Does it cost us, the racer/hobbyist to practice/race a 1/8th scale nitro car? Taking everything except travel expenses into consideration (clutch bearings, fuel, tires, chassis wear, broken parts, engine life, etc.)

I would say 20 dollars an hour. A fuel bottle is about an hour long amount which is about 1/8th gallon so that's your biggest expense if you don't break. I would say the safe number per hour to drive is 20$ or look at a practice day if driving costing around 40-60$ in overall costs. Races I would always put an even hundred on costs as long as no hotels and long drive are involved.

depending on track conditions u can eat up a couple sets of tires in an hr...

Cant put an exact dollar amount on this question without having a solid number to start with.

You would have to take your total cost for your rig and all the parts, tires, batteries, fuel (EVERYTHING) you purchased over a years time for it. Divide that number by the races you participated in and that would be "your" particular hourly cost. Everyone will have a different "hourly" cost to this question. If you want to get "technical" you could estimate wear on parts that are still usable for the next year.

Not looking for super accuracy, just a range. I just think the number might be higher than most of us think. I get 1-1.5 hours out of a set of clutch bearings for instance, and about 8 minutes on 125cc of fuel, and a set of SS tires might last me 2 hours (with the last hour being used for practice). Factor in full size car fuel to/from the track (I know this varies but just average it), and your time driving/prepping the car, chemicals consumed (shock oil/diff oil)..I bet it's at least $50 an hour...

When you factor in all that too, I bet the number is even higher.

I don't even wanna know... ha ha. It's like the most expensive arcade game ever... Just keep pumping in the quarters.

I have been trying to get my E buggy in a good spot so i won't wanna drive the nitros as much. Just keep them for racing, run electric for entertainment and practice.

$20.

A day at the track, race or practice averages out to $100 per day. Obviously practice is going to eat more equipment than race days.

This hobby is expensive so don't think about it and go have fun. I added everything I have into this hobby and it makes me sick thinking about it. The sadest thing is we don't get anything out of it u less your real good and your sponsored.

Entertainment? Thats something.

A long time racer/hobby shop owner always said it is about 50 bucks a week after you have all your gear ready. That is fuel, maintenance, maybe a small part or 2, tire wear, etc. Thats is for one club race a week and a little practice. Now this may be more because this was 5-6 years ago, but stuff really isn't that much more expensive than then.

lol

Im pretty sure we all get alot of enjoyment out of this hobby otherwise we wouldnt do would we and sponsored drivers your talking a very very small number that actually make money out of this. Im pretty sure there only one drive in our country that is actually paid to drive.

I definately dont count how much i spend, proberly put me off it lol. Like someone else said depending on track conditions, once i went through $400 of tyres over 3 days of racing because the track was preped with molasses, just ate tyres. Real good way of putting people of racing.

Bahahaha right on!
I can tell u running three 1/8scale nitro cars is insane expensive. We will burn one gal of fuel for a club race? Not to mention everything in triplet. And one 3day event to prep 3cars buy tires. Entry fees for 3. Extra parts. Fuel I have spent well over a grand for just one weekend. Not to mention the time in the three cars. And cost of damage from crashes! I say at a minim for one car It is well above 35 to 40 bucks an hour! Easy. I also have been kicking around e buggys for practice and just fun time. To cut the daily cost down but still get the drive time. And only bust out the nitros for big events. My wallet will thank me if I can stop it from vomiting $100s!

If you have to ask how much, you should run electric....just saying