electric vs. nitro

[msnrub5000]

What one takes the most amout of money and the most amount of time

[ElectricThunder]

When everything is added up and you have all the stuff for each kind, they're generally the same amount of time and money spent. RC Car Action actually did a comparison in a magazine article a while ago, and they both came out to be the same price roughly, give or take a few bucks.

[Battlepack]

Nitro is messy and alot more trouble.

my opinion
thanks
Steve

What one takes the most amout of money and the most amount of time

[nitrothugg]

i think electric is more expensive. think of how many battery packs you will have to buy in order to enjoy the same amount of runtime as a nitro.

[Saboteur]

I agree with ElectricThunder. Electric isn't all just plug and play. It requires some maintainance.

[JoeMAXX]

I run both Nitro and Electric.

They both cost about the same on the Pro level cars in cost and setup.

Entry level electric is cheaper with RTR 1/10 scale cars.

I am a Nitro on and off road runner in the summer but recently moved to where the season is much shorter for more my outdoor running so I invested in a RC10TC4 and it cost almost as much as my Mugen MTX-3 to get a kit, batteries and etc..... to run carpet tracks.

Depends what you want and how much you are willing to spend to get the best ride for the bucks, If you race spend the big bucks if you bash take what you get on an RTR out of the box and then upgrade it later.

It all takes time and dedication to the fun then money is only a factor on how serious you get if you choose to race or bash ;)

[nicholcgn]

This argument shows up weekly. It needs to die. They are both great and company's know what they can sell items for and get the best return. The question is what type of vehicle will keep your interest and keep you in the sport. Each has different cost and it would be almost impossible to compare them and ever truly end this argument. Find out what they race inyour area. If you like it you have the answer which is best for you. For each person this will be different.

[pinolelst]

"Different strokes for different folks" ;)

[msnrub5000]

This argument shows up weekly. It needs to die. They are both great and company's know what they can sell items for and get the best return. The question is what type of vehicle will keep your interest and keep you in the sport. Each has different cost and it would be almost impossible to compare them and ever truly end this argument. Find out what they race inyour area. If you like it you have the answer which is best for you. For each person this will be different.



I haven't visited this site in a while. It was giving me some trouble, so I haven't been updated on what was going on.
My deepest appology,
Michelle

[nicholcgn]

I believe I owe you the bigger apology. This was not meant to come across harsh on you. It is just one that will start a long thread of arguments. I apologize if I came across as being upset. Some people start this for fun.

I would recommend going to a local track(Multiple if you have them) and talking with people. Watch what is being run. Talk with the people there. Most of the racing community loves to talk about there cars. Ask them what they do for maintenance. Ask them how much they spend. Some cars and tracks eat tires for lunch. For me personally the biggest item that caused me to choose a car as better for me was the local track and the people I met. Now if you are not going to any tracks and want to just bash - then the choice is what you like. Personally I am electric. For bashing I would choose nitro though. Also if you have friends and you all have the same vehicle you can bum parts sometimes if needed.

From all of the arguments that I have seen it comes down to speed is money. If you have the money you can buy the speed. They can take up almost as much of your time as you let them. The more time you put into them and learn about them the greater the return you will get. If you do not have any local tracks I am sure some people can fill you in on their maintenance time and money.

[nicholcgn]

OK. I am not going to endorse any particular brand here. This is just what I have. Prices are general. Deals can be found better or worse.

I run an electric B4. Basically my initial setup was a little on the expensive side because I do not like totally low end equipment.

1. B4 Team Kit $180
1. JR XS3 Synthesized radio $180
1. Airtronics High Speed Servo $100
1. P2k2pro stock motor $30
1. Novak Dually Speed controller $80
3. Promatch Club 3300 Matched Packs assembled $140
1 DC Triton Charger with Temp Probe $120

Total $838

(You can get the RTR kit for $220 the new SE kit is nice. IF you are beginning look at a T4 truck. Easier to drive.) I lower end charger for
$60 and 2 packs of 3300 for $70. And a good stock motor for $30.
Total $410

I did not include any spare parts or tools you may wish to have that are better than the ones that come with the kit. As you can see I quickly raised the price.

RCCAR action has an article on what you can do for $400 I believe it was. pretty good article. They have electric and nitro stuff in there. So they are equal in prices in many ways.

[ducati777]

Yup a great big depends on this one. I run both. I like that I can run 1 pack on my electric and be done with it. Like at lunch at work I'll run a micro car about, then throw it in my desk drawer and be done with it.

It takes a lot more work to run the buggy, but its a totally different experience. I share my radio system, so its the same radio in my hand, watching some small car cruise around, but it really is totally different worlds. There's no way to decide if one is better, but they certainly are different.

[EvaderRacer76]

don't forget that u have to buy nitro fuel too, as with electric you can just recharge the battery

[TC4RACER]

electric may sound cheaper, but sometimes its not. u have to get a charger and batteries. some gas cars u onlty have to get fuel.

[Saboteur]

don't forget that u have to buy nitro fuel too, as with electric you can just recharge the battery

Recharge the battery after letting it sit for an hr. Then discharge the battery at the proper discharge rate, then charge it at the proper charging rate. Some sport packs you can just simply recharge them, but they don't offer you a lot of run time and arent as good as the other higher performance ones. Fuel is only $22-$30 a gallon. Thats enough for a month depending how you drive. Either can be expensive. Depends on your setup.

[Legacy]

Why not both? I know, I know...cost. You can somewhat get around that. For instance, if you prefer Nitro over electric, spend a little more on the nitro and buy a used electric (like an old T3). I plan on getting an electric soon (xxx-nt sport II) but I prefer nitro. Why electric first then? The answer: Winter time. Ugg, cold weather wouldn't be a great setting for a newb like me to break in an engine. Anyway, if my future nitro gives me problems, I can run the electric til they are resolved. You would also have 2 in case a buddy was over... Another plus, you can get a feel for which you prefer the most, and sell the other. Just thinking out loud here

[rocknbil]

Nitro used to outdistance the cost of electric by far, but in the last few years the cost has become about the same. A budget hobbyist can still get a minimal setup for electric for less, but if you race or get into hopups and whatnot they're equivalent.

[Courtney]

I just got into this hobby and chose electric over nitro because of noise and fumes. The nitro makes too much noise in the neighborhood and the first time I was watching an on-road raise I was almost gaged by all the exhaust fumes. Of course I have a friend who like the nitro because of the "COOL" noise his buggy makes and it's faster out of the box. I didn't think there was as much maint required with electri but have found that there is a good amount of maint. to be done with it. This is a hobby and I want it to take time and energy so I am planning on purchasing a lathe and motor dyno in the near future also. So this last week I wanted to buy a buggy or truck because there are plenty of off road tracks in the area. So I bought a T4 because I already have so much invested in electric. This made my second vehicle much cheaper. Also I enjoy the fact that I can also run my vehicles no matter how cold or warm it is outside but his nitro buggy needs to be tuned for every 10 to 20 degree temp change. I've also went through both vehicles and re-built the bearings with synthetic oil and removed all the grease so the drive train would spin much easier. Couldn't believe the difference it made. On the other hand my friends nitro buggy has soooo much power and speed out of the box that he doesn't concern himself with those little bitty details that I feel he will have a maint. nightmare in the future.

Yes, my T4 is slower on the track and doesn't make as much noise but I made 4 laps the other day to his two because he crashed out and then had engine issues. Yes, I wanted more speed but that will come in a few weeks with a brushless setup after I'm used to this speed. Now it was really cool watching his nitro buggy go 7 feet into the air and flying 20 feet while my electric T4 with a 17 turn motor barely gained any air and only went about 7 - 10 feet. Of course my truck always landed on it's tire while we were bashing around and his buggy only landed on it's tire 50% of the time because of too much throttle or not enough at the last minute and he was landing on the front or rear bumper the rest of the time.

[henry_huckem]

^hehe
I used to strictly nitro, but I ended up getting frustrated with all the little problems here and there, broken parts, etc. I love electric now, at first I thought there was no way an electric could keep up with a nitro, but then I read that the fastest RC in the world was a electric. I have an e-pede with a 15t double in it that will smoke my buddy's t-maxx all day long. its all gearing and batteries man.

'lectric is the way to go if you ask me, I think the electric side of things is technologically growing by leaps and bounds over the nitro tech.

just my $.02

[dhutch]

I run both Nitro and electic (although atm im taking a breck from elec)

- And i deffonatly spend less time/money on the nitro. Which is mainly because i only use it to bash, so its only a Maxamum ST, parts are cheapish, and i dont spend long on setting it up.

- The electric is a "performance" racecar, i spend more on parts, bacuase there carbon fibre, not plastic, and spend more time setting it up, rebuilding it.

so, with that sayed, it depends more on the car, what you do with it, and what you want to do. Not what it happens to run on!!


daniel