Experienced members please help me, buy a new 1/10 scale on road car. As an introduction, I am 16 years old and have some experience in parking lot racing. Currently I own a old (6 years) electric Traxxas 4-Tec, I also bought a AE GT2 RS-Nitro powered a couple of months ago.

I plan to start practicing on a local race track for 1/10 on road cars, they allow both electric and nitro. Please advice on which cars to buy from Tower Hobbies.

First should I go electric or nitro. I found electric to be very easy, but did have issues breaking in and tuning my GT2-RS, though now it stars reliably, I still don't have much confidence in it.

I do have the following support equipment. MRC Brain Peak charger, 1 3000MAH NIMh, Glow igniter, fuel bottle, a nice tool set, Electronic Multimeter and soldering equipment.

I desire a car that will be reliable, offers adjustment potential and for which parts are not expensive.

I have shortlisted to the following at Tower hobbies.

For Electric Associated TC4 or HPI Sprint 2.

For Nitro Associated TC3 Plus or HPI RS4.

Kindly advise, as to the pro's and cons of electric Vs Nitro and which othese cars would be better. I have to buy before their $30 off on $225 order sale ends on 7/31/2008.

My total budget for car + additional support equipment is $400 for now.

I plan to use this car as a learning tool for a year or so, then I will build one from a kit.

I thank you guys a lot in advance, and look forward to learning from you by hanging around this great site.

Nightrunner.

I'm not going to make a specific recommendation for a car because I am not terribly well versed in touring cars. I will offer general guidance based on personal experience though. First, are both nitro and electric classes, popular at your local track? If only one is popular, go for that, as you will get a lot more help from the locals that way. If both are popular, go for the electric. You stated that you weren't really confident in the nitro car. I have found that nitro is better only if you enjoy the tuning, tweaking, noise, etc that a nitro offers. Performance-wise, you can get a lot out of either these days, so unless nitro appeals to you on a fundamental level, you will probably be better off going electric.

Thanks BuzzBomber,

The track owner told me that Nitro is much more popular. I also plan to go to the track for the social aspect of hanging out with fellow hobbyists and this is where the Nitro route appeals, a nice decent bunch they are and I do love the buzz and smell of Nitro. I have good Electromechanical skills and love tinkering , tell me once I fully learn the workings/maintenance of the Nitro, are they pretty predictable or are they still moody/finicky. I can only afford about 50 bucks a months for maintenance/repairs and fuel, will that be enough for Nitro.

I am leaning towards the AE TC3 plus with .15 engine, seems like it has many parts common with the GT2 RS. Seems I will not have to double up on common spares.

So if Nitro is predictable I would much prefer that route. If not then electric would be an option.

Nightrunner.

Honestly, once you have an engine properly run-in and tuned, it should be pretty reliable. Yes, they will flame out or give a hard time starting occasionally, but that's the nature of the game. Once you get the tune close, a good engine shouldn't require too much fiddling. Sometimes my electrics have weird momentary glitches, too, so it evens out. $50 a month for fuel and parts is on the low end, but it will depend on how much you run. Figure the going rate for a gallon of fuel is about $30 in NJ, don't really know what you're paying in CA. Parts, you might need nothing one month and $75 worth the next month. If you can make a gallon of fuel last at least a month of running, you'll probably have enough once you make the initial purchases, you just might have to get creative.