So, we hear from a lot of drivers asking "what pinion gear should I use with my [car name]??" It's always a tough question to answer because the right answer, of course, is "it depends."
It depends on the motor, it depends on the spur, it depends on the track, it depends on (for cars with foam tires) the tire diameter, it depends on the track layout...there are a lot of variables, some of which matter more than others. And, it's pretty tough for us, since we are not experts on every type of racing, to give good answers.
So, we decided to leverage the magic of artificial intelligence to help!
Our new RC Gear Recommender App uses AI to gather information about your car and your track, and then it gives an educated suggestion on which pinion gear you should start with.
It's currently tuned for electric on-road and off-road cars of 1/8, 1/10, and 1/12 scale, but we hope to add dirt oval and drag later on, and potentially drift.
The app has basic info already entered for many car models, but it will support just about any car model - just enter the scale, body type, drive type (2WD/4WD/FWD), and some other basic info, and it'll still give a solid recommendation.
Before using the app, please note:
- After your first run, please check your motor and ESC temperature! If they're running too hot, go ahead and use a smaller pinion
- Our recommendation is meant as a starting point - try it out, and then test other gears until you find one that suits your driving style and your track conditions
- Our recommendations are based on typical race cars in typical racing conditions - if your car is super heavy or you're racing on some crazy surface (I dunno, ice? sand? flypaper?) you're on your own
- Use common sense! We have tested the app, but we can't test every single setup and result, so if you get a crazy number, please report it to us, and DON'T use it.
- It's possible that our AI will achieve sentience and attempt to destroy humanity by giving bad pinion recommendations, so watch out for that, too.
The app is built for electric cars only, but if y'all think recommendations would be useful for nitro cars as well, let us know.
Hopefully, it's better than this: