New here
 

Im new here and the other day I just got a wild hair the other day, and wanted to build either a gas remote controlled car or boat (preferably car) but where do i start? I want a off road/on road car thats very quick, and relative easily to drive. Any help would be awesome!!!

RE: New here
 

Welcome!  And I'm new, too!<div>
</div><div>You'll proly get quite a few different answers to your question, I would just suggest doing a bit of research on all of the suggestions you're given to see which will be the best fit for you.</div><div>
</div><div>Above all, have fun! :D</div>

RE: New here
 

Welcome!

Well, there are lots of different options fitting your specified criteria, can you give us some more info? Do you have any experience building stuff at all? Any experience with nitro engines? How much do you want to spend?

RE: New here
 

Thanks for the quick replys
I have no experience building remote cars, I do have mechanical experence and can pretty much get anything mechanical to work for me, In terms of nitro engine none what so ever my co-worker says they are better in terms of torque and power (possibly not true i dont know) and im willing to spend around $500 i want one that can do great in the dirt since i live on dirt roads but also good on pavement since thats where my friends live, I was looking at doing a bug type body or a rally truck and i would prefer it to have 4x4

RE: New here
 

For that kinda money you can buy most any 1/10 scale 4wd car you want.

There are several on/off road cars that come to mind...most of which are electric.

Today, with brushless electric motors and lipo batteries, electrics can be as fast (or faster) than nitros.

Tamiya makes several 4wd car's. You can buy them as kits, or RTR (ready to run/ prebuilt)

With all 1/10 cars, you can adjust the suspension hight and use rally style tires for running offroad....or lower the suspension and run street or drift tires for pavement.

There are some chassis sold as rally cars which have side plates made to keep rocks/dirt out of the chassis.

There are RTR nitro 4wd cars. I have only owned one (low end model) which I drove only on the street tho.

I would reccomend an electric for offroad use. Just cause with nitros there is more cleaning to be done. And nitros have more tight spots which are hard to clean.

You can spend just $200 for most tamiya car models. Then add alittle more for a battery and charger.

Redcat has the lightning, which is availible in brushless RTR for $180ish.

With most any car chassis there are many different bodies you can buy.

Are you looking for a rally looking car?

RE: New here
 

thank you for all the useful information,
I should also probably mention i wanna be able to run this in sand and fine dirt as well,
But yes i was looking for a rally style or something on those lines

RE: New here
 

bug type? [link=http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/duratrax/dtxd36.html]Duratrax VW Bug[/link]
Duratrax makes great trucks for the money, this is a 2wd truck, but this simplifies the chassis and maintenance, these come with a 1 year plastic part replacement warranty- water-proof and 19turn make it reasonably quick and bash ready- throw another $60 at it and you can get a EZ-run brushless setup for it.

need 4wd?[link=http://www.ofnawarehouse.com/product_info.php?products_id=1127&osCsid=egtt4etvh r3etr4r9n4j09ss74]OFNA CRT.5[/link] These are a great deal right now, they WILL require a engine, servos, radio and assembly, but all setup you can do it for $200 if your smart about what you put in it, plus its nitro!

Brush-less today is very quick, however i find it really only enjoyable with on-road cars, the best thing about a big ole truck is you get to rip up and down dirt and mud and grass leaving a smoke trail while hearing that little engine scream away.

got deeper pockets? [link=http://www.ofnawarehouse.com/product_info.php?products_id=2898]OFNA/Jammin nitro RTR short couse[/link] at only $260 RTR WITH a italian made nitro engine and 2.4Ghz radio, i cant tell you how great of a deal this is, this is a SWEET truck and i would hop on it so fast if i had the money.

RE: New here
 

Yes that is excatly what i was looking for, but pref 4x4, i dont wanna have to go dig it out everytime it gets stuck and i think 4x4 will lower those odds, and like i said im new here what is the brushless deal?

Yeah i like engines they are good sounding and water proof is better seeing how i have creeks(6inches deep max) around here that need some slashing, what is short course?

I kinda wanna build wanna build a car from the ground up

RE: New here
 

I agree, you want to go Nitro! If your not afraid to tinker with a 2-stroke engine, you'll love it because it will be all so worth it!

You should check out the OFNA Hyper 7 (with Mac* .28 engine) if you decide to get a RTR that you can modify as much as you want. It'll do anything you want it to. ;-)

RE: New here
 

With a $500 budget on the dirt, I'd go for a 1/8th car, either a buggy or truggy. You could get a very good 1/10th as a kit for that kind of money, but you can also get a good 1/8th RTR. I'd probably be going for one of these...

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...Spec-RTR-Buggy

It has a good engine, the only disappointing part is the radio (FM), but that can also be changed very cheaply... http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-gt3b-carradio-lcd.html

It is already built unfortunately, but 1/8th kits, plus all the essentials needed to run them are over your $500 budget and then some. I suggest you sacrifice (its a shame I know) the ability to build it in favour of getting a real good performer.

The Hyper 7 is also a decent choice, especially if you want some change from your purchase, but it is always my opinion that to get your money's worth in this hobby, spend as much as you can afford.

PS. Yes, your friend was wrong saying that nitro is faster/more powerful. Brushless is MUCH more powerful, but its not for everyone. If you live for the sound and smell of a high revving engine, go nitro. If speed and power is all you care about, go electric.

RE: New here
 

Short course trucks are a type of truck that are designed to drive like 1/1 CORR trucks, andif you want to go slashing with a waterproof truck, you could get the Traxxas Slash.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...sn/biggrin.gif

RE: New here
 

Making a blanket statement like this is dangerous. In fact, it is not true in all cases. Brushless has almost instant torque, don't confuse this with power. On smaller tracks, with short runups, it can be an advantage. On larger tracks, nitros usually turn faster lap times and have faster straightaway speeds. Check out of videos of the Silver State Nitro Challenge 2012. The electrics had to gear for decent top speed and lost their advantage. The nitros were clearly faster.

Bashers usually like wheelies and such, so electrics appeal to them. But in the big picture, electrics are not allconquering.

RE: New here
 

I would also like to chime in, a high output big block engine in my opinion is overall stronger and faster than brushless, however smaller scale like 1/10 and under, brushless wins out because they pack alot of punch in a small package. I mean you have to figure, these monster motors put out 3, 4 or even more horsepower and can turn all this power at 38,000rpm or even up to 40,000 or more.

My modded jammin JPX .21 WITH a high-end tuned pipe is just flat out insane, it accelerates faster than anything i have ever seen (minus a drag car) i can rip off the tires at will, and the torque is everywhere in the power-band.

RE: New here
 

So all these 1/10 nitro trucks and buggies and im curious, can you put different engines in  them if you want bigger or meaner, or suspension, or driveline, transmisions, I really like tinkering and making stuff faster and better

RE: New here
 

pretty much can do almost anything you want within your abilities to imagine, make, locate, and jury rig parts. Some examples I took my one Monster truck bought another axle extended the chassis, and made it 6wd (ok sounds easy wasn't as easy in making and modding parts). Another I took and made no wheel drive seeing it no longer has wheels(I slapped a airplane motor with a propeller on the back, and skis where wheels should go). I've made a tracked truck. Not everything is a success though some are failures, but as long as I learn something from the failure for my next idea I take it as money well spent, and seeing most things I use get recycled its not a complete loss ;)

I know there's a few 1/10ths people crammed 1/8th motors in and they fly like a bat outta hell

some RC's have more upgrades available than others, not that its a bad thing having relatively few upgrades some RC's don't need any they are that tough ;)

RE: New here
 

well if you want to chuck money at an already expensive rig to make it not suck so much, buy anything traxxas.

really you should not need to put work into something to make the driveline stronger or make the suspension more durable, it should be solid in the first place.

however you can upgrade pretty much any R/c out there to make it faster and handle better, with nitro there are different exhaust pipes, engines, there is porting you can have done to the engine, electrics you can install brushless motors, multiple lipo batteries, and high output ESC's, on both you can upgrade shocks, install sway bars, different tires, even add torsen diffs in some of them.

plus you can experiment on adjustments, and that doesn't cost a thing.

RE: New here
 

Dangerous? Little dramatic aren't we?

On larger tracks, nitros turn faster laps due to battery limitations on electrics. Lets see who would get down the straight first if they were allowed to use as many cells as they felt like. By allowing a 2000kv 90A motor only 14,4v, it's only going to develop 1300W, about 1.9hp, slightly less than a competition nitro engine and turn less rpm too (about 25k as opposed to 35k in the nitro). All that changes when you go up to 5s and 6s. 5s is about the same performance as a nitro engine with a little more torque, 6s is considerably faster off the line and down the straight. All of a sudden the motor is making 2000W, nearly 3 horsepower, a butt-ton more torque and is turning 45k rpm, considerably more than a nitro. A truggy on 6S would absolutely destroy any nitro on any decent sized track given the same driver skill, it wouldn't be a competition at all.

The fact that race rules don't allow electrics to compete with the nitros has nothing to do with which power source is faster and more powerful, because at the end of the day, there is no comparison at ANY scale. Brushless is much faster at its upper limit than nitro at its upper limit.

Electric haters, please note, that I am not saying that this makes electric 'better', that is not an opinion I hold, both nitro and electric have their advantages and disadvantages and I love both. Is nitro more involving and for some people more rewarding? Yes, I believe it is, but electric is faster, there can be no denying it.

RE: New here
 

There's no difference at any scale, brushless at the top end is a lot faster than nitro at the top end. If anything, the 1/8th cars display even more of a difference than their smaller brethren. You ever driven a 6s truggy? A 2350 motor on 6S is turning nearly 60,000 rpm for the first 5 mins of the battery and developing more than triple the torque. Try it, you'll be amazed.

RE: New here
 

Im thankful for all the help, I think Ill go nitro due to the fact im an engine guy and I enjoy hearing the engine and I have no fear of trying to tweek a gas engine to try and squeeze that extra half horse out of it. You all have been very very helpful

RE: New here
 

PFFFT, who needs that? i have a hard time keeping the tires glued to my 9.5 because of all the torque and speed, it becomes even worse on dirt even with a torsen diff, in my opinion, nitro in that scale is much more useable, sometimes less is more, especially on a track the slight lag is more natural and jumping in my opinion is better.

sure top end is better, but electric no matter what feels a little soggy mid-high range, plus i like to filler' up and take off, no need to charge multiple batts on expensive chargers, keeping tabs of cell balance, having to buy multiple batteries link em together ect. to me its much more work, my nitro buggy is 1/4 high speed adjustment and im golden all day.

plus i could not live without brake biasing on larger scale.

then people are like "meeeeeh i hate clenin' up nitro meeeeeeh" WHAT? if its off-road its going to get just as dirty, if you have to clean up tons of fuel it means you need to change out a $1.50 gasket or need to aim for the tank filler better.

know what's funny? even IF electric was better on a track, over time your going to need to re-charge or swap batteries, with nitro as soon as you hear a pitch change, throw in some gas and go another 15 minutes.

I usually agree with you Fox, but I know in my gut nitro is more effective in the 1/8 buggy/truggy division.

RE: New here
 

Yeh don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to say that on a track the advantage is not really evident. But bashing, the 1/8th cars on 6S are a sight to behold.

RE: New here
 

couldn't have said it better myself! You can't restrict one system and then say the other is faster, no nitro will touch a quality brushless system on 6s.

RE: New here
 

Top speed maybe but honestly, once you hit the 3HP mark on a buggy, anything more is overkill, my 9.5 runs an engine rated at 3.0HP and 40,000rpm before being modded, and there are .28 out there that can hit almost 4hp.

I get all the torque i want, brake biasing, great jumping and around 45-50MPH top speed, to me, running electric is pointless on this rig.

I'm not a electric "hater" i run a brushless on-road and mini, but you can't say hands down electric is going to stomp out nitro, in 1/8 buggies i would say they are about the same, electric you get a little more acceleration and top speed, nitro you get brake biasing and smoother jumping. And honestly, i would give up a little speed to have better brakes and in air stability.

RE: New here
 

1) HP figures are lies. The interesting thing about this is that the brushless boom has finally made it patently obvious that the nitro MFRs that publish HP figures (the good ones don't) have been talking out of their asses all these years. I gave the example earlier, even a 6S electric with a 2350kv motor (something which is undeniably MUCH more powerful than any nitro engine) only makes 2000W which is just under 3hp. No nitro is making more power than that ANYWHERE in the rev band, it just isn't possible. Consider also that 23cc gas engines have real world figures around 2.2 to 2.8hp, you don't really think there are more powerful .28ci nitro engines do you??
2) You haven't tried it, its obvious, or you wouldn't say what you are saying. Find a friend with a well setup 6S buggy/truggy and see! :)
3) I never said electric would stomp (stamp?) out nitro nor do I believe that. Both will continue to have a place in the hobby as long as nitro fuel continues to be available for reasonable prices on store shelves...after that...we'll see. ;)

Just to clarify, we're talking about 6S 2200kv vs the best PRODUCTION nitromethane engine there is (no limit on size as long as it fits in the car without mods)...on any track under any circumstances (within reason), this is not going to be 'close' or 'tight' it's going to be a complete annihilation in every area of the track. Electrics even corner faster due to lower CG. On 4S the nitros still have the advantage, but 6S is a whole other ball game. It's more than 20% more powerful than any nitro, and even on a small track a good driver would be able to take advantage of that kind of power difference.

If we take your example, we might as well say go-karts are faster than formula 1 cars because on a track small enough, they would be. If you manipulate the variables to get the result you want, you will always get the result you want.

In order to draw a line under this, and give you and nitroexpress credit where credit is due...if you ask me the question "In sanctioned 1/8th scale buggy and truggy racing, which is faster, nitro or electric?" my answer would be "The nitros have the edge on the track due to rules, but even if those rules were lifted, they still wouldn't easily be able to use their power advantage, maybe in the hands of a very good driver", and if that person then went on to say "what about off the track?", I'd say "no comparison, a 6S brushless will kill any nitro in dramatic style". Those are the facts.

RE: New here
 

SyCo, I would LOVE to see some pics of your creations!