My First Nitro Car

[jimsus]

Hey everybody!

I want a nitro RC car! I want in on this hobby, it looks totally awesome. So I've done a fair whack of googling, and I think I have an idea of what I'm after... So what I'm thinking in no particular order:

I think nitro is the way to go - Reckon getting mucky tinkering with an engine sounds far more fun to be honest. Batteries seem a bit... soulless? I don't have a bean of experience with remote control cars (Or real cars) mind, so is this starting too much of a deep end? I do have quite a technical mind though, so I'm hoping I'll be ok!! Runtime is also a factor - I live in London, England, so getting the thing to someplace big enough for a decent run is enough of a trek to only get a 10 minute bash on the thing. A nitro engine would let me run for hours at a time, right? If I carry round extra fuel that is...

I don't imagine I'll want to race it. I'll mostly be using it to mince around parks offroad. I'd want to do stunts with it too. Or learn how to. Ramps and so forth. I saw a video of someone taking a Schumacher Havoc around a skate park that I thought was well cool. A car that could take knocks is what I'm after. Cheap parts too

With this in mind, do I want two wheel drive? I hear it's simpler to maintain and better in the air? Is this right? I hear this only from manufacturer's literature though, so it could well be lies.

I'd have to be able to get parts off the Internet too. I'm in the UK, which I expect will limit my choices...

I'm also thinking a monster truck here? Something that's not afraid of long grass, leaves and tree roots? There's not a track around here that I'm aware of, so off road is pretty much a must. Buggies don't look like they have the clearance?

Money wise? In an ideal world, no more than £250. Could be convinced to go further for the right car, we'll see...

I don't mind diving in and fixing things, in fact, I expect it. I just want it to be reliable - I don't want to lug it all the way to somewhere just to have it not start! Nice instructions would be good too. Or easily findable on the 'net.

I've looked at the Schumacher Havoc and it was about perfect. But it looks like it's been discontinued. They have no more in stock and resellers are very thin on the ground over here. Parts would be a worry with a discontinued car anyway?

Revo looks nice but is far too expensive for my tastes. Savage 3.5 looks cool, but edging in on the expensive side of things... Anyone have any experience with this nitrotek truck? http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/A3003T.htm ?

Am I right in choosing a truck? Truggies look like fun if anyone has any experiences with one that fits my needs? I could still be convinced to buggies if I'm just plain missing the point with them?

So yeah. Should I be considering anything else? Am I over thinking things? Should I really be spending this much money on a remote control car? Any specific models I should be looking out for in my price range? Any recommendations for cheap resellers in the UK? Am I asking too much out of £250? Answers to any of these questions will really help me out here - I'm swimming in a sea of RC hoplessness!!

Thanks in advance. Don't hurt me.

 

[slowngreen]

Try to go with an HPI Savage or a Traxxas revo. By the way, I get over 45 minutes of run time on hella fast electric setups, thats just one battery, so since I have like 5-10 for each rig, I can run all day long easily, no tuning either.

 

[jimsus]

The Savage, eh? Yeah, I was looking at them. Will the Savage 3.5 be ok for me, or should I really be going for one of their other thousand Savage models?

Electric cars do have the benefit of being quiet, but aren't batteries that good expensive? And getting 5 - 10 makes quite the wallet hole!

 

[Metalhead Matt]

You can get good 2s lipos(7.4 volts) for around $20-30 these days. Hobbyking.com has some for around that price I believe. Nitro fuel is $30 a gallon around here. You can burn a gallon a day fairly easy. Esspecially with a big block engine.

 

[jimsus]

So the general consensus these days is that brushless motors are better than nitro? Both for price and performance? No upsides to nitro any more?

 

[slowngreen]

Yeah, I dont ever plan to go nitro again, not to say nitro's arent cool, they are for sure and I think everyone should own atleast one once, but electric is just easier and you can't beat the performance of a nice brushless setup....but if you want a nitro, I think the Savage 4.6 is would be good, or even better the 5.9! But thats a bit more money too. The savage and the Revo seem to be the more durable rigs around.

 

[jimsus]

Inniteresting... I'm beginning to sway a little bit now.What would you consider an OK brushless rig for me then? That erevo thing was quite cool, but it was a fair chunk of change, perhaps a bit too much?

I guess the Savage chassis are all the same and it's just the motor that's different in all these different models? If so, I might get a smaller engine. Being a beginner and all. Make sense? Like the Savage 3.5?

 

[syphon68]

Personally I would go with the Savage X 4.6 if you are going Nitro. I have one in my collection and it's very durable with a high availability of inexpensive parts. In your previous post you mentioned control in the air, well 4wd has it hands down. Your control comes from the rotating mass of the tires and when you have brake and throttle control on all 4 that gives you more control over the Rc. btw today's brushless electric RC's are hard to beat price wise especially with ones like the Traxxas 4wd Slash.

 

[hamz9561]

Try the eRevo VXL (1/16). They aren't too outrageously priced and have really good performance. 2/3s the size for 2/3s the price.

 

[syphon68]

Try the eRevo VXL (1/16). They aren't too outrageously priced and have really good performance. 2/3s the size for 2/3s the price.

yeah if you don't mind 1/16 scale the E-revo is a blast and a great place for you to start. small, widest parts availability(Traxxas), and faster than any Nitro you are going to buy. Watch some youtube videos to help with your decision.

 

[jimsus]

Sorry chaps - I went to bed! Damn you timezones!

You guys opened my mind a tad to these little electric cars, but for some inexplicable reason, I still have my heart set on a massive impractical nitro monster. The worst thing that could happen is that I don’t get on with it, sell it and pick up an electric, right!?

So after googling around further, things started looking a little bit too costly for my tastes so I reached for ebay. And guess what? It looks like I’ve found (and won) a bargain!
So thanks to all your kind advice, I’m now the proud owner of a second hand HPI Savage X 4.6. Second hand could be a bit of a handful considering my level of experience, so I expect I’ll be asking you all 101 questions once it arrives! But that’s all part of the fun, right?

So my eBay bundle looks like it contains the following:

Good amount of Tornado fuel (The can in the picture is about 80percent full)
Fuel filter (installed)
Rechargeable battery pack for the receiver (installed)
M-Troniks fail safe (not installed)
A few spare spark plugs
Basic tool to remove spark plugs, tighten nuts etc
Glow igniter + Charger
Stock radio transmitter
Tornado Air Filter Oil (practically full bottle)
Tornado Engine Oil (practically full bottle)
Spare suspension arm
HPI Temp monitor (Included even though not in the picture)
Roto Start starter motor
Various extra parts, nuts, screws (To be perfectly honest, i am not sure what they are all for)
Handy part case
Orion 4000mah 7.2v NimH for the transmitter (Can't see in the picture because it's inside the transmitter)
Powertech 2000mah 7.2v nimh for transmitter

Looking good? Anything else I should be looking to pick up ready for my first run? The guy says the engine needs re-tuning… Also, once I get it, I’ll look to you all via a separate thread for a hand with a health check inspection and tips for a first run on a second hand machine. If you’d all be so kind!
Thanks for all your help so far… You’re all awesome!!

Stay tuned for part II of my epic voyage to the deep end of RC cars!

 

[PaulC]

The upside is it's a good car, downside is it's second hand. Now... it all depends on how it was looked after and how long it's been run for and how hard it was run. Nitro engines can last for years and gallons of fuel or they can be burnt out and used up in a matter of weeks, say for example in a racing season.

A good sign here is that the previous owner has engine after run oil and airfilter oil. Hopefully he used them on it and hopefully the fact he is giving them to you suggests the previous owner is parting from the hobby or at least nitros and not a season racer trying to off load his last burnt out ride from '09.

The car itself is 100% interchangeable for replacement parts, but linkages, differentials, bearings and so on are high wear items and not exactly 'cheap' to replace.

Fingers crossed for you.

The large NiMH battery will be for the roto starter. Same kind of batteries that the electric cars use, except a little under rated as all it has to do is run the starter motor for a small while.

The fact the 'engine needs tuned' could be a concern, or it might be a blessing. If the previous owner is getting fed up with it cause he has fiddled with the settings and can't get it to run right then the engine may be grand. You can set it back to factory settings via a cheat sheet found on here somewhere and then patiently tune it with the helpful advice on here.

Unfortunately it could also mean it's been knackered. Not broken in properly and driven lean and hard. New engine is about £100. Circa $150.

Whatever way, you have a starting point and can work from there is small affordable steps to a perfect ride

Looking forward to your story

Paul

 

[Scrogg]

Savage X.....I started with an USED two wheel drive Traxxas 1/10th truck. It was a POS. My wife bought me the Savage 25 NIB for Father's day..... I absolutely loved it. The X 4.6 is even better. You can't go wrong with this one and it will pay for itself in durabilty down the road. The truck you linked to on Nitrotek....all I can say is the engine is made by a terrible company. You'll hate it.
True, the brushless trucks are faster and good for up to an hour of runtime with the right batteries.....but I'm a nitro junkie, always have been always will. Most of the brushless trucks are so damn powerful it leads to reliabilty issues, and 50=mph is only for the advanced driver. The Savage X will hit a good 35-38mph, much faster than you realize. It's a handful at speeds over 30 mph. It will pull wheelies all day long too. Maintenance, glad you are not afraid and you are willing. If you want your truck to be fun and reliable, it needs the diffs serviced every 1 & 1/2 to 2 gallons, new clutch shoes and bearings as well. Do this and it will last a long time. It comes with very clear assembly/disassembly instructions....as do all the HPI hop ups for it.
Buy a good 5 cell rx pack for it with a charge lead on it. I'd recommend a failsafe as well but, it is not necessary if you operate the vehicle in proper working order. A quality radio and servos, sway bars would be the first things I'd upgrade later on.
By quality radio I mean a 2.4ghz system with a built in failsafe. Servos and radio gear are not the place to skimp. HPi unfortunately still does this. The Flux and the XL are the two exceptions.

 

[jimsus]

We'll see I guess! The fun of a lottery. Although it does come pre-battle damaged. I was warned, I got it anyway. Livin' on the edge!

It's apparently 5 months old, and has 15 tanks of fuel put through it, so not many runs. It has been damaged before too apparently, a small crash which lead to a fuel tank and a suspension arm replacement? Done with official HPI parts? Anyone frightened for me yet?

Brace yourselves, it apparently has a wee bit more damage! Can anyone tell me if this is important? As it's the only thing left on the thing to fix! http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa271/K_M_A_N/IMG_0154.jpg

As for speed, I'd say either would be faster than anything I'm used to, so I'm happy with my comparatively slow car... It'll still be well fast to me!

Scrogg - When you were talking about failsafes, one of these "M-Troniks fail safe" comes in the package; but is not installed... Is that what you're talking about?

As for the rest of the parts and handy suggestions, I'll get the thing through the post in the next week or so, once I get my grubby mitts on it, I'll report back on it's contents!

I'm off to google the manual and salivate... (Then off to look at Servos and radio gear probably )

 

[PaulC]

Savage experts will be along soon, but it looks like it could be a rear toe arm holder or anti-rollbar or front steering holder? What you could do is google for the manual, find the exploded assembly diagrams, identify the part and then look up which spare parts catalog number contains it (it's usually fairly logical) and price it. Probably you'll have to by a pair, a full set or a whole assembly pair with lots of other parts you don't need.. yet... usually about $10 for the stock and $40 for the upgrades.

You could also glue it when you get it but this is usually only a temporary fix to get it running until you can replace the part. Unless it's a non load bearing part, something like a body pin or battery box you can leave it glued. IMHO.

 

[jimsus]

Arr, nice on Paul, I'll do that once I get my hands on the thing. Looks like snow is going to delay the delivery though. Dude hasn't even found a box big enough to put it in yet...

Going to look at recharagble batteries now. I'll let you know what I come up with!

Jimbo

 

[Scrogg]

That part is a bumper mount/front hinge pin holder. No big deal at all. I'd run it as is no worries.

 

[PaulC]

Arr, nice on Paul, I'll do that once I get my hands on the thing. Looks like snow is going to delay the delivery though. Dude hasn't even found a box big enough to put it in yet...

Going to look at recharagble batteries now. I'll let you know what I come up with!

Jimbo

If you go for rechargables for the Tx you can get a charger that plugs into the Tx box, should be charging at about 13V or you can use a wall fast charger to do 4 at a time. For the receiver the 5 cell hump packs are best, but (from experience) check the charger you get will charge 5 cells.

Don't use 4xAA rechargable NiCads or NiMHs in the Rx pack, they only produce 1.2V instead of 1.5, which is why a 5 cell pack gives 6V. Or 4 standard Alkaline AAs will do (6V).

 

[Scrogg]

Orion 1600mah Nimh hump pack. Best for the price, very reliable with good punch and long runtimes.

 

[jimsus]

Haaang on a minute guys...

The package says it comes with:

"Orion 4000mah 7.2v NimH for the transmitter (Can't see in the picture because it's inside the transmitter)
Powertech 2000mah 7.2v nimh for transmitter"

But the guy is saying that I'll need "The only things you will need are 8x AA baterries for the transmitter"

Are these not one and the same?

So many questions. I'm going to be hell once I actually get the thing through the post