07/09/2026
St Ives Radio Control Car Club Vintage RC Festival 2026 is on THIS WEEKEND 12-13th of September !! The same club hosted the 1989 IFMAR 1/10 Off-Road World Championships in St. Ives, Australia, where Masami Hirosaka drove the groundbreaking RC10 “Stealth” car to victory. Happy RC motoring 😃.
Another lap of the sun is nearing completion as we approach the 2026 St Ives RCCC Vintage Festival on the 12th -13th of September.
It’s awesome to see people already gearing up and getting their cars ready in anticipation, quite a few have already started attending St Ives club days for some practice and to fine tune their buggies.
Over the last year we have been busy behind the scenes working on ways that we can improve the Festival and all of our Vintage events for that matter. This years Festival will see the implementation of some changes and additions.
First up is our motor change in Vintage 2wd and Vintage 4wd. We will be moving from the Tamiya Torque Tuned motor to the new G27 based NeebRC 27t motor (the Kyosho G27 will also be allowed, however due to the cost we are concentrating and encouraging the NeebRC 27t variant). This change is being implemented to improve competitive fairness and also help reduce the ever increasing costs of RC racing. We looked at various motors, stacking up their pros and cons, brushless vs brushed, faster vs slower, cheap vs expensive and all the signs pointed towards this new motor.
The new motor has already been trialled at St Ives club days and the last 12hr enduro. The more conservative gearing of the Enduro saw a smaller difference in top end speed between the two motors, and this variance was negligible towards the end of the race as the TT motors approached the end of their competitive life, however the NeebRC 27t motor was rock solid! Maintaining extremely consistent performance, negligible heat even after ½ hr stints, brushes and comms appeared brand new after the abuse and the gearing window was wide and very forgiving. During our Club day testing, the motors are noticeably slower on the straight, the TT’s 23t armature obviously has a clear advantage when comparing new motor vs new motor and the taller gearing that is associated with 5min racing, however, this advantage is reduced as the day rolls on and the TT motor loses its edge. The main difference is the NeebRC 27t won’t need to be replaced for the next meeting, unlike the TT. The internal fan on the new motor is a huge advantage keeping the comm and brushes cool, giving the motor an amazing lifespan and not requiring an external fan, which is a blessing for the 2wd guys.
The cost is extremely affordable at under $15 and readily available on AliExpress, with two months until the Festival, now is the time to buy and test them in your car.
Another change is the introduction of a new demo class Evo-Mod 4wd. We have been trialling this class on club days and also at the recent 12hr, a lot of fun was had by all involved. It’s a bit of a twist on a rolling timeline for vintage classes, as Outlaw can’t be extended due to the parameters that create its current era restrictions. This class is a good way for some of us that have 4wd’s made between 2010 and 2016 to dust them off and get them on track for some fun. The 17.5 motor is a great speed for this era providing plenty of speed in a well handling car, this combo makes for some fantastic battles on track. Although I don’t consider this class a true vintage class, I do think it could be a good inclusion for the Festival, so we will see how it goes this year.
I have given the Guidelines a bit of a spruce up this year, with an attempt to bring them inline with the recent Enduro guidelines that I’ve done. I’ve tried to make them simpler to follow, with each class having its buggy eligibility list directly under the class’s description, so you can read through the description and immediately see what buggies you can run and what motor is required. Please take the time to go through the guidelines thoroughly and be sure you familiarise yourself with its contents. It outlines everything you need to know about the Festival.
Entries are not open yet and we don’t have a fixed date for this yet. However, you will give you all plenty of notice.
It's time to get excited!!!
