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RC Electric Off-Road Trucks, Buggies, Truggies and more Discuss electric RC off-road, buggies & trucks here. Also discuss brushless motors, speed controllers aka ESC's, brushed motors, etc

ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Old 02-18-2010, 07:19 PM
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robbiesmechanic
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Default ever going dispute electric or nitro?

i am not new to rc, but have not owned one in over 10 years. i am wondering if its better to go nitro or electric and which should i get? my local hs carry
s traxxis and some hpi. what would you do?
Old 02-18-2010, 07:24 PM
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OvalRacer99
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

It all comes down to personal preferance. I am an electric guy, I can run my cars all year, indoors in the winter, outdoors in the summer.
Old 02-18-2010, 07:25 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

ive driven both. nitro is fun, no doubt. but with electric(brushless) you get speed with ease of running. limited cleaning also. and in my experience, electrics break less often.
a quality nitro can easiely run $300 or more. most will go 35-65mph when tuned well.
a RTR traxxas rustler vxl is $270 new(less used) and you can get a lipo and a charger for $100. with 3s lipos, youll go 65mph any day and the acceleration of brushless motors beats nitro engines anyday.
i have 2 3s 3000mah lipos($50) and together i get 40-50 minutes of runtime. just plug the batts in and goooo.
but thats just my opinion.
Old 02-18-2010, 07:48 PM
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MTboy
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

It's all about what you like to do. If you like to tinker and tune go for a nitro but make sure to have the area to run it. I started this hobby with a nitro and loved it, even after getting my son a electric. After awhile of seeing my son just plug and play I decided to try it and found that it had just as much thrill with less drama..lol
Am we can really tell you is read up on the 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 nitro or electric threads here and on other forums and come back with a question on what one out of these would work best for what you want..
Good luck..
Old 02-18-2010, 10:50 PM
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jsmrc
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

i was mr. nitro and to this day there will always be a place in my heart for the loud, pain in the behind, nitro cars and trucks. that being said ive now gone electric and im never going back. the only thing i tune is my suspension now and a $25 battery will last me longer then a $25 gallon of fuel.
look at it this way, 1:1 cars left the carburetor behind for a reason
Old 02-18-2010, 10:54 PM
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sheograth
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

I enjoy both, but I prefer gasoline over nitro or electric generally.
Old 02-18-2010, 11:21 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

I find it amazing nitro vs elec discussions on the general forum aren't this mild (or the right people have not seen it yet)

Personally I like nitro WAY more. Only got into electric for 2 reasons. Originally it was so my nephew had someone to race. I kinda accidentally ran his stampede over(literally) with my savage last time he tried racing my nitros (My mt2 also blew his poor pede away). I bought a Brama 10b (Big mistake thing was junk and was cannibalized for parts not too long ago for my projects) which his pede literally drove circles around. so I got him a Plasma edge RTR and I got a kit Plasma edge. I also converted a Nitro MT1 I had laying as a spare (got it in a box of spare parts I bought for my other nitro) for the hell of it seeing i had a esc and motor sitting on my desk(its being redesigned from scratch now).
Other reason is the winter. Tuning a motor is too big a pain when the weather can vary by 5-10 degrees in hours where I'm at so I got the plasma edge and flung in all traxxas waterproof elecs and a waterproof RX box and drive that in snow, puddles, soon to be rain, etc.

But once spring hits nitros are going to be the main runners for me, already got a new gallon of fuel waiting to go
Old 02-18-2010, 11:44 PM
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black mamba
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

I started out in this hobby with electric and later on I mainly ran nitro. When brushless got it's ESC and lipo cutoff issues sorted out a couple of years ago, I left nitro for good. Brushless is fast, very efficient, 99.99% maintenance-free and it runs quiet. Pair BL with lipo batteries and you have a package that is better than most nitro setups.....without all the typical nitro hassles....and without the noise that irritates the neighbors. I always had the neighbors calling the cops on me when I ran the nitros out in front of the house. Now that I'm back into electric, the cops don't get called anymore lol.
Old 02-19-2010, 12:41 AM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

i started out back in 1985 with a electric " marui hunter" anyway the lousy 4 minute runtimes in stock and ya was sweatin' in mod class ... so i went nitro and ran it until a few years ago i picked up a brushless and well electric has came so far ... its unreal .. the electric 1/8 scales are turning faster laps than the nitro ... both are great, but if i didn't have a crap load of nitro i'd be totally electric .... just my .02 .... its a brave new world with lipo's and brushless.
Old 02-19-2010, 10:20 AM
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tetris
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Nitro vs. Electric:

Nitro Pros:
  1. Realistic "pit-stop" refueling experience
  2. Nitro refueling cheaper than buying additional ROAR-approved batteries for long run times (no longer really true if you are willing to use non-ROARapproved Hobby King hard-case Lipos).
  3. Exciting smoke/noise sensory experience
Nitro Cons:
  1. Lots of maintenance involving engine and exhaust tuning, clutch wear, glow plugs, etc.
  2. Nitro/oil mixture is toxic and messy, lots of cleaning.
  3. Nitro engines don't run well in extreme weather conditions (hot or cold)
  4. Engines/clutch requires more frequent replacement than electric
  5. Noisy: can't run them in many parks or without angering your neighbors or indoors
Electric Pros:
  1. Much lower maintenance than nitro
  2. No messy nitro/oil mixture to clean or spill
  3. Runs well in hot and cold weather
  4. Motor should last a long time if properly cared for
  5. Virtually silent operation allows for use in any environment
  6. Better acceleration than nitro
  7. Engine tuning just involves changing the software settings in the firmware of the ESC, not changing out pipes or changing the compression
Electric cons:
  1. ROAR approved batteries are still very expensive (~$200 for a good 4s 5000 mAh 40c lipo)
  2. For electric 1/8th scale, few people to race against until it gets more popular over the next 1-2 years
  3. 1/8th scale electric currently more expensive to get up and running than nitro. There are good RTRnitro packages available (Losi EIGHT-T 2.0 RTR) for around $700 online.
But as you can see, all of the cons for electric are basically things that will dissappear in the next couple of years. The cost will come down and they will get more popular. The only thing you really sacrifice is the sound/smoke realism of nitro, but honestly, if you want to feel like your racing a real car, maybe you should buy a real ATVor buggy and hit the desert.
Old 02-19-2010, 10:38 AM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

This is something that you have to decide for yourself. Everyone has there preferences. I'll throw out some pro and cons.

Electric

Pros
Ease of use. Put the batter in and run. No tuning
Power and torque. If you go brushless Lipo there is just no comparison.
Quite. Neighbors won't complain. Can run in doors if you want
Clean. No nitro mess to clean up
Cost. Electric cars tend to be cheaper than Nitro.
Less parts to replace. Unless you break something the only real items that require maintenance is the motor brushes and the tires.
300 plus runs from a single $25 Lipo battery.
Less tools and equipment to lug around. A basic set of tools is all that's needed. No fuels, plugs, starters etc


Cons

Limited run time. Figure 30 to 40 mins per battery.
Motor maintenance for brushed motors.
initial cost of Batteries, charger, balancer


Nitro

Pros

Sound of nitro motor
unlimited run time (as long as you have fuel)


Cons
Noise. Most communities will not permit the noise. At least around here
Tuning. Most Nitro's require tuning before each run to compensate for air temp etc.
Mess. Nitro's tend to spray unburnt fuel on body, wheels, tires, chassis etc requiring additional cleanup time
Cost of fuel. A gallon of fuel will run somewhere around $25 and last a couple of hours.
tools and equipment required to start, tune, maintain the nitro motor.
Rebuild / replace the motor. I'm not sure what the current time frame is for rebuilding a nitro motor. When I ran them years ago the good race motors needed to be rebuild every 30 or so tanks.
Power and torque. Not as fast as a brushless/lipo combo of similar or less cost.


I know there are additional pro's and con's for both. I use to e a nitro guy but made the change years ago so YES my opinions are biased. For the money and the ease of use it's hard to argue with electric but do understand why some people stick to Nitro.
Old 02-19-2010, 11:14 AM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

John the nitro cons you listed are cons to you
and engine rebuilding goes by engine quality. a cheap Kingstar motor on average lasts 5-6 gallons vs a Force lasting 8-12 between rebuilds.

Major pro to nitro not having to worry about your LVC failing and over draining your batteries. Also no worry about if your going to damage a lipo and cause your truck to explode

"Less parts to replace. Unless you break something the only real items that require maintenance is the motor brushes and the tires."???
Beats e last i checked electric has MORE parts that could break ESC, and motor vs 1 engine. and depending on what scale your buying a nitro engines actually cheaper than a brushless motor alone not counting the ESC

"Power and torque. Not as fast as a brushless/lipo combo of similar or less cost. " Lipo and brushless cost way more than a nitro engine. For a 1/10th scale a brushless motor and esc cost $90 for a 60a hobbywing combo. My 1/10th scale MT2 motor cost $65 NIB. now add on the $120 for 2 turnigy lipos and a charger. My 1/10th scale nitro also gets 20 mins per 75CC tank so a gallon gets me a little over 16 hours of run time for $30. Now granted thats 1/10th 1/8th scale uses a considerably more expensive engine and more nitro BUT the brushless equivalent also skyrockets as well as power needed from packs.

So can we please drop the lipo is cheaper argument seeing its not completely true.


"Lots of maintenance involving engine and exhaust tuning, clutch wear, glow plugs, etc." I've spent under 5 minutes in maintenance on my 2 Nitros total in a year(just got the jammin and haven't run it yet), about 3 minutes total tuning, yes thats alot of maintenance... I've spent about 30-40 minutes on electric trying to get the pinions right in my vehicles, having to pop the motor out put a new pinion in see if it overheats take it out swap again... Wow yes electrics so much less work... Out of curiosity what is exhaust tuning? Last I checked if you want a little more power you just buy a tuned pipe and slap it on theres only a few sizes made for specific engine sizes, and there usually pretty simple to tell apart. BTW the clutch costs around $2 every 2 gallons(or could buy a good one for $20 and almost never replace it)

tetris you might want to actually read up on the subject before making bold faced claims
You forgot a major electric con Sitting for hours looking at your lipo charge so it doesn't puff and explode thereby burning your house down. (seeing you like to blow up nitros cons so)

Real pros and cons (coming from someone that runs all forms ) (and not those stupid ones like sound)
Nitro Pros:
Run time - till you run outta gas
Cost at entry
More pick up and go

Nitro Cons:
exhaust
cannot be run indoor
can sometimes be finicky in certain weather
depending where you are can't be run at night due to laws on noise control

Electric Pro's
Easier to run in the cold.
If waterproof can be run in almost any weather. Something nitro cannot do.
99% chance if it worked when you turned it off it will turn back on.
can be run at night anywhere

Cons:
Cost of entry significantly higher than nitro (unless you stick with the RTR battery and 15 hour wall charger only )
Charge times
Run times
Also have to plan when you will run


Personally what I mostly like about nitro is in summer when I wake up and go OK I FEEL LIKE RUNNIN IT go grab it and go out and start it a few seconds later. Vs with electric I go OK I FEEL LIKE RUNNING IT go charge up the batteries for a 1.5 hours or so then finally am able to get out there.

Now would I recommend nitro to everyone. No its actually the opposite I usually recommend electric unless I know the person likes to tinker which nitro allows a greater amount of.
BTW I've sank ALOT more cash, and time into electric than nitro.
Old 02-19-2010, 11:27 AM
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tetris
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

John the nitro cons you listed are cons to you
That's called a discussion. I'm sure that you don't claim to somehow be a beacon of unbiased information unlike all other people on this forum.

and engine rebuilding goes by engine quality. a cheap Kingstar motor on average lasts 5-6 gallons vs a Force lasting 8-12 between rebuilds.
A high quality brushless motor kept cool and not pushed to extremes can outlast the useful life of the car, but Isuppose this isn't a huge advantage since rebuilding the engine ever 8 gallons is not a big problem.

Major pro to nitro not having to worry about your LVC failing and over draining your batteries. Also no worry about if your going to damage a lipo and cause your truck to explode [img]{akamaiimageforum}/image/s49.gif[/img]
This no longer applies anymore with modern ESCs equiped with programmable low voltage cutoffs. Also, lipo safety has improved tremendously with ROARapproved hard case batteries. Moreover, the new A123 cells that are comming online as we speak eliminate these safety concerns.

"Less parts to replace. Unless you break something the only real items that require maintenance is the motor brushes and the tires."???
Beats e last i checked electric has MORE parts that could break [img]{akamaiimageforum}/image/s49.gif[/img] ESC, and motor vs 1 engine. and depending on what scale your buying a nitro engines actually cheaper than a brushless motor alone not counting the ESC [img]{akamaiimageforum}/image/s49.gif[/img]
Iwould say they both have similar number of parts to break. The real point he should have made is simply that nitro requires more maintenance and things wear out faster.

"Power and torque. Not as fast as a brushless/lipo combo of similar or less cost. " Lipo and brushless cost way more than a nitro engine. For a 1/10th scale a brushless motor and esc cost $90 for a 60a hobbywing combo. My 1/10th scale MT2 motor cost $65 NIB. now add on the $120 for 2 turnigy lipos and a charger. My 1/10th scale nitro also gets 20 mins per 75CC tank so a gallon gets me a little over 16 hours of run time for $30. Now granted thats 1/10th 1/8th scale uses a considerably more expensive engine and more nitro BUT the brushless equivalent also skyrockets as well as power needed from packs.

So can we please drop the lipo is cheaper argument seeing its not completely true.
Electric is not yet cheaper, but give it 1-2 years and it will cost the same.

"Lots of maintenance involving engine and exhaust tuning, clutch wear, glow plugs, etc." I've spent under 5 minutes in maintenance on my 2 Nitros total in a year(just got the jammin and haven't run it yet), about 3 minutes total tuning, yes thats alot of maintenance... I've spent about 30-40 minutes on electric trying to get the pinions right in my vehicles, having to pop the motor out put a new pinion in see if it overheats take it out swap again... Wow yes electrics so much less work... Out of curiosity what is exhaust tuning? Last I checked if you want a little more power you just buy a tuned pipe and slap it on theres only a few sizes made for specific engine sizes, and there usually pretty simple to tell apart. BTW the clutch costs around $2 every 2 gallons(or could buy a good one for $20 and almost never replace it) [img]{akamaiimageforum}/image/s49.gif[/img]
Well, you must be lucky because thats not my experience and its not anybody else's experience. If you live in Southern California, then you can probably get away with such lack of maintenance, but for the rest of us, its an issue.

tetris you might want to actually read up on the subject before making bold faced claims [img]{akamaiimageforum}/image/s49.gif[/img]
You might want to go back to high school, Ithink Iheard the bell ring.
Old 02-19-2010, 12:00 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

wow talk about a childish personal attack... I said read up on the subject because I know of a few people on the electric forums read some outrageous things about nitro, thought they were true, and repeat things that were so erroneous it wasn't even remotely funny(ok I lie I got a good laugh out of the fuel pump rumor). I didn't mean what I said as a personal attack unlike what you said. BTW I find most of your cons to nitro as pro's which is why my pro and con list tries to remove any kind of maintenance. I personally have more fun tearing down and rebuilding than driving.

If you noticed I don't live in southern cali I live in Chicago which weather is so loopy its not funny. And weird most the people on the nitro forums, and that I've talked to in real life don't have any issues either, and generally try and figure out where the rumors come from. They also run it in extreme cold I personally just don't want to risk screwing up my engines. BTW the increased maintenance on a nitro unscrewing a glo-plug putting 3 drops in pull start cord 3 times put on plug... That is unless you buy some cheap ass exceed for $100 and expect it to run like a pro...

And about the lipo being damaged I said and I quote a LVC FAILING, a programmable LVC won't help at all if its FAILING, and supplying wrong info to the ESC.

Also your cost of nitro tools, a whole $15 total? Every tool outside the glowplug warmer and fuel bottle I own is used for electric also. Vs the $60 for a decent charger (unless you get the $30 turnegy and a good power supply) that is just for the electric.

BTW the cost thing was in response to john01374 Pro about electric which stated "Cost. Electric cars tend to be cheaper than Nitro". Only electric that is cheaper is a brushed RTR's (which offers no where near the performance as the nitro) other than that they usually cost a quite a bit more than their nitro brethren.

BTW please refrain from personal attacks and keep it civil or they will lock the thread like every other nitro vs elec thread.
Old 02-19-2010, 12:13 PM
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jsmrc
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

guys lets not point out each others opinions as being right or wrong. thats were these threads go south. instead agree to disagree.

nitro is a blast but all this talking reminds me that i dont miss big starter boxes, arm tiring pull starts, and not so easy starts that need batteries charged anyway! i think i had more 7.2 nicad's for my t-maxx ez start then for any of my electric cars. obviously there are some cons to both and truth is they are both great but for some people one might be a better fit then the other. it took electric short course to get me back into the hobby. around the house i run with my friends nitro all the time. i dont care if youve got gas or electric, all that matters is if ive got a friend to run with.
Old 02-19-2010, 01:26 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Ill just say that I love running nitro. I have gotten into electric more lately because of the fact that my father in law got into the hobby with an electric, and i wanted something similar to run with him that way we could run together. Plus, being winter time, kind of sucks the fun out of nitro. I like electrics too for their own reasons.

However, to some the tuning and maintenance of nitro is a "hassle". To me, it is part of the fun and very enjoyable. When your engine is just flat out screaming and running awesome, YOU are the one that tuned it, and you take the credit for it. Plus, nitros are much more occupying than electrics IMO. Electrics get boring in a hurry, especially if you are running by yourself.

Also, if you have a strong nitro r/c, then there really isnt much maintenance. People go on about how glow plugs burn out all the time, and how everything just needs to be replaced all the time, but its just not true. Stuff DOES wear out, but I havent spent much at all keeping my savage going and its a blast to drive and plenty of power. To get that kind of power out of an electric truck of the same size with any kind of run time, you are looking at $300-400 just for batteries, charger, and brushless setup alone.

Now, both types have their place, however there are a lot of people out there who have not owned both that think they know all about nitro. Until you have owned both, you really dont know. You can watch some youtube videos and see which one you think looks the most appealing to run. I know i cant wait for some good weather around here so I can start kicking butt with my savage again.

Eric
Old 02-19-2010, 03:15 PM
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tetris
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

I think the main deciding factor would be if the noise is simply not an option in your location. Running nitro on my home track would upset the neighbors in a hurry, so if Ican get equivalent or better performance than nitro without the noise, then its worththe extra cost.
Old 02-19-2010, 03:24 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

I have been in to RC since 1988 - took a few years off in the 90's & early 00's - started with Team associated 1/10 electric - then nitro took over & i got out - brushless and lipo came along and now i am back - you could not give me a nitro/gas vehicle - why? - just too many variables and nasty, stinky, high maintenance, frustrating to tune at times.....good for the tinkerer and mechanically inclined - but if you want to have more fun to work ratio with your rc experience i would say go electric go brushless go lipo and smile a lot more as you are having more fun up time than working on the car down time........others will disagree some will agree ultimately you must decide what you want to get yourself into and what you expect to get out of it.
Old 02-19-2010, 05:14 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Hmm looks like a good heated debate as always, the same issues are discussed over and over about this subject.

I have experience in both nitro and electric, mostly electric, so I'll chime in with what I went through as well.

Nitros: Definitely exciting hearing the engine roar and sometimes even have a small crowd gather and watch, because that's the stereotypical "fast r/c car it must be gas, lets watch it go" type of thing that happens.

I read up for probably a year on Nitro on and off, before getting my first one, CEN MT2 4x4 2 speed truck. I broke it in per instructions, never abused it, or jumped it or ran it in extreme weather. It was fun, but felt rather delicate when it came to bashing because of the heavier tires and metal parts. Hearing the 2nd gear shift was I suppose exciting in a geeky way. Still a positive experience for the most part. I sold that after a year of running about a couple of gallons through it.. just didn't want to mess with the oil and fuel spills, and clean up already on top of the usual dirt from off-roading, etc. (made worse because the oil made dirt stick like a magnet)

A couple of years later I bought a used TRX Nitro Hawk with the original engine. Rebuilt the entire friggin truck excluding tranny at first. The engine had leaky bearings and only turned over on it's own power for 2 seconds just this one time. Replaced with a Pro.15 motor and broke it in and did all that jazz. I'll be damned if I didn't spend a tank of gas on a warm day tuning the buh-jeezus out of this POS.. No doubt when it ran ... it ran really well. Unfortunately almost every single time I went out with it, the engine needed to be adjusted so it wouldn't over heat. Oh wait now the tank's low on nitro it's leaning out as the fuel sloshes. Grrrreeat. You get the picture.

As for the 3-4 minutes of maintenance... Hahahahah I LOL'd when I read that.. either you run your trucks 1 time a month or you don't mind your nitro r/c being dirty...or you run them where there is no dust, or for 5 minutes up and down the street very carefully. Every few runs I had to remove the caked dirt and oil that was present around the exhaust, engine and chassis from spillage etc.

This was my last and .. last experience with Nitro. I want to keep the faith and assume that because it was a Traxxas engine or because of this or that that I needed to tune it all the time, every single time ..

BUT no matter how you spin it... tuning is there, you do it every time you go out and the weather's different. The needles are tiny and sensitive so you either do it right or spend 15 minutes trying to get the mixture right just to run the damn thing one tank or whatever.

Electrics: In my experience from the past 7 years I've gotta agree RTR are just there to get you going, but soon you want more power and speed. That is where you end up spending a little more compared to Nitro. However LIPOs do no explode just like that. I've had at least 3 cases where one could have exploded according to the lipo-phobes but didn't do anything more than puff up or overheat and that was it. I'm talking about ramming a lipo into the ground going probably 30 mph inside an airplane that I lost control of.. The motor was pushed back into the lipo leaving a small depression, the lipo was clearly deformed and didn't so much as smoke or leak or whatever else scares people try to talk about. Case #2 My brother over drained a 2s lipo (due to our own fault not using LVC) that was very obviously not up to the task or spec range of the use we were putting it to. 2s 2100 15C Thunder Power driving a 3.5R Novak motor Bandit... yeah. Nothing but a little puffiness and overheat. No explosion. Case #3 and 4 and 5 more crashes, limited 140'F over heating etc, over drainage... NO EXPLOSIONS. So enough with that phobia already. Yes they are volatile but they do not just EXPLODE so easily like people ignorantly love to rant.

With the cost of brushless systems AND lipos coming down into the range of and often beating brushed + Nimh setups, I don't see how it is any more expensive to realistically go as fast as an RTR Nitro for about the same cost as an RTR Nitro + glow starter and some gallons of nitro.

Also, the bit about wasting time to find the right pinion.... it might take 1 battery's worth of runtime or so to figure out you've got the right pinion on there finally. There is no real science behind it, other than monitoring the temperature of the motor (and to an extent esc & battery) to find out you're over geared or if you can move up a couple of teeth. That might be the only time you really waste any time tinkering with an electric setup (especially if its brushless). I've got an Emaxx and Slash, Mini-T, Recoil, Bandit, Rustler etc all brushless at one time or another and after figuring out the pinion size range never had to worry about it again. The only thing to do was just keep an eye on temperatures when running in summer.

Clean up for electrics involves similar to Nitro dust out the chassis, oil the bearings and motor... but no fuel spills, exhaust gunk etc to mess or worry about.

OK that was my 2 dollars in the argument. Probably lots of rambling I'm sure.
Old 02-19-2010, 05:47 PM
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?


ORIGINAL: Slo-V Flyer

Electrics: In my experience from the past 7 years I've gotta agree RTR are just there to get you going, but soon you want more power and speed. That is where you end up spending a little more compared to Nitro. However LIPOs do no explode just like that. I've had at least 3 cases where one could have exploded according to the lipo-phobes but didn't do anything more than puff up or overheat and that was it. I'm talking about ramming a lipo into the ground going probably 30 mph inside an airplane that I lost control of.. The motor was pushed back into the lipo leaving a small depression, the lipo was clearly deformed and didn't so much as smoke or leak or whatever else scares people try to talk about. Case #2 My brother over drained a 2s lipo (due to our own fault not using LVC) that was very obviously not up to the task or spec range of the use we were putting it to. 2s 2100 15C Thunder Power driving a 3.5R Novak motor Bandit... yeah. Nothing but a little puffiness and overheat. No explosion. Case #3 and 4 and 5 more crashes, limited 140'F over heating etc, over drainage... NO EXPLOSIONS. So enough with that phobia already. Yes they are volatile but they do not just EXPLODE so easily like people ignorantly love to rant.
I've got one better. Some how forgot to unplug my 2100mah 3S thunderpower lipo from the bec in my scorpion. Pretty much drained it to 0V, it didn't gas. Used a power supply from work to bring the voltage up, I charged it a little faster than I should have and it gasses slightly, puffed the case a little bit, but didn't explode. Continued to use the battery for a while, charged fine after that, worked well. I decided to scrap it though. Took it outside (fully charged), shorted the leads with a piece of metal, punctured it, beat it, could barely get it to smoke.

As far as the original post goes though, I went electric because I was in a rush to get something and didn't have the time to break a nitro in and didn't really want the trouble. I just mess around with mine, after a half hour of run time out of my electric rustler and an hour or better out of my scorpion I've had enough anyways.
Old 02-19-2010, 09:51 PM
  #21  
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?


ORIGINAL: DCooper

I've got one better. Some how forgot to unplug my 2100mah 3S thunderpower lipo from the bec in my scorpion. Pretty much drained it to 0V, it didn't gas. Used a power supply from work to bring the voltage up, I charged it a little faster than I should have and it gasses slightly, puffed the case a little bit, but didn't explode. Continued to use the battery for a while, charged fine after that, worked well. I decided to scrap it though. Took it outside (fully charged), shorted the leads with a piece of metal, punctured it, beat it, could barely get it to smoke.

As far as the original post goes though, I went electric because I was in a rush to get something and didn't have the time to break a nitro in and didn't really want the trouble. I just mess around with mine, after a half hour of run time out of my electric rustler and an hour or better out of my scorpion I've had enough anyways.

Funny you say that, we were sure the 2s TP 2100 was dead... yet sure enough it STILL was around the 7.x volt range after it had been sitting for what was probably months. I could still use it to power something small, but I don't have any good reason to risk it with any of my current models (i.e. I don't have a beater I want to risk experimenting on with the lipo ).

And yup 25-30 minute run times with my 3s 5000 mah lipo in my Slash and Emaxx, and what seemed like over 40 minutes of run time with my stock Summit on 4s 3700 mah Zippy lipos (no LVC or anything, just kept an eye out for heat and performance drop indicating low voltage..yes not a good idea but I've been good so far until I have an LVC). By the time the batteries run low or I have been out for a half hour I'm about ready to wrap it up anyway.

And you don't have to "plan" to run electric that much. When I know I will have free time coming up, I will usually keep my packs charged. If I use them within a day or two, I'll just repeak them (in the case of NiMH since they lose charge over time) a few minutes while I'm getting my other related stuff together to head out to the field. No different than preparing my nitro fuel bottle, glow starter, tools etc.
Old 02-19-2010, 10:10 PM
  #22  
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?


ORIGINAL: robbiesmechanic

i am not new to rc, but have not owned one in over 10 years. i am wondering if its better to go nitro or electric and which should i get? my local hs carry
s traxxis and some hpi. what would you do?
I wouldnt be totally swayed by your LHS, if i went by what mine stocks i wouldnt still be into RC!

my point is there are lots of excellent online shops to buy spares or even full kits from.

i just like the choice from electric, i run 4WD belt drive and shaft drive, rear wheel drive, front wheel drive, even so far as semi trucks and other niche stuff, depends what you want really..
Old 02-19-2010, 11:33 PM
  #23  
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Nitro and electric are two completely different animals. Like comparing a dog to a cat. Some ppl like cats, some ppl like dogs. Pro and cons to each. It all comes down to personal preference.

THE END
Old 02-20-2010, 05:26 AM
  #24  
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

Some people are missing a common theme here. People that were once into nitro left it for electric, brushless and lipo specifically, and they all say that they aren't going back to nitro. There's a reason.

I have had both nitro and electric so I know what's on both sides of the fence. For those that say that they prefer nitro over brushless/lipo because of costs are FOS and have never actually had a brushless and lipo combo.

Somebody mentioned high end electrics, so let's go there. High end electric stuff isn't really that expensive compared to say a $400+ high end nitro engine and mandatory support equipment like a pricy race spec clutch, pricy ceramic clutch bell bearings, starter box, battery(ies) and charger. Also, those "uber pricy" high end lipo packs that are required for various racing sanctioning bodies will last a very long time...minimizing the cash outlay. The electric racer is going to get much more use out of those lipos (and motor/esc setup) than the nitro racer will get out of his engine before it needs a new piston and sleeve or even total replacement. That's not counting the wear/tear/replacement of the clutch and bell bearings. Compare apples to apples.

Electric in general keeps getting cheaper and cheaper and more reliable and faster. We see that in everything from the motors to ESCs, but foremost, lipo packs. For the average non-professional racer messing around at a local track and for the basher doing donuts at the baseball field, lower priced lipos can and are being used at significant cost savings with minimal to no performance difference with their racing counterparts. Chargers are a one time cash outlay...it's not like you have to buy a new charger every week or month or even year. Buy a quality charger and it will last a very long time-likely longer than the vehicle it supports. Even "cheap" chargers are very reliable. The lipo cost issue is a non-issue.

My Savage Flux is cheaper to run than the previous nitro versions of what was more or less the same truck. Do people think nitro fuel, glow plugs, clutch bell bearings, clutch shoes/springs and whatever else is required to run and maintain nitro are free? All of those items add up. Do the math over the course of a year. All things being equal between the two, nitro costs more. Nitro expenses are directly proportional to the amount of fuel used. More run time means more cash outlay in terms of fuel and engine maintenace/repair. That's no secret, but people forget about that stuff.
Old 02-20-2010, 11:23 AM
  #25  
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Default RE: ever going dispute electric or nitro?

You know, the thing is that this hobby is not ever going to be "economical" or "practical" or make financial sense for anyone here(unless you sell parts and make $$). So, what it really ALL comes down to is just what you want to run.... They can both be plenty expensive, they can both be fun, and they can both be crazy fast. They both have their own maintenance and upkeep.

And now, to show a little of my nitro Bias....

My savage has about 8 gallons on it. 5 of those gallons are with my Axial .28 because i wanted more power than the stock engine, so I will say this is my parts list that had anything to do with the nitro engine in the last 5 gallons with my savage. Im leaving out driveline parts I have replaced because that is irrelevant to the nitro engine...

Here is the cost of running my nitro savage engine for 5 gallons:

$5 - 1 glow plug
$3 - New Fuel Tubing
$2 - New fuel tank O-Ring
$0 - Rewinding the pull start
$8 - New clutch bell bearings
$12 - New aluminum clutch and flywheel
$2 - Cleaning the air filter(price of oil)
$4 - Sealing the engine with Black RTV

So here we have a grand total of $36 in maintenance to keep my nitro engine running for the past 5 gallons. And actually, I already had the filter oil, RTV sealant, and clutch bell bearings, so it cost me less, I just wanted to put an honest to goodness price list up of what it has cost me to keep the engine running. If electric is cheaper than that, it sure aint much. Oh, and 5 gallons is roughly 40 hours of running.

Eric

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