Radio-controlled cars (or RC cars for short) are miniature model cars, vans, buses, trucks or buggies that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter or remote. The term "RC" has been used to mean both "remote controlled" and "radio controlled". "Remote controlled" includes vehicles that are controlled by radio waves, infrared waves or a physical wire connection.
RC cars are powered by one of the three energy sources - electricity, nitro fuel or petrol. Electric RC models are powered by small but powerful electric motors and rechargeable nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride(NiMH), or lithium polymer (LiPo) cells with the former two being the most used. Both NiMH and LiPo have advantages and disadvantages in various RC applications where NiMH is mainly used for recreational and LiPo for more demanding purposes (including racing).
There are also brushed or brushless electric motors - brushless motors are more powerful, long lasting and efficient, but also much more expensive than brushed motors.
Nitro powered models use glow plug engines, small internal combustion engines fueled by a special mixture of nitromethane, methanol, and oil (in most cases a blend of castor oil and synthetic oil). These are referred to as "nitro" RC cars.
Nitro fuel can be dangerous and cause complications like cancer if ingested and can cause blindness if in eyes.
Exceptionally large models, typically of scale 1:5, are powered by small gasoline engines, similar to string trimmer motors, which use a mix of oil and gasoline.
Electric cars are generally considered easier to work with compared to fuel-driven models but can be equally complex at the higher budget and skill levels. Both electric and nitro models can be very fast, although electric is easier to upgrade and more versatile.
In both of these categories, both on-road and off-road vehicles are available. Off-road models, which are built with fully functional off-road suspensions and a wide tire selection, can be used on various types of terrain. On-road cars, with a much less robust suspension, are limited to smooth, paved surfaces. There are also rally cars, which fall somewhere between on-road and off-road and can be driven on gravel, dirt or other loose surfaces. In the past decade, advances in "on-road" vehicles have made their suspension as adjustable as many full scale race cars, today.
