cheeseclip

really wanted to know

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Gas is catching up, but for pure speed it's not there yet. Look at the record holders, they are not gas.

BMAD01

Gas might not hold the speed records, but the benifits of gas outweigh nitro anyday. Why don't you tell me what you would'nt need to bring to the lake, to run a gas boat? Brian

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

The OP had a simple question, is there any need to turn it into an argument? BOTH have their advantages. I run BOTH. I have fun with BOTH. Many of the "gas only" boaters in my club have (re)discovered that nitro boats are fun too.

As far as what I "wouldn't need to bring", the difference is smaller than most realize when you factor in the larger size of most gas boats, combined with the extra things you should bring such as a fire extinguisher, container for contaminated fuel, etc.

Following are current IMPBA records. I chose the fastest of any class for each type of fuel
1/16 mile straight away
F (nitro) hydro: 120 mph
XLS27 (gas) hydro: 95 mph
F (nitro) mono: 92 mph
XLS36 (gas) mono: 72 mph

1/3 mile oval
F hydro: 72 mph
XLS36: 54 mph
F mono: 56 mph
XLS36 mono: 46

It's interesting to note that one can step down several sizes in the nitro engines and still find boats that beat the fastest gas class. In fact in many cases, a .21 size boat keeps up with the fastest gas boat. In all the cases I looked at, .45 size boats were beating gas boats. So, as I said, for pure speed, nitro still rules over gas.

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

Basically WHO CARES!!! If you are into racing, the two never compete against each other. What's important is that you can drive better, then, do you have more speed than the other guys in that heat with you. If you are into plopping around the local pond with your toy plastic boat, speed is in the eyes of the beholder and, as advertised and on E Bay it's 20 MPH faster.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

John, not trying to argue, but sure they compete against each other. For example, in order to attract more boats, and to give everyone a chance to run what they brung, our club has several open classes, including mono, offshore, hydro, cat, and sport hydro. Our district also regularly holds open classes.

However, what you say about driving is very true. I've won lots of races against much faster boats. The reason was simple, I start and finish nearly every heat. People much faster have been killed by their DNFs.

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

You IMPBA guys are really different. What an outrageous idea.[X(][X(]. You mean I could bring my .21 Wild Thing out and trounce a bunch of gas monos!!! That would make my day[sm=sunsmiley.gif]. But now lets get serious. How's that Whiplash coming?

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

The club I belong to is great, we do whatever it takes to let people have fun. For example, at the last club race we had classes for 20 and 40 mono. Since there were only 2 boats for 40 mono, we told the 20 guys they could run with us. They still had their heats, but they got in some extra runs too.

The engine in the cat I use for the offshore and cat classes blew on open water day. Since I didn't happen to have a piston/liner and rod lying around, the cat was dead (used up the last of its 9 lives). I ended up entering my 40 mono in open offshore. I ended up second out of 8 and all the boats below me are gas! So, bring your Wild Thing on down!
Man, you had to bring that up. Mine's not coming together very well at all. I had a bunch of other projects that got in the way. I've got all the pieces and if I'd just make time I could have it ready in a couple weeks. I've got to get it done soon so I can run in open sport hydro. If I don't, I'll be forced to run my sport 40 and end up beating all the gas sports! Have you heard about the Scale Masters race that's going to be held the second weekend in June? How's your Whiplash coming?

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

How's your Whiplash coming?

I was shaking up a can of K&B epoxy primer I found in my stock last night. The boats ready for paint. Got all the radio gear, engine, mount, drive line etc. All I'm waiting for is M&D to come forth with a new pipe design. If I get to the wire, I'll have to go to C&C or someone else just to get in the water. The guys in my club will be going out to play in a week or two.

cheeseclip

i run electric monos but i was wondering whats faster and it appears that its nitro. does gas mean you can use weedwacker engines?

ob nut

My Feedback: (1)

Did you happen to know that the fastest R/C boat is electric?

SAW - T Hydro 123.49 mph

Weedwacker motors started the gas craze. There are motors being built specifically for r/c application. They are night / day comparison.

cheeseclip

my mono is cool. i was thinking of making the same hull but bigger and puting in a weed wacker

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

If you want a boat that's cute and putts around the lake, a weed wacker engine is fine. If you're looking for speed, you'll need to get an engine made for R/C boats, such as a Zenoah G26.

Captain Ramius

A windy day and or chop on the lake tells everything , of course gas is faster because of the larger boat size and the ability to handle waves that small nitro boats get swamped in.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Are we going to debate all the differences? Of course a larger, heavier boat will handle a chop better, but his question wasn't "which is faster in a chop".
Captain, if you can't play like an adult, I suggest you take a time out. I don't know what you think I'm trying to hide, but since there's no number for XLS36 in the IPMBA record table (shows #DIV/0!), I couldn't post it. And, your post still doesn't change what I posted, NITRO IS FASTER!

ob nut

My Feedback: (1)

NAMBA GX-1 Hydro is at 109.22. NAMBA C Hydro is 117.37 while the X Hydro is 119.49. Captain, looks to me that you are doing exactly what you are accusing PIPER CHUCK of doing. Report the facts as they are, NAMBA NITRO is still faster than GAS.

[link=http://www.namba.com/content/records.asp?EventType=10]NAMBA SAW Nitro/Gas records[/link]

Delinport

Yawn

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

If you're tired, go to bed!

Captain Ramius

piper was misreporting the gas record ,I'm not hiding anything just correcting an error , in post #4 he incorrectly stated
as the gas record the gas record is 109+ as mentioned above.

I'm not debating that nitro is faster than gas.

ob nut

My Feedback: (1)

Piper Chuck did not missrepresent the GAS records. What he stated was the IMPBA record that currently stands for GAS.

[link=http://www.impba.net/upload/record/record.pdf]IMPBA records[/link]

APBA RCBoating does not state motor used in setting records.

As it stands, nitro is faster than gas, but electric beats both...

Captain Ramius

The poll asked what was faster , when talking records and comparing gas vs nitro you have to look at the fastest record for each , doing otherwise is misleading to onlookers with no past experience or knowledge of records.
The way its being presented makes the speed differential look like its greater than it actually is. the difference is not 25 mph as presented, but only 11.359 mph.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

I misreported nothing. I clearly stated that the numbers I posted were IMPBA records. Did I go out to every organization to get their numbers? Nope, but doing so changed NOTHING. As I said, nitro is still faster than gas.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Good grief! I presented the numbers, from representative IMPBA classes, to show the trend, not so there could be an argument about the margin. It seems you think I'm guilty of trying to discredit gas or something. In case you missed it earlier, I RACE BOTH!

Edit: It's interesting to observe that even when looking at the NAMBA side, the .40 mono and hydro classes are running about the same speeds, or faster, than the fastest gas classes.

lzvagias

i don't want to jump into the argument but as a side note isn't the over-all record held by electric or am i wrong? its been a while since i looked at the speed records but i think they where closing on the nitro record or had exceeded it. those electrics are fast either way. to you nitro guys, is there even a nitro motor available that would be suitable to put in something like a 60" catamaran and still be fast? i know that you could use more than one and do it for sure but could it be done with a single? just curious because the biggest marine nitro i've seen is only a .90 and i know they're powerfull but how would it measure up comparable to a zen? no, i'm not thinking of switching i've just been curious.

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

MHZ makes a v-6 nitro, 16 horsepower or something like that, also a two or three cyliner, a four cylinder fourstroke nitro....they are cool, expensive and a little impratical, yeah...how bout a 104" boat with a rotax in it, lets see a nitro push that thing around...am I siding one way or the other, not really, I personally preffer gas...gas boats though a few miles an hour short of some nitros, are way cooler and more fun to mess with...not to mention more convinient and reliable...IMO...but to each his own...