How to Determine Speed

How To Calculate

Determining the actual speed of your RC vehicle is a frequently desired item. There are several different methods of arriving at this figure.

The first and best way to find out the speed of your truck would be if you knew someone who had a radar gun. Using the same method as the police do, your truck's speed could be read by the radar gun. However, many do not have this method at their disposal, so they must fall back to a few other methods.

Another possible method would be for someone with a speedometer, whether it is on a bike or a car, to follow alongside your truck at the same speed it is going. The speed they see on their speedometer should be your speed as well. You should use this method with extreme caution, as a wrong turn could end up with damage to your RC vehicle as it runs under a moving car.

The last method would require marking off an accurate 100 foot section of a parking lot or driveway. Have your truck cross the first line at full speed as a friend starts a stopwatch. Then have him stop the timing as it crosses the second line. Make sure you are running full speed between the two lines the entire time, and do not try driving and timing yourself if you want accurate results. Make several passes and keep a list.

When taking the list to convert it to speed there's a couple of different methodologies that can be used. I personally prefer to average the times together, while others choose the best time. I feel like the average is more accurate as the person timing may anticipate too much at times and give a slightly faster result. Using an average will even this out. Whichever method you choose, take the time and divide it into 68.18 to get your speed.

You could also use your yard for the 100 foot timing area, but since you're probably going to want optimum conditions a smooth paved surface would be best.

Part One:	How To Calculate
Part Two:	Speed Calculator