Gas-powered RC engines are typically two-stroke single-cylinder engines that run on a fuel made up of nitromethane mixed with methanol and oil. They are relatively simple, powerful, and inexpensive. However, there’s a company out there called Cison that makes miniature versions of real engines, including a small-block overhead-valve V8 rather like something Chevy has produced for a long time and used in the Silverado 1500. Unlike the typical RC car engine, Cison’s V8 is four-stroke, water-cooled, runs on gasoline, and is expensive. That hasn’t stopped micro-engine enthusiast and YouTuber Johnnyq90 from dropping one in an RC truck. And it sounds downright glorious now that it’s ready to open up the throttle.
The Ultimate RC Car
Nitro RC car engines have heat sinks with fins around them for cooling, but the Cison V8 has a separate radiator tank for water cooling. The whole system wouldn’t fit in the 1:18 scale cars this writer used to race, but in a basic hobby rock-crawling truck like this, there’s room for the engine, the coolant tank, radiator, and what looks like a 120mm computer cooling fan. The exhaust pipe has no catalytic converter or muffler, so it’s a short, straight pipe all the way. It starts with a lovely burble, just like a full-size V8. But that’s not until the engine has an oil change.
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Like a regular old V8, the engine needs to be broken in and maintained. From what we understand, in this case, that involves smoke as the pistons seat themselves properly with the seals. This one is clearly broken in, but needed a little tuning to get it running well enough to get full power. Unfortunately, with the original short gearing in the truck, it only manages 18 mph – albeit getting there quickly due to the gearing and the engine’s torque. A single-gear nitro truck will do over 40 mph, but they also, as johnnyq90 points out, have high-revving engines.
We would love to see one of these in an RC road car, preferably with a two-speed transmission if Cison’s six-speed isn’t practical in a vehicle. With proper gearing and room to wind the V8 out, we could see what it can really do and properly appreciate that sound. In fact, it is horribly tempting to pull out the old RC gear and try and order a Cison V8 as a project. The only issue is that Cison V8 is far from cheap.
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An Intricate Working Model
Cison has a back catalog of micro-engines, including a wonderful flat-head four-cylinder, but the small-block V8 is a recent one and is designed to be compatible with RC cars. It comes as a kit to build for a hefty $2,099.99 price tag. For the engine only. If you want the radiator kit, that’s another $149.99, and the high/low range six-speed transmission is another $599. However, Cison bundles the full set of extras for $2,563.57 or an Ultimate Power kit for $3,240.16.
This writer’s experience with RC cars is that they are a great way of understanding and learning about vehicle dynamics, particularly when it comes to suspension. All the mechanics are parallel with full-size cars and infinitely adjustable. Much more adjustable than a real car that isn’t scratch-built for professional racing, but without the insane cost and possibility of injury. If you add that to a micro-engine based on a real V8, it becomes an incredibly detailed small-scale version of a real car. Albeit a cost-prohibitive one.
