Nitro vs Lipo, which gives you more...?
 

Nitro vs Lipo, which gives you more...?

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I think you're comparison way over exaggerates the cost of lipos/BL. Well, for the $700ish you spent you didn't even get brushless on the Revo, still stock slow brushed titans..

Paying $350 for a pair of (not so great) Maxamps 2S packs is insane.
I have a two year old 4S 8000 mah pack (equal pack) that cost $150 at the time. Least an hr per charge, and tons of runs on them. Lipo prices have been falling since, as well as getting more powerful.

Also, the power supply chosen is overkill and $$$, and the voltage cutoff is not needed if you have a decent esc.

A better comparison would be say,
-Castle's new 1/8 ESC/BL motor combo, ~$250 if you shop smart.
-Say 2 sets of decent lipos (zippy's are powerful and cheap) $160+. Figure ~20min track time, but 30-40min bashing per batt.
And then grant $200 for a really nice charger/balancer combo w/ PSU.
You don't need the rest of that junk, and that's a race quality setup. OK then, $600 +/-.

Lastly:
You don't figure a new engine or pipe and all that for the Revo. How many keep the 3.3 and the EZ start for racing?
How many plugs will you got thru in 10gals? Then its about new engine time. BL motors should last for years and years w/o loss of performance.

We could nitpick expenses, but I think the above is pretty fair. Nitro is fun too, but it seems like a constant wallet burner, while my BL stuff is alot upfront, then you are done for a while. I think if you reran the #'s, you would find lipos/BL alot more economical then what you've got.

IOW: For 10 gal of fuel (minimally $350, closer to $400 w/ the consumables) on a stock setup, you get about 37-40hrs of runtime.
The next 40 hrs will cost minimally $500+ (say w/ the TRX replacement 3.3 @$115), a total of $900-$1k,
That's still only 80 cycles on the original batts for the lipo setup. Granted they will be a bit worn by then, but we're not talking top of the line race stuff here. I prolly have 100+ cycles on my 2 yo lipos and they still are going well.

At the end of the day, its an $$$ hobby either way. Just go out and have fun :)

That was awesome Finnster!! way to nail it dude!!

Um yeah, that wasn't exactly intellectual journalism there... Ya' think the website/writer has a bias towards nitro?

I love nitro racing and intend to keep racing with it next year. EVERYONE I know that is doing or has done a electric conversion of a nitro vehicle has done it to reduce their racing costs and for no other reason.

Brushless lipo conversions are expensive if your one like me that has to have the best of everything because its shiny & cool. If you already have a few cars sitting around like me, well over 20 "RACE" cars its cheaper. If you purchase economicly(are a tight ass) & buy only what will do the job instead of the latest & greatest,cheaper still.When you have a garage full of E stuff like I do nitro stuff its cheaper than nitro. For an example my first conversion was my Mugen truck that was sitting collecting dust in that garage I mentioned before. I race with the guy that makes my conversions & I bought this

http://www.impaktrc.com/product_info...oducts_id=3643

& for a battery this

http://www.impaktrc.com/product_info...oducts_id=2454

& to control it this

http://www.impaktrc.com/product_info...oducts_id=2524

& since he has a small discount for returning customers & I'm such a steller person I paid a little less. With that garage full of crap I had a new car for under $750 & make no mistake its a totally different car. He moved weight around so it drives much better than when it was a nitro truck & better than Mugen ever could have done. .Just like nitro I can move motors & batterys around from car to car so the next one will be the just the price of the chassis if I wanted to go that route. Take a look around that site & see what comes in the kit,its unbelievable what you get for the money & yes I use his clutch coversion so that part acts just like a nitro.

You were close if you drop the price of the charger & power supply since most of my nitro buddys already have a ICE charger & power supply to do all their reciever & transmitter & ignitor & 1/10 batts,but again thats only for your first time then its much cheaper when you have stuff to move from car to car. Dont forget the ignitor & temp gun purchase & wear & tear plus time & money spent breaking in motors & things that go missing in pit lane. My impression the first time I raced this thing was WOW no pit man,no pit strategy,no warmup,no tuning. Turn radio on,turn car on walk up drivers stand, DONE.

Nobody get me wrong I still love all the things about racing nitro this is just in addition to,like racing on-road.

Hi guys !

My opinion is not biased toward nitro at all. I know I have choose some "expensive" batteries and chargers for the Lipo truck. The idea was to go from nothing. I know, many of us already have LiPo ready chargers and misc stuff. I'll write soon a similar article with the 8ight and 8ight 2....

And I'm not intelectual ! :) LOL

Most seller make big $$$ on selling lipo and charger, many sell them overprice and offer almost 0 warranty on it.
I did buy some battery from HC, the guy did have an infamous reputation. but it was worth.
Absolutly nobody at track believe that i have been able to buy 4 decent 4S lipo for less than 400$.
I run mostly Rc airplane gears, I wonder why all Rc car stuff are so overpriced :rolleyes:?!. Look the price of a single 2.4G receiver. I've got all my car running with 20 $ FM receiver the only trouble i got so far was a due too my battery running low in hard acceleration . Going lipo solved the problem.

nitro!!! nice review

In the end, nitro will always be more expensive. Fuel cost will always catch up. It is preference, With nitro, you can almost literally run all day straight(with a pitman), with electric you can only run as far as your batteries will allow. I enjoy both.

electric

soo true