Deciding between electric and nitro, looking for feedback on those that switched

[RubiconX]

In my mid to late twenties I was really into nitro RC. I built and ran a buggy and truggy and absolutely loved it however life got really busy and I just didn't have time for the hobby anymore so five years ago I sold all my rigs, tools and parts and got out of the hobby. Now I miss it and am definitely going to get back into it however I am faced with a dilemma that I was not expecting to face, and that is should I get a nitro buggy kit or try electric. After educating myself a bit more on the current ways of this hobby I was pleased to learn that electric has come a long way in the past ten years and offers pretty impressive vehicles and a growing fan base.

I'm not trying to start a debate or ask you guys to state what is better, nitro or electric, because I can imagine this topic has been beat to death but I'm just curious to hear from those that have switched from running nitro to electric and what your experience with that was like. Also would be curious to hear from those that are running both. Do you regret switching? I've read the flood of info on the net about both the pros and cons of both but is there something that I should know about that maybe is not so much talked about? I want to buy a buggy kit this weekend and start building soon with the cold weather rolling in, I have my eyes set on the Associated RC8B3 however I am still undecided if I will grab the nitro or electric version. Any opinions, tips, advice, or wisdom you can spare would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
M

 

[Rolex]

Well, first you need to know where you will be running. Dirt tracks were always my choice for nitro. Now I can only find tracks, indoor OR outdoor that will only allow electrics. That would be your first decision.

 

[RubiconX]

Well, first you need to know where you will be running. Dirt tracks were always my choice for nitro. Now I can only find tracks, indoor OR outdoor that will only allow electrics. That would be your first decision.

I'd like to imagine that I will be hitting tracks with this buggy but if I have to be honest with myself I will likely most of the time (95% of the time) be bashing it wherever and whenever, parks, abandoned roads, cottage, back roads, dirt roads, off road trails, etc. I also own a Jeep Wrangler which I like to take to trails in the spring and summer so I'm thinking I will do a lot of bashing on these excursions as well. I don't think I will be visiting tracks all that often, if at all.

This is such a back and forth battle in my head at this point, the things that I loved so much about nitro I also hated about nitro, I know that sounds strange but it's just the way it was. For example, I really enjoyed getting the buggy ready for a run, going through the process of starting the engine, warming up the engine, tuning the engine, and then bashing, the whole process made the run more exciting and rewarding but there was just as many times I simply did not run the buggy because of the prep work involved in running it, so there was missed opportunities because of it being a nitro.

I loved the fact that it ran loud, obnoxious, smelled like fuel but there were many times I could not run it exactly because of those reasons. There were those days that I really enjoyed cleaning up the buggy after a long day of bashing and prepping it for storage but there were just as many times where I just wanted to stash it quickly and forget about it but couldn't because of all the oil and spilled fuel I needed to clean up.

 

[olds97_lss]

Why not both? Get a couple that share some parts so you have to have less on hand. Sounds like you really want an offroad rig for various surfaces and a MT fits the bill for that. Could go with a savage X and savage X Flux, shares some parts and on days you feel quiet, run electric, days you don't, run nitro.

 

[Greywolf74]

I love and have both nitro and electric. Either way you want to go is fine. Nitro has a lower upfront cost but also has an ongoing cost in fuel/plugs, electric has a higher up front cost cuz you need lipos and a charger but (theoretically) has no continued cost. Nitro is also heavier on the maintenance/tinkering side of things, electric is just cleaning the dirt of the kit and charging your lipos. Some people like the tinkering/maintenance aspect of nitro though so its really just whatever your taste/time allows for.

 

[RubiconX]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think going with both might be a good idea down the line however current budget allows for only one build. I think I'm going to build electric, just because its different thank what I had before, then see how I like it. My next build would be nitro sometime 6-9 months from now, but who knows I might end up liking electric enough to not have the itch for nitro.

 

[hamz9561]

I've bashed electric and nitro as well as gas and have to say that I prefer electric to nitro. Gas is a close second to electric for me. My biggest gripe with nitro was the mess after running.

 

[olds97_lss]

I've bashed electric and nitro as well as gas and have to say that I prefer electric to nitro. Gas is a close second to electric for me. My biggest gripe with nitro was the mess after running.

Gas was simple, but I had a tough time finding places to run the 5B, and the smell of gas in my house sucked since I store all my rigs in my house.

 

[hamz9561]

My only gripe about gas was that I got bored with driving my -5b before the gas ran out. lol

 

[olds97_lss]

My only gripe about gas was that I got bored with driving my -5b before the gas ran out. lol

I had a similar feeling with it... then I'd start doing stupid things. Stupid with 1/5 scale gets expensive quick.

 

[spider]

I like both but I ended up selling off all my nitro stuff and keeping more electric than ever. No real reason other than thinning some of the collection out.