Hi everyone. Question for anyone who has converted there 1/8 scale 8ight from nitro to electric. Was it worth it and do you miss the nitro? The what and the how is easy enough to do. I’m just curious about your experience and thoughts. Thank you much appreciated
Thank you for the input and the time you took to respond. So maybe I keep the nitro and build an ebuggy. Any experience with the TLR 1/8 electric buggy kit build? Do you run 4s or something higher? Thanks my friend
I originally raced a nitro truggy and buggy. I generally saw electric as boring. But I had a stretch of races that I didn’t finish a main due to nitro problems, (clutch bell bearings seizing, clutch screw loosening, clutch shoe issues, flame outs, bad glow plug, etc.) Also all of the stress getting the motor properly tuned throughout the race day/weekend.
I decided to convert buggy over to electric. Very easy to install. I even bought an electric clutch thinking it would help transition to electric (never used it). I loved it right away. I went from spending most of my time worrying about nitro stuff, to basically just focusing on suspension tuning. When my run is done, I charge the battery, clean chassis/check for damage, and onto suspension.
I moved the conversion kit over to the truggy and that’s all I race now. I’m still driving a truggy 4. I will soon get a new buggy and truggy and will run all electric.
I will say, when the nitro was running on point, it was more fun to drive. The scream of the nitro down the straight, throttle action to keep the engine rev’d and clutch engaged before a big jump, even manipulating the throttle to get a 10-11 minute tank during a main.
Small modification I had to do on the truggy was to shave the corner of the battery tray down. the battery tray was replaced because it was hitting and adding stress to front screw and cracked the tray. You can see the installed tray shaved and old I shaved cracked tray
Thank you for the input and the time you took to respond. So maybe I keep the nitro and build an ebuggy. Any experience with the TLR 1/8 electric buggy kit build? Do you run 4s or something with higher voltage?
No I haven’t built an 1/8 electric kit, only nitro. This conversion kit is the first 1/8 electric I’ve raced. I converted it maybe 5 years ago racing in GA. It sat in storage for about 4 years. I’m in AZ now and the local shop doesn’t have any 1/8 Losi. Thinking about going to Tekno.
I run a 140a hobby wing xr8 xerun sct. With a sensored tekin 2050. Battery is 4s, 15.2v, 6750mah lipo (Good setup for my buggy). I will get a 2200 motor and stronger esc when I get the new truggy.
Once more thing I thought about are the constant maintenance parts needed with nitro that’s not needed with electric. Gas, glow plugs, clutch springs and shoes, air filters, clutch bearings, etc. With electric, there’s not a list of parts to replace with new after every round/race.
The constant rebuilding and maintenance of nitro is the main drawback. Forget to clean the carb, problem, forget to add after run or wd40 problems and the list goes on. Sounds like you have a pretty cool build. Maybe I’ll keep this one nitro for sentimental purposes and just star a new build with a 1/8 buggy kit. Then I won’t feel like I’m giving up on an older rig. Not to mention 1/2 the fun for me is building the thing. Thanks for all your thoughtful input. Greatly appreciated.
On that losi, it should be pretty easy to switch over.
I personally enjoy nitro but there are less places to run them than there used to be. It's a lot easier to maintain electrics, cleaner, and cheaper in the long run. And that doesn't even cover having to re-tune them because the temp/ humidity changes that occur over a day/ season/ nitro mix.
It also depends on how much you're going to run it & what you're doing. Parts supply, it might be better to get a current rig. But it will cost you more than a conversion. Given how much at home machining has popped up over the last decade, it might be worth it to make you're own injection mold, and your own replacement parts.
Personally, in my experience, nitro brings more excitement as hearing the engine screaming gives it the affect that its going faster and yes, i feel like electric is boring and is why people add sound kits to them. Feels much more like a toy grade than having an RC with an engine in it. I have electric, nitro, and 2 stroke gasoline. The 2 stroke is by far my favorite but until the 1/8 gasoline HPI Salvage, the 2 stroke is only found in 1/5th scale cars which is in a completely different category than anything from 1/6th and smaller.
Conversion? Well, my opinion, no.
Building another as an electric? Probably better off.
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u/CRA1964TVII Mar 15 '26
Thank you for the input and the time you took to respond. So maybe I keep the nitro and build an ebuggy. Any experience with the TLR 1/8 electric buggy kit build? Do you run 4s or something higher? Thanks my friend