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Nitro vs Electric

Nitro vs Electric

Old 02-04-2010, 08:15 AM
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Is that true most racer thinking to move to electric because the nitro prices are way overpricing? fuels? engine? parts....etc
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Old 02-04-2010, 08:17 AM
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Not at all, It's a personal preferance
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Old 02-04-2010, 08:19 AM
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A race 1/8e is not much cheaper, just price out a motor, esc, batteries and a charger capable of charging them lipos. I don't think nitro will go away any time soon, as it requires more skill to tun and run than a plug and play.
And I don't see the worlds doing a 1/8e anytime soon.
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Old 02-04-2010, 08:42 AM
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People are switching over because it's something new and some just flat out prefer electric. I know some who have switched just because it's easier and they weren't very good at nitro tuning, I know others that claim it's cheaper in the long run, and I know some just wanting to try something different. The truth is, if it is cheaper, it's not much. The first time you smoke an ESC or puff a good battery, you've made up the difference in cost.
The 1 person I know that claims it's cheaper has figured everything into it except failure. I believe he's on his 3rd ESC since I bought the motor I'm currently running.
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Old 02-04-2010, 09:09 AM
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It's not cheaper to get into but it is cheaper in the long run. I'm in year 3 of electric 1/8th now. Some ESC's fail but I've never paid to have one fixed yet (repaired under warranty). I run at least 4 times a month year round & can tell you the cost of clutch shoes, bearings, springs & glow plugs used in a year alone cost more than an ESC. On top of that I was spending like $70 a month of fuel. That's over $800 a year on fuel alone. For me E is cheaper.
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Old 02-04-2010, 09:51 AM
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Pros and cons to each. Electric is a bit cleaner and certainly far quieter, which is great if you run on an indoor track or near a residential area.

The biggest "con" for me, and the reason they'll have to pry my nitro engine from my cold dead hands is that your $1500 top-of-the-line racing buggy sounds just like a $50 Radio Shack junker; I don't care how fast or efficient electric is, the toy car sound just cheapens the whole R/C experience for me.

I can still remember the first time I was trying my first engine 4 years ago. Finally got my buggy out of the garage and outside on the ground and started tuning, so I'm getting on the throttle progressively, and my neighbor comes running out of his place.

Neighbor: "WTF is that sound??"

Me: **points to my buggy**

Neighbor: "wow, that thing runs on gas?"

Me: "no, not gasoline. A special mixture, closer to rocket fuel."

Neighbor:

Neighbor: " how fast can that little thing go?"

Me: "not so fast since it's made for off-road, about 40-45mph."

Neighbor:

Me: "wanna see?"

Neighbor: *nods*

Me: ligns up in the middle of the street, makes sure there are no incoming cars, buries the throttle--buggy SCREAMS by (buggy also has a Vantage pipe, BTW)

Neighbor:

Neighbor: "Christ on a crutch, that thing sounds like a Formula 1 car!"

Me: *grins*
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Old 02-04-2010, 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by captain america
Pros and cons to each. Electric is a bit cleaner and certainly far quieter, which is great if you run on an indoor track or near a residential area.

The biggest "con" for me, and the reason they'll have to pry my nitro engine from my cold dead hands is that your $1500 top-of-the-line racing buggy sounds just like a $50 Radio Shack junker; I don't care how fast or efficient electric is, the toy car sound just cheapens the whole R/C experience for me.

I can still remember the first time I was trying my first engine 4 years ago. Finally got my buggy out of the garage and outside on the ground and started tuning, so I'm getting on the throttle progressively, and my neighbor comes running out of his place.

Neighbor: "WTF is that sound??"

Me: **points to my buggy**

Neighbor: "wow, that thing runs on gas?"

Me: "no, not gasoline. A special mixture, closer to rocket fuel."

Neighbor:

Neighbor: " how fast can that little thing go?"

Me: "not so fast since it's made for off-road, about 40-45mph."

Neighbor:

Me: "wanna see?"

Neighbor: *nods*

Me: ligns up in the middle of the street, makes sure there are no incoming cars, buries the throttle--buggy SCREAMS by (buggy also has a Vantage pipe, BTW)

Neighbor:

Neighbor: "Christ on a crutch, that thing sounds like a Formula 1 car!"

Me: *grins*
Funny... my neighbors do the same thing when I run my electric car. Of course, they just smile now when they see me do it at 10pm instead of call the cops. I do understand your feelings though. Nitro does have more "soul" than electric. Love seeing them screaming down the straight at the track.
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Old 02-04-2010, 10:06 AM
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with the recent advancements in electric motors and lipos, its not too far away when electric would be neck to neck w/ nitro and then maybe surpass it at least in the winter months. I live in the sh!tt!est part where during winter we get a whole bunch or rain and snow and then during summer we get either super extreme heat or consecutive rain days. so it is must more practical for me to run electric indoor w/o having to worry about the weather. I'd personally prefer to run nitro myself but its becoming harder and harder.
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Old 02-04-2010, 10:38 AM
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Don't kid yourself. Electric has surpassed nitro in every way except run time (which will come) & noise (if you like noise).

Don't get me wrong, I ran nitro for years & loved it all but I will never go back.
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Old 02-04-2010, 12:09 PM
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I dont think its a money thing. Anyone that races dumps a lot of money into their rigs, doesnt matter if its electric or nitro. Yes, you might save some coin over the long run with electric if you have no issues.
There are pros and cons of both.
For me, I prefer nitro b/c you just have to keep fueling the tank. But with electrics, once the battery is done, so are you. Im sure someone will make either a new battery type that could last for at least 1/2 an hour, or make lipos with huge capacities that are not really big.
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Old 02-04-2010, 01:34 PM
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How can you like noise and all the fumes. It is not really fun when 3 people tune their motors in a 10'x10' pit tent

Nitro costs more and needs more maintenance (Both are expensive, but nitro much more), but since there are more people with nitro than 1/8 scale electric I race both.
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Old 02-04-2010, 01:50 PM
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To each his or her own. I prefer nitro because I love tuning engines and the realness of sound and smoke. Electric is cool also but I don't like fooling with batteries. I've also seen more esc's burst into flames than nitro engines blow. I think you can spend just as much on them both so I don't support the cost argument. It's all personal preference in my opinion.
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Old 02-04-2010, 01:55 PM
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oh boy dont get me started on this again lol, i really dont see how nitro is that expensive espially if you run at, a club level (point racing). yea sure if you run a truggy and a buggy i can, see how fuel would get expensive.


if you get a pair of long lasting clutch shoes ,that should last you about 2 gallons or a little more, before ... you have to buy a another pair. i ran a nova glow plug that lasted, almost the whole season... and for bearings i just replace them when ,their gritty which takes a while.


and yes i have seen a couple of 1/8 electrics, and have seen them catch on fire too . but yea i do agree that 1/8 electric ,isnt really that much cheaper than nitro really... come on man you know nitro isnt going,,, anywhere and im a former electric offroader....


im not the greatest engine tuner, and can get it to run good. most engines now arent to hard to tune.
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Old 02-04-2010, 02:05 PM
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Nitro is for real racers it is not for lazy people. Nitro racing is much more realistic you have more things that have to be tuned and tweaked and that have to be set dead-on at the same time. Watching a nitro race is much more fun than watching a bunch of cars that sound like a xbox 360 go around the track.


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Old 02-04-2010, 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by HoboShop
Nitro is for real racers it is not for lazy people. Nitro racing is much more realistic you have more things that have to be tuned and tweaked and that have to be set dead-on at the same time. Watching a nitro race is much more fun than watching a bunch of cars that sound like a xbox 360 go around the track.


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+1 i have to agree with you on that. the only electric that i race is a slash .
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