Phatmat

hi, i have got two nitro cars and they are always having problems.

would you guys rather go for electric or nitro?

i was wondering, if i get a nitro buggy i know i can do burnouts and such, but wat about with an electric buggy? are they able to do the same things as the nitro cars? or do they have less power and speed?

thx! phatmat

discgolfer72

i have a nitro buggy and i hate it i run my elect cars way more
they are super wasy to ,mantain and yes elect can have as much if not more speed and power than nitro
my rc18 mt goes faster than any 1/18 1/10 scale nitro ever thought about going




elect also has on demand power
where a nitro has to spool up to move elect car has instant torque

Phatmat

so i guess elec is the go! thx.

can't wait to get my new elec buggy, think it will be awsome. i always thought that elec may be better.

phatmat.

(anyone prefer nitro?)

DaveG55

Of course some people prefer nitro. DUH

It's a personal preference. Both Nitro and electric have advantages and disadvantages. If you think all your problems are going to go away just because you get an electric vehicle, well, good luck with that. They just have a different set of problems. Also, discgolfer72 is right, electric can be way faster and quicker (if you understand the difference). What he didn't tell you is that most electrics are slower than nitro in stock form and getting an electric vehicle faster than a nitro can cost several hundreds of dollars. Oh, and the still break and strip gears and have their own set of motor and power supply issues too.

What I've never understood is how anybody can think that one is "better" than the other. They're just different, that's all.

I have several vehicles in both power sources and love them all. As a matter of fact I often take both out at the same time.

[]TEX[]

It depends on what you like.

Electric and Nitro are both great. Electrics can be just as fussy as Nitros, but the problems are quite different obviously.

I plan to run both and I think both styles have great qualities.

Nitro Fumes

I'll take nitro over electric any day. I never have trouble with nitro. But when I was a beginner I did until I learned the basics. Also in those days (in the 80's) I had a lot harder time with electrics. It was hard enough just getting them to finish a race. I was never a basher, only a racer. So for me nito is trouble free.

-Inverted-

I was tired of going slow, so I switched to electric.

[]TEX[]

Ya, electrics are wicked fast.

happywing

Try not to confuse educated opinions with personal preference. Neither is "better" than the other. They are so totally different that these comparisons are a waste of time. There are too many inconclusive long threads on the subject.

Unless you're travelling in a straight line, one is NOT faster than the other
Both are NOT trouble free

I have both. I prefer my nitro's on the big outdoor tracks. I run my electrics indoor on the short tracks.

DaveG55

Hmmmmmm, I'm not sure if you guys are trying to be intentionally misleading or just trying to be funny.

The fact is electric can be way faster than nitro and way quicker too.

"Can be", being the key. 80% - 90% of nitros are faster box stock than box stock electrics. And making an electric fast is not an inexpensive proposition.

As most of the unbiased opinions have said, neither is better than the other. Just different. Past that it's personal preference.

Taffey

I like both for their own reasons. Sometimes I'm in the mood for nitro, sometimes electric. Here's a few points I've observed during my personal experiences in the hobby. These are just my opinions.


Electric
Pros:
-clean
-relatively simple
-quiet
-don't need to buy fuel
-can run indoors
-instant low-end power

Cons:
-consecutive runs may cause overheating issues
-have to wait for your batteries to charge
-for the same money, not as much high-end "grunt" as many nitros



Nitro
Pros:
-nearly unlimited run time (with enough fuel)
-lots of power, especially on the high end
-generally reliable once tuned
-sounds cool

Cons:
-dirty
-noisy
-can't run indoors
-more "critical" parts
-troubleshooting can be difficult
-more support equipment needed

redfox03

taffey pretty much hit it on the head with the pros and cons. i prefer both. oh yeah, you forgot about the smell of nitro. which is kinda cool, but sometimes it gives you a headache. also, i like the fact that electric can be run indoors. i own four nitros by the way, but i'll have an electric in my collection one day.

-Inverted-

Yes, but if the electrics had the same horsepower equivelant electric motor as their nitro counterpart, then it would be more fair. For example the XXX-NT is obviously going to be faster then an XXX-T because the XXX-NT has a much more powerful motor.

I can get a 60mph electric for $250.

Taffey

Yeah, the smell is pretty cool. That's definitely a plus.

When people are around, nitro also gathers a larger crowd. When your car/truck/buggy sounds like a superbike, they are less likely to think it's just a toy.

paintstikker

Electric is easier to maintain IMO. No tuning, and they dont have all the grease. But if you have a brushed motor, youll have to maintain it, replace brushes and all. Brushless are virtualy un-maintainable. You just cant really have unlimited run time, unless you have enough batteries and chargers. They can go from 5 mph to 60 as far as I know (without too many mods, not anything crazier than a brushless).

DaveG55

"If" is a really big word sometimes. "If" doesn't change the fact that box stock nitros are faster that most box stock electrics.

And I just bought a rc18b with the Mamba comp x, a 3 cell lipo & the aluminum upgrade kit for $200 too. So what, it was used. That buggy new would cost $165 for the buggy, $135 for the motor & esc and $50 for the battery and tha AL upgrade kit $120. That total is almost 3 times the cost of the buggy.
My point...compare apples to apples. New stock to new stock. Used doesn't count as deals on used stuff can be had everywhere on all kinds of vehicles and don't really prove anything.

ryan_t888

I enjoy nitro much more than electric. Mainly because of the realistic characteristics of nitro. I also can not stand not being able to hear anything when my car/boat/plane is further away.

Ryan

Taffey

Agreed. Although, one nice thing about the quiet nature of electrics is that it's much easier to tell when you're having a drivetrain problem - if it's making noise, something is wrong.

I've screwed up a couple of gearboxes in nitros because I didn't realize until too late that there was something going on.

[]TEX[]

I don't think that was the reason for asking the question, basically just a generic "what do you like type" question.

With or without examples, all nitros will be faster out of the box. That's good if you are asking, what is faster out of the box.

Electrics are a plug and play type deal. No hassle, but nitros in the hands of a noob will make him/her come to tears sometimes it's so frustrating. Sure, but that's if he asked which one is easier to get running out of the box.

For such a generic question, we can't really say what is better. We can only say what we like best. that is why every one of these threads turns into a nitro vs elec battle.

I race electrics at the track casually and for the price of a bone stock nitro, my electric TC cars kill every single nitro car at the track. It doesn't matter if it is a straight line or turns. The right motor/gearing/battery combo can really crush the competition. Only thing that beats it is the 1/8 nitro pan cars. Even the nitro guys are like, damn that thing is fast.

Ok, so what, nitros are still fun.

DaveG55

Not really arguing with you. Your points make sense and are really the same basic thing I said in my first post.

But he did ask which everybody prefers AND would electric be as fast/powerful.

Well it can be, as has been said, it can be way faster. But it's not out of the box, which is what I interpreted him to be asking when he compared a new nitro buggy to a new electric one. I just did not want all the "I got tired of being slow" stuff to lul him into believeing that a new electric buggy would be as fast as what he's had w/o some pretty expensive extras. And, as you pointed out, it could be possable to get that electric as fast or faster than the nitro for around what the nitro would cost.

Also, so far, this thread has not degenerated to a "us vs them" rant. It's seemed to me like a pretty good discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each with most people putting forth their opinion in a calm, pleasant manner. So far anyway.

[]TEX[]

Ya, I'd have to agree with that and I wasn't trying to argue either.

-Inverted-

First I would say your getting ripped. I can purchase the Comp-X for $100, and a 3 cell lithium polymer battery for $30. When I made that $250 remark I was referring to brand new items.

Mini-t $100
comp-x $100
Li-po $30
Servo $20

They are both great, I prefer electric but I do understand that nitro is fun too.

Also, nitro may be faster out of the box, but thats a RTR. I dislike RTR's and prefer to choose my own motor system. Im sure a hobbiest such as yourself as prefers kits over RTR's.

DaveG55

I don't know about getting ripped. I did only pay $200 for what I listed plus lots of extras (granted it's used but you cannot tell). The prices I listed were straight off of Tower's website.

When I started kits is all that were available and I've built lots of them over the years. The last being my Savage 25 SS. And, yes, it's fun and at least you know it's put togeather right. However, I don't mind RTR's all that much. They've done an awful lot for the hobby and making it way more mainstream than it used to be. And there's really something to be said for taking your new truck, buggy, heli, plane or whatever straight out of the box and ripping around.

Oh, could you post a link to that $30 3 cell lipo? I've been wanting to get another and have been hesitant to drop $50.

Gex_61

BOTH!!!!![>:]

-Inverted-

Ready to Runs make good Christmas gifts. Although I also like to open a nice kit and build all throughout the night and run the next morning.

I said ripped referring to if you bought those items brand new.

OUCH! Looks like they raised prices for Christmas or something, they were $30 last week. My bad.

Might wanna check RG-Motorsports and Maxamps on ebay, they usually have good deals. Maxamps had the 11.1v li-po for $30 last week, and the 7.4v for $20.