jasonjax

You guys who have direct experience running your brushless setups head-to-head with the nitro guys; how well do you fare against them?

Just curious!

-Inverted-

Lets just say a revo has no match against a mini-lst. [8D]

bIGmiK

Haha here come the fan boys.

You will get a bias answer in an electric forum.

running_gag

Depends on who has more money really. straight line top speed world record is held by a brushless touring car. he was running a serios system though. I'm pretty sure I saw a double stack of lipos. currently though brushless is the hot ticket for speed.

Access

Nic had an 8-cell LiPo hooked to a Phoenix-HV 85 and a Neu motor. There is a short article about it in a past issue of RC Car Action.

happywing

This is too generalized. If you're talking about straight-line speed, it's electric, but who cares. Put them on a track and there are a buttload of possibilities. I've raced my electrics against nitros and I've raced my nitros against electrics. Depends on the track, the truck and the driver. I beat a whole bunch of nitro Revo's with my brushless T4 at a grass track last year. I also made a bunch of 1/10 scale brushless trucks and 4wd buggies look like toys when I put my MBX-5 on the track. The 1/8 scale buggy is still king of the medium to large offroad track, no matter what brushless system you install. So, it all depends.

junebug48

My Feedback: (138)

[8D]hi . i seen in a past issue of car action a lst 2 that was made in electric that had a brushless and they tested it stock to see how fast it was and then they tested it with the brushless set up in it and it was a lot faster than stock . but i agree that it depend,s on the driver skill and track .

CadillacDTS2001

Just something to say . I have extensive experience with hi power brushless motors and lipos
And you can defiantly go faster with electric
Its just what you wallet decides on.
But a good fast set up is nothing if you cant drive worth S$&T
[sm=regular_smile.gif]

leapoffait2

well right out of the box generaly the nitro has us beat

CadillacDTS2001

There aren't to many rtr brushless cars.

bxpitbull

Well, this past weekend, I totally dusted off a Yokomo whatever their fast car is and a Jato. Both guys whined that their cars needed to spool up after I smoked them off the line. Spotted them four car lengths and on the balls out distance run, flat out detroyed them on the top end. Not electric bias, I run nitro too. That being said, one dude was so pissed, he claims he will be dropping a motor into one of his cars that has been ported and polished. The crazy thing, I beat the crap out of those cats repeatedly with no body on my car! Some non-driving pinhead hit my car and mangled the wing, killing my downforce. Removing the body, the car's aerodynamics was compromised a bit, but I still managed to clean their clocks. My dude taped it and if I can figure out how to convert it, will upload. Flat out sad how they got BEAT!

RURC

Is it time to upset the nitro guys again already. It dose not seem like 3 months since the last time this came up.

To be serious in a head to head race with the same cars one just converted to bl electric the electric has most every time I have done it. It has been several times. In 1/8 scale buggies, 1/8 truggys, 1/8 monster trucks, 1/8 serpents, 1/10 Jato, 1/10 Kyosho ST, 1/16 Rascal. Those are all that I can think of off the top of my head right now. I have built all these cars personally. The only one that was even a close contest was the Rascal. That car comes from the factory with a .18 motor in it.

When I am saying that I win every time I am refeering to both straight line speed and on the track. Now on the track is where I have lost to them. I do have to say that this is because Iam not a world class driver. I am a much better builder than a driver. But when I have put them in the hands of a good driver things change. We did a 3 hour endourance race in Washington state last year and we won overall by 10 laps over the next closest driver. In December we did a 24 hour race and took 1,2,4,and 6 with our buggies. If I am building for racing I will find out how fast the fastest buggy is going and gear our buggy to be just a little faster. This allows me to go very fast but not to over drive the track.

Nitro is great but brushless has the edge.

IBrakeForNobody

My Feedback: (16)

You'll always get biased answers on this topic, so I will answer it very objectivley and directly:

It depends on your application.

Really, that's it. What's better? A Ford Focus or a Fabtech'ed out F-350 Turbo Diesel 4x4? A Dodge Neon or a Big Horn Dodge 3500 HD 4x4? A Chevy Aveo or a Silverado 3500HD 4x4? The small vehicles would be better for manuvering through cramped city streets, but they wouldn't get anywhere off road (and I don't mean on a dirt road. Like on the Oceano Dunes or something). Sure, electrics hold the top speed record, but they have instant power on demand. That might be a help or a hindrance depending on which way you look at it. Me? I have a HPI Savage 25 with a Dynamite Mach .26, and a model 3606 Traxxas Stampede with a Novak SS5800. I enjoy the Pede for plug and play bashing, but the Savage with its four wheel drive rules on the sand. Plus, I like the sound and smell the Savage produces, but I can't run it in my neighborhood because of the sound. That's where the Pede comes in. And in fact, currently I'm looking for an electric four wheel drive off road vehicle. Why? Because, I like the Pede and all, but its two wheel drive, so it can't go everywhere I can take the Savage. But on the other hand, I can't exactly take the Savage some places where I need four wheel drive, either because of its size, or because of disturbing the peace. So it really all depends on what you want to do with your vehicles. Who cares what anyone else thinks of what you have? If it makes you happy, so be it. I personally wouldn't by an Evader, but I also know of people who would never buy a Traxxas vehicle.

bxpitbull

I think thats where the speed factor comes in...I have said it before. People associate noise with speed. Just because my "whir" isnt as loud as a nitro aka "beating a cat in a burlap bag with a stick" loud, doesnt mean it isnt fast. I love putting these clowns to shame. And this is with a 4.5 brushless on 7.4. This meatballs are really going to have me go all out and get an 11.1 Li-Po and a Mamba 5700. At the price of a good nitro engine, my car wheel be an effficient BLUR. Get over it nitro folks, eletric RULEZ!

RURC, hows that test coming along?

hands without shadows

The thing about electric is its bloody expensive to get it to match or surpass nitro. Electric can be made better because its a more common technology................if we used nitro engines instead of electric motors in common day applications I guarantee nitro would be better.

Access

Actually from a technology standpoint electric is more advanced. From any measureable technical or design standpoint, size, weight, versatility, reliability, recurring cost, useful RPM range, electric is a better option. In RC cars electric is just the natural progression of technology. The same way today you don't use or build a computer based on mechanical switches or vacuum tubes. Sure you could design a computer the old way, and it might 'work' in some minimal fashion, but now that a better option is avaliable no reasonable person would choose the old way.

There will always be some residual interest in 'retro' or old-fashioned things like today there are renassaince fairs and people who re-enact different historical events like civil war battles. Some people will continue to enjoy the noise and the smell and the tuning of an ICE engine but most people do not, they want to run their cars trouble-free. The practical people and the hobby as a whole will continue the shift to more electric and less nitro. Most of the newbies in the hobby are people who bought a radio shack or wall mart toy and want to move up.

Bombers_410

nitro and brushless are the same thing, just different terms that represent the same basic mechanism. like plank and board, or trot and jog, or glue and adhesive. They are the exact same. I dont know what you guys are talking about!!?



who wants to make a good nitro vs electric sticky so people don't have to keep asking this??

-Inverted-

Exact same?

What does an electric motor have in common with an internal combustion engine?

RURC

The only thing I come up with is rotating mass. This guy must be kidding. No one can be that uninformed.

RURC

Nothing biased about my answer. As a matter of fact it is the only one that has taken the same car in nitro and electric and done head to head comparisons. No body else has done this. If BL was allowed to compete on an ongoing basis with nitro the leverage would shift after the first few months. THe nitro motors do not have the torque, hp, or the rpm to really hold on. The only advantage the notro has is that the torque is not instant as it is with BL. But this can be taken care of with the Mamba Max and its programmability on startup. Now that one has done it other will follow. This was never a problem with me however because my Multiplex radio system has adjustable throttle ramp up and down and it also has anti wheel spin technology built in. I have not driven one but if you like you Savage so much you should look at the ESavage. That should be a really great truck for you.

As for BL electric being more expensive that is bogus. You have to attempt to compair apples to apples (speaking of which you seen the new Apple iPhone? Too cool.) so you need a good, high end nitro motor. Not a $90 hack motor. So then you have to buy the fuel ($25 a gal), cleaner continously ($8 a can), a good receiver pack ($40), you still need a charger for the receiver pack ($40), glow igniter($20), air filter oil and cleaner ($6 a bottle). Now the recurring costs are the fuel, the cleaner, the airfilter stuff, and I am sure I left something out. By the time you are done with all this you ate at the cost of a Mamba Max and motor. You dont have to have lipo to go fast so standard NiMH IB4200 can be bought for $32 a stick and the same $40 charger will do, but you should get a better one. There is a accurate cost anaylsis for you.

bxpitbull

You're joking right? The only thing the two have in common is rotating mass. Nitro engines have to be adjusted for weather, fuel mixtures and need their own exhaust to push fuel from the gas tank to the carbuerator. Brushless is gear it right, hook up some good cells to an ESC and go....FAST! Do us all a favor, stop trolling and get with the program.

broncojd

i would have to say that it is the differences between electric and nitro that make this so debatable, not the similarities. i was driving my (at the time) stock revo at a track and this guy had an rc18mt. it was absolutely killing everytyhing out there. he was the only electric. i wasn't "mad" per se and i actually enjoyed watching his car run. but when he was stopped in the middle of the track coming around a corner, i did run over it. that probably has more to do with scale than electric, though.

a brushless doesn't require any maintainence compared to a nitro engine. however, a nitro fuel tank doesn't require any maintanence compared to a highly combustable lipo battery.

electrics don't really worry about engine temps like nitros do. nitros don't have to wait for batteries to recharge, or buy multiple tanks to stay on the track.

this is like debating revo vs. savage.

running_gag

Revo vs savage? theres a debate?

bxpitbull

Hate to bust your bubble, but if you have two previously charged Li-Po packs, you can go for over an hour and a half. EASILY! And since when do electric cars have to "buy multiple tanks to stay on the track?". And all that combustible chatter about Li-Po, save it. My Pro4 has been run over by a realcar, not once but TWICE. The same Li-Po pack in it and it didnt explode. Charge them, set your cut-off, and dont puncture, Li-Po's are as safe as any other cell. But, I think I read it somewhere on a non Li-Po battery, " do not puncture or dispose of in fire". If Li-Po is (was ) so dangerous, with all of these folks out here, why hasnt there been a rash of explosions, burn victims and downright mayhem with Li-Po packs exploding?

rc monkey

My DI will beat nitro when I get my MM7700