Originally Posted by
RCmayor
At a recent RC Pro race they had the normal Fueled classes and then the new electric class. For me, the electrics didn't look any better or worse, just same thing, no noise. I won't run out and buy one from what I saw. I think it could be just a fad, but I could be wrong. The excitement factor of a screaming engine just isn't there, the run times are limited, and the chassis to me still for the most part looked tacky. The Caster car is probably the best laid out of them all except for the bigger motors not fitting yet. With a 5mm change in the chassis this will go away. Everyone else is stacking batteries two high on one side or spreading them out to the edges of the mud guards.
For now in our area, nitro is where it is at and always will be. Electrics will probably spike for a while then fade or stay the same.
It's no fad.. it's the future. More and more tracks are going to be subject to noise restrictions and other countries are already being pinched by emissions laws. I could see a state like CA banning nitro engines some day. Electric 1/8th scale is in its infancy and it's already so damn good. At better technology gives us higher capacity packs with lower weight they're only going to get better. And just for the record, I can run ~22 minutes at race pace with a 5S 4100mAh 1700kV setup. A battery change for a 30 minute main equals the 3-4 pit stops the nitro cars will make.
I just switched from nitro. I was so happy to say goodbye to clutches, fuel, receiver packs, and starter boxes. When nitro used to be $10/gallon it was alright, but at $25-30/gal it's just not cost effective any more.
Lastly.. someone earlier said that when you run electric you can focus more on your car setup than maintenance just to keep it running. I agree with that... since I know how my car will perform motor wise every time I put it on the track I can now focus on the suspension and diff setup. And having 100% torque at any point on the throttle is amazing!
Nitro is what it is, electric is better.
