Which nitro for me?

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Mitch@hotmail.com - 30 Nov 2003 14:16 GMT

Seems like I go through this every year, but with no hobby store in my
town, I always give up out of confusion.

I've owned electric off-roads in the past, but got really frustrated
with the short run time. Even with 3 expensive battery packs. So I
sold everything.

Now I have two buddies who started talking about nitro R/C, and I've
got the bug again.

What recommendations do you have for someone that wants to run for
fun, not racing? I have a 2-acre yard, and my friend has 65 acres,
which includes an old rock quarry.

I'd be more interested in longer run time than top speed.
I'd also rather build one than get a ready-to-run...to me building is
half the fun.

What do I look for?

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kenji - 30 Nov 2003 16:20 GMT

> Seems like I go through this every year, but with no hobby store in my
> town, I always give up out of confusion.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> What do I look for?

If I had all of the above I'd go for a 4wd monster truck. TMaxx, Savage,
or the Team Associated Monster GT.

BTW...with a stock motor, 3300mah cells and a set of bearings on the
wheels you could get over 15 minutes almost 20 minutes run time on an
electric stadium truck.

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Mitch@hotmail.com - 30 Nov 2003 17:47 GMT

>BTW...with a stock motor, 3300mah cells and a set of bearings on the
>wheels you could get over 15 minutes almost 20 minutes run time on an
>electric stadium truck.

Thanks alot. Since posting over in the Traxxas Nitro user forum, some
people mentioned that batteries are alot different now than they were
10 years ago. I had a nice Kyosho electric and three good quality
packs (about $35 each at the time). 6-8 minutes per battery pack.
Got disgusted, sold it all.

Now that I've been made aware that electrics now have such long run
times, and jazzed up again. First of all, I like the fact that I
won't be annoying neighbors with noise. I also like that there's no
messy fuel, etc.

So I'm back on the electric kick!
I see that Tower Hobbies has the Traxxas Rustler RTR w/Radio & ESC for
<$150.

Sound good? I want to run it on the driveway as well as grass, dirt,
rock, etc. Is this a good all-around vehicle?

My wife won't be happy that I'm "back on the kick" considering I sold
all my stuff before.

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kenji - 30 Nov 2003 18:29 GMT

> Sound good? I want to run it on the driveway as well as grass, dirt,
> rock, etc. Is this a good all-around vehicle?

Yes, it's a great vehicle.

Venom Racing sells 3000mah stick pack cells for about 25.00 (US) at
local hobbyshops. Dynamite RC now has 3300 GP cells stick packs for
about 42.00 (US). Make sure you purchase a charger than can charge NIMH
batteries. Your old charger won't do. Personally I have been using the
Dynamite Twin Peak charger. It can charge two sets of cells at the ssame
time at 4amps. If you buy new NIMH cell packs make sure to cycle them a
few times...they get better after about 4-5 charge discharge cycles.

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Mitch@hotmail.com - 01 Dec 2003 12:52 GMT

Do NiMH need to be discharged like NiCad?
If so, does the charger do this?

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kenji - 01 Dec 2003 15:21 GMT

> Do NiMH need to be discharged like NiCad?
> If so, does the charger do this?

No NIMH do not form a "memory" like NiCad do, so there's no need to
place them on a discharger, but some racers do discharge them to .9volts
per cell. You'll find conflicting info on discharging NIHM. What I see
at the track is some A Main racers discharging and some not.

http://teamorion.com/faq/battery.asp

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Douglas Bollinger - 30 Nov 2003 22:20 GMT

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:47:47 +0000, Mitch wrote:

> Now that I've been made aware that electrics now have such long run
> times, and jazzed up again. First of all, I like the fact that I
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Sound good? I want to run it on the driveway as well as grass, dirt,
> rock, etc. Is this a good all-around vehicle?

The Rustler is a bit small to go in the grass. The 4x4 monster trucks are
really the best for overall bashing. They are so big they just roll-over
everything.

The electric batteries last much longer than what you experienced, but they
also take longer to charge. You almost need 2 chargers for bashing, unless
you buy enough batteries for 1 play session; if you get a emaxx, it's
almost necessary to have 2 chargers.

My advice to you would be to just bite the bullet and get a nitro 4x4:
Tmaxx, Savage or the Associated thing. Nitros come RTR now and are
reasonably easy to setup and tune. Yes, they are loud and messy, but
that's part of the fun! :) They also run really fast (the Tmaxx has a 2
speed tranny + reverse) and when the tank is about empty you just pull up
and squirt-in some more nitro. By the time you factor in 4 battery packs
and 2 chargers, I'm not sure if the Emaxx compared to a Tmaxx is really
cheaper either.

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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Land Models / December 2003

Which nitro for me?