Nitro R/C

[xd shooter]

I thought I saw on here a while ago that someone had an extrs hobby playing with these cars & trucks. My son is getting interested & we are looking for a little info.

Any help will be apreciated.

[TripleDigitRide]

What kind of information are you looking for?

[xd shooter]

What is a good place to start? Thinking of a buggy. This is something he has been thinkin about for a little while & has come to me tonight & I an clueless.

What does he need to start?

How much to operate?

Normal wear & tear?

Edited April 23, 2012 by xd shooter

[TripleDigitRide]

Has he had any experience with the faster electric R/C cars/trucks? If not, I'd suggest he start there. This will help give him a better understanding on how they operate and how to drive them. Nitro is expensive enough as it is, and learning on a Nitro can quickly become VERY expensive in costly repairs.

Plus, electric is so much easier to operate and maintain. One of the biggest problems with Nitro is the engines. They can sometimes be very difficult to keep running properly.

[TripleDigitRide]

If he's dead-set on Nitro, I'd suggest the Traxxas Nitro Sport. It's a RTR (Ready-To-Run) out of the box. This package comes with a radio. It also has electric start, so you don't have to mess with pull-starting or upgrading to electric start in the future.

Even though they are RTR out of the box, most - if not all - nitro engines will require some adjusting of the fuel settings and breaking in of the engine. You MUST read the manual. You can't simply plug it in a drive. And ALWAYS perform after-run maintenance. Again, you MUST read the manual.

Because they are faster, there is generally more wear and tear. You'll be replacing fuel, oil, other fluids, and parts such as tires, shocks, bodies more regularly. You'll need a starter box for the electric starter, and a charger.

I'd suggest going to:

Hobby Lobby

5614 Franklin Pike Circle

Brentwood TN 37027

(866) 512-1444

or

Danielle's Hobbies

4230 Westcap Road Whites Creek, TN 37189

(615) 299-0371

They are located at the intersection of I-24 and Old Hickory Blvd, like you're going to Clarksville. Wayne, the owner, can be an ass sometimes (his wife is great), but they are very knowledgeable and helpful.

[Guest m14man]

very good advice but with the advancements in brushless motors in electrics you cant say nitros are faster. my 2 wheel drive slash will smoke my t-maxx nitro monster truck, to be cheap check out ebay and buy a used truck to bash on, the new short course 4wd slash is amazing for electric and ease of operation, only research required is on lipo batterys but you dont have to use them unless you want top performance. they are big trucks but the most fun i have had with rc in a long time.

http://www3.towerhob...I=LXYNB0LS&P=ML

Edited April 23, 2012 by m14man

[TripleDigitRide]

very good advice but with the advancements in brushless motors in electrics you cant say nitros are faster. my 2 wheel drive slash will smoke my t-maxx nitro monster truck, to be cheap check out ebay and buy a used truck to bash on, the new short course 4wd slash is amazing for electric and ease of operation, only research required is on lipo batterys but you dont have to use them unless you want top performance. they are big trucks but the most fun i have had with rc in a long time.

http://www3.towerhob...I=LXYNB0LS&P=ML

You are absolutely correct about the speed of the new brushless motors. I thought about that as I logged off, but I was heading to the bed....

I'd still start with electric with a beginner.

[sigmtnman]

Lots of good advice here.

Traxxis makes some good stuff. We have a couple 2wd slashes and the only thing I wish they had was 4x4, but it was not available when they first came out.

[xd shooter]

Great advice. I think yall have pointed us in the right direction. The slash looks good to me. I will see what he thinks of it when he gets home from school.

[TripleDigitRide]

Great advice. I think yall have pointed us in the right direction. The slash looks good to me. I will see what he thinks of it when he gets home from school.

A friend of mine has the Slash VXL, and it's a great truck. There are several versions of the Slash, so make sure to see which on suits you best.

[xd shooter]

Practically just need something to get started with. After that he can decide if he wants to go farther. It's just for fun playing around the house & keeping the gravel out of the driveway.

Thanks I will post if he decides to get one.

[msnow]

It depends on what your plans are, back yard bashing or racing. With brushless motors and lipo batteries the run time advantage of nitro has been reduced. Nitro chassis are beefy and tend to have less breakage. I would choose something that you can get parts for locally, instead of having to depend on mail order. Nitro needs glo plugs and fuel. Electric once you buy everything there aren't too many trips to the store unless something breaks. I've raced the Traxxas revo and Kyosho 1/8 buggies in the past with little problems. As for electric I have tried them all, just stick with the top brands. Check out Thunder Raceway in Nashville, they have weekly racing in onroad, oval and dirt offroad. I agree with the other posts about the Slash, I got my daughter one and I haven't had to fix anything on it yet. If I can help just let me know. I'll link to some sites and shops I use.

Matt

http://www.nashrcracer.com/

http://www.stormerhobbies.com/

http://traxxas.com/

http://www.losi.com/

[Tempest455]

Nitro gets REAL expensive when you run it in an alcohol kart and start bending cranks!

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Dolomite has 2 cars.. one street and one off road.. the street one is stupid fast.. tops out at around 75 mph..those are gas powered.. if you start out.. buy plenty of spare parts.. you will need em:)

[Dolomite_supafly]

Dolomite has 2 cars.. one street and one off road.. the street one is stupid fast.. tops out at around 75 mph..those are gas powered.. if you start out.. buy plenty of spare parts.. you will need em:)

I recently upgraded and it should top 100 mph with the high gears. I still need to tune it but I went from a .15 to a .28. The new engine also has about 15k more revs.

Dolomite

[gjohnsoniv]

Talk to smopoim86 on here, I know he races and has some involvement.

[hlb14]

i use to race these things as well, they are alot of fun. one place i would look on the web is rctech.net for info on every aspect of this hobby, there are some people who really know what they are talking about on there, if you're going to stick to the electric/bashing side mainly, check out rcmonster.com, they can help you with brushless motor/esc/lipo battery combos. if i was getting into the hobby and looking just to play around i might look at this - http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_44_1258/products_id/213514/n/HPI-Vorza-Flux-HP-Brushless-RTR-1-8-Scale-Buggy-w-24GHz-Radio t/w a good lipo charger and some good batteries, 1/8 buggies are tough as nails and hpi parts are not hard to find. can't help you much with nitro, i hated it