1. I have only seen 1 electric 1/8th versus a nitro 1/8th i would say that the electric had the initial acceleration but the nitro had the top end. I would say though, thats highly subjective to the kit that i actually saw racing and there really wasnt much in it at all.
2. I just started racing at pendle at the start of the last winter season so still fairly new to it all, however i was advised to start with something like a hyper or trophy and while these are solid cars(buti would say more aimed at the bashing market?) if your sure you going to stick with it and want to eventually be competitive i would say go for one of the proper race kits, something like an Mugen MBX6, Kyosho MP9, XRay 808 (i just got a new 2010 kit of these and its ace
), Losi 8ight or Associated RC8b, all these are the usual suspects you see at most races and for good reasons.
While this is more expensive to start with, having to buy servos, radio gear, engine/pipe etc it is cheaper in the long run imho than buying something in an RTR format that is aimed at a beginner/basher and then upgrading a few months later for better quality kit (been there, dont that!)
3. err dunno, 1/8th is great fun
4. I would highly recommend getting down to a local track and having a look round at what kit people are actually running, if you look at the pendle website (
www.pdmcc.co.uk) you can see in the race results what kits people are running and as i said above there are some good reasons why you see lots of certain brands of car.