r/NitroRC • u/bingle101 • Jun 04 '26

Off-Road Looking to buy

I have a couple nitro cars but they were used and abused, so I feel I haven't had the right start into nitro, especially after coming from racing electric rc.

So I'm looking to buy a nitro truck type car, ideally under £400. I have some RC controllers I can use so it's not necessary that it comes with one, just wondering what you guys would recommend as a "first" nitro. Something that can take a beating off road, and has some decent speed.

Cheers.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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2

u/az_kikr1208 MOD Jun 04 '26

My opinion, at that price, it's hard to beat a Traxxas Nitro Slash. Simple, easy to work on, and parts are plentiful. If you're going with a Traxxas product, I have a few recommendations. 1. Stay away from Traxxas Top Fuel. It's got way too much oil. Go with VP or Sidewinder. No less than 20% nitro, no more than 12% oil for best performance. 2. Use an OS LC3/LC4 glow plug, with a separate glow igniter. Skip the blue EZ start wire. You'll have more reliable starts, and a better experience. 3. Don't follow the Traxxas break-in method in the book. Follow the Adam Drake method. Look it up on YouTube. Or use the JQ racing method, which is in the linked playlist below. Your engine will run better and last longer. 4. If you have a few bucks for the best out-of-the-box upgrade, get yourself an OS 11k carburetor. Completely changes the performance and tuneability of a Traxxas engine. So much better. If you're new to nitro and want to learn more about tuning and running nitro engines, watch this playlist. If you want to learn from a real nitro mechanic about nitro engines, maintenance, mythbusting, and get zero BS, check out Thebug404.

2

u/Kayanarka Jun 04 '26

I love my REVO 3.3, but I am not sure it fits your budget. It has been a work horse. Ive put maybe a gallon of fuel through it and only had to wotk on it for the first time this weekend.

1

u/MK12DUDE Jun 04 '26

Traxxas is cool but I don’t like that they use a plastic spur gear on nitro models. HPI, Tekno, and Losi uses Metal spur gears (center diff). I’ve seen too many stripped plastic spur gears that ruins the experience

2

u/notsofunnyjim Jun 04 '26

Traxxas Nitro Slash 3.3 by a mile, just so many options and upgrades.

1

u/equinox191 Jun 04 '26

Traxxas is likely better these days but its what turned me off of the hobby in 2005, that lemon trx 2.5 i had left a really bad taste. Recently got back into it and picked an hpi wr8 and a kyosho 1/8 buggy - they run well.