puppi350

What has a better power output overall gas or nitro marine engines. Please READ ON>

Obviously there are hundreds of factors that affect the overall performance of a boat, such as prop selection, drivetrain, hull, engine size, design....so on and so forth.

but if you were to get the same two boats whether their hydros, cats or mono hulls, with motors that are both rated by their manufacturers at the same hp rating (lets say a nitro engine rated @ 6.0 hp and a gas motor rated @6hp), which one would be an overall quicker or faster boat??

Its hard to determine, but lets say which one is faster maybe 8 or 9 times out of 10.


EXAMPLE: two stroke atv's are usually quicker, revier and faster than 4 stroke atv's, but lack the engine longevity and most importantly TORQUE of the 4 stroke. Thats not to say that a given 4 stroke atv cannot wip a 2 strokes but on a given day.

Well, lets stick to rc boats instead of atv's...........

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Boy, this one might start an arguement! If you used matched hulls I might have to put my money on the nitro powered boat. Lower weight and higher RPM would make the difference. You'd have to have the engines Dyno'ed because what the manufacturers rate the engines at might not be the true numbers. Some are known to stretch the truth just a tad.

puppi350

good point though,

i would of undoubtedly placed my money on the nitro boat also. BUT, LET ME SAY BUT,


what about if both boats are rather large in the 50" length range.

my ultimate argument is what engine to get for my 50" hydro x Aeromarine hull. i have done a good amount of research on this and there are some engines nitro and gas, that have hp numbers well above 6hp. now of course we said that some manufacturers stretch the #'s and thats true. the gas engines showing those type of numbers will also be somewhate more expensive.

hhmmmm...........

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Let's go back to what you just replied. It depends on which class that you'd like to run in, either gas or nitro. You obviously know the other differences like fuel prices but you might want to look at what others in your area are racing if you're going the racing route. I'd still go with nitro for more speed, you'll find out that an OPS .90 will pump out those numbers but then you have an engine that will suck down the fuel. For you, it would have to come down to a matter of personal choice. With a nitro engine you are looking at not only the fuel but support equipment like a 24-volt starter, glow driver, etc.
Seeing how you're looking at the Aeromarine hulls, take a glimpse at the new Thunderbolt. Those that own them or have seen them run say that they are very impressed with them and one was another boat hull manufacturer!

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

If I were building a boat that size I'd choose gas, if for no other reason than the significantly lower fuel costs. Big nitro engines burn huge quantities of very expensive fuel.

puppi350

ron,

most guys around here are running gas boats. yes, support equip. for the nitro is a pain and not to mention what a gallon of nitro cost. on modified 260's, those hydros are pushing low to mid 50's. i guess i was looking for sub-60mph speeds or more if possible, without having to go with a 1200 dollar engine or multi-cylinder qd $$$$.

as u said before, weight on nitro motors is less, so i guess if you put the same numbers in a light/smaller pkg., the boat would perform better.

so u think a ops .90 or 1.0 will push it well, or as well as any 260PUM mod zenoah?

airbatic

Nitro is one-billion times more powerful.

Kraus

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

A good Zen will give you enough speed. I mentioned the T-bolt as a possibility because my buddy Phil Thomas said that he saw one running at around 63 MPH into a headwind without blowing over and was very stable. I don't know of anyone with the Sport X off-hand.
Remember, in order to finish first you have to first finish. A smart driver will win more often than a fast driver.

Doubledog

My Feedback: (48)

How about a Gas engine converted to Nitro?

I've got pics of a 230 & a few 260's that was done & believe it or not, it doesn't suck the fuel like the regular nitro mota's do. Fast... You bet. How fast exactly I can't say but it was hanging in there with modded Zeni's.

My money is on the regular nitro burners but not what I would buy.

ISKATEFAST

There are plenty of gas Hydros running over 60mph. Low to mid 50 speed is very attainable with a well done 260. The gap is closing, but may never become even. All full mod 260's are not equal. CC, MnD, Butchthe boatman motors are the chioce of many racers. Engine Hp is only part of the equation. Driver skill is way more inportant and props make all the dif. in the world. Top speed is over rated at best. Racing and even play boating requires turning. Sure it's cool to do SAW runs and look at the numbers on a GPS. But if you want to win races, having the fastest boat doesn't mean the best boat or winning races.
Are you planning on racing? Another factor in choosing between the two to think about. Nitro motors require almost constant carb adjustments due to changes in temp/humidity/elevation/nitro content . Gas motors need less adjustment to stay at top performance.

Cashpoboy

My Feedback: (7)

The original question was "What has a better power output overall, gas or nitro?"

The question is simply a power to weight ratio question.

Does a 25cc gas engine put out as much power as a 25cc nitro engine? The nitro setup would be lighter so if the power were the same the nitro wins. This is not a question of longevity, fuel costs, mess, costs, setup, throttle response...etc.
It is simply a question of how much horsepower per pound of weight. If they weigh the same, the nitro would probably be larger size (cubic centimeters or cubic inches) to equal the weight of the smaller gasser due to its ignition system weight penalty. Without any actual testing, I would guess from my experience that you get more power (per pound of weight) out of a nitro.

So who has seen any dyno testing in this area? This must be an apples to apples comparison. Same weight engines and what is the output of each.

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

The gas engine will have more torque even given the same amount of horsepower. Your moving a larger everything from crank to piston to flywheel.
This is dragging an old thread up from the depths as I was still running nitro then but have since moved on to gas boats. There's still a few nitro burners in the basement but haven't seen daylight in years.