TommyBlazin

iTrader: (29)

agreed, but NOT JUST A PITMAN, A GOOD MECHANIC, when I was really serious some years ago, ran for Mugen/Panther tires/Ratzas/M2c Racing etc etc, a pitman will sprint like u said, but I've had races ONROAD, where a belt got shredded, my pitman aka MECHANIC was able to get into car diagnose/fix/get me on the track with only 4 laps to make up, anything can happen in a hour, problem is, he's outs hobby, and I don't have a legit wingman, I tried to get back into 1/8 inroad a few years ago, first race was a disaster, changed radios with the guy I was with, in all honestly, he's a top notch guy, put up w/me freakin out, and pulled his radio gear from his touring to put into my 1/8 NO ONE COULD FIGURE IT OUT,

well it all came down to the little lip receiver packs from china, that fit under the first 1/8 X-Ray inroads fuel tank, it was bent, and car would run, than have a mind of it own, till this day I keep that pack in my box

as a reminder to NEVER TAKE THE CHEAP WAY OUT, and actually it wasnt the "cheap" way, it was EXCEED'S pack, when they were brandy new, so I trusted them, came from serpent etc...well I ran said pack in my mini 8 losi about a year after catastrophe at track,

wouldn't you know it, the mini 8 losi ran away, IT WAS THE DAMM "NEW"????EXCEED LIPO RECEIVER PACK, THE ONE AND ONLY THING WE DIDN'T CHANGE, as in panic mode, and I had 2, it was brand new out of a bag that day, I actually cycled it that day, but once car, it bent pack, couldn't tell till removed,
and if I handed it to you this day, you wouldn't realize that it is bad.
MORAL OF STORY, yes you need a pitman, most importantly a dedicated one...I owned a hobby shop back than, so I traveled and my "pitman" was the best damm mechanic on the east coast,PERIOD..... so I won LOTS of races, I took a regional touring title home, when the first serpent 705 I think touring, was SO HEAVY, the hour main, I finished last 2 laps on rims, theres plenty that remember

HOW COULD ANYONE FORGET THAT, give me a car thats hooked up, and 10 minutes of practice, and I'm good.....

thats why I was thinking brushless, I felt my name was MUD after that day, was a really bad day, so bad the announcer, Richie from Brooklyn hobbies, said and shout out to Tommy blazing, and Jay, as he kept trying all day, when most of us would of packed it up and left hours ago, THAT BAD!!!!!

TommyBlazin

iTrader: (29)

sorry for the story, guess that lil therapy made my mind up for me, unless I hook up with someone, dedicated, who runs at barnstormers, and like to travel, as when I do it, I LOVE hitting the whole east coast, the Tiltyard, you haven't raced a buggy till you put some laps there, Lances, Jesus, Aiken S.C. The Watermelon 8 was the last I went to I wonder if they still hold that race.... most guys are buddied up, but if your not, hit me up, I have resources, and I dont pull my punches///I had a qualifier car/race car/and a new kit in a box, and thats how I traveled, with 4 or more motors naturally,

IM HERE PM ME....ID LOVE TO HIT NITRO BACK UP, LESSONS LEARNED, GOTTA GET MY NAME BACK UP ROUND HERE, SOME REMEMBER ME, others heard, but after that day, I thought I was done 100% LOL< Wouldn't you????

Oh and I took care of my pit guys car, as long as it was a different classy did the right thing, I owned a hobby shop for crying out loud,, he had 2 touring, and the used to run these 1/10 serpents, yes 1/10 but not touring, they were set up just like the 1/8 I forgot what they called that class..damm

TommyBlazin

iTrader: (29)

you are 100 percent right, that last post was a pubic offering to a viable pitman/partner....like you said I do the same, but we go out on practice days, time the fuel/pitstops etc, its strategy that wins, if you can drive, I'm not talking CALI GUYS that have the ADVANTAGE OF RUNNING NITRO YEAR ROUND, thats why there faster, but most us humans,lol are on the same level more or less, and you hit it on the nose, comes down to that last pitstop, ill never forget when Collari won the Worlds Crossing the line only to stall 30 feet away, he ran that shit down, I have the blue signature Novarossi jacket, Worlds, from that year, never wore it, a momento

UrabusDenis

I used to hate nitro, thought those guys were just stupid. Can they see how stupid they look? Can't they see how simple electric is? I ran 1:10 TC and to me that was the ultimate class and who ever didn't realize that was fooling themselves.

But then a friend gave me his nitro buggy to try and... I got hooked immediately. The way it idled... The sound at full throttle... Sold all the electric cars the next year and been nitro fuelled ever since. Nitro is just the real deal, on-road or off-road. The engines are so simple yet so perfect. Their sound.... I get pretty poetic so I'll stop here The smell, the long races, the tire/fuel strategy. It is just real racing with real racing models

What bothers me the most is when some drivers discourage people from trying nitro, even though they have zero experience themselves. I was that guy. They hear is hard to tune, they hear its complicated, blah blah.

Is it hard? It absolutely isn't!!! Today an average person can learn how to tune a nitro engine on a video on Youtube. There's a bunch of them from some very knowledgeble people. Buy a few plugs and burn some fuel!

Does it require more maintenance? Yes, it does. Most of all the engine&clutch. But don't you love to fiddle with the cars? I've always thought that's a huge part of our passion. Honestly, there's nothing better than listening to your favourite music album in your mancave while doing some preventive clutch maintenance the night before a race day. Nothing beats that

If you're a mechanically inclined person and aren't racing nitro, you are really missing out on a lot of fun.

forsaken

iTrader: (7)

My first buggy was electric and this was 1996 so around 30 yrs ago, then ran full nitro off road 1/8 since 1998 to 2002 then full on road TC and 1/8. Just end of last year I tried a electric TC car and loved it. Now I'm looking into 1/0 buggy which is fun as heck as well.

The thing to remember is that before, Nitro was the way to go for power and feel and runtime. Now, not anymore, Lipo makes it easy to run and charge. You can go to the track with two bats and run the whole day without worrying about glowplugs, etc.

You spend more time working on the car tuning, be it blinky you just do your timing and focus on gearing.

As far as speed, I'd say its as quick or faster now than nitro.

The only downside is the quietness of electric, and the runtime won't be 1 hr which kinda sucks if you like to pace yourself. Nitro is like a marathon while electric is like sprinting ...

Would i go back to nitro ? sure! but for cost I'm staying with electric right now. Cars are lighter, motors are cheaper, battery are cheaper. Tires don't wear out as fast because of weight, Less stuff to clean, etc.

Pit crew is good if you have a team, but for me since I go at random times. Sometimes I have a good pitman, sometimes don't. its another stress you don't worry when you run electric.

fredygump

iTrader: (1)

The local track owner prefers nitro, and there are several guys who have converted from electric to nitro.

The consensus I've heard is that nitro is easier to drive because less torque at low end. And cost is about the same as electric. They figure cost of nitro fuel vs batteries is a toss-up.

I know the guys at the track love nothing more than to share all their experience about nitros, talking at length about the "best" break in method, the perfect clutch build, and all the rest. They've got years of experience, using different engines, pipes, clutches, etc. If I jump into a nitro, I know I can rely on all their experience. I'd start by asking them what I should buy, and they'll make sure I get up and running.

When I'm racing an electric against nitros, I feel I'm at a disadvantage because I cannot hear my car. When it's all electrics, I can usually pick out the sound of my car, atleast occasionally, which helps me feel more connected to my car. But the nitro guy can hear himself without any problem!

Throttle on the electric takes practice b/c of the instant torque. I've learned to gradually squeeze the trigger, anticipating how much traction there is. The only time I get to full throttle is toward the end of the main straight.

In contrast, with nitro you punch the throttle to engage the clutch and get the RPMs up, and then modulate the throttle depending on how hard you want to accelerate. Nitro guys picking up an electric will tend to spin out alot until they get the hang of easing onto the throttle.

shannow

iTrader: (1)

For racing personally the biggest issue is the pitman...
I literally stopped twice nitro racing because of this alone and sold the whole stuff.
How many races I didn't even get into finals (and I was in the top grid 1/2 finals) because the pitman didn't fill me up or forgot me on the track... How many times did I not start on time for my quals because the pitman forgot it was my turn. Even had brand new engines barely runned in because of lack of time (bought the engine two weeks prior) and I had to run with it to start it 1min before the race because the pitman was nowhere to be seen (I was marshaling and reminded him 1000 times not to forget as I couldn't be there... here he was smoking a cigarette at the other end of the track...).
Anyway don't want to create a rant but it's very frustrating... not that the pitmans I got weren't friends but I'm the type of person people tend to forget easily unless I can be useful (90% of the time the friends are other friend's pitman) and usually the pitman I have is very much however's left and in desperation beginner's who at least tried to help me (which I am grateful as without them I wouldn't even run period) . C'est la vie.

Still on the fence for nitro as I now run brush less and it's true that nitro has an aura to it, something is missing and everyone is else in nitro is having fun so there's a lot of envy.
On one hand I'd like to jump in again and on the other I did quit twice so the experience should tell me to keep myself away but still...