Buying
a Radio Controlled Car
Part Two– Nitro vs Electric
by Nishaam Ebrahim
| In
the last issue we just looked at the basic advantages and disadvantages
of both types of Radio Controlled cars. This time, we will be going
into a little more details in the various categories one should consider
when buying a Radio Controlled Car.
|
|
Here
are some basic things to consider about nitro versus electric powered vehicles.
Cost
Getting
started with an electric setup can be much less expensive than the bare
necessities of a nitro vehicle. But to get the most enjoyment out of your
Electric RC, you will end up buying extra battery packs, a higher end battery
charger, upgrade motors and speed controllers and as time goes on you’ll
probably find that you have over-shot the cost of a complete nitro setup.
 |
The
initial start-up costs for each setup, nitro or electric will not
be that far apart. A basic Tamiya RC car (TT-01) will cost you about
R2000 (with one battery) completely set-up. A basic Tamiya Nitro RC
car will cost about R3500 completely set-up. But, in all fairness,
the differences in the chassis alone between the two cars more than
account for the extra R1500 you will spend. The TT-01 will be a really
basic set-up, whereas the TG-10 Nitro car will come standard with
a fully adjustable suspension (+/- R300), full ball bearing kit (+/-
R300), aluminium prop shaft (+/- R150) and oil shocks (+/- R450).
If you add all of these extras together (not even including extra
batteries), it already comes to R1200. Add an extra battery or two
and you’re already past the cost of a Nitro RC car. But, with
a basic Electric set-up you could upgrade over time and not really
feel the expense when upgrading you chassis. |
Maintenance
Both systems have a fair bit of maintenance costs. These
costs will be determined on how often you use your RC Car. The more you
use the car, the more maintenance it will require.
| For
the electric RC car, if you take care of your batteries properly,
charge and store them properly, you will see the benefits over a longer
period of time. |
|
| Nitro
vehicles usually need much more care than electrics. They are messy
… very very Messy. At the end of a days driving with your electric
car, you could get away with just blowing the chassis out with an
air compressor or using a paint brush to wipe away the dirt and dust.
With a Nitro model, be prepared to strip and clean. The oil in the
fuel you use gets everywhere. And this results in dirt sticking to
the chassis all over the place. You could, of course just leave it
dirty, but a Clean Nitro car is a happy one. |
|
For an electric RC car, day to day running cost is probably much cheaper.
The cost to charge batteries with a good charger is cheaper than buying
fuel, after run oil, air filter oil, etc.
Start
Up and Play
 |
Another
very important point is start-up of the cars. Electrics are extremely
easy to get started. Charge your battery, fit it in, flip a switch
and off you go. |
| This
is not true for the nitro car. The engine will require initial “break
in” time, tuning and minor adjustments from time to time. Some
guys love the fact that it requires tuning and that it provides more
realism to your “playing” experience. But, if you’re
one of those impatient guys, you might end up throwing the car against
the wall. I cant stress this enough … one day this car is going
to run well with no problems, the next day you might struggle to get
it started, it wont run as well, it will require tuning … this
is a guarantee. I start my car within a minute now that I have gotten
used to it, but most first timers will struggle a bit to get it started
and running properly. |
|
The Realism Factor
A Nitro car just gives you that something extra the electric
car doesn’t. That insane speed and power, the real smoke coming
from the back of the car and that persistent noise the Engine makes is
just something else. Getting is started and tuning can become a nightmare,
but once you have it going, I doubt anything will be able to wipe that
smile off your face.
An Electric RC car will be fun, but you just can’t duplicate the
real “Feel” that a Nitro car gives you.
 |
Talking
about the Engine Noise … this could be a good and bad thing.
Good, because … well it just sounds wicked. Bad, because, playing
with your Nitro RC at 10 in the evening while the neighbours are trying
to get a good nights sleep, will most probably not go down well. I
am sure you wont like it if your neighbour were to mow their lawn
at dawn the morning after you partied the night away J |
|
A strong drawback (for some) of the “Realism Factor”
is that in running a Nitro RC car … you must have a general
knowledge of 2 stroke engines to be able to start the engine, set
the air/fuel mixture, set the idle, adjust the clutch, etc.
My main point here is that they can be very temperamental. They
require constant adjustment to keep them running properly.
|
|
Power
and Speed
Here’s
where it gets interesting. The first question about anyone’s RC
car is somehow always … “How fast will it go?” I’m
probably going to upset all electric fans out there with this section.
 |
Lets
just set the record straight … a basic Nitro car will ALWAYS
be faster than your basic electric car. The electric car will require
such a big engine upgrade to keep up with Nitro, it makes it almost
pointless to try and keep up. Dropping a 9 turn Electric Motor in
may help, but run-time will suffer dramatically … when the electric
car has run down its battery in under 5 minutes, the Nitro will just
keep on puttering merrily along. |
Then there’s
consistency of power. From full tank to empty tank, the Nitro car will
produce the same amount of power. The Electric on the other hand will
start out strong, and start to become weaker as the battery discharges.
Run
Time
Nitro RC cars have a greater run-time than electrics. This is a fact.
A relatively small tank of fuel will last for about 15 minutes and
just requires a 10-second pit stop for re-fuelling. An Electric with
a standard 27 turn motor will last about 20 – 30 minutes (Using
a 3600 Battery – Biggest standard battery out there now) and
would then require a battery replacement while you would have to deal
with power gradually being reduced as the battery wears down. And
once you decide to upgrade that motor, be prepared for even less run
time. Upgrading an Electric Car to … say a 17 turn motor would
require a fresh battery every 10 minutes … and a standard Nitro
Car would probably still be faster than your “upgraded”
Electric RC. |
|
Conclusion
| There
is no way for me to tell you which one is better … it has to
come down to the individual. One type is definitely not better than
the other. The simple way to do this is … decide what you want
out of it at the end of the day. Problem is … when you decide
on one … you’ll probably wonder what it would be like
to own the other. Therefore … I have both. The best of both
worlds. Which one do I prefer … I love them both for different
reasons. The electric is great to just pull out and play … the
Nitro is just so powerful. Even though I play with the Electric RC
more … I just cant bring myself to get rid of the Nitro RC …
because at the end of the day, I love both just as much. |
|
Nish
|
