New to nitros...what should i get?

[Timmey9]

I haven't owned a r/c since i was 10 and always hated wating for the battery to charge. I was looking around and the Nitro trucks and buggys look pretty damn cool. I have no idea what i should look into buying because i know little about them. I want something that can go offroad without much trouble since i don't have much blacktop around. Other than that i have no idea what i would like or what i should get. I am pretty good mechanically with cars and the 2 stroke is a pretty simple motor so i am not worried about being able to maintain one.

I want one that can take a lil beating if it catches some air or bumps a tree.

I don't want to spend too much money because x-mas is coming up. After x-mas i may have $500 to spend but would prefer to get something thats ready to run that costs around $300 if possible. Definately want something reliable that i won't kill.

Since i am new is there anything else i should know about Nitro cars? Thanks

 

[MyJeep]

$300 for a RTR truck is hard to find. Maybe you should consider to get a used to get started with.

Even RTR, you still need to buy battery, charger...

For bashing, you can consider HPI Savage 25 or Traxxas Revo. Both of those cost over $300 for sure.

 

[ZANDOR]

First off welcome to RCNTtimmy.
well for 300 bones you may want to consider buying a used on from one of the members in here just look at the for sale fourm..you can usley find a great deal on a used truck or buggy. and you can find top of the line rides like a savage or t maxx or even buggys for half the price as new check it out!

and look for trader feed back..if you have any questions about any member thats selling or trading you can drop me a PM..or PM one of the mods they also no who is who and are very trust worthy...

 

[robmob]

First, welcome to RCNT.

Used may be the way to go with your budget, but you never really know what you are getting untill it arrives. You don't want your first nitro experience to be a bad one.

You should save a little extra money and get a Revo. It is RTR and can take a its fair share of abuse without breaking. Also comes with the EZ Start which is an easy way to get it started. All you would need is some batts and fuel and you are ready to roll.

 

[retarded pilot]

first off welcome to the best rc forum on the web..

well I'm sure there will be a lot of people against it but i would recomend the
traxxas rustler. its at the price range..plenty of parts support and you can allways get a better, faster, more expensive truck after you learn what now to do on it

side note..electric is not that bad anymore thet have quick chargers for the battery packs that charge in like 15 minutes

good luck... and before you know it you'll wonder where all your $$ and time has gone

 

[olds97_lss]

Kind of noticed you didn't say anything about where you plan on driving it, what kind of power your looking for, something fast, something that can jump, something that can climb...

Answer a few demographics and you can probably get better help.

Personally, I made the mistake of buying a stadium truck as my first. It was 2wd and sat pretty low to the ground. I didn't have to many places I could drive it. And gearing it up then putting on road tires on it just wasn't that fun. The handling stinks compared to real on-road cars... at least when you try driving on-road...

Anyway, answer a few questions and more help will come.

 

[fisherman]

I'm selling my T-maxx On this site you might want to check out the forsale/trade forum I think theres a guy selling a .21Savage. Used is probably the way to go.

 

[2Savages]

Welcome to the rcnt. When I got started into this hobby, I wanted something that could go offroad as well take some good abuse bashing. I bought that T-maxx like it til had to slowly upgrading some parts along the way. The thing that I dislike the most was the ez-start, just the it was heavy to carry (battery pac) and try to run when your truck has flip. Then I bought a Savage, like it better for handling and could take a good old fashion punsionment, and pullstart. The adventage with the pullstart is that you don't need a battery charger & 7.2 battery pac, which adds to your cost. With a pullstart, just need glow stick with charger. My LHS sells both, a glow stick with charger is about $35.00 cdn and a charger for 7.2 is about $60-$70 cdn plus a 7.2 battery at about $30.00. Just my opinion though, as a few members might disagree with me but just my opinion.

 

[olds97_lss]

I prefer pull starts as well, but my engines normally start on the 2nd or 3rd pull. If I have to pull more than 5 times... there's a problem.

 

[Timmey9]

Kind of noticed you didn't say anything about where you plan on driving it, what kind of power your looking for, something fast, something that can jump, something that can climb...

Answer a few demographics and you can probably get better help.

Well i would mostly drive it in my yard which is grassy with some steep hills and a few ditches so i want somehtign that can handle those. The roads nearby aren't the smoothest and sometimes there can be more traffic than i would like and i have a real car for speeding around on the roads. An offroad r/c is just more practical and looks like more fun.

As for power....i have no idea what these things are capable of. Last one i owned was a fasttrax and i thought they were fast...

I guess i want something that can keep up and won't disappoint me. I have some steep hills and would like to jump but don't want a r/c that i will fall apart from a jump like my fasttrax did.

Also want it to be able to handle somewhat. I saw a few videos off this site where the truck flipped over when turning.

The responses got me interested in the revo and i saw some vids of it off their site and wow. Those things are amazing. Maybe i could save up enough money.

A few questions about all r/c's in general:

How fast can they go out of the box? cars? trucks? buggys? revo?
How much fuel do they use?
What exactly is the breakin process?
what goes bad on them first?
What is different about the revo starter? Special glowplug? automatic?
What is the Nitro fuel? Whats a good brand?
How long will they last before they need like a new engine?
Anything else i should know about them?
How are the engines rated?

Thanks for helping me out

 

[ZANDOR]

A few questions about all r/c's in general:

How fast can they go out of the box? cars? trucks? buggys? revo?
How much fuel do they use?
What exactly is the breakin process?
what goes bad on them first?
What is different about the revo starter? Special glowplug? automatic?
What is the Nitro fuel? Whats a good brand?
How long will they last before they need like a new engine?
Anything else i should know about them?
How are the engines rated?

Thanks for helping me out

as for how fast they can go on road cars any were from 50 to 70 mph out of the box
mt trucks 35 to 45 mph
buggys 40 to 50 give or take

a 125cc fuel tank will last around 7 to 15 miniuts

breakin depends on the mill your running

as to what goes bad first now that depends also but if you ask me on a rtr it whould be the steering servo

the revo starter it just the normal traxxas ez start junk IMO toss it and get a pull start.no speacil glow plug is needer a mc8 will be fine

nitro fuel i run bryons race 20% it good all the way around

a mill can last 2 to 7 gallons depends on how you run it rich or lean and how you break it in..and by the maker of it (IE) rb concepts,os,ect ect

as for for knowing any thing else thats a learning thing stright up read through the posts and you will learn alot..

nitro mills are rated by to bacic things hp and rpm and big block and small block meaning .12 .15 2.5 .18 are small blocks the .21 are the top of the race mills meaning that they are the biggest mill you can run in a roar leagle race.. the .25 .26.28 are concidered big blocks

wow any thing else lol that was to much typing for me

 

[olds97_lss]

If your going to be spending most of your time in grass, I'd definitly suggest the savage. Good solid truck after a few upgrades and even before a few upgrades.

The revo is designed more for the racer on a track. It has a smaller engine lower to the ground design. The savage has the capability of a larger more powerful engine, but a lot of people like what comes in it. It would do better in grass, climbing, and pretty much what you said you wanted it for.

The revo is a tough truck from what I've seen and read about it, but it still has that stinking .15 engine in it. It's good at high rpm's, but for putsing around the yard, you will more than likely wish you had something with more low end grunt to it. I know I did... but I had the 2.5 maxx. They fixed a lot of the problems on the maxx with the revo, but they kept the engine.

My advise to you is get something that has a 21 or larger engine in it to start with. Not to correct zander, but a 21 is a big block engine as well. Unless, your looking at one of the mid-block engines (.21-.23) designed for the t-maxx.

 

[ZANDOR]

My advise to you is get something that has a 21 or larger engine in it to start with. Not to correct zander, but a 21 is a big block engine as well. Unless, your looking at one of the mid-block engines (.21-.23) designed for the t-maxx.

thats what i was trying to say just left out a few words lol

 

[lykan]

Hey ya and welcome, lots of good info and friends here.
Before you buy PLEASE
Check feedback.
Check with mods about seller.
Search the user name on the board you are buying from, sometimes you will be able to read the previous owners problems, and the positives about their nitro.

I would suggest that you search the
Revo Forum
Savage forum
Buggy forum
Tmaxx forum

Savage
*Ups*
Can be had for $200 or $300 used $400 new
Very durable.
Big block motor -- enough power to do what you want.
Will withstand the abuse of a beginner (wait your not a beginner).
Handles grass, rough terrain and jumps VERY well
Good flight characteristics.
Stock parts are cheap.

Downs,
Doesn't handle as well on road.
Accel slower than t-maxx or buggy (still roosts good)
A bit tippy at high speed on road.

T-maxx
*ups*
Cheap to buy used $150-$300
Quick accel
Light, handles well on or off road.
Cheap easy to find parts (most LHS's carry everything)
Hop ups found cheap used.

Downs.
Spur gear mesh a pain to keep adjusted.
Very fragile in it's stock form. (needs hop ups to be durable)
Weak transmission/differentials
Small block motor (can be difficult to tune and overheat)

Buggy's
**depending on what you buy
Ups
Very fast handle extremely well
light
4 wheel drive
big block motor
Durable.

Downs,
expensive to get into $400+
Low ground clearance
jumps/ramps ok
rocks/hillclimbs no
Parts can be spendy.
Not all parts can be found local.

Stadium trucks are 2wdrive very fragile and meant for groomed tracks cheaper to get into but expect a lot more in parts.


G'luck you'll love it!

 

[Timmey9]

From all of your responses i have decided what i need is a truck.

Now i have to decide between the revo and savage...

I have seen the revo videos on their site. Does anyone have any savage videos? Other revo videos?

I am right in between...like the idea of faster and better handling of the revo, but the durability of the savage might be nice. How durable are the revo's?

How bad do are people bashing these things? When you say jumping them how fast, high and long? Just need to decide if the durability would be an issue whith how i would drive it.

The engines are .15 vs .21 what is that a measure of? displacement? Which engine will last longer? Which can be upgraded the easiest and cheapest? Thanks again

 

[ZANDOR]

hold tight i pm humboltblazer he can tell you how the revo holds up

 

[Red Dog]

Hey there, welcome to RCNT. You were asking about What the .15 and the .21 is, that is the size of the engine. Bascially the higher the number the more powerful the engine is. In other words the .21 is a bigger engine compared to the .15. As far as which to go with the Revo or the Savage well, I can't speak for the revo because I dont have one and dont really know how they run. I do have a Savage and I can tell you they run great and can handle almost anything you throw at them. If you want to see some videos of the Savage cheack out http://www.beatyourtruck.com/beatings.html
They have alot of videos of the Savage and many RC trucks. By the way some of the jumps I have seen are incredible high and far and you will be amazed when you can see what they can handle. Also here is a vid of me jumping my Savage, nothing broke in this video except the skid plate and thats only because it was a bad hop up I got the stock one wouldnt have bent. http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNjAyMDQyNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
Good Luck on what ever you get.

 

[lykan]

I jump mine as high as I possibly can (savage) run it into curbs at near full throttle and an angle to jump onto the grass.

I continually try backflips and get it right 1 out of four times lol.

I have bent the roll ar flat, I just bend it back and off I go...

Savage is one of the most duirable trucks you can buy. I think a lot of that is due to the arched side frame VS the flat plate on most rcs.

I think of it like a bridge, a flat board works ok but when you want strength you put in arches for support. Very durable.