Typhon Talk me out of buying a nitro rtr

[Doom!]

Where you run makes a big difference in what you run. I'd say your making the right choice, enjoy what you've got.

 

[Gdub34]

Thanks. My credit card is safely in my wallet. I’m happy with the 3s, have gotten to know it’s inner workings pretty good and it keeps getting better with cheap modifications from hot racing and 6s shocks. I really like the thing now and I’m always thinking of ways to make it faster around the track. That’s the main reason I bought it. I could have bought a race tuned kit, built it no problem and been competitive on the track from the go but racing as the underdog with an rtr and tuning it is way more fun to me

 

[Woodentop]

I bought and sold a hyper 7 28. Bought it new. New nothing. Fell down a nitro rabbit hole. Pissed the neighbours off big time. No reverse. BUT when It was run in it was singing and put a huge smile on my face.

 

[razorrc]

My neighbors all like me, but we'll see how long that lasts when I run my next buggy...!

 

[hobo]

all I will say is you will need a lot of patience with nitro I found them to be a nightmare

 

[slick2500]

Between the 2 you listed I would go with the Kyosho. It is based off the MP9 plaform and a lot of the parts are compatible, the Losi has plastic turnbuckles and I think it also has plastic shocks and if I remember it is based off the TLR 8ight or 3.0 and that was discontinued like 4 or 5 years ago.

That said I agree with @pug the Hyper 7 is the cheapest name brand rtr nitro 1/8 buggy on the market, it is rather dated iirc it was released like 20 years ago, but it still performs really well it has loads of upgrades that you can buy for it even a kit to make it have pillow ball suspension up front. It is built a lot better than the Losi Next step up from there is going to be the Hyper SS then the Hyper VS. The VS2 hasn't been out long enough to make an assessment on how good it is and it costs $605.00

Instead of the Losi or Kyosho, consider a Hobao, they are the modern version of OFNA who made awesome 1/8 buggies.

Onfa was just the US distributor for Hobao and Hong Nor. Onfa went the way of the dodo Hobao started doing their own distribution and Hong Nor currently does not have a US distributor.

 

[arrmadillo]

Cut my teeth on nitro, still run them, have 5 nitro cars still from 2005 and up. They are very loud in the neighborhood. I'm a gear head and dig the sound and smell of nitro. Like tuning them. When tuned right they are very close when you run them next time unless the weather is a drastic change, even so, not a big deal.

If you're not racing 20% nitro is all you need, especially in a RTR, if not 30%. Buy good fuel like VP Powermaster fuel, all I run. Fuel and glow plugs are the biggest expense, when tuned correctly glow plugs last, if not they pop. Go for it, nitro is fun. Don't mind the mess of fuel and oil on my hands or car, actually dig it, old hotrodder here.

Biggest issue for a newbie is learning how to tune, it's everything, takes time and experience. If you can't tune it can be a PITA to get it to run and keep it running correctly. Many newbies in my circle thru the years has burned up countless engines and popped countless glow plugs which are more expensive these days. Once you get a handle on it you will learn how to run and tune it without cooking a engine and going thru plugs.

It's good to have the option of running both nitro and electric, I for one will never give that up.

 

[B2Humla]

Bought my first 1/8 buggy nitro this year, a HoBao Hyper VS2. Got a lot of videos on Youtube documentating my first time ever experience with a nitro rc. A lot of time to get the engine tuned, but I was using the wrong glow plug all the time. So yes, talk with people who has experience that could make it easier. I was using a too cold glow plug, OS Turbo P3. The engine did stop/stalled when giving high throttle. So after many many houres I changed to a OS Turbo P4 glow plug that is some hotter and the engine was much easier to tune and get up to high rpm.

It is LOUD. On idle it is ok, not that loud. But on max throttle/prm it is very loud. When you tune the engine you have to give max throttle, so it will be loud. But if you can't tune it where you are living you maybe can take the car with you to a better location for tuning.

As I see it today, with just about 3 months experience with nitro 1/8 buggy:
Nitro: more smell (but ok smell I think), more sound, more oil and smoke, faster to fill up the tank (but you need a servo battery), some less top speed and not for hard bashing/jumping, longer start up time because of warming up the engine and maybe some tuning needed.
Electric: less smell, less sound, no smoke, fast startup just connect battery and drive, longer battery charging time, faster, can take harder bashing

I got 5 electric cars and 1 nitro. Nitro is something different, it's more alive and soul. But there will be noise, smell and smoke.
Maybe invite a rc friend with a nitro home to see how loud it is. And test to start it, drive it etc.
Also you can get a used nitro for a good price, but be sure it works ok and you can start it.
Starting a nitro engine (I use a pull starter) can be frustrating, lot of pulling some times. I also broke the pull starter once.
But pre-heat the engine, be sure you got nitro in the engine, a good glow plug and the igniter works and it should start... after some pulling

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Talk you out of it? Ok, two stories -

one - from 'back when I was racing' - my racing buddy decided to go Nitro. Everything was great of practice days, but race days, seemed the engine would often not start at his race time, or flame out on lap 1-3. Several race days later, he had maybe a total of 3 finished races, across a dozen quals and mains. All due to the motor not wanting to run when he needed it.

2 - semi-recent - was talking to a current racer that was trying to talk me into 1/8 nitro, and I related the above story, his response - yeah, budget engines suck, racing motor are great - You need to by a $400 racing motor, run it for 10 hours and sell it, and use the money to buy a new $400 motor.

Thanks, I'll stick to Lipos and brushless.

 

[SrC]

Nitro can't hold a candle to the speed of electric these days. If you want to outsmart the Karens just find out if there's a noise ordinance. If so, find out what time it starts. Run till 1 min before. You'll accomplish 2 things. The first is you can't get in trouble for noise pollution. The second is you'll piss off the Karens while having the cool neighbors come talk to you about the car.

^^^
One problem is that you might soon find the so called "cool neighbors" were actually Closet "Karens" and will be the ones anonymously making a noise complaint.. If you plan on Racing, you will absolutely need a "Tuned Pipe". Or the engine will be lame. Guys will be lapping you left and right . You will just be an obstacle for the faster rigs on the track. Thats no fun IMHO. And they are always loud. Been there.
Where I am noise complaints are enforced from 9am-9pm.
I had people complain that my 6s Kraton was too loud on my street. Thought they were Nitro.. Many idiots out there. Yet the landscapers use loud mowers and blowers at 8AM. No one complains about that. There are haters no matter where you live when it comes to RC Hobbyists. They come out of the woodwork when you wouldn't expect it.

@Gdub34,
If you want a Race worthy Nitro RC, and confident around ICE engines, get it out of your system for sure. Kyosho is nice. A Track contender no doubt.
I would go all in with a Starter box, and all. Pull starters suck. Breaking all the time.
Fuel is costly for high Nitro content Race grades.. It also gets stale easily. Poor shelf life. The fuel is hygroscopic and moisture gets to it once the sealed container is cracked open. Glo Plugs are have tripled in price as of late. There is essential after run motor maintenance to perform. Air filter to maintain etc. You know the drill.
Engine Break-in is paramount or you will have a lame engine out the gate. Do it correct per the Engine Mfr. $O.S.$ is probably the best for an Engine. You pay for what you get. Don't get stuck buying an Engine twice. Been there.
Have 2 old TA nitro's here. I run them maybe twice a year. Fun for a short while just tooling around and all.
My last fuel purchase was $70./gallon. I split the gallon with another Nitro guy on my block. Now fuel might be much more. Electrics are way faster. Will always be. And probably cost efficient most if the time.
Nitro is a different RC animal.
If I never owned a Nitro years past, I would probably not even give one a second look today. Lipo and BLX motors are where its at today. And Much cleaner to wrench on.

 

[slick2500]

^^^
One problem is that you might soon find the so called "cool neighbors" were actually Closet "Karens" and will be the ones anonymously making a noise complaint.. If you plan on Racing, you will absolutely need a "Tuned Pipe". Or the engine will be lame. Guys will be lapping you left and right . You will just be an obstacle for the faster rigs on the track. Thats no fun IMHO. And they are always loud. Been there.
Where I am noise complaints are enforced from 9am-9pm.
I had people complain that my 6s Kraton was too loud on my street. Thought they were Nitro.. Many idiots out there. Yet the landscapers use loud mowers and blowers at 8AM. No one complains about that. There are haters no matter where you live when it comes to RC Hobbyists. They come out of the woodwork when you wouldn't expect it.

@Gdub34,
If you want a Race worthy Nitro RC, and confident around ICE engines, get it out of your system for sure. Kyosho is nice. A Track contender no doubt.
I would go all in with a Starter box, and all. Pull starters suck. Breaking all the time.
Fuel is costly for high Nitro content Race grades.. It also gets stale easily. Poor shelf life. The fuel is hygroscopic and moisture gets to it once the sealed container is cracked open. Glo Plugs are have tripled in price as of late. There is essential after run motor maintenance to perform. Air filter to maintain etc. You know the drill.
Engine Break-in is paramount or you will have a lame engine out the gate. Do it correct per the Engine Mfr. $O.S.$ is probably the best for an Engine. You pay for what you get. Don't get stuck buying an Engine twice. Been there.
Have 2 old TA nitro's here. I run them maybe twice a year. Fun for a short while just tooling around and all.
My last fuel purchase was $70./gallon. I split the gallon with another Nitro guy on my block. Now fuel might be much more. Electrics are way faster. Will always be. And probably cost efficient most if the time.
Nitro is a different RC animal.
If I never owned a Nitro years past, I would probably not even give one a second look today. Lipo and BLX motors are where its at today. And Much cleaner to wrench on.

The cost of nitro fuel is atrocious. And aren't glow plus like $10-12 a pop now too?

Too bad no one ever made a decent 1/8th scale gas engine. The Losi 8ight gas truggy/buggy, the Losi LST XXL2 Gas and the HPI Savage XL Octane all had issues and never ran right.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

I love how on post #22 he has made up his mind that he is not going to get a Nitro car and stick with his 3s Typhon, but yet people kept on going.

 

[SrC]

The cost of nitro fuel is atrocious. And aren't glow plus like $10-12 a pop now too?

Too bad no one ever made a decent 1/8th scale gas engine. The Losi 8ight gas truggy/buggy, the Losi LST XXL2 Gas and the HPI Savage XL Octane all had issues and never ran right.

You need high end expensive engines out the gate for Nitro rigs or you will be buying twice, being a slave to non running engines. Spending 45+ minutes to get them running sometimes, just to drive them till they stall out again. Pull starters will break easily after hundreds of pulls trying etc. Tuning is the main issue with cheap RTR nitro engines. Glo plugs are too expensive these days. Back in the day Fuel and glo plugs were much less $$$. OS plugs were like $3.00. 20% Nitro fuel was like $5.00/quart. Fuel goes quick. I can easily eat up a quart in 2 sessions. Lipos dominate now.
Every time you take out your Nitro rig (any engine) that next time, requires a retune, 99% of the time. Is what it is. Need plenty of patience. putting them down for months on end, then taking them out to run, requires patience. Unlike Electrics. I rather Plug IN and Drive.

 

[slick2500]

I love how on post #22 he has made up his mind that he is not going to get a Nitro car and stick with his 3s Typhon, but yet people kept on going.

So

You need high end expensive engines out the gate for Nitro rigs or you will be buying twice, being a slave to non running engines. Spending 45+ minutes to get them running sometimes, just to drive them till they stall out again. Tuning is the main issue with cheap RTR nitro engines.
Every time you take out your Nitro rig (any engine) that next time, requires a retune, 99% of the time. Is what it is. Need plenty of patience. putting them down for months on end, then taking them out to run, requires patience. Unlike Electrics. I rather Plug IN and Drive.

I was talking about actual gas engines not nitro.

 

[SrC]

He opened up Pandoras box with a Nitro thread like this.
All good.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

He opened up Pandoras box with a Nitro thread like this.
All good.

Yeah I am just teasing about it. Hopefully the funny gif communicates that better than my text does.

 

[SrC]

I could go on and on about Nitro...
This is not the first thread here of this kind.
And there will be more....
There should be a Nitro Area on AF.
But honestly Nitro is slowly drifting away. Basically dead IMHO.
But I still run my old ones once or twice a year.
At the Pro level racing, Nitro is still alive. But supported by Race Mfrs for the most part.
Nitro RTR's are cheap to make IMHO. Just expensive to own.

 

[mutosan]

they are massivly loud, stink you have to have nitro, which burns pretty fast, the maintancance is pretty high, everything stinks from nitro, your hand, your cloth your car. If you are out of nitro you cant drive anymore. With battery you can bring a mobile charge station to charge batteries again. Everywhere where there is electricity you can charge battery. Nitro you cant get everywhere.