Your car engines are designed to run with high rpms, a wide range from idle to full throttle. The carb has to be tuned to run in this wide range, which makes it touchy. Also you mostly have tuned pipes, your settings have to be perfect to get them to run right.
In an airplane the nitros are much easier to handle, when you do you first run up on the field, you check the mixture needle usually once and fly all day. When you break your engine in, it needs more tuning.
Some engines need more attention then others, but there are a lot more reliable then the car engines.
Once in a while I run the Tmaxx which I preferred because it has an onboard starter and you can put the battery for it in your pocket.