Recat Tornado S30 Nitro Buggy
Ever felt like reviving a long lost hobby? I just did that lately with remote-controlled (RC) racing. Itís great fun plus a lot less risky than full-sized car racing anyway. Now the problem with getting started in this hobby is that these hot-looking toys donít come cheap. While shopping around one day, I found some large 1/5-scale models on sale, all costing over 500 dollars and upwards. Deciding I needed a better balance between my budget and performance, I looked around further. Fortunately, after some careful browsing, I was glad I bumped into this smaller 1/10-scale model: REDCAT RACING TORNADO ~ S30 NITRO BUGGY ~ 1/10 SCALE NITRO ~ NEW ~ ORANGE/ BLACK. Costing below 200 dollars, the fiery orange and black highlights on its front with a yellow back and its sturdy look pretty much caught my attention. Comparing this nitro-powered model with a few other electric-powered ones, I decided I was willing to go the nitro route and enjoy the fun of refilling the buggy with nitro fuel. So off I went with the S30 Nitro buggy, plus a Nitro Starter Kit and a quart of Nitrotane Race 20% fuel to boot, thanks to the shopkeeperís recommendations.
Opening up the package with excitement, this sturdy buggy seems to be slightly better than a basic entry-level model. Checking out the specs and parts, this buggy comes with a 3.0cc .18 engine with 2-speed transmission. That sure sounds interesting, I thought, like some scaled-down specs from the real thing, so itís high time to fix this buggy up and take it for a spin. Popping 4 AA batteries into the receiver, and another 8 into the transmitter, I installed the wing and the buggy was good to go. So I was glad that this buggy was really well packaged and easy to install. Fuel is fed to this little racer in a 75cc tank, with a handy spill guard as well to keep the body and your hands dry in case of spilling or overfilling.
Roaring up the Tornado S30 Nitro buggy, the 3.0cc engine really justified itself with a quick, sound acceleration, driving the 4-wheel drive steadily as the buggy raced ahead in its fiery colors, kicking up some gravel and dust along the road outdoors. Taking corners and braking were just as responsive too, with its ball joint suspension bouncing as the buggy navigates slopes and terrain. Common sense would tell you, please donít ram it head on into a wall or rock though. Other than that, it was great fun to see this buggy kick up some smoke on a more sandy and dusty surface.
Now after running for a day cross-country, I found that the 2-speed transmission could in fact be adjusted. Through some testing, I found it works best by setting it to shift at a higher rpm, since this fully utilizes the engine power. Setting it lower seems to make the engine lag quite a bit when shifting upwards. So onwards to my next outing, the Tornado S30 did a real fine job on RC racing tracks too. Whether itís a smooth plastic track or a sandy, desert-like one, its dampers performed superbly in negotiating corners and jumps. On a straighter road, this little buggy kicked into 2nd gear and maxed out at almost 40mph. Now, that is some mean speed from a little 3.0cc buggy, so if youíre looking for some good old RC racing fun on a budget, yet wanting a bit more pep than just the basic entry-level model, then the REDCAT RACING TORNADO ~ S30 NITRO BUGGY ~ 1/10 SCALE NITRO ~ NEW ~ ORANGE/ BLACK really fits the bill.
