Fuel, lesson learned.

[lykan]

Ok now I know people reccomend this fuel, and that fuel. This is the best, this one bites. Everyone has differing opinions.

When I went into the LHS about 3 months ago I didn't have a clue I was looking for a used electric for a xmas present. I ran across the XTM X-cellerator for $260 rtr. So the LHS guy hands me a glow charger, some fuel, some glow plugs etc. I bought a gallon of fuel so it would last a while. It was Powermaster In a metal can, like a coleman can. 20%

So I've been running it and tunning with it, etc. I am doing a LOT of tweaking for warm/cold conditions. It's 40 in the day., and at night when we go to the school, its like 5 degrees. I just figured Nitro engines we a B$$tch to tune, and you had to do a LOT of it during the day.

So I get a gift certificate for my B-day. I go to the OTHER LHS, and grab a quart of Trinity monster HP, 20% figure I'll give it a shot. I ran out of Powermaster and dropped this stuff in while it was still running. Night and day man.

WHooa, look out. Fuel makes a HUGE difference. I thought I might be loosing a little bit of power, but had no idea how much, and what it affected. My motor is now.

Way cooler
Idles better
Holds a tune for once!
Gained a noticable amount of power and acceleration *edited*
Starts easier

No more trying to keep it tuned and running. I hate this damned small town mentality. When I asked My LHS where I bought the car. I asked, Does fuel make a difference, he say , "Naw not noticably, fuel is fuel". (as he is thinking cha-ching)

This coming from a guy who runs cars all the time for fun, and has a lot of racers coming in buying ths good stuff, he knows. He blew smoke up my rear figuring I wouldn't notice or didn't care.

If I had decent fuel from the git, this whole thing would have been a lot more fun, and less frusterating. My motor might live a little longer too.

So for all you new guys out there. Fuel does make a difference. I'm sure their is a lot of good fuel out there, lots of good brands. Just don't pick the bottom of the barrel generic stuff.

Also don't let the LHS guy shove you towards the fuel he has the most markup on lol.

I really wish I would have found this board about 3 weeks before I got my first nitro. I would have saved a lot of work, and been a bit more fun. You'll see me being a lot more particular about fuel, and taking way better care of it from now on.

 

[newnitrofan]

Powermaster??? WTF?? Never heard of the crap. Are you sure it's not like Nitro home brew?? Any of the big name fuels shouldn't make a huge difference at all. There will of course be a difference in temps and all that but not huge performance differences from the big names. Ya know I have learned not to really trust the guy behind the counter a whole lot. Just cuz he's behind the counter doesn't mean he know's more than the experienced R/C'er. There is one shop I go to in particular that I don't go to any more. However there is this kid behind the counter that every time I ask him for a part he asks WHY?? Why do you want that. Even when I asked for a better servo saver for my savage he said why. I said cuz it's because the stock one is crap. I asked for a better brake setup for my savage he again said why. I said I wanted to actually be able to stop the truck. He told me that I should just get the stock one and use a thin amount of CA glue on it and that will stop better than a vented rotor setup. Sorry for the rant but I understand your frustration. Hmm, and some guy's wonder why we use tower and other online retailers. He even said why to the savage 4 spider diff mod(which will make your diffs last much longer and not grenade after 10 tanks. Later

 

[Paintbug]

isnt Powermaster plane fuel?? i have herd of it but its been awhile.

 

[lykan]

This just gets me hard. I want to spend my money locally, I love to support small business in my hometown, but how can I?

This who sold me the X-C and the fuel knows. He's been around a long time. He tunes and runs cars and planes everyday. He's like that with everything, from batteries for my 7.2 to double A's

He's not interested in making sure his customers have a good time (unless you are a daily customer) He's worried about how much he makes per sle I suppose. I wouldn't even mind paying a good chunk more locallly to get things quick.

When you go in and ask advice, and that advice is tailored to their pocket, not your best interest It really gets me torqued.

When I went in to buy my X-C they had a used ofna on consignment it was a decent shape buggy 4wd. for $320 with extra parts, tool box tools, fuel ready to go, it had on on road conversion done, and still had all the off road tires a-arms etc. Twice the car as my stadium truck. It would have been a great buy. If I had only known.

Anyways enough of my whining, and stay away from powermaster. It made a noticable difference when I made the switch , very noticable and it's the same 20% as the trinity. So I know it was the fuel, not the %

It's got a pictures of planes, boats and cars on it, so I am assuming it's multipurpose generic stuff?

BTW the other LHS guys are cool as all hell. BUT, they keep all the parts behind the counter in sealed containers. I would love to look through and get some tougher A-arms, better CVD's and look to see what would fit on my car.

They don't let you look through parts. Unless you know what specific part you want, you're out of luck. I would really like to get some Ti turnbuckles and ball ends, some tougher stuff, but I can;t even look to see if any would fit. heh

 

[lillightingboy21]

Thats sucks if that is plane fuel you should go back there and bitch at him. Thats why you got such a result when you switched fuel.

 

[SavageRockS]

Lykan,
I understand your frustration :flaming: with your LHS. If I were you I'd keep away from them, except in extreme emergency when you really need to buy a part urgently. I like buying from on-line myself. I know not a lot of people like that idea because you don't see the parts plus cost for S&H. What I do is I have a buddy who also bashes with me, and we order at the same time and share the S&H costs.
Just a thought you might want to consider, plus Tower Hobbies has very good mailing time and costumer service.
:juggle:

 

[Domination]

i like the Dynaite Blue thunder fuel

That sux that your shop is like that I'm glad mine isnt my lhs will actually point you towardsomething cheaper if its a better product

 

[Dbutch]

All I use is the Blue Thunder, I would recommend useing that fuel. For the future, if you need something for your car or whatever, First find it on the internet, print it out with the price, then go to your LHS and show them the print out and tell them that is what you want. See by doing it this way you get exactly what you want, and you don't have to pay for S&H fees. Also he can't rip you off because he is going to match the internet price.

 

[lillightingboy21]

Ya true i dont that at my hobby shop almost everytime i go in there. But i also run bluethunder it is a good Quality fuel.

 

[lykan]

I have a feeling they will match internet prices

Somethign I have been thinking about. It's kind of no wonder their aren't many people into nitro, and r/c type hobbies. I am a stubborn bastage, I'll do it again and again till I get it right.

What I am wondering, is how many people knowing nothing about R/C and the hobby walk into shops like this, end up paying out the nose for aproduct that just ins't fun, and doesn't last.

Also how many people on a low budget, and a limited income, could have had a great time, but because of initial advice, and expense just give up.


BTW I went to the LHS again yesterday. To pick up some washers/shims to go between my cvd, and the hub carrier so the dogbones wouldn't slip out. They are standard associated stub axles. Again, the parts are behind the counter. He's got a huge rack of screws washer etc. One look at thee washer and a "NOPE" from behind the counter. Grrph.

I found my new R/C fix it shop. The local Auto parts store. They have everything from fuel tubing, to allen screws from big enough for a dump truck to micro R/C size. For quick fixes you can bet the Auto parts store is my first stop from now on.

 

[FastEddy]

Originally posted by lykan
Has 10x more power.

Yes, Fuels will make a difference.

On the flip side, When I see such a blatant and over stated exaggeration in a post, how are we supposed to take anything you say at face value.

Just my humble opinion.
-Ed

 

[olds97_lss]

I noticed cooler temps in my OS 21 RG when using trinity monster horsepowe 20% than when i was using blue thunder 20% sport. It runs and idles better too.

I have the same issues with the stores i have available. The closest one is 40 miles away and the main guy there is an ass. The owners are an indian family, happy as hell that i go there and drop a couple hundred every month. But the rc mechanic they have, flip a quarter on everything he says. Most of what he tries to push on you is the most expensive stuff. I'm sure hardcore is good stuff, but my wallet likes xtm.

Just my .02.

 

[lykan]

On the flip side, When I see such a blatant and over stated exaggeration in a post, how are we supposed to take anything you say at face value.

Ouch.

I didn't mean to mislead anyone by my post apologies if I did. I came from running the Stadium truck with my boys, and was pretty excited about the performance of the new fuel.

You're right 10x more power was a bit of an exageration. I should have took the time to explain. There was a very noticable increase in torque off the line, and acceleration was greatly improved. In reality I don't think anything I do to a scaled r/c car is going to add 10x the power.

The purpose of my post was to relay some of my excitment, and let some people who might not have known that fuel does make a difference. Maybe not between the big names, but definetaly between the good stuff, and the generic.

I can only hope that by the nature of my posts, and the way I try to portray myself online that people will trust what I have to say isn't purposely fabricated, or meant to mislead anyone.

 

[lillightingboy21]

Its still cool i knew and so should of everone else knew that you were exagerating.

 

[FastEddy]

Lykan,
I was being overly harsh in my statement on purpose.
You have a very valid point and it was a shame to have it clouded by an exaggerated statement.

**Some** people do read every word of a post and try to make heads or tails of an issue they may be having. Its always best to try and be as fair as possible with numbers.

You do a great job of posting and I look forward to reading your info.

-Ed

 

[lykan]

Thanks for clearing that up Eddy, I understand exactly where you're coming form now, and it makes perfect sense. I hadn't looked at my post from that point of veiw.