Hello,

Iam totally new to RC cars, but totally excited wha tI've seen. I would like to buy one, but dont' really know from what to choose ?

I wuld like to have a car, which

- runs nice outdoor... and can also run on uneven terrain
- it shouldn't be extrem fast (faster as 50mph would be really fast I guess)
- if electric it should charge the battery extreme fast, and last long very long

@NITRO:
Idon't know anything about nitro rc cars.

- is nitro in general more expensive compared to electric ?
- how much cost a nitro refill, and how long does a car run with one nitro fuel ?
- does the nitro fuel come in capsules, or is it like in a real car with a tank to refill ?

which brands are the best ?
which no=name brands are similar to the best brands but much cheaper ?

thank you very much for every little help !

the rustler is a good starter i recommend a good charger and batts i use nimhs and they work great on mine

Electric is good because of no mess and no fuss. But it takes an hour to charge any battery. (except for LiFe batteries but that's a different story) Electrics also have less mantenance compared to a nitro. Nitro is fun but it does take a little more dedication. You have to get the motor tuned right everytime you crank it up. keep buying fuel ($30 a gallon or so). Nitro cars do have a fuel tank and you get about 10 mins or so per tank, this will vary depending on the car and the tune.

For a beginner I'd suggest an electric unless you have someone who can help you with the nitro. The [link=http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_44_228/products_id/146193/n/Traxxas-Rustler-Stadium-Truck-RTR-w-XL-5-Speed-Control-w-Battery-Peak-Charger]Traxxas Rustler[/link] is good so is the [link=http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_44_228/products_id/32770/n/HPI-E-Firestorm-RTR-w-DSX-2-Truck-Body-1-10-Electric-Truck]HPI Firestorm[/link] Both are brushed and should go 30+ mph.

thank you for your reply...

@nimhs:
ehhh, what is that?


@electric and battery:
so every battery takes an hour to charge.. hmm... but how long does one battery last if you drive constantly ?
15 minutes ? 1 hour ?


@LIFEBatteries:
what about them ? Are these special batteries ? last very long ? super expensive ? hmm.. never heared about such batteries...


@nitro:
wow.. nitro sounds pretty expensive.. just one thing.. a nitro car runs with regular fuel from the gas station ? or is it a different special fuel ?

@fast:
what I've seen the two models you suggested are pretty fast, and close to 200 USD... is there anything a bit slower and cheaper ?


thx

Nimh is Nickel Metal Hydride battery. Very safe, very common batteries, good way to start in the hobby

It takes an hour to charge a battery safely, any faster and you'll damage it. The run time depends on the size of the battery. You'll see them listed as 7.4 V (volts) xxx mah where xxx is the milli amp hours the battery has. The voltage is like the horsepower while the mah is like the fuel tank. The larger the Mah the longer it will run. If you have a 1000 mah battery you can charge it at 1 amp for an hour, if it's a 3000 mah battery you can charge it at 3 amps for an hour. This is know as charging at 1C where C is the capacity of the battery in amp hours. (1000 milli amps = 1 amp)

LiFe is Lithion Iron Phosphate batteries. These are fairly new and expensive. The big advantage is they can be charged very fast, but not a whole lot of people are using them for RC

Nitro fuel is Nitro Methane fuel. It's a two stroke fuel with oil already mixed. you have to buy it from your local hobby shop and it's about $30 a gallon.

If you wanted a little less money you could get the[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSGU7**&P=7]Duratrax Evader[/link] it's a pretty good beginner car, just need to add a battery and charger. The trucks i have listed are 2wd stadium trucks and are a lot of fun

Nitro cars run "Glow" which is a mixture of methanol, nitromethane, and oil.

The Rustler is a great entry-level car.  Keep in mind that with any electric R/C you will also need to buy batteries and a charger.

LiFe is Lithium Iron Phosphate (also known as LiFePO4) and a safer version of Lithium Polymer.  You can't run LiFe or LiPo batteries in most starter cars easily because they require a low-voltage cutoff in the speed controller and most starters do not have those.

NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) is a good type of starter battery.  I'd suggest, at the very least, 3000mAh batteries.  5000mAh will get you the most runtime but of course costs quite a bit more.

Run-times are not easily calculated as it depends on how much throttle you give it, etc, but I'd say somewhere between 10-20 minutes per battery, maybe a tad bit longer if you get IB or GP batteries (I'd definitely suggest those if you can afford them...)

You can get a Duratrax Evader for $120 on tower but from personal experience (I own an Evader and an RC18T) I think the Rustler is worth the extra price, particularly since the $200 version includes a nice battery and a nice charger.