My 75 Mph Hobby

nd a new hobby a few weeks ago; I wasn't lookingWe swapped stories and checked each
for one I just stumbled into it or more accuratelyother’s cars out and had great fun blasting
tripped over it. My sons Nitro racing car.round the track, I crashed a dozen times at least but
My new hobby is racing Nitro cars, what's a nitro car?luckily the car was built for abuse. Just like any car
It's a remote controlled car with a tiny engine thatracing we discussed horsepower and tuning, brakes
runs on a mix of Nitro fuel, just like those drag carsand exhaust, tires and suspension and which is best
that go down the quarter mile at ridiculous speed till afor which occasion.
parachute pops out the back.And then I found out that nitro car racing is
My nitro car isn't quite so quick but it feels like it,worldwide and on TV!
when you have a model car doing 75MPH it looksStraight away I started daydreaming of Gran Prix
unbelievably fast and takes a lot of skill to corner andwins and huge trophy's with champagne magnums
even driving in a straight line can be tricky. My son'sand beautiful girls, on the podium at the number one
car took a few tumbles and was nearly squashed byspot and cheers from all.
a post office van, the perils of driving on the publicAnd then reality hit, no way would my wife let me
highway.fly to Japan to race a toy car. End of story.
I realized I would probably destroy my son's car so ISo for now I will just continue tweaking and tuning
bought my own. This wasn't cheap, these modelsmy engine and hone my driving skills, watch out
can cost up to £1100 but I spent aworld!
respectable £280 and received a tiny piece ofThere are lots of Nitro clubs and forums in the UK
racing magic! A quality piece of kit with incredibleand worldwide and online shops as well where you
detail and the sound of the engine and smell of thecan buy part upgrades and even fuel. Once you start
burning nitro were fantastic. It took a while to set upyou might find like me that this is an addictive hobby
and read through the manual but eventually I wasbut great if you are a bit of a 'petrol head' it might
ready.sound expensive at first but compare it to most
After a few days up and down the road trying tohobbies and you will find it's not that bad at all.
get the hang of the controls I ventured to myYou can also spend a lot of money on stamp
nearest race track, not a child in sight, the youngestcollecting or any ‘collecting’ hobby and
racer was in his early twenties and it seemed theI have a £600 mountain bike that has never
average age was mid-thirties, so I felt at home.seen a mountain.