silverman1

Thats right I can't bring myself to buy a rc car or truck that is electric powered.

Here is my biggest reason, you need brushless to make decent power and speed. The battery packs are out of this world price wise and also the the charger is way to expensive. Limited run time, a half hour tops,so you would need at least 4 to 6 packs to run a decent amount of time. Oh I forgot initial out put for a really decent vehicle, such as Savage flux, Traxxas slash 4x4, assoc sc10 brushless.

The performance i am not knocking, its the limited run times and initial out put. I tried to bring myself to buy the assoc sc 10 brushless, but with packs, charger etc, I would probably have over 400.00 in it.

So for now I will stay with nitro, maybe not as fast but much longer run times etc.

When prices drop further (charge it!!!) and I mean this in both senses of the word literally.

nitrosportsandrunner

redcat volcano epx pro $180
akku 5000mah 2s 30c lipo $25
imax b6 lipo charger $40

brushless 4wd truck with lipo and charger for under $250...priceless.

some may not want a redcat, thats fine. buy a more expensive truck. but lipos and lipo chargers are only expensive if you buy brand name's with high mark ups. i own 6 of the akku lipos, 4 that are 4200mah and 2 that are 5000mah.
i get 20-25 minutes of runtime with the lipos in my redcats, and my emaxx.

jermpool

You don't know what you are missing, No tuning, no yanking on a pull string. The easyness of electric with modern brushless systems and lipos is amazing. Makes the hobby much more enjoyable.

nitrosportsandrunner

well there is nothing wrong with wanting to tune a motor, pull a cord to bring it to life.
but for me, i dont have the time to mess with it. if i run a nitro for 1/2 hour, i spend another 15 minutes cleaning it(afterrun stuff) with electrics i run and then done!
electrics can also be nice during the winter if you have an indoor track near you.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I own both and like both a lot. End of story. Some say once you run a brushless you'll ditch your nitro's. Well, thats not so true with me. I drive both of them pretty equal really depending on what im doing. Its nice to have the option. Lipo's and chargers really arent too expensive anymore with places like hobbypartz.com and hobbyking.com though. If it werent for those places I couldnt have afforded brushless.

Eric

Kalani938

By the way, why would you need 4 to 6 battery packs to be able to run a decent amount of time? Just use your charger to charge the dead battery while you are running your other one? I would say 2 to 3 lipo's is efficient, at least for me. Lets say I take 3 lipos to the track that are already charged. I run my first one, charge it while I'm running one of the other ones. It's pretty simple. Average runtimes for my lipos are 35-40 mins depending on track or terrain. My lipo's take about 1 hour and 15 mins to charge so you do the math. Electrics are awesome and require way less maintenance. I am about to buy my first nitro rc (buggy) from a friend of mine for $20. He is pretty much giving it away so I'm happy. It's a Redcat buggy, brand new. Retails for about $200 so I'm getting a steal! I will have fun tinkering with it since I've never owned a nitro

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

Welcome back! I remember you from the old days! Where have you been for 6 years Silverman?

nitrosportsandrunner

last saturday i took my rc's to the indoor track(also has a rock crawling wall)
i had my rs10 with a 3s lipo
axial with a 2s lipo
redcat tornado with a 2s lipo
emaxx with a pair of 2s lipos
i was there for 3 whole hours, on just those lipos. total cost of those 5 batteries was $120. now that may seem alot for 3 hours, but those lipos will last a very long time.
had i run a nitro truck for 3 hours i would have used a fair amount of nitro fuel. and that stuff aint exactly cheap either.

Kalani938

Question, my buddy said he got the car that I'm buying from him started a couple times, but last time he said it wouldn't start. What should I check when I get it from him? I'm sure there are many things, but what are the main things to check when it won't start? Sorry, totally new to nitro

Ttam Says Blarg

Well prices have dropped a lot.

A 5000 mah 2s 40c pack is only $23.66 @ hobby king. Thats dirt cheap. Less than a gallon of fuel and will let you run for 30 + minutes

[link=http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10305]Turnigy HK Lipo[/link]

I recently bought one of [link=http://www.hobbypartz.com/car.html]THESE[/link] for the durga @ $79.70 you cant go wrong. If it blows up (which I highly doubt) I wont buy their products again. Plus Castles sidewinder systems are not that much more and have very high rep.

[link=http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html]THIS[/link] charger is cheap and should work for most purposes and is cheaper than most nihm chargers..


All in all the electric side of the hobby has become pretty cheap. You could almost go as far as to say lipos/brushless has gotten cheaper than nihm/brushed.

tommygun32

New glow plug
Fully charged glow plug ignitor
Fully charged receiver and transmitter batteries
Full tank of fuel
Prime the engine
Make sure the piston is on bottom dead center
Check the carb and idle gap

And have a look at this series of videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAggk...eature=channel

Good luck and keep us updated.

Kalani938

Thanks Tommygun, will do!!

SyCo_VeNoM

in most cases Lipo IS cheaper than NiMh now. Same with brushed vs brushless. Brushed XL- ESC is $45 and a 12t titan is $20ish the HW BL ESC combo is $80 for the 60A and like $60 for the 35a (which will power a fair amount of RC's fine)
The 5300mah NiMh I bought for my RC tank cost me $22 shipped (needed a NiMh, Lipo is too high voltage freshly charged) it is a ok batter, not that great.
A better quality 5200 mah 2S lipo from HK is like $25 shipped (from US warehouse)that lasts over 2X longer

Raguvian

I got my Blitz + Sidewinder 5700 kv system for $290, plus another $90 for a lipo charger and two 2S 30C 4000 mah hardcase batteries. I also get about 30 minutes of run time per pack if I'm not abusing it.

For $380, you can't go wrong, especially because you don't need to buy fuel and plugs and oils.

DaveG55

Everytime I read a post like this, and it always comes up in similar posts, I think that the poster doesn't really want a hobby, they just want a fast toy to play with. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with that it just that the "hobby" is FAR more than that. For me, over half of the fun of the hobby is in the tinkering that comes with it. Building, starting, tuning, modding and overcoming problems is what makes it a hobby.
I know several people who own hobby grade rc's who have no interest in the hobby aspect, they just want a sophisticated, fast toy. That's fine because their money helps keep the hobby alive and expanding.
As for me, I own nitro and electric, including lipo batterys, and it's all a lot of fun and owning both gives you a lot of flexability.

To the OP, don't go electric/brushless/lipo if you don't want to but your excuses of cost/run time are really not valid anymore.
As for initial outlay, that outlay includes batterys and charger which are not vehicle specific (well, the batterys can be to a certain extent) and can be reused with more vehicles. Besides, a new nitro vehicle of similar quality/speed will run you about the same $400. And why you think you need 5 abtterys is beyond me. Three batteries and a charger capable of charging 2 batterys at a time will keep you running non-stop pretty much all day long.

dalolyn

My Feedback: (7)

I have been a nitro guy all my life, mostly Airplanes. Most of my flying buddies have switched to electric. Not me. I have owned several nitro truggys. No way I was going to switch to electric. Now that I am pushing 50 I made the switch. Although I will always fly nitro planes I will never go back to nitro with cars. I could never take a nitro vehicle into the House. I was banned. Now I can work on the cars at the Kitchen table if I want. Keep in mind I was the biggest electric skeptic there was. Even two years ago I would of told you Go Nitro, electric ****s But I found electric is easier to maintain, faster,cleaner. Although the faster part can be disputed. So to put that to rest whether Nitro or electric brushless is faster. The guy with the most money wins. Speed = $

The_Shark

there is just something about a nitro engine revving out though.
i am building my first brushless, but i always liked nitro, i know how to tune, know how not to break rip cords, and have had minimum issues over the years.

and a good nitro engine with good tune and gearing is plenty fast.

jermpool

You are wrong in your assumption. My favorite part of this hobby when I started it was building the kits which they have pretty much taken away from me. I would still rather build or repair than drive. But when I'm ready to drive, I'm ready to drive, not ready to pull and tune and hope it doesn't flame out when I get it the farthest away from me that Im going. If you knew me you would know that mySC10 is a very controllable brushless truck. To me electric is far more relaxing, which I think that is the purpose of hobbies, than nitro.

kaiser01

i'm the polar opposite to the op here.

i just can't bring myself to buy a nitro. i've been in this hobby since 85 and i have yet to own a nitro.
i have help friends fix thier nitro's, i have driven a few, they just don't "do it" for me.

to each his own i always say.

LewAshby

It is your money so there is no need to justify to us how you choose to spend or not to spend your money on.

DaveG55

I wasn't really assuming that was how you were - but it is what I often think when I read that sort of statement. If what you want from the hobby is to relax then I'm glad you found what you like.
For myself, I prefer a bit of challange and any challange has a componant of frustration. I own cars, trucks, buggys, boats, planes, helis, nitro and electric and learning to drive/maintain/fly them has presented some fun challanges, a bit of frustration and a great feeling of accomplishment on mastering them. IMHO, simply making something "easier" does not necessaraly make it more enjoyable.
I also find your comments on nitro a bit stereotypical. After you master nitro, tuning is minimal and not always even necessary Pulling is not required. Flame outs are very rare and, for me, usually only happen as a result of a wreck.

But, as was said, to each their own

OvalRacer99

If someone doesn't like electric rc, they will come up with any excuse to explain why. Same if you don't like nitro, doesn't matter. In my opinion, the fuel for nitro is way to much $$$$$$.
You spend $30 to $40 a gallon and I geet batteries for $25 to $35 each and I bet my battery will be around a lot longer than your gallon of nitro.
I aggree that the start up is more with electric, but I will bet it is cheaper in the long run.

P.S. With 5 or 6 lipos, bet you can get a copule hours of fun out of them before needing a recharge.

Just my opinion and you may not agree!!

thehuntingterminator

not meaning to get off topic, but are Redcats durable and long lasting?

nitrosportsandrunner

they have been for me. thats why i started selling them.
read some posts in the redcat forum.
the caldera 10e, 8E line and the 3.5 line are all tough and fast for the money.

rc awesome

Haha I have the same problem, I am currently trying to bring my self to get the e firestorm, But the nitro version looks to good to pass up.