slugsdaone

i am totally new to this hobbyand was wondering if anyone can tell me the pros and cons of nitro vs. electric rc cars ie. is one faster than the other ,more durable etc. etc.

R/C fan-addict

electric is easy to use and is very simple just pull the car out of the box charge up the batteries hook them up to the car and drive! electric is slower and less realistic than nitro usually but offers the ease of use and new comer friendliness

nitro is more complicated with all the extra stuff you need to buy, the break in, tuning, and the sheer power of nitro engines break parts more often so one must feel comfortable to do maittenance and occasionally take apart parts of the car to replace parts. Nitro is usually faster and is more realistic

electric is not so loud so you can drive it in populated areas without pissing off the neighbors

with nitro not so much

electric is also way less expensive than nitro because not only is the price of the car lower but also the cost of maintaining the car is lower without the need for fuel, after run oil, air filter oil, replacement parts, glow plugs, and equipment needed to start the car such as glow starters, receiver batteries, temp guage, failsafe...

E-snake

My Feedback: (2)

I'll give you the pros and cons, but most would say just to read threads. I have both so I know well.

Electric
Quiet
clean
slower than nitro (exception is brushless. Electric cars are capable of higher speeds than nitro, but this is very expensive. Nitro gives you the most speed for your buck)
Must recharge batteries.
short runtimes
wider range of scales (1/10, 1/8, 1/18, 1/24/28)
cheaper (usualy)
don't need to start an engine



Nitro

fast stock
loud
higher maintenance
usualy more expensive
must constantly tune the engine
rebuilding the engine is expensive and must be done after a few gallons.
long runtimes
usualy more torqy (1/8 scale mainly)
somtimes engine is hard to start


These are all I could think of


Ethan

NitroRunner

Ok, firstoff welcome to the hobby. Depending on who you talk to you will get different answers on which ones are better and what not, but i l give you the facts and you can decide. Nitro Pros: Longer runtimes than electrics, Faster out of the box speed, having a nitro engine scream past you lol. Cons: Messier than electric, more maintanance (depends on what kind of motors you run for electric) you should know a bit about engines before you get into nitro or you may be really lost.

Electric Pros: Virtually no maintanance, Quiet ( lol thats a con for me but...), clean, and can be fast, Cheaper than nitro in the long run cause you dont have to buy fuel every so often
Cons: Short runtime, 5-15 mins depending on setup, Takes alot of money to make them as fast as nitro, to have a good battery you pretty much have to make it yourself.

Personally im a nitro guy, but lately ive been starting to consider electrics. Its pretty much whatever you like... Screaming engines, the smell of nitro and highspeeds out of the box, or quiet, mantainance free but slower until upgraded.

Whatever you choose I hope you have fun with it! Good luck

loughbd

Welcome to the hobby. If you want to appear as an old hand at running model engines, use the correct term for them. The ones used the most in model cars are GLOW engines and run on Glow Fuel. Glow fuel is mostly methyl alcohol with about 20% lubricant and a small proportion of Nitro methane. Usually between 10 and 25%. All Glow engines use a GLOW plug for ignition hence the name. They will run on ZERO% Nitro methane and this fuel is called FAI fuel as it's the only fuel allowed in FAI events. No Nitro. Most of the fuel in Japan is 5% because of the cost and most European engines were designed to run on 0% for the same reason. You don't call them non nitro engines when they run on FAI fuel. Calling a Glow engine a "nitro engine" is like calling the gasoline engine in your car a "techroline" engine if you use Chevron gasoline. The term "nitro engine" was introduced by car makers because it sounded "sexy" . As most car guys were new to the hobby they started calling them nitro engines. Nitro?? Nitro what? NitroBenzene? Nitro glycerine? Trinitrotoluene (TNT) ? Nitropropane? Nitrocellulose? nitrostarch? Nitrous Oxide? Nitroethane? etc.

Back to the original question. Electrics by far are the cheapest and easiest. You haven't lived until you hear the sound of a glow engine overreved and the con rod breaking... rrrrrrrip snap!!! The little car engines cost a fortune and are so easy to destroy if you don't have a good handle on running them. Same problem with boats. Glow fuel that the car guys buy costs a fortune. It's the same stuff airplane guys use but it's packaged and sold as "nitro" fuel and you pay through the nose for it. Any good 20 to 30% glow fuel will work fine. Even 15% will work and the engine will last a lot longer. I ran as much as 50% in boat engines. The difference in speed wasn't all that much more than 20% and the engines lasted a heck of a lot longer. You could make up the difference in speed with reliability and driving skill. Buy airplane fuel by the gallon and save big bucks. You can get it as high as 60% nitro methane but it's not needed. Plugs will last a lot longer too.

Electrics are great. Charge battery. Set car down. Drive. The good ones go like hell. The neighbors won't ***** about the noise either. Gas is more exciting but expensive. If you are going to get into gas cars, find someone that knows what they are doing and talk to them. Better yet get them to help. The good guys are always happy to help a new guy. A good hobby shop is a big help too.

loughbd

Weird, R/Cuniverse will let you use"pissing off the neighbors" but won't let you use the "female dog" word. The one that starts with "b...ch

Doahh

RC10T4 Kit -$174
Feigao 6s Brushless motor -$70
Bk Warrior 7018 brushless ESC -$149
Futaba 3pm Radio with Servos - $130
Duratrax Intellipeak charger - $59
3, GP3300 7 cell battery packs @ $ 41.00 ea.

Top speed, 47mph, total cost $ 697.00

Comparison:

HPI Nitro MT2SS kit -$317.00
Glow Starter -$14
Futaba 3pm Radio with Servos -$130
1 gallon 20% nitro glow fuel -$23
Glow Plug -$4
Filler bottle -$6

Top Speed 46mph, total cost $494.00

So, an electric kit, with comperable radio and comperable performance to a nitro kit, you will cost about 30% more. But that cost evens out over time, with the consumption of fuel with every run.

Conservatively, a battery can be charged and discharged 200 times, without loss of performance. That means you can get 600 runs for your investment, before you have to replace the batteries.( unlikely, but used as a point of comparison )

1 gallon of nitro @ 110cc per tank gives you 35 tanks per gallon. At $23 a gallon ( avg price ), you will exceed the total cost of the electric kit in just 9 gallons. That consupmtion of fuel also will only produce 315 runs, or HALF of what you can get from just 3 batteries.

The electric actually goes faster and after about every 3 gallons you have to have a rebuild on the engine (about $37) so that gets rid of one gallons price so now you have 8 gallons and a rebuild then 3 gallons later you have to rebuild ($74 total so far with rebuilds only) you get rid of 2 more gallons
So you really only have to run 6 gallons and rebuild the engine 2 times to excede the cost of the electric

R/C fan-addict

also electric start nitros also need stick pack batteries, chargers, and receiver batteries are such a good buy they should be bought with every nitro

slugsdaone

thank you guys for all your input.it has all been a big help.still not sure which way to go though.one last question...what is the fastest electric truck on the market now?

Wide Open

i have no idea. but just dont jump to the fastest, you may lose some in handling. years ago i had an associated rc10 electric, and it wasnt near the fastest ever, but it was easy to drive. also look for something simple that will be easy to work on. although if you do want somethihg fast, get a simple kit and put a brushless motor in in.[&:]

jg1501

fastest electic truck would be the associated t4 so long as u go brushless and have it geared right. BUT i run brushed and can beat guys who run brushless so it depends on the driver and gearing. yea with electic you do have to change packs. but if you have a good pack you can run for about 15 to 20 min. around 12 min you will be telling the diff in power though. if you wanna race and are just starting out i would say electric. best thing to do though is go to ur local track watch them race glow and electric and see what is right for u. then you will see which is more of a problem to have. and who ever says electric is less to mantain well there again it depends if u go brush less or not if u dont wanna work on it alot go brushless.

fastest_ntc3

Nitro

Pros:
fast out of the box
more bang for your buck
higher maintenance- most people enjoy working on their cars
attracts more attention than electric
more fun to drive- my opinion
you will enjoy it if you enjoy any type of motorsports
long run times=more fun
no need to worry about charging battery packs

Cons:
outdoor only
loud- can't drive in neighborhood
engine sometimes has tuning problems/won't start
messy- 2 stroke engine= fuel on the car
crashes are worst

Electric

Pros:
Clean
Silent
Can be driven indoors
Don't have to buy fuel
No engine= no engine tuning problems

Cons:
battery packs
not as fast as nitro out of the box
short run times
have to charge batteries

Nitro is generally faster than electric. As for durability, it all depends on the driver. The driver crashes the car, the car doesn't crash itself.

For the fastest electric truck question, it depends on the battery and motor combination in the truck. Also for racing on tracks, the truck needs to have good handling and be as constant as possible on jumps. Welcome to the hobby of RC and good luck.