silacomalley

Is electric as fast as nitro? Why choose electric if it is slower? Not criticising, just wondered what the benefits are of electric over nitro.

Perhaps I'm just a speed freak & want the fastest r/c car on the road.

vi3tishduy

Man, I've noticed a trend, who ever is new to R/C always want the fastest car ect... If your new to R/C I recommend you try a electric car over nitro. I my self have never owned one. Why? THey're dirty, the nitro engines require lots of matienece, they break. Why choose electric? Different race class (mod or stock). Also, you have an option with electric whether if you want to choose a slow or fast motor. Hope this helps.. If your new I recommend you go with a TC3.

kufman

iTrader: (6)

There is no answer to this question. Electrics are faster off the line and tend to accelerate faster. Nitros hit second gear and can be faster than electrics. At our local track the lap times between mod electric and nitro are almost the same. Usually the electrics end up with the best laps of the night, but not always. The big benefit of electric... you can run them year round!!

AZNracerx1989

speed shouldnt matter.... a brushless motor or a low turn motor should get u going faster than u want... if u want speed, get one of those drag cars... they can hit 100 mph+ with a low turn motor.

I personally drift so I dont care about speed

silacomalley

I am a relative newbie. I used to building r/c gliders but got into nitro cars.

Lol......speeeeeed. I know I will grow out of it when I start to respect the hobby & maybe start racing, but for now I am messing around with trying to get a really fast 1/10th to thrash around our local car park.

I am toying with the idea of electric because they have a whole asthetic nature & respectfull following of there own & they are clean.

Thanks for your comments guys.

God bless ya'

imprsme

iTrader: (91)

Welll I can tell you at my local tracks 2 of them. The Stk. TC's are only about 2 seconds off of the nitro in a five min race. Mod. is almost 6 seconds faster than nitro. I run Stk mainly and love to go out when the nitro guys are out there and pass them at will... They get upset! LOL

At one of the tracks we run on has like two straights that are around 75-100ft long. and the lap times are in the 16 sec. range so its not a small track. I think most ppl just like the sound of nitro, it draws them to it.

I myself love to hear the whine of a 6single at the end of a staright!

The race this Sun.

stk winner 18laps 5:02 fastest single lap 16.27
mod. winner 19laps 5:05 15.43
gas winner 18laps 5:03 16.46

dakrat

newbs are all about having the fastest "gas" car. when i was new, the sound of " gas car" attracted me, sheez u cant find them at radio shack. as i grew, i ditch nitro to electric. a lot better, i can tune the car better and drive better.

DOMOisCOOL

If you're going to race, electric cars will always do better in the infield because of the instant response to accelerate. Nitro cars are slower in the infield since the clutch isn't an instant response. That is why people who drift their cars prefer electric over nitro.

bigtez

iTrader: (6)

I think when you are starting out the lower gas classes are cheaper to get into as opposed to the electric classes. That is why more newbs start out withgas over electric. For example at my local track youcan race in a pull start class with a ready to run package costing $600au at the shop next to the track. There are guys that have proven these cars to be capable of winning in that class without hopups or mods. To race electric competetively a chassis alone would cost $550au. Then you have the cost of radios batteries motors speedies etc.
However inthe long run i think running electric becomes a lot cheaper as you move up through the ranks. I have raced in both the pull start and pro tourer gas classes and now race electric. For me the electric car is the least hassle. I just turn up peak my batteries before each race and only fix my car if it breaks at the track. All other maintenance is done at home and i don't have to worry about tuning the engine everytime i race.

Terry

Hick

The guys made some good points here for the electrics. Now, if this post was over in the Nitro area... The boys over there will make just as good points.

This will always be an endless arguing point in the hobby. The answer is resolved by flipping a coin. Heads or tales, but, when tossed the dammed coin acts as if it has a mind of its own, missing the hand that is supposed to catch it, hits the floor, bounces, rolls out the door and into the storm drain!

For me, its electric! In order to make an electric car consistantly go fast, you face a bigger challenge than bolting on horsepower.

Ben.C

Oh Dear Oh my....

Its another edition of electric vs nitro topic...

While I basically a electric driver.Its a totally different class to start with. In terms of speed,electric is surely faster.The fastest RC car to date is an electric car.Just use a Pan car chassis,slap on a brushless and load it with as much cells the car can fit.And just run it!!!

But if you want speed...Get a 1/8 on road car....

mjs3350

iTrader: (16)

i'm pretty sure the world record holder for speed with an r/c car was electric...

vi3tishduy

Yes, i'm sure, I remember there was an electric car not an tc but, some kind of r/c electric vehicle that just spun around. Supposedly it went up to 200mph it was connected to a string. not sure if i'm correct.

silacomalley

Yes, the fastest recorded r/c car was indeed clocked at 200mph! It was teatherd to a post & slowley spun round & round, under its own power of course & eventually clocked 200mph. I saw the video clip, you couldn't see the car, it was just a blur.

Click http://www.ssrcracing.com/rc-videos.html and scroll down to the last video clip!

And yes, it was a gas powered & not electric.

Ghostfit

Wrong ! .....That was a gas powered car ! ....there's no mistaking the "hum" of the nitro engine "going onto the pipe" !
I believe they're called tethered slot cars.

I do both EP and GP and feel it is pointless to go into a debate on which is faster. they both have their pros and cons. but I think pple who blindly state that EP are the fastest should try their hands on 1/8 on-road first !

PEACE ! ......

btw.... that's not an "R/C" car ! Not in the sense that we know !