Nitro on a budget

[Musclecar201]

I have been wanting to get into nitro r/cs but I don't have a huge amount of money and can only spend about 300 dollars for everything. I have been doing research and learning a lot of things on this website and others. My lhs doesn't carry nitro vehicles mostly planes. I have been on towerhobbies, and found a few that seem in my budget but don't really know how good they are. Here are the three I am talking about. (I also know what parts I am probably going to need but mentions these things just incase I didn't think of getting them) Also dont want something that will cause problems and is extremely complicated.

Tower ST-15
Duratrax Evader ST
Traxxas Nitro Sport

 

[NCNitro]

I know you are not going to want to hear this, but I would not really recommend any of the rigs you posted.

The first two are Tower Hobbies products, and you will not be able to find parts anywhere except Tower. With something like an HPI, AE, Traxxas, there is a multitude of on-line dealers that you can get your parts from since you said your lhs doesn't really deal with cars.

I would save up a few more bucks and you will be able to get a much better rig. Or maybe find something used, but then it's always a crap shoot as to the condition, unless you buy it from someone you know and trust.

Also, don't forget you are going to need support equipment. Fuel, fuel filler bottle, glow plug igniter, batteries, and better yet a battery receiver pack and charger. You will easily add another $100 to the total just with the support equipment.

So I guess if I were you, I would just save up a bit more cash, and do some research in the mean time, see what anyone else in your area is running, cause it sucks when you have one type of rig, and everyone else has something else. What kind of areas do you have to run, dirt, grass, pavement, take all this in to consideration before buying something, and you'll be much happier in the longrun.

 

[Musclecar201]

I guess I am going to have to keep looking around see what I can find, I don't really have any tracks around me mostly just some grass and pavement. I am pretty sure I don't want to go with a touring car or something along the line of that. I have also noticed all of the equipment I will be needing. Anyone got any recomendations on types of rigs? I really wish there was a place to race around where I live.

 

[ohmygahitscoby]

Most people start with a NTC3 if you want an on-road. If you want an off-road, save a little bit more for a nitro buggy or MT. If you don't mind going electric, the price is much cheaper. You can get a Kyosho Lazer ZX-5 for $210 on Towers.

 

[Musclecar201]

Most people start with a NTC3 if you want an on-road. If you want an off-road, save a little bit more for a nitro buggy or MT. If you don't mind going electric, the price is much cheaper. You can get a Kyosho Lazer ZX-5 for $210 on Towers.

Could you get me a link to the kyosho lazer zx-5 because I can't seem to find it. I may end up going electric if the price is way over my head.

 

[ohmygahitscoby]

Hmm, I can't find it either. If I find the link I will PM it to you.

 

[Cupooterluvr]

Electrics are fun too. Some are even faster than their nitro counterparts (the fastest RC in the world, barring tether cars, is an electric!). The only bad thing for me is that there's no smell, no noise, no mess! I need that in an RC or it isn't fun

 

[Plaidfish]

the best nitro to keep your costs down IMO is the savage...they are probably the toughest RTR rig out there, replacements and upgrades are available pretty much everywhere to boot.....it's more than your limit right now but in the long run with a budget rig you will end up spending more and having alot of headaches......it's not about spending money but in alot of cases it makes the hobby alot more enjoyable to get a time tested model than getting the price point one......

 

[Musclecar201]

Well I do have a lot of thinking to do, I can go electric or nitro but electrics donesnt ahve the smell or sounds like a nitro but its not like I will be racing anyone and it is quite expensive. I am going to a couple of places to see if they are coming out with aluminum diffs for the megatech megapro (propulse) because those are really fast but the diffs tend to be weak. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Musclecar201]

Instead of starting a new thread I am back after buying a electric 1/18th I wasn't very satisfied with it. The battery is a real pain in the butt. I had one pack short out and just some bad luck along the way.

So I have been doing some more research and well I am thinking about buying an exceed r/c. I will keep it stock and just maintain it.

http://www.nitrorcx.com/gas-nitro-rc-buggy-beginners-version-99-bucks.html

I'm not really on as bad as a budget but dont want to get something to hard.

 

[Lessen]

I'm going to give you the same advice that almost EVERYBODY here who has been in this hobby for a while will. Your best bet (and anybody's best bet) is to buy something that has a good reputation and more importantly you can maintain with relative ease. That is to say, it is much more enjoyable of a hobby if you can fix your car/truck when you need to. It's all about parts support. You really should find any local hobby shops and find out what products they carry parts for. Please do not assume that you will be easy on your vehicle and will rarely break anything. That would be extremely naive. You WILL break parts and thus you WILL want to fix your vehicle when you do. No matter if it's 1/18 electric or 1/8 nitro you will enjoy the hobby much more if you have access to parts and help. RCNitrotalk can provide the help but your best bet for parts is your Local Hobby Shop (LHS)

 

[unccpathfinder]

Most folks on here from what I've seen wouldn't recommend used b/c well its going to be used and with Nitro you can get some real crap...

Saying this all 4 of my trucks are used and I was in your same position...I have 2 Traxxas Stampede's and 2 Traxxas Tmaxx's...what I did was started watching things on ebay and getting a feel for what goes for what then started wastching a ton of auctions and found 1 auction for 1 working truck and a ton of parts (was enough to build my 2nd pede) but his description sucked on the ad so I contacted him and got more info/pix

After that I spent I think $125 on my 1st maxx which came with an additional engine and transmission and it was almost in mint condition when I got it...the guy took really good care of it...so I then found a rolling chassis and purchased it for like $50 or something like that and built it up...so now I have 4 trucks that run 2 of which I'm still hacking together as I find better parts for cheap on ebay and other places

if your mechanically inclined I would say this is the way to go...and if you get some frankenstine truck the guys at your LHS will be a lot of help...I've had 3 of my 4 trucks down to one shop in Palmdale CA and the guy was amazed at some of the "customized" linkages I had done...including fitting a duratrax engine onto my stampede

Good Luck

 

[Lessen]

Used is a great route to go in order to save a lot of dough. You just have to be careful. To my recollection, I've bought 4 used vehicles and one of them was nitro. Let's just say the 1 nitro needed some serious teardown and cleaning.. the biggest issue was grit in the carb. When it comes to used vehicles there is a big difference between electric and nitro. I probably will never by another used nitro rig unless it's from somebody here on RCNT that I've known for some time.