Nitro car recommendation

[rhoonah]

So I was thinking of getting into the nitro market and I was wondering what everyone would recommend for a car. WAY back in the day, I had a Thunder Tiger Silver Fox which was totally awesome when it ran, but the key was getting it running. I ended up trading it for my first RC10 (and some other stuff) which I still have today (the trade was probably 20 years ago). I ahve looked a bit and it seems that there are a bazillion different cars and trucks that are nitro powered and there is quite a range in prices. I am not a novice RC'er even though I have been out of it for some years so I definitely don't want a newbie car; however I don't want to mortgage my house. So I have a few general questions...

1) reccommendation for a truck of a car...
2) recommendation on 2WD or 4WD
3) what model car, engine, etc.

I was thinking of selling some of my vintage stuff to finance this... I have a Tamiya Bruiser that is in pretty good condition and all original as well as a Monster Beetle and Porsche 959 so maybe those can bring me some coin

Thanks a bunch!!

[a01butal]

Aare you going to race it or is it just for fun? If race then you'll probably want to find out what kind of cars are used by the succesful racers in the class at you local track. If this is for fun then others here can provide direction but if it was me then I would still want to know what car got the job done at the racetrack. My .02 cents.

[Synergy]

I would definitely rather have a well set up brushless Lipo electric buggy than a Nitro, Nitro will phase out in time (may take a while but it will), you will notice that the rate of development in nitro power is very slow whereas electric is moving forward at an astonishing pace, even aircraft are moving away from fuel power these days. The only none electric Buggy I would wish to own would be a HPI Baja 5B, you should be able to afford one of those when you sell them there old Tamiyas

Just my opinion.

[rhoonah]

Good point... there is a local track so it isn't outside the rhealm of possibility that I would race it but it would be mainly for tearing the lawn up at home.

Another question/point... it seems like most of the cars/trucks are "ready to run". That is fine and dandy for mom buying a car for little Jimmy, but I would much rather a kit that I need to build. I have always been a believer in building my own cars so I know how it works and can thus stand a better chance at fixing and modding it. Plus, that is half the fun!! And as an engineering, I thoroughly enjoy build stuff

[Synergy]

You will need a big garden but it is in kit form, a few guys on here have them and love them.

http://www.hpiracing.com/kitinfo/10610/

[rhoonah]

synergy, if I went LiPO and brushless, is that something that I can outfit into my vintage RC10? I am guessing that I would need a different speed control for the brushless system. What level of cost are we talking for that?

I thought a 1/8 scale nitro truck seems appealing because I have a lot lf lawn etc. at home and I thought that it would handle better on the grass. My 1/10 buggies bog down a bit even with new spiked tires and it eats the batteries fast (I only have NiCD 1800mah now).

[rhoonah]

Wow... that car is 1/5 scale and it has a 26cc engine... that is crazy. The cost on that must be pretty steep.

[aconsola]

Nitro isn't going anywhere anytime soon. brushless/lipo may have an overall performance edge, but nothing beats the sound and convenience of nitro.
There are tons of rtr as you have seen, but a decent# of kits remain.
As others have said you have to decide what you are going to do with it to narrow down the choices.
I have an HPI baja-5b SS which I built up. It was a fun build, but you have to have a lot of space to run it.
RC-10 gt's are a great choice for 1/10 scale nitro as parts and trucks can be had easily on the cheap via ebay. There are still kits floating around that you could pick up if you want to build one up new. For the price of a new factory team gt kit you could get 2 or 3 used trucks with accessories. tear them down and rebuild 'em and have plenty of spares. There are lots of folks still racing the gt even though the gt2 has been around for a while now, especially the nitro dirt oval guys.

[Synergy]

I thought a 1/8 scale nitro truck seems appealing because I have a lot lf lawn etc. at home and I thought that it would handle better on the grass. My 1/10 buggies bog down a bit even with new spiked tires and it eats the batteries fast (I only have NiCD 1800mah now).

Maybe nitro is the way for you to go if you are running in longish grass.

[a01butal]

Check the price of nitro fuel it has gotten very expensive lately. "Hidden costs"

[PBR Allstar]

personally, I would do a rtr if you just want something to tear up the yard with. My first choice for a stadium truck would be a GT2 RTR. you can get it for the same price as the factory team kit, which is minus radio and engine. parts are everywhere. One thing I would recomend though to save frustration and that is to go ahead, bite the bullet and buy a startbox, don't wast time with pull starts that don't last and usually break in the middle of the fun. If you want to do 1/8th scale ofna has some great RTR's, but then again, 4wd, more parts, more maintainence, you get the picture. I think for outright fun factor and parts availibility, get the GT2.

my .02

[uzzi]

Another type of car you can also consider is a ''Truggy'' they are a cross between a 1/8 nitro buggy and a truck. They generally run bigger engines (28 size) than a standard buggy (21 size), it is also a class in which you can race in (if you wish to).

Nitro vs Electric
It comes down to this...if you like tinkering....go with nitro cars. Modern engines are pretty easy to tune and they do not have the problems you had with the older type nitro engines. The cars have gotten pretty advance with better drive train and suspension system. So abit more technical knowledge is required but nothing that difficult you can't learn of the internet. If you like simplicity.....go with electric, there are some brushless conversion kits you can buy for 1/8th nitro buggies to run electric. However, bear in mind they run 2 batteries at once and you need pretty decent chargers if you decide to run Li-po batteries.

Costs
At the end of the day whichever choice you make it ends up being the same...EXPENSIVE! Electric may seem cheaper to begin with but there are alot of hidden cost which are not apparent to begin with. Nitros are fast out of the box but expensive in the beginning.

[civilguy]

I don't know if you'd be in the used market to try out nitro, but I have a T-Maxx in decent shape. I have it listed locally-- I don't want to deal with shipping this thing. It's tons of fun as a basher-- a bit squirrelly on the track. That's why I'm getting rid of it-- the only time I get to run is on race days so I just want to run the big class at the local track (1/8 buggy).
Also, just my opinion, but my 1/8 scale is lousy in the yard-- it basically yanks out all grass and it's a pain to clean it out!! If I was going new I would look at the truggies.

Basically this is a runner, about $100 in new parts, spare used parts, extra set of wheels/tires, extra body, gloplug ignitor/charger and a little fuel (quart or so left in a gallon) for locals. All you'd need is AAs for the tx and rx.
I went through this last winter to try at the track and just got spanked by the Revos...
It's listed on RCE's site, but here's a picture of it:

I was looking for $300 obo for the whole package.

[rhoonah]

Thanks for all of the info guys.

uzzi, I was looking into the truggies as well since they seemed to be a pretty good mix with what I'd like to do. I do like to tinker so the nitro cars seemed the way to go as well. Out of curiousity, what kind of top speeds would a truggy with a 28 size engine get?

a01butal, I'm not overly concerned with the costs of nitro fuel... I am sure that it is expensive but I am sure that a gallon will last me a long time since I'm not going to be racing it every other day. Plus, it isn't cheap to shell out coin for LiPO's and a charger, etc.

PBR Allstar, I'll check out the GTR... thanks. But like I said, I really would prefer a kit. I am no novice to building electric cars and I am quite handy and technical so I'd really like to build something. Plus, I want to do this hobby with my boys and I'd like for them to see how they are put together, etc. And lastly, my cars don't stay stock for very long

civilguy, I'd like to look around and see what is out there and what kind of car/truck/truggy that I'd like to go with but I will keep your truck in mind.

I guess I need to decide if I want to sell that Tamiya Bruiser or not

[rhoonah]

Also, any suggestions on "features" to avoid vs. desire? For example... stay away from chain drives and get a belt drive... or belt drives are the devil... etc.

Thanks again!

-Joe