Electric Better?

[WEC#11]

I know it's personal preference but i would like to hear why some of you electric guys believe they are superior to nitro?


I am new to this sport and have a nitro truck but am thinking about getting an electric. Thanks for your thoughts...

 

[slowngreen]

Id only say electric is better if you go lipo/brushless. Then it is better in every way. Might cost more at first since you have to buy a charger and packs but after that, you dont need anything.
They dont piss people off because they arent loud. They have instant full power. They need no tuning! They are very very user/newb freindly, again because of no tuning. The list goes on and on.
Other than the reasons that they are better, their are reasons why nitro is maybe more fun for some since they have the noise, the smoke, they are an actual engine and so on.
All electrics, even non lipo setups, are going to be easier to run because of, once again, the lack of tuning needed.

 

[Racer 1966]

:goodpost:

That pretty well sums it up. I prefer nitro myself but my son's Slash with a brushless/LiPo setup sure puts a smile on my face too.

 

[neobart]

I used to be all about nitro, actually I used to say electric was like watching an action movie with the audio on mute.

since then I have converted my Losi XXL to brushless and just finished my race buggy conversion, and am selling of my last two engines.

I still love nitro, it's just a little too much hassle for me to have to walk a mile or two to be able to run them. With my electric MT I can go right on my front door with a portable jump and bash right on the lawn.

But there is no thing that beats a day at the track with a sweet running nitro engine, I am gonna miss that but not the days when it doesn't run that good. On the other hand I'm looking forward to basically packing my buggy, transmitter, tires and batteries and be ready to practice.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

With a brushless/lipo setup, the ammount of raw power is untouchable by nitros. The speed/rpms that an electric motor is untouchable by nitros. Living in an apartment complex, it makes it much much easier to test my different setups because i dont have the noise of nitro. There is a much much greater range of tuning that you are able to do with an electric. With most modern ESC's you can adjust EVERYTHING. You can fine tune your rig to your driving style, instead of having to adjust your driving style to the rig, like you have to with nitros.

 

[MotoGod]

With a brushless/lipo setup, the ammount of raw power is untouchable by nitros. The speed/rpms that an electric motor is untouchable by nitros. Living in an apartment complex, it makes it much much easier to test my different setups because i dont have the noise of nitro. There is a much much greater range of tuning that you are able to do with an electric. With most modern ESC's you can adjust EVERYTHING. You can fine tune your rig to your driving style, instead of having to adjust your driving style to the rig, like you have to with nitros.

You can adjust a Nitro car to your driving style as well...it's done through chassis, radio, and clutch adjustments. You can get the same type of setup out of both with some trial and error.

Electric Pros:

-No need to learn how to tune an engine
-Swapping pinions for track conditions is easy
-LIPOs provide TONS of power for the electric motors
-No need to buy fuel every week/month
-Easy to maintain
-Cheaper to stay racing once you buy in

Electric Cons:
-Good LIPOs are pricey
-LIPOs are very volatile and if you don't treat them correctly, you can watch your car (or workbench) go up in flames
-Good LIPO chargers can be pricey
-Runtime is limited to how much you want to spend on batteries
-More expensive to buy in and start racing up front

Nitro Pros:
-Feels more like "real" racing with the sounds and smells associated
-Runtime is only limited to the amount of fuel you have on hand. Running a 1 hour main is easy.
-The satisfaction of hearing a perfectly tuned Nitro engine humming along is enough to give you an ego boost!
-More widely raced at the moment in 1/8th trim, but electric is slowly gaining momentum
-Cheaper to buy in and start racing

Nitro Cons:
-Engines *can* be hard to tune if you are inexperienced
-Harder to maintain (Clutches, engine parts, filters etc etc etc)
-Noisy, so it can be hard to run them in a residential area
-Dirty, nitro fuel gets EVERYWHERE
-Smell, Nitro smells like toxic waste as it's burning
-More expensive to stay racing once you buy in


They are both GREAT to play with and race. Electric makes everything easy, but at what cost? I see a lot of electric guys just charge batteries and go...neglecting their rigs because they don't need to tear them down each week and such. They take them for granted a lot more than the Nitro guys do. Nitro guys are forced to wrench their rigs every single time they drive em if they want them to stay in tip top shape. A nitro runaway is a SCARY thing to witness....

Nitro wins in my book...and I have raced them both....but Electric is fun as well. Just not as much fun for me personally....

 

[Metalhead Matt]

A good running nitro engine does make you feel good. A good engine helps big time. My OS makes me feel like a guru, but we all know I'm just a screwball.

 

[slowngreen]

Dont forget though, this was just a question of why the electric guys think they are better than nitro, not a question of why nitro guys like nitro's better.

 

[MotoGod]

I like em both. I had a blast racing my eBuggy. I just prefer Nitro...mainly because the instant power requires a LOT of throttle control. Racing one of each is difficult ;-) If I raced only electric....I'd probably have been fine.

I just posted pros and cons of both really...since I have experience with both ;-)

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Dont forget though, this was just a question of why the electric guys think they are better than nitro, not a question of why nitro guys like nitro's better.

All comparing aside, electric is hands down easier because it involves way less support gear, there are less wear parts(clutch and breaks), and $30 batteries last way longer than a $30 gallon of fuel. Oh yeah, they can be made to go way faster too.

 

[JessF]

I've witnessed an electric guy charge his 2 3000mah batts, only to plug them in and have nothing happen. Out came the ohms meter. It was a switch or something that was faulty, took him a while to figure it out.

An isolated incident I'm sure, but not a problem easily solved by a novice. Both nitro and electrics are plagued with issues you'll need to learn how to solve. I think at the surface electrics seem simpler to work on, but when the power systems require fixing, it takes a whole different set of skills to resolved. I've come to learn that many electrics weigh more than their nitro counterparts. Yes they have more power to make up for that weight, as well as inertia going into the corners and into crashes.

As long as it keeps more people interested in the hobby, BOTH are equally fun and challenging.

 

[General Lee]

You can adjust a Nitro car to your driving style as well...it's done through chassis, radio, and clutch adjustments. You can get the same type of setup out of both with some trial and error.

Electric Pros:

-No need to learn how to tune an engine
-Swapping pinions for track conditions is easy
-LIPOs provide TONS of power for the electric motors
-No need to buy fuel every week/month
-Easy to maintain
-Cheaper to stay racing once you buy in

Electric Cons:
-Good LIPOs are pricey
-LIPOs are very volatile and if you don't treat them correctly, you can watch your car (or workbench) go up in flames
-Good LIPO chargers can be pricey
-Runtime is limited to how much you want to spend on batteries
-More expensive to buy in and start racing up front

Nitro Pros:
-Feels more like "real" racing with the sounds and smells associated
-Runtime is only limited to the amount of fuel you have on hand. Running a 1 hour main is easy.
-The satisfaction of hearing a perfectly tuned Nitro engine humming along is enough to give you an ego boost!
-More widely raced at the moment in 1/8th trim, but electric is slowly gaining momentum
-Cheaper to buy in and start racing

Nitro Cons:
-Engines *can* be hard to tune if you are inexperienced
-Harder to maintain (Clutches, engine parts, filters etc etc etc)
-Noisy, so it can be hard to run them in a residential area
-Dirty, nitro fuel gets EVERYWHERE
-Smell, Nitro smells like toxic waste as it's burning
-More expensive to stay racing once you buy in


They are both GREAT to play with and race. Electric makes everything easy, but at what cost? I see a lot of electric guys just charge batteries and go...neglecting their rigs because they don't need to tear them down each week and such. They take them for granted a lot more than the Nitro guys do. Nitro guys are forced to wrench their rigs every single time they drive em if they want them to stay in tip top shape. A nitro runaway is a SCARY thing to witness....

Nitro wins in my book...and I have raced them both....but Electric is fun as well. Just not as much fun for me personally....

Yep...hahaha.

"It's Only Money, Right?!

 

[exmark93]

my first real rc car, aside from some used rustlers and a stampede, was a T-MAXX 3.3 what a nightmare, i have sold it but now whenever i look at nitros i just cringe and my wallet seems to run away from me lol. after that i bought an emaxx BL and what a difference, instant torque, high speeds, extremely durable and last but certainly not least the ability to just plug it in a go without tuning. it only took a few weeks till i bought a slash 4x4 and ill admit i may not have the capabilities the emaxx does but its certainly more fun! every time i drive it i just love to watch the rear suspension squat and view the car as if it was real. yeah nitro is VERY fun for the first couple of runs until things start breaking, it seemed as if every time i drove any nitro vehicle it would religiously have something go wrong or break at least every 30 min. and something that i feel makes electric far more fun is lipos, i was skeptical at first but after i put them into my slash and got 28 min run times and got 25 min run times on my emaxx (my jaw dropped when i realized how long the emaxx runs now) i am now fully electric, with an exception to a fuelie engine , oh and its fun how friends think electric is soo slow until i break it out in the parking lot and they all go oooohhh ahhhhh oooooo oooohhh ah ooo ah -gritz

 

[bergoff]

I actually just sold all of my nitro stuff to go lipo and love it. The instant power is awesome. You can get into lipo for a decent price from hobbyking.com. You will love it. And this site rocks if you have any questions if you go lipo.

 

[hamz9561]

I have run both nitro and electric (both brushed and brushless, LiPo and NiMH) and I would say that electric is much better for me. Being able to charge and go is a big plus. I also live in an apartment and like being able to run whenever I want without noise complaints. The incredible speeds that LiPo/brushless are capable of is just mind-blowing. When my LHS had a track, they tried running nitro vs electric, and the electrics kept whipping them.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

I certainly prefer electric over nitro this time of year. Nitros hate the cold, and electronics like to stay cool. But what exmark was saying about breakage issues doesn't have to be the case. Preventive maintenance goes along way. The only thing that sidelined my Maxx and RC10 this summer was running out of fuel. Using rtv and locktite accordingly makes for very reliable vehicles.

 

[Crunkvilletx]

I have both nitro and electric and i will always love nitro I've been getting into brushless and lipos recently and they are really fun to drive i just take both when i go bash so i get the best of both worlds

 

[2revo1maxx]

It all depends on what you like to do more of. I personally love wrenching/building/fixing my stuff more than driving. If you like driving more than fixing and building then electric is for you. Obviously you'll be fixing regardless of what it is. Unless your name is Rolex then you can just clean and wax them all day.