The Ideal entry level nitro?
 

Hi guys,

At the moment i drive electric, but i've always wanted to go into nitro. What would be a good stock car to get me started on? I'm a fairly fast learner, and im pretty comfortable with a remote so if the car is a little better than entry level that's alright :D. I'm looking for a stadium truck or a buggy (i.e. Traxxas Rustler/Bandit) around the 1/10 size. If you need any more information just ask :)

Cheers

Id always recommend something from the Traxxas Nitro line of cars and trucks, for the nitro beginner. They all now come with a great DVD that makes break in and care a breeze for the first time nitro owner.

Yeah my wife started with a Traxxas Nitro Sport.....one month later we built her an RC8B....the thing with traxxas is the first time you crash it hard they seem to break a lot more parts and pieces than a quality buggy does. She has literally cartwheeled her RC8 down the street and never put a scratch on it. The Sport pretty much fell apart on any impact.

Moral is you get what you pay for....if you buy a $250 dollar car you don't get much. The other down side is if you hate it you'll have a hard time getting your money back out of it. I personally would stick to something 4WD for nitro....they handle better and are way easier to control, make driving them a bit more fun

I started with a Traxxas Nitro Rustler back in the late '90s and eventually got a T-Maxx and a Nitro 4-Tec as well. All were easy to learn on. After a 12 year hiatus, I bought a Losi Ten T truggy and also have a Traxxas Slayer Pro 3.3. The Losi Ten T is by far the easiest nitro car to start and drive that I have ever had; the T-Maxx being a close second. although the Traxxas Nitro Sport is a good beginner car, the Ten T is far better and built a lot stronger, the downside is the Nitro Sport costs $285.00, the Ten T costs $450.00 - $500.00. but, like the other poster said, you really get what you pay for. In this case the Ten T is twice as good as the Nitro Sport. BTW - After you learn to drive whatever you buy, check out the Traxxas Slayer Pro, it is a heck of a fun truck and also built like a tank.

There's a big "if" to that statement. The Ten T's starter gear assembly is notorious for failing, since the gears have plastic teeth (the sheer number of complaints on this in the Losi forum is somewhat staggering). If those teeth crack, then your day of racing is over, since you can no longer even start the thing. However, the platform itself is very tough and fun to drive. I'd personally recommend the Losi 810 buggy over the Ten T. It's the exact same platform, though it has 1/8 buggy tires, and has a pullstart engine. It's the same engine though, and I have found the Losi 3.4 engine very easy to start and holds a tune great. The 810 is also cheaper than then Ten T, somewhere around $300-350, though that's mainly because the Ten T has a better radio.

Traxxas and duratrax are junk and they have crap engines. You going to do more bashing or racing?

I got the Ten when it launched and have had excellent results with it. Although Ive had to replace a gear in the starter as well as a owb, its a great truggy. The 810 is also an excellent choice as well.

All depends. If you are going to race take a pass on the ready to run kits and find a decent Losi Eight or Ofna CRT in the for sale section a buy your own electronics and motor. That is 1/8th truggy for above

If you are interested in buggys, same thing, Ofna or Kyosho buggy, cannot go wrong. Plenty of good used ones for sale and you add your own stuff such as motor and electronics. The RTR kits aren't bad if you do not intend to race. I started with an MGT RTR then got got an OFNA CRT and Losi Eight T then Kyosho buggy. Lots of fun, lots of money and even more time. Good luck. Its not like electric my friend, much more needed then batteries. Just warning you :)

Believe me though, nothin like a fine tuned Nitro engine slamming it hard down the dirt.

Search Craigslist.
I love my Revo. Got it dirt cheap from a buddy. Great handling. Now insane power but mobs over bumps, jumps and ruts.
Found my brothet an ofna Hyper 7 for $160. Thing was like new just needed a new battery. He drove it for an hour today. Loves it.
I was playing with my RC10GT today. Thing is just weak. Avoid them. Cute, fun and light but suck in dirt. The smallest pebble bring them to their knees.

For those prices you can get an RTR truggy. The Caster K8T is only about $400 and the Kyosho Neo ST is also about the same price. I would go with one of these as a starter, especially for the price.

+1 The NEO is based on the old mp7.5 and is a durable chassis

Get the new Ofna RTR truggy. Far better quality than anything else for the money.

1/8 is more fun and exhilerating than 1/10 by a larger margin than the difference in scale would suggest.

http://www.ofna.com/nexx8t.php

Not out yet I don't think, but shouldn't be too expensive when it does come out. Is basically a Jammin X2 CRT....

I'm curious if the OP is a basher or racer? Seems like racing would be better suited to the 1/8 as it seems the more popular class when it comes to nitro. I've thought about getting a nitro for something different and to race at the local 1/8 track and wondered if the 8ight 2.0 would be a good starter car for the OP and maybe myself. Wonder what others would think? Seems like you can get the RTR for about $625 from Amain and it comes with a really decent radio setup and a starter box. I would imagine the first thing that would need to be changed would be better servos, but even then while you are training up might as well tear up the cheap stuff doing it.

Hi, I see you want to get into nitro and that's great!
BUT!
My two cents are:
the most important thing in a nitro car is THE ENGINE! Would you agree?

Now, most RTR kits come with a terrible engine that never runs right.
I'm tempted to name brand names, but I won't so as to avoid arousing any anger in users here.

For me the most important thing for a beginner is:
-that the engine runs most of the time, and doesn't constantly stop
-that the engine holds a tune (so you can just refuel and drive on, without tinkering constantly)
-that the engine is fairly easy and forgiving to tune, so that the beginner can figure it out easily

Now, this might seem obvious stuff! But it isn't really. Because some of the engines that come with RTR sets are the complete opposite of what I said just previously here.

So my suggestion to you is that you buy a proper engine first off.
If you buy a:
O.S. XZ-B
Go GXII-5RHO
Novarossi SP5XLT

or something along those lines of an engine, you will be good to go! These engines will fit any 1/8 scale buggy or truggy, and will be good quality and relatively easy to deal with.

As for which car, it isn't really important.
You could buy:
Mugen MBX6
Kyosho MP9
JQ The Car
Losi 8ight 2.0
Hyper 9 / Hyper Star/whatever is the latest incarnation

It doesn't really matter which car it is, most of the 1/8 competition buggies are really really good, and will be almost as good as eachother.
The important thing for you when you select should be:
-parts availability near you, or by mailorder from a company near you
-what other people run at the track, so you can get hints, tips and maybe parts from the others at the track

So that is what I recommend, get a good engine first of all, then just pick any of the 1/8 buggies and you are set!

One option is to buy a 2nd hand buggy. If you do, you need to make sure it is in good condition, if you buy one which is in a terrible sad state you might have a money pit on your hands.
You need to check that the chassis is straight, and that the shock shafts are straight, and that the driveshafts and outdrives are not worn out. Other than that the cars are mostly bulletproof.

A nice 2nd hand MBX6 can go for as little as $150, don't worry about "MBX6R or EU" or whatever, I still run the first edition MBX6 and it works just as well as the latest updates, it's just vanity if you ask me.
I'm going to assume there are good deals to be had on the other brands 2nd hand.

So, good luck to you, and remember to never be afraid to ask more experienced people for help :)

If you think you might want to race, the Losi 8T 2.0 is the perfect place to start.