This is one of the most commonly asked questions amongst beginner R/C enthusiasts. Should I get an electric R/C model or one powered by internal combustion?
If you had asked me this question 20 years ago then I would probably have said nitro, as they were more than a match for the brushed motor technology of the time - but nowadays the truth is that brushless motors and lithium polymer batteries have well and truly left internal combustion well behind.
We will go over the reasons why I much prefer electric shortly, but let's just do a quick comparison of a modern day nitro vs brushless electric R/C car.
The above car is the HPI Savage 4.6 GT-6. This ⅛ scale car has a two speed box, and represents a high end nitro truck - I have to be honest as nitro cars go, it's pretty awesome when tuned correctly. Price wise you are looking at £600+ with a small tub of fuel and basic nitro starter pack.
The electric car I will put it up against is the Arrma Vorteks 3s.
This compact 1/10 scale truck is powered by a 3 cell 11.1v battery and brushless motor. A race combo on our website will set you back around £570 and you get a fast charger and 2x large capacity batteries.
So a slight price advantage for the electric car - and it also has the advantage of not using up fuel. As long as you look after your batteries they will last for a long time and the batteries in the above mentioned combo can be charged in an hour and will provide nearly an hours run time between the two of them.
If you lined these two cars up in a race, then anyone who knows anything about R/C knows exactly what would happen. The Savage would be well and truly slaughtered.
The Savage is a great nitro car - but there lies its problem. The sad truth is that even an entry level brushless car would probably be at least equal in terms of performance. The electric cars are also cleaner, quieter, do not require running in or tuning, and will last longer if looked after equally well.
Why is electric so much faster?
We see this difference in real cars as well as the R/C world. You can buy a Tesla people carrier that will easily beat most Ferraris to the quarter mile in perfect silence.
Top speed wise, the internal combustion engine cars can easily hold their own. That is also true for R/C cars - 15 years ago I owned a three speed nitro car that would reach the top speed of an Arrma Infraction 6s….eventually.
The real advantage of electric motors is in their off the line acceleration. To understand where their advantage comes from we need to understand power bands.
To put it simply - in a drag race, the more power you have the better (to a certain point). However it is also important that the car makes its power smoothly and quickly. Internal combustion engines make more power and torque at a higher RPM (usually around 80-90% of maximum).
This is where electric motors excel. They make all their power and torque pretty much instantly. The magnets will pull just as hard at 0rpm as they will at max rpm which is why an electric car's acceleration is so much more violent, and at literally any rpm level. The car above made a peak of 184bhp at about 6500rpm. An electric car with 184bhp would have hit 184bhp at 1000rpm or even less (the car aboves output was about 20 bhp at the same point). This would have meant bye bye clio.
