Newbie looking to buy

ive never had a fast r/c before but they look like a lot of fun and am interested in buying one
ive seen that there are nitro and electric car
but i want to know if there are cars that could just run on ordinary 87 octane gas like what i put in my lawnmower and weedwacker
i know i dont want an electric, because im not into buy or recharging tons of batteries.
if there are cars that run on ordinary gas what is a nice one to buy and about how much is it going to cost?

If you want car that runs on 87, you will need a motor that runs on 87......the only like that would be 1/5 scale gas car, those tend to have larger motors (lawn mower/weed wacker type). And those are extremely expensive.

damn, so if i want a small cheaper one like a 1/16 model
how much is fuel going to cost?
and what else would i need to run it?

Fuel is about US $8-12 per quart. You will also need to either buy 12 AA batteries (8 for the transmitter and 4 for the car) or 8 AA batteries and a rechargable receiver battery (cheaper in the long run...US $25-40).

Also, depending on whether or not you buy a ready to run car or a kit, you might need polycarbinate paint for the body, oil for the shocks and/or the differentials, and some tools (a long flathead screwdriver for tuning the engine and a multi-head wrench for removing the wheel nuts and glowplug...though most kits come with one of these). Also you should also get some spare glow plugs, since after breaking in the engine it is suggested to toss the plug that's in the engine during break in...it's also a good idea to have some spares.

Oh yeah, you might also need a glow plug ingniter (though some kits come with one or have an electric starting system), a battery for the ingniter. If you get one that doesn't have a pull start system you will need a starter box (and yet another battery for that).

:biggrin:

damn thats a lot of batteries
how fast do you go through the batteries though?
and how long is the break in period?

Transmitter/ reciever bateries last about a month or so for me. then i change them to a less important duty (TV remote) before they are dead.
Break in was two or three tanks of gas for my DX-II which took less than two hours to idle through/ run rich.

Now you can also get rechargable batteries for the transmitter as well if you wish. THe battery (or batteries depending on the model) in the starter box is a rechargable type, so it's not like you have to buy all of these batteries over and over again.

Break in time for an engine depends on the brand and/or type. For example my Mugen MT-12 took me 6 tanks to break it in, the engine on my Nitro MT Racer took 4 tanks. Just follow the instructions that come with the engine, then later when you have some experience and have read some of the books and magazines (and websites, www.rccaraction.com is a good one) you will probably develop your own method of breaking in an engine.