1/8th Electric - is it the future?

[stumpy]

I bought the cheapest 1/8 truggy I could buy, the HB D8T (HPI) then installed the cheapest ESC and Motor - Hobbywing 150 amp ESC and 2200 motor, Then bought the cheapest Battery - 4 x turnigy 4000's.

Total cost £625, put a nitro on our track of the same value and do a timed lap, brushless fastest is 29.9 seconds - (my best 30.76) fastest nitro 31.44.

Ignore the propulsion system (nitro/brushless) you still need to set the rest of the car up in the same way but mine will not stall on the start line, I don’t have to spend the first half hour trackside re-tuning because the weather has changed.

I started playing with these things over 30 years ago with a Tamiya grasshopper, 540can and a NiCad battery, then bought my first nitro, all in all I've had about 25 off/on road cars and can honestly say this D8T is the best because I spend more time running it and a lot less time tinkering with the engine.

I still have nitro's but they spend more time on the shelf then at the track, because I want to spend more time racing and having fun then 'tuning' an engine, plus the cost of good nitro fuel is now to expensive.

I was one of the last at our club to move over to the 'dark side' and use that electricity stuff, as I was a nitro man-love the smell and the noise but so glad I changed.

I have since converted my Losi Ten T to brushless - mainly because they are thursty and with a small tank that would not last a 5min heat, it now last's 8min.

The good thing is that manufacturers make both and it's down to the individual to make HIS choice and not be dictated to by out of date club rules.

I believe it's HPI that are working on nitro size engine that runs on PETROL - Something else for the Purist's to ponder and discredit.

As I said I've had and still have both (Nitro & Brushless) and IMO the brushless is best.

[ian h]

I just bought a 3 month old RC8.2e with new hpi esc and 1965kv motor, savox 1256tg servo and lipo for £300. Great deal I thought considering there's loads of spares including 2 complete diffs and a brand new shell and 3 sets of wheels and tyres. Can't wait to race it in anger next week as I was impressed with the test run yesterday. I wouldn't get an equivalent 10th setup for that money.
E8 is getting popular here in Ireland and could really be the future.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by telboy

Snip

Well said Terry, agree entirely. When I was about with the start of electric 1/8 in this country, cheaper ESCs & motors were absolutely a false economy, but even Castle's stuff was pretty cheap anyway. Nowadays with the influx of interest, great stuff is out there, like the Leopard motors, cheaper ESCs and motors and things, making it more accessible than ever. Add to that that nitro fuel is only getting more expensive, and the cars are no cheaper to setup, and anyone complaining about cost is not being objective.

[AfroP]

outdoors on proper tracks I think 8th electric could find a home, but as much of 1/10th racing in the UK is done is sports halls and with limited space I dont really see it taking off that well.
its the same as 2wd vs 4wd
in most cases 2wd is most popular out doors but in-doors its 4wd that rules the roost as its better on slippy hall floors.
4wd in The US for example is no where near as popular as 2wd

[telboy]

Thing is, 8th isn't intended to run indoors. Its always gonna be an outdoor thing and dirt is the surface for it to be on, wether its nitro or electric.
They could be raced indoors, but it would have to be a purpose built arena which no one can really afford to build.
So they will always be outdoors.
....unless I win the euromillions one day!

Theres still lots of racing goes on outdoors during the winter so its not all bad news.

[stumpy]

Originally Posted by telboy

Theres still lots of racing goes on outdoors during the winter so its not all bad news.

We have an outdoor track and we have a winter season, in fact last winter season 2011-2012 we lost 1 race day due to bad weather, this summer season we have lost 8 race days so far - british weather don't you love it.

[Lee1972]

Originally Posted by Skye

An 1/8 weighs almost 4kg, what does a 1/10 weigh....? I would guess about 1.5kg??

So they are much bigger and heavier in every sense.

For it to truly work I would think a lot of tracks would require a radical overhaul. Just look at the size of the astro track at Westmill Farm or Nene Valley Raceway. And indoor school sports hall racing would surely be a thing of the past so no more warm cosy winters....

My thoughts exactly that you'd be restricted to frozen finger meetings over winter

[telboy]

Then you do what I'm doing this year...run 8th through the summer and just run 10th indoors in the winter. But then, if the weather carries on like the last year or so you may get more outdoor racing through the winter I think there were more summer meetings cancelled than there were winter meetings!