds as if you have an interesting project.  There are so many different types of RC vehicles nowadays that you probably need to choose a specific area of interest and concentrate on that.  Otherwise you will get totally conflicting answers to the same questions.  The main priorities of one vehicle type will be completely different to another vehicle type.  For example, if you wanted an off-road high-speed large scale basher, the requirements would be completely different to that of an indoor mini scale-realistic drift car.  So my advice is to choose your specific niche and then the questions will be more refined and the answers more useful.

 

Consider these:

- What experience level will the product be aimed at (beginner/intermediate/expert)?

- Ready-To-Run, partially built or assembly kit?

- What is the budget/price range?

- How will the RC vehicle be used (on-road/off-road/indoor/outdoor)?

- Specific type of vehicle (on-road/off-road/racing/competition/heavy truck/big rig/construction/agri/industrial/military/wheeled/tracked/motorcycle/special)?

- What scale?

 

Answering these questions in your mind will allow you to focus on the real design issues.

 

Good luck,

BlackSeaRC.

[Theo Cray]

Dear BlackSeaRC,

 

Thank you very much for your response. I hadn't considered narrowing down the product to a specific sub-market so that was a big help for me. 

My assignment has restrictions for the budget, size, and speed, but not much else, so I will think about what you have said to narrow down the product as much as possible.

 

Kind regards,

Theo

[totlxtc]

- What is the most important factor when buying an RC car?

Quality and availability of spares/upgrades.
 

- How important are the aesthetics to you?

Somewhat. If it is a good product then can overcome looks.

 

- Do you prefer a sporty look or something more like a monster truck, or maybe any other shape?

Not a truck, truggy, MT fan personally. Off-road Buggy, Stadium truck and on-road is my preference.

 

- What layout do you prefer the remote control to have?

Pistol + wheel

 

- Are there any problems in current RC cars on the market that you think could be improved?

Not that I can think of. I welcome the internet as it opens up spares options rather than being limited to what my one and only hobby shop sells.

 

- What is your prefered transmission and suspension in an RC car?

Suspension = Coil over oil shocks. Anything that does not use ball diffs. I hate ball diffs (Thanks Tamiya)

 

- What do you think about stunt RC cars?

You talking about Arrma/Traxxis? I like them. Good fun.

 

- Do you mostly use RC cars for stunts or racing or for anything else?

Casual fun

 

- Do you prefer a pre-built RC car or one that you can build and modify yourself?

Depends what I want it for. Racing - Kit. I can set it up/upgrade it how I want. Casual - RTR but with options to upgrade.

 

- What is your opinion on a model with interchangeable wheel types (normal wheels, omni-wheels, and tank treads could be swapped out on one model with a clipping mechanism)?

I would question its durability personally. A lot of power can be transmitted to the wheels.

 

- How much damage would you expect the RC car to take?

A fair bit. But i'm not a crasher or heavy basher. I would expect it to last a fair bit before something broke.

 

- What is the average life-span of an RC car?

Depends how you drive it. How well you maintain it. Can last few weeks or a couple of decades.

 

- What price are you willing to pay for an RC car?

Basher £400. Racer £700

 

- What experience level will the product be aimed at (beginner/intermediate/expert)?

Intermediate

 

- How will the RC vehicle be used (on-road/off-road/indoor/outdoor)?

Off Road

 

- Specific type of vehicle (on-road/off-road/racing/competition/heavy truck/big rig/construction/agri/industrial/military/wheeled/tracked/motorcycle/special)?

Off-road/Racing/Onroad

 

- What scale?

1/10 or 1/8