What is Nitro?
Nitro, is short for
nitro-methane. Nitro-methane is a mixture of methanol, nitro-methane and
lubricants. This is the fuel and lubricant for "glow-fuel" engines commonly
found in model airplanes, helicopters and boats and more recently, radio
control cars. The awesome power, combined with the ear-piercing mini-roar
they put out has drawn and ever-increasing crowd of people into this hobby.
STEP 1: Choosing a
Type, Scale and Level
Type. Also know
as circuit:
Basically, you have a choice
(off-road or on-road). Stadium
trucks, buggies and more recently, rally cars are designed to be used on
off-road tracks. Off-road tracks often contain hills and bumps for jumping.
On-Road includes sedans, dragsters, pan cars, open-wheel sprints. They may be
setup to run on carpeted indoor tracks or paved out-door tracks. They
generally do not included hills or bumps. They are designed to corner
aggressively and have extremely fast high-end speeds (20-90MPH depending on
scale, engines, etc.). Rally cars can be included in this circuit.
Scale:
This scale of a vehicle refers to the size in relation to it's
full-size counterpart. Sedans are typically found in 1/10th scale. You could
put 10 1/10 scale sedans end to end and they would roughly measure the length
of the full-size vehicle it’s representing. The smallest active scale is
1/12th scale, but there are exceptions. The largest scale is currently 1/4th
scale, with 1/10, 1/8 and 1/5 in between. Prices may vary considerably as
scales become bigger.
Level:
Refers to the extent of the
quality and performance of the machine you are seeking. If you are serious
about competing against others in an organized racing circuit, you might elect
to purchase a racing vehicle, while someone who just wants to fool around
casually, might want a less-expensive model. You can spend as little as
$150.00 for an entry-level model that includes a radio and basically
everything you need to get going or you can spend $1,500 and up for a kit with
hopups that can make you seriously competitive. If you are new to r/c racing,
stick to an in-expensive model until you have mastered the driving skills and
repair/modification knowledge to be able to properly handle a
higher-performance machine. It's easier to do a lot more damage on a
higher-end model than it is to on a lower-end model, this will save you money
in repairs. If, on the other hand you have some experience (even with the
electrics) and you are serious about getting into competitions, it might be
worth it to invest in a kit or RTR that contains better parts. This could
actually save you money in the not-so-long run as kits tend to have overall
better parts prices than buying individually off the shelf.
STEP 2: To Build or Not to Build
If you are serious about racing,
maintaining, modifying and repairing your vehicle and it is at all possible
for you to bear, you might want to build your vehicle. The reason is simple.
When you build a vehicle from a kit, you see every single part, every little
detail in it's design, how it goes together to create the end product.
It gives you the unique knowledge of how to diagnose problems and make repairs. This is a important concept with the r/c hobby. It's a continual process of maintenance and repairs. This is just the reality. If, you really don't have the mechanical know how or simply cannot stand the idea of building a kit, than RTR's are a perfectly viable alternative. Unless you have someone to fix your vehicle for you, you may end up tearing the vehicle down at some point to make major repairs, anyways.
Choosing the right version of a kit or RTR is important. Many manufactures offer more than one version of the same model. If you feel that you will stick to the hobby and have the cash, going for the nicer kits will save you money in the not-so-long run.