Electric or Nitro ?

[BROJR]

I am trying to make up my mind, Touring cars Electric or Nitro
How long will the electric motor last? same for the nitro engine
which is more costly. OK which one has the most FF. Thanks

[roadragehobbies]

BORJR,

Be prepared for a million answers on this one. :eek: There are pro's and con's on both sides of the fence.

As for your question on motors, they can last quite awhile as long as you take care of them, rebuild them often, cut the comm often, etc. As for Nitro engines, same idea, they can last awhile by taking care of them. I'm sure someone will come along that can answer the question better, but the basis of what I'm saying is pretty true.

It all comes down to personal taste in the end.

[R3VoLuTiOn]

oh GOD, not another one of these......

[RCTime]

Most are going to give you the pros and cons of both and tell you to make up your own mind. I won't. Get a Nitro. :D

[racinlosi]

NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO NITRO......

I hope I made my point.:D :D :D

[TEM]

Can you people give the guy an honest answer WITH a reasoning behind it!.... After been in both, I can write a book for either side!....

Important, find a friend, or mentor in RC if you can before you start. It will save you a lot of frustration and money! Cause he/she can tell you whats the right thing to do, and whats the right things to get! And at desperate times, they can spot you a freakin screw or spring when you need it instead of waiting until after a long weekend for the LHS to order you one!

IMHO(with reasoning of course); electric is easier for a beginner. You don't need to start things off with too much complication. I know, motor theory and battery theory is hard to learn and expensive, but all that elevates with progression in skill and level of participation.

Starting in electric, put the car together, make all connections(straight forward for beginner stuff cause there is only one way things plug in!), charge the battery and start driving, the car will move and go! It might start relatively slow, but it's moving!

Starting in gas, put the car together, then you must figure out the brake and throttle connection(not as straight forward as you think or the instruction says), then you need to start and tune an engine. You think it's that easy to even start it for alot of beginners? Even after playing with nitro engines for years, I've had a time when I took 4 nights trying to start a overly high-tech airplane engine! Sure, once you figure it out it's a piece of cake; but the learning process is pretty difficult. I still can't name all the parts properly!

But having said all that; IF you have a mentor to follow, it will make NO difference which one you pick. But to be on your own; stick with electric.

Now back to the level progression I mentioned earlier. After you get it all working, you start to get better at it. And when you start racing, and wanting to get better, go faster and win; things get complicated. Both sides will get crazily expensive AND skill, time demanding! It will take you lots of time tuning an engine, polishing the insides, adjusting the carb, tuned pipe, clutches, 2 spds, the list goes on forever. And in electric, tuning electric motors; brushes, cutting coms, springs, working the batteries to give max performance, etc, etc that list goes on forever too.

Having fun with less hassle, electric wins hands down. But to be racing and winning, both are equally pain in the a**!

[nitroguy2001]

I have been in both sides of it. And personally i love nitro. The sound, the smell, the realism, and the speed just thrill me to death. But on a race track speed doesnt really matter, generally on tight tracks electric will turn quicker lap times, but on open tracks nitro will generally turn faster laps.

I first started in electric to get my feet wet. But that got boring fast. I love a challenge and the only real way for me to get it was in nitro. So i got one.
I pick it up really well and since then i have never gone back to electric.

But if you arent really mechaniclly inclined then i wouldnt really recomend nitro. Im in my local hobby shop all the time talking to the guy about how people thought they new what they were doing but ended up bringing the car right back and its a total mess. the motor is shot and its filthy. so if you know you really arent going to have the time or the patients for nitro then electric is just fine.

but if you have the time and patients go nitro, its great.

Brian~

[rocknbil]

The short answer: BOTH.

The long answer: Nitro has a higher initial investment, but the cost of maintaining them both can be about the same if you're serious about the hobby. Nitro indeed has a higher learning curve; with electric the very minimum you need to learn how to charge and discharge batteries and clean an electric motor.

You can get hundreds of battery pack runs out of an electric, with nitro the engine will last three to 15 gallons of nitro, both of which depend on how hard you run and maintain your stuff. (YES I know 15 gallons is a LOT, but I have heard of instances . . . )

Both is best of all, if you're really into RC and want to play, there's just more to play with.

[scorpien boats]

nitro!!!



-altho it can be a real pain in the ass sometimes........................

[Anton-C]

i agree with rocknbil

BOTH are the best....:p

i have a nitro right now, and i absolutly love it, but it can be a pain to get tuned right and running right, i will be getting an electric tourer soon for TCS and for those days when i dont want to deal with nitro;)
i think that they are both about the same cost if you want to be competitive, and neither is faster once you put some money in to them:) so if you are mechanically inclined i would go with nitro, but if not i would stick with electric and learn the basics:D

good luck either way you go ;)