RCU Forums - View Single Post - So I wanted to/planned to buy a nitro on-road car, but now I am not so sure...
Old 07-01-2016, 02:49 PM
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sturmgrenadier
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Default So I wanted to/planned to buy a nitro on-road car, but now I am not so sure...

Well, I'm a beginning r/c enthusiast and have been out of the hobby for a really long time..... I used to own a Nitro TC4 that I bought from an online hobby superstore (I don't know if I'm allowed to mention specific stores here-it doesn't matter which), but no longer have it. I was very frustrated, and could not get my nitro to start back in 2008. But I found out about a local hobby store, and the folks there were great about helping me to start it. After that, I really only found one suitable place to drive my car (it was the very large parking lot of a local community college, and I had some fun just driving it around for a few months). Then, I pursued other interests, life got in the way, etc.(I'm sure everyone on this forum can relate to time demands and the twists that life can take....)

Fast forward several years, and I got the brainstorm of getting back into r/c I've had my heart on getting another nitro car for a couple of weeks. I'm not wealthy by any stretch. I have an OK paying job, and I had budgeted about $500.00 to get myself started this summer. I thought that I would finally be able to do so: Friday (today) arrived, and I eagerly went to the same local hobby store as in 2008. I happened upon the owner of the store who was working on a plane. I explained that I've been out of the hobby eight years. He smiled and told me so many things have changed in that time. 'No more telescoping (long) antennas on the controllers, everything is 2.4 now'. I explained to him my enthusiasm for getting another nitro car. I told him my only reservation was that some of the posters on r/c forums I've read lately say that nitro is dying out. I asked him if there is any truth to this. He was circumspect and nuanced in his reply. He told me 'nitro isn't dying out (you can still get parts and fuel without any trouble), but electric has certainly become very popular, especially with the advent of the new batteries that have longer run times (paraphrasing him).'

I thanked him and then went over to actually look at some of the nitro cars. Anyway, to wrap up this story, both of the store employees who specialize in ground vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.) told me not to do it (buy nitro). They said to go electric, because there are just too many things that can go wrong with nitro. 'It could you take you three minutes to get your engine started and tuned or it could take you three hours and you run out of time/don't get to drive it at all' they reminded me. They told me that electric batteries can now give you 30-45 minute run times per charge. Another customer came into the store and inquired about nitro (actually gasoline was the word he used, but I think he meant nitro). He ultimately bought an electric truck. The employee who had been helping me(answering my questions) said to his co-worker, 'Boy I'm glad that I was able to steer that guy into buying electric [instead of nitro].'

I wasn't expecting such a rebuke of nitro I left the store empty-handed, unsure about what to buy for myself. I guess I was expecting the store employees to say, 'sure. we'll help you make a good choice and to get you started with nitro' Instead, all I heard was the praises of electric. For me, even though I have little experience with mechanical things like a car, and cannot be described as 'handy' (i can change a tire, that's about it) there is something engrossing about seeing that smoke shoot out of the car and the roar it makes But maybe I need to grow up in a sense, and get with the times by going electric? (I'm 42). I know that past experience is the best indicator of future experience (and I admittedly had some challenges with getting my nitro car up and running long ago). And maybe these guys were just trying to save me from more of the same aggravation. Anyway, thanks for letting me share my rambling story. I know this a nitro on-road forum, so I doubt I will find any nitro-haters here. But can anyone else empathize with having 'growing pains' trying to learn nitro, but still being drawn to it for some reason?