There is a series I am thinking of trying to attend and race on a regular basis. However last time I did nitro didn't go well. Like Ike and Tina, and I wasn't Ike.

Just some background for the last time I did this, I picked up the gear that someone recommended who I felt was knowledgeable about engines (he was O.S. Sponsored I believe at the time) brand new.

Did break-in as instructed, maintenance as instructed, the whole show. When it came time to have run for racing, it promptly up and died till the main I was in ended. At that point I sold it all thinking well maybe its not for me since I had been fighting with it. A person knowledgeable in nitro bought it and said all was well, fired right up. He then let me know 2 weeks later engine was dead and said nope, no issue on my part, it just up and died.

Anyway, that and in addition to seeing people regularly do the nitro wind sprints to get flamed out vehicles (excellent drivers here, skills that are amazing) wasn't something that made me feel confident to grab another. I mean, if they are having issues, what chance did I have?

Anyway I got my fix in 1/8 by being one of the first in the area to do an electric conversion. Now, it seems that the E-buggy thing has really grown.

Does it have the same feel as a nitro race? Nope. I think the factor to me on that is the noise and people watching the racing action can relate to that. IMHO, People like to hear engines revving, etc. Personally when traxxas made that speaker thing I was curious to see an actual full on race with the sounds and see how it went.

Anyway, back to current times, I am personally looking more into a nitro 1/8 buggy and maybe 1/8 truggy for a race series. Some things I have to factor in:

- I don't have a local track that runs nitro, closest is probably 2 hrs away
- I don't have someone who I can have help me with nitro in a consistent manner that I would feel comfortable asking
- My nitro knowledge is very minimal, I can fuel a vehicle but tuning by ear is all new to me. But I can retain what I am taught.
- I need something that can reliably start, period. Doesn't have to be the fastest thing in the world, but need reliability.


Anyway, that is where I am at. I am open to any suggestions, etc as far as actual gear to use in the vehicles that are nitro specific (I have servos for instance, charger that can do nitro batteries, etc). But things like reliable engines, clutches, batteries for the receiver, fuel, etc. I need info on.

So feel free to make suggestions, going full sponge here lol. Also, it probably doesn't matter but just in case it does, I am looking at Tekno vehicles as my platform of choice at this time.