jairic

iTrader: (1)

In reading some of the posts here, I realize I may be mistaken about a few things. I thought that Nitro was always faster than Electric, now I'm seeing that is not the case.. Not sure though. What about Traxxas. I have had most traxxas stuff, and have loved it, but I see a lot of people referencing them as slow compared to other brands, is that true? Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Jake

cuzican

Hello there. I won't get into a traxxas is slower than other brands conversation because its just Chevy VS. Ford type of discussion, pointless.

But to answer your nitro/electric question. Its hard for me to say really. I think they are kind close to the same until you start getting into the weird stuff then electric will win. Alot of guys are putting twin brushless or one big brushless in their trucks and claiming speeds of anywhere from 60 - 80mph.
On the other hand there are nitro rigs that will run in that speed range.

Its an apples to oranges comparison IMHO.

jairic

iTrader: (1)

You're right, I shouldn't have brought up the Traxxas question. I have both Nitro and Electric, but haven't raced them against eachother yet. Of course my electric is a Stampede witha Speed Gems motor, and the Nitro is an S-Maxx, so the nitro will probably dominate.

AcadDude

iTrader: (19)

Electric will usually have more torque and punch off the line.

brentmorl

iTrader: (8)

but with nitro you have the power till the end unlike electric where it gets slower and slower and slower through the run plus nitro smells ohhhh so good

EG1

With nitro you can get a great mill for around 160 and have plenty of power. In the electric game, it will cost a ton to get a brushless system setup. So for MT IMO nitro is the way to go.

Now if I was to get back into on-road, electric all the way.

A Traxxas RC is only as fast as the engine in it, so If your rocking an RB928 in your Revo and I have a K4.6 in my Savage I'm smoked. You need to decide what your going to do with your MT then we can help you decide whats best.

mkiiina

iTrader: (71)

i wouldnt say that really. you can go BL for about the same price as you quoted for a nitro mill. 50-60 for a motor and then 90-150 for a BL ESC and your good to go.

The electric vs nitro debate is a long standing debate from what i can see. they both have pros and cons and picking what is best for your situation.

I have been a long time (10 years+) and about a year or 2 ago I took the plunge into nitro as I had come across a great deal on an HPI SS. It just was more mess and trouble to me then the electrics I had were so I ended up selling it and picking up a TC4 for onroad use. There are some people that go the other way so YMMV.

As for traxxas all I can say is that my Stampede (which I run more often and harder than my TC4) has fewer problems and has been around alot longer. The TC4 would be more competitive in a racing environment than the Stampede but I'm a basher so there's no problem in my eyes.

EG1

Like I said, on-road would be electric for me too.

Honestly I'm just going on the costs to turn an LST2 into BL and it aint cheap and you have to be very careful with Lipo's, have a regulator etc... Battery's are still very costly. I wasn't debating BL vs nitro in terms of speed but cost instead.

I like the ease of electric, but with mills like the, mach 427, LRP spec 3, SW mills etc... its so easy to tune and use its silly.

If the OP wants all out speed & likes traxxas, the jato may be his best option.

Cain

iTrader: (294)

Here is a comparision between a nitro 1/8 scale race buggy setup and maintenance items as well as the same vehicle converted to electric.

http://www.tony1034.com/ts/EMBX5R/Ni...MBX5R_cost.htm

Electrics in general will out torque a nitro from start especially if they are not using a clutch setup.

It is true you need to watch your lipos to not over discharge them, however, most of the ESCs that are lipo capable for race setups have built in discharge protection. Castle Creations ESCs even have the ability for you to custom set your cutoff voltage to what you desire.

Right now, the options for a race capable 1/8 scale brushless setup (ESC and Motor ) is not too insane in price. The Mamba Monster once it gets delivering again is about $175 (I got mine for $150). Add in the Medusa 60mm 2000Kv Motor (they are also making a 70mm version soon) and you are at about $270 for cost. The Medusa is a very good motor from what I am hearing, enough so that I am getting one soon.

Castle will also be releasing a combo Castle neu motor and ESC setup for about $300.

As for battery cost, this depends on what kind of runtimes and setup you need. For a monster truck, the 8000mah TrueRC packs work excellent (15C version) or the maxamps 8000mah ones, and I have been told by Dan that the 15C 6400s will work great also depending on motor you choose and Maxamps has said the same for there 6000s. This has a price range of about 200 - 230.

Initial costs can be more expensive, but the are onetime costs compared to nitro consumables like fuel, glow plugs, clutch shoes, clutch springs, etc.

Nitro does have the benefits of the Fuel and go, no doubt. You get longer overall runtimes with this. If however you are doing a race setup, you can do your heats and main on 1 set of lipos as you can recharge them right away (assuming temps are ambient for batteries) compared to nimhs where you need to carry a warchest of them.

NitroLuver

iTrader: (48)

Electric can be faster but if you're like me which most people are they race and really the electrics are geared to achieve mostly 40-45mph range as far as the buggies,truggies,mt's go now if it's a sedan well then that's different

but generally electrics if brushless powered are faster than nitro

DJB

iTrader: (17)

Personally thrashing both, nitro definatly has the legs in the straight line... certainly out of the box.

Previous posts raised the issue of costs, and nitro can be picked up for about 700 for a decent quality monster, where as an emaxx will cost 500 and then the brushless setup ontop of that with the batteries and charger wil add up to much more....

ive geared my savage with the highest ratio (smallest clutch bell and largest pinion gear) and it still would have the legs to shoot off a pretty quick electric modified truck....

garys

i race both and i think in the long run nitro and brushless with lipos the price to me is that it evens its self out in the long run

rocket-mtrsprts

iTrader: (1)

Maybe, but only if you're comparing 1/8 nitro to 1/10 electric. Otherwise the exact opposite has been proven in cars or trucks of the same scale and platform.

Big-Kid

Everyones got good points, and there will always be pro's and con's to both power types. It will matter more what each individual would prefer. You've go to see what you would want out of your truck.

Trying to compare the cost of a new gas engine for a truck that came with a gas engine......to converting that nitro powered truck over to electric is still somewhat apples to oranges. In my opinion, doing a dollar for dollar compairison would of off kilter this way. Try comparing it BOTH ways. Cost out what each conversion would cost. Take similar scale trucks, gas and electric. See how much converting the gas to electric will be. Then see how much converting an electric to gas will be

Yes, you can get a decent nitro motor for around the $200 mark, but so is a decent BL motor and ESC. If I had an electric tuck and wanted to upgrade, i'd have most of what I needed. Batteries, wire, plugs, motor mount, etc.....But if I wanted to convert that electric truck to nitro, I would need a clutch, pipe & manifold, extra servo, clutchbell, engine mount, etc.... I think the rest is self explanatory

Similarly if I wanted a better nitro engine. It's not just motor that I would look at. I'd upgrade the exhaust, some new shoes and make sure the rotors are still in good shape. There are well priced BL set-ups. They don't all nneed to be 3.5turns or 60K RPM's.

Not bashing no one. I love BOTH power types. I am doing a project myself, and have thought through these isues. We just forget to factor in some of the cost of going nitro

UltegraSTI

iTrader: (20)

the tide is changin. soon those noise makers will have no choice but to make fun of us 'flashlights' b/c thats the only way they'll feel better about their situation. muahahaha

R