signa

I don't know if you've read my other post about my FD LST and if not, you may wish to for a little background on what I've done.

After running my LST 2 Electric (converted my Nitro to electric) I can say I'm not as happy with the electric truck as I thought I would be. It's a high quality kit that installed fairly easily, and I think it may be the best one currently on the market. That said, I miss my Nitro. I've been running my Hellfire, screaming around parking lots, tearing up grass, and there is just something about nitro that, for me, electric cannot match.

Before you electric guys start saying electric will smoke nitro, I'll say it for you: The electric LST 2 will smoke just about any nitro monster truck! It beat an MGT w/OS 30VG, and that was with a very soft start (LST kept trying to flip).

Yes, electric is faster. Yes, there is little maintenance. Yes, there is no noise, and yes, it's B O R I N G.

It's about as exciting as hoover vacuum cleaner! []

I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just providing my own personal experience with this nitro --->electric conversion.

Thanks for reading.

hunter306

I found the experience to be almost exactly the opposite. I was very frustrated with finicky engines, difficult tuning, and the price of a gallon of nitro fuel.

Seeing as I already ran primarily Electric vehicles, the nitro just seemed like a ridiculous hassle. Now I can run whenever I want in my neighborhood without disturbing the neighbors.. plus I don't have to worry about the darn thing flaming out or throttle getting stuck and rolling off to dent someone's parked car.

It really depends alot on the environment you run in, and what you want to do with the truck. For me, the Electric LST's have been a much more enjoyable experience.

Plus for you speed junkies... They do whip some rear!

signa

I hear you and do not disagree, electric's do have their advantages.

Personally, I have had great luck with nitro (touch wood . All you have to do is buy the correct engine, break it in correctly, tune it properly (lean out needles slightly) and go! Of the people I told I was "going electric" all of them said, "but you've had the best luck of all of us with Nitro!" Don't you find there's a raw (illusion perhaps) of power with nitro?

Onlookers said I had to "do something" about 1st gear on the LST E4. 2nd gear flies, first gear "sucks." The thing is, first gear doesn't "suck" it's stump-pulling, truck-flipping power but no noise or excitement for spectators or myself so there must be something wrong...

darthballs

^ i agree with you 100% percent. electric does seem faster to me but nitro is about 100 times more exciting. dont get me wrong i love both equally. to me nitro just seems more convenient. fuel up and go. if you do everything right then (well atleast in my experiance) everything runs as smooth as a brushless. and god forbid i do have to tune it takes about 5 min. so i run nitro while my batts are charging for my electrics. then i break out the speed machines.

aer-wubby

Definitely. I agree 100%. I get a better kick out of nitro, and that's probably because of the noise, the power, the idea of a working engine, and the maintenance. Driving a nitro is about 10 times better than driving an electric!

green25

I know how you all think, and I agree with all of you.
I love brushless, but I love nitro too. Thats why I think Im gonna by an RC10GT and get a good, cheap engine to run and have fun with. But I will also(Hopefully) have a brushless Pede and Savage.(HOPEFULLY)!

scyan

What do you mean noiseless... You obviously chose the wrong motor !! Mine makes a very high pitched jet engine noise... And quite frankly, that is really exciting ! (Its got a built in fan.. and acts like a tubine for sure !) Here are pics of my motor, close ups anywas (its the middle one)

http://www.plettenberg-motoren.com/U...MAXX/motor.htm

Other than that, with 1 set of my lipo packs charged, I ran for 1h15min of normal bashing or 35mins of racetime. If you havent broken something after 1h, you're very good or just driving miss daisy ! Lets say I have another set of 8000mah lipos and I could run all day with my charger hooked up to my car battery. And I dont need to stop to refuel !

I dont know, not trying to argue, but ...

Look at it here

http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n178/charancon/


Scy

darthballs

yea but doesn't it take at least an hour to charge those batts?

Nitronutt

My Feedback: (2)

Signa, how much do you want for it (The whole conversion - the motor, the battery, the esc, etc., but not the truck or radio)?

My Mach 26 (In great running condition - 5 gallons through) can be part of the deal if you want. So can my Cen Aquajet (See the classifieds) if you are interested.

scyan

Yes, it takes about 1 hour to put them back to about 90% of their original charge. So, in essence... you could be running all day since these packs don't need you to wait between discharge and charge. They dont heat up and like being charged right after they have been emptied..

Scy

signa

Well, pm an offer and make it a good one.

It has had exactly 3 runs and is as new. I got the upgraded threaded clutch bell with alum gears as well. I'll even throw in a complete set of proper instructions that FD will not provide. I'm waiting for my new battery to arrive but if we can strike a deal in the meantime I may consider selling.

Otherwise it will be time to stock up on batts and start killin' some nitro's!

Igotntc3andrevo

Well i am a nitro addict as well But i also like change. I just bought me mini rc18t and i plan on making this thing fly. Now is it going to replace my nitro tc3 and my revo heck naw but it will be a show stopper none the same and I plan on beating a full size rc10 with a 4.5r novak with lipos now that will be a sight. But can that top the loud whinning noise of a nitro motor and the priceless look of my neighbors face as the police officer that they called on me shakes my hand and says he wants to clock my miniture nitro rocket heck NO

NITRO TO THE DAY I DIE BABY

and electric to embarrass the people who think my mini is slow)

RURC

signa- I am sorry to hear that you are not fully satisified with your new truck. I can fully say that I cannot fully understand your point of view. The noise of nitro dose nothing for me. But the power side of things, for me, the BL easily fill this side. Any how no arguement here. I wish you better luck on your next project.

Nitronutt

My Feedback: (2)

RURC, there is something to his arguement. I noticed it too. I was driving my electrics exclusively for a while...I had even bought an E-maxx. There was just something missing. So I sold the E-maxx and bought a Jato. It seems to me that with a well running nitro, you get the feeling of man conquering machine (Tuning it properly). I don't care for the smell or the fuel cost of Nitro, but the sound and the satisfaction of driving a vehicle that YOU tuned IS worth something. It also gathers more attention than any electric will. This is the case partly because it is simply louder and partly because it sounds like a pack of seriously pissed off hornets.

Igotntc3, be careful of wanting to race 1/10th vehicles with your Mambafied RC18t. While you might be 15-30mph faster, they will have WAY more stabililty and control. 60 is way different for a 1/10 stadium truck (Just ask my Jato) compared to a 4wd mini. Like I told you in another thread, be ready to learn to feather the throttle.

Signa, it sounds like the brushless LST2 kit has found a niche in your RC stable. Keep it for now. Find another Nitro to buy (A Jato can blow by 40mph almost like it was standing still - especially the 3.3 version) 2wd is interesting, too. Its fun to drift corners while keeping the throttle pinned. The Jato 3.3 needs a wheelie bar for a reason (my 2.5 will peel the tires for the first 10-20 feet). Go to Traxxas.com and see why.

RURC

Nitronutt- First, did you ever get the battery? I assume that you did I just hadent heard. Also was there another TP battery in there? I just got back from Hawaii with my dad and I looked on my desk where I had another battery sitting and I thought I know I left one there. Did my wife send you 1 or 2 because I cant find the other one? If so no big deal I can just stop looking for it. You can keep it I have pleanty of them. My wife has no idea what she did.

On the Nitro thing, I guess that after almost 20 years in professional motorsports I dont really care for the microscopic adjusting thing any more. The noise of one of the motors I worked with at 13 to 15,000 rpm sounds like a deaffing electric motor to me anyhow. To me the nitro sounds like a buzzing hornet. More annoying then powerful. I have tuned so many cars so many times in my life it just dosen't matter. For my building something that has way way too much power and rpm and them working on how to get that to teh ground is the real challenge. If I wanted to mess with fuel again I could go back to the track when ever I want to. And a few times a year I go to the historic races around the country and work on them and I still get calls from European teams that need help when they come to the states and go to Daytona, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glenn and Infenion and do work for them. So I still get my fill of fuel power. It is just different for me. Do you really want to know how different? Just ask and I will give one last example of how sick I am.

Nitronutt

My Feedback: (2)

Yes, I received 2 batteries. The one that I sent you is going to make a neat fire show the next time that I have a fire in the burning barrel. I just don't think I can use the tiny bit of leftover tab. The 2nd one really seems like it had the same issue as the one that I sent you. It only charges for about 1/4 - 1/3 of its capacity and registers full. This equates to about 2 minutes of run time in my RC18MT. I bought a REAL 3S 1200mah Lipo from Apogee (It was a closeout for right near $32 with shipping) that fits much better, has stout 14 ga. wiring and is rated & sized for the RC18MT. That little truck is absoultely ballistic on the Apogee battery. Wheelies whenever I yank the trigger - the speed doesn't seem to matter. In fact, it is rather difficult to control.

signa

Rurc,

Thanks for your reply. For me, electric has to *really* perform or it's just not that exciting. Ever tried a stock xxx-t rtr? I found it as thrilling as watching paint dry. Dropped in an ss5800 BL and it flew. It was a blast, sans the noise!

My lst used to do about 39MHh on nitro power. Now it does 32. I was told it would flip over at just about any speed with a stab of throttle but alas it doesn't. So perhaps it's not just the loss of noise, it's the loss of performance that bothers me...

hunter306

Man, try the XXX-T with some of the higher power brushless available, it'll blow that 5800 away!

As far as the 32mph, that seems mighty low for the FineDesign LST. Seems like something isn't engaging properly or your batteries aren't performing the way they should. Seems like someone was complaining about a very similar "slow" fine design LST2 over at the lstforums and it ended up being that the 2nd gear wasn't engaging properly.

signa

RURC,

Not looking for a book back from you, but...

Judging by your avatar, I'm assuming you've been to a Formula One race.

What do you think of an 18,000 RPM F1 engine sound? If that doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, CHECK YOUR PULSE! Do you think those cars would be as exciting to watch with electric power? (Major tire noise though)

Ever watch the show Monster Garage? In one episode they electrified an chevy belair - "Is that a V28 Engine under the hood? Milwaukee Li-Ion Chevy Bel-Air" with these big friggin' electric motors, and a trunk full of 28V cordless drill batteries. It did the 1/4 in like 14 or 15 seconds, almost no noise, just a bit of tire squeal and it was off. It was like an electric subway train going down the strip.

http://blogs.toolbarn.com/brianm/200...nder-hood.html

It was prob faster the stock gasoline powered car, and was a huge challenge to build, but what is as much fun as the gas powered version? I guess that's personal call. To each is own.

signa

At the time, that was the best and only BL I could get my hands on. It was years ago when the Novak set first came out, way before the "R" motors. I now have a 6.5R for messing around and the Mamba Max for some real power. I'm *done* with 2WD, it's 4WD all the way baby! I drive an STi.

2nd gear kicks in and it goes nuts, then levels off. Maybe my gear mesh?

RURC

I know that that pack was not the best. I was just useing it in my radio. It would run my transmitter for a week like that. Bill makes some good packs you will like it.

RURC

First you have a problem with the LST. You are way down on power.

F1? Yes I have been to a few races. About 14 a year for many years (not to mention testing and practace time) and I still go to 3 or 4 a year.. I never miss Monaco and Imola. I go every year, took my son to his first Monaco this past year. There is only 3 places you can fully hear the real limits of an F1 engine. Imola, Indy (not the Indy 500 BORING) and Suzuka. Everywhere else you just cant get a real long note from those machines. But to answer your question about them being electric, yes I do think it would be just as exciteing. I have slept with those engines for too many years. For me the noise is not exciteing. Now the smell of some of those fuels that is diferent. Those custom blends were amazing. You could tell which car had gone past just by breathing. With the headsets on you cant hear much. There had been F1 teams that were playing with electric cars but the FIA decided it was an unfair advantage and now the rules state combustion engine. An electric engine like that would be anything but silent. Trust me it would be quite loud to hear.


I got my first Hacker BL car set up long before Novak had even thought of brushless. About 7 or so years ago. I then got a Aveox BL set up and still not a Novak out. I still have both of them. The Hacker is a spare I use once in a while and the Aveox is in my converted Miss Bud 1/12 Hydro.

signa

Here's a video I shot tonight of my HPI Hellfire

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...08755424360809

How do you think it compares with my LST 2 Electric?

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...1734&q=lst+2e4

-Inverted-

LST looks like it has more power.

RURC

I have to agree with Inverted. The LST seems to have it all over the Hellfire. Both look great though.