R/C car guy

is electric cheaper than nitro? i am slim on money and i figure if electric is cheaper thatn nitro i can go electric instead of nitro. i have even heard people say it is better to start with electric instead of nitro. so if i start with electric i can get into nitro when i have the money. i actually have enough money to buy a nitro savage like i want but then i would have to spend more money on maintaning it. this wouldn't work becuase i want to save my money to buy a real car.

edit: i would be buying an e-maxx. unless someone has a better suggestion

Mopzilla

Electric is more expensive than nitro in touring cars, but it's about the same here. For the e-maxx you still need two stick packs (going cheap, will cost $30) plus a charger ($30 to $50). But knowing that you want to run more than just 10 minutes at a time, you would buy two more packs, for another $30.

So in the end, they are both pretty much the same.. in the same time that you would have finished those one or two gallons, you might have upgraded to better battery packs.

vtl1180ny

Initially electric can be more expensive but it's cheaper in the long run... It's all going to depend on what batteries you chose and the charger to charge them... It's also much more forgiving, especially if you have no experience tuning a nitro engine... Another though is where you're going to store the fuel and the truck... Nitro makes a major mess... With Brushless and LiPo batteries getting more abundant and cheaper Nitro are going to lose their top speed and runtime advantage...

R/C car guy

how fast would a brushless motor actually be able to go in an e-maxx? and how much longer is the runtime?

**MilkMachine**

about 50-60mph in a E-Maxx
If you have 2 3300 cells it will be about 10minutes

Mopzilla

At this time, I mean right now, nitro is probably a little cheaper, with more bang for the buck. To store a nitro truck, all you have to do is empty out the fuel tank (unless it's already empty), put in some after run oil, and just put a cap over the exhaust tube. Any dirt, grime, oil etc on the wheels and suspension follows the same cleaning routine as any electric truck. Nitro really doesn't make a major mess... Definately not a bigger mess than if you were going to run your emaxx through the dirt. If everything is built right, and all major connections are sealed... then it's just another way of transmitting power to the wheels.

LiPo batteries are getting more abundant, but they are still expensive!


Also, two 3300 packs will cost you around 75-80 dollars! Is it worth it for 10 minutes?

vtl1180ny

I'm a big proponent of newbies starting out electric anyway...

nagata

Well, I spent just a little over $400 getting into nitro (XXX-NT RTR, fuel, fuel bottle, glow plugs, glow plug ignitor, etc), and then spent probably another $100 for on-road tires and rims, a 4-way wrench, and some other misc. stuff. With my electric RS4 Rally, I've probably spent close to $600 already...and I don't know how much I really like it yet. I'm thinking I might end up pulling all the electronics off, selling the rolling chassis and body, and buying a XXX-T or RC10T3...We'll see.

**MilkMachine**

In my opinion. Nitro is more expensive. I mean sure 33000 batterys are 2 for 85.00! But you can recharge them! THink if yo were to spend 120.00 on 3 3300 batters and get a good 13min. run time over time it will add up. If you have to buy fuell its 22.00 for a gallon. Buy 5 gallong its equal! Then you have most engines die out after there 10th gallon. and you have to buy a new engine. And then you have the major speeds and the major crashes because of those major speeds. When you think about it Nitro is cheaper. But in the long run Electric is cheaper.

nagata

I got 5 months worth of running out of 1 gallon of fuel with my XXX-NT. Granted, if I had run daily, I wouldn't have gone that long on one gallon. However, batteries wear out and die over time also. Then you're stuck shelling out another $40+ for a new, high quality battery. Hopefully that won't happen quickly, but it's another thing to think about. IMO, they're about evenly matched if you want mid-range performance in either category. If you just want a cheap car to drive around and not really car about, I'd say a low end RTR electric will definitely be cheaper and less hassle. Wait, I'm just repeating what's been said numerous times...Do a quick search, you'll find lots of opinions.

gmac4826

Initially it is about the same, maybe electric is a bit more.

However, if you plan to upgrade your electric you are going to find that it is alot cheaper than nitro. For example, a TOP OF THE LINE modified motor is about 90 bucks. A new engine can run you $200-$275. There is no exhaust system on a electric to upgrade. Theres 20 bucks right there. Also, there are many other things such as air filters, clutch shooes/bells etc. that are exclusive to nitro. And nitro requires you to be somewhat mechanically inclined.

NitroNoob

I got both the Electric TC3 and Nitro TC3, electric only cost slightly more. The list doesnt include extra hop ups or or extra equipment, but only what are needed to run the cars. Prices are in Canadian. Hope it helps.

electric TC3 Factory Team kit
$420 chassis
$450 M8 radio
$220 Novak Cyclone ESC
$150 Duratrax digi charger
$270 3 race pack batterries
$150 Futuba coreless servo
$100 Reedy TI motor
$30 body
$1790 TOTAL

Nitro TC3
$400 chassis
$450 M8 radio
$220 Mugen MT12
$150 Duratrax Digi Charger (for charging my sport packs)
$150 Futuba coreless servo
$70 Futuba th/br servo
$90 AE starter box
$50 2 sport pack batteries (for starter box)
$15 glow plug starter
$30 body
$30 fuel
$15 fuel bottle
$5 foam filter
$1675 TOTAL

dbow

My Feedback: (1)

Some great perspectives and info in this thread.

My opinion is that it boils down to how far you want to go with either one. If you want to run the best packs, be fast with low turn motors etc. Electric will be a substantial more expensive, the top notch equipment for battery charging, matching and such alone is more expensive than any basic nitro setup I have seen. Then the maint. and accessories for the motors (comm) is not cheap either.

Nitro also can be expensive but in the touring slot it is not as expensive to go as fast as electric, you dont need all the charging gear to match packs and all that yahoo.

Of course if you were going to grab a maxx and outfit it with aluminum and all the upgrades you certainly could throw away a small down payment on a house....lol

If you just wanted the basics then I think both are probably about equal or close in cost and such. Like I say it just depends on where you want to go with the hobby.
For some of us that changes when we get into it, and you end up with the big credit card bill.

Dbow

R/C car guy

i plan on just bashing and maybe a little racing once in a while. racing just doesn't seem like it would be as much fun but i will probably try it and possibly like it. i want to have pretty high performance stuff but it doesn't have to be the best.