Nitro RC Engines

The heart of every Nitro RC gas powered truck or car is the engine.  This is why soul of the beast – and hearing the high pitched whine of the motor is sure to bring a smile to your face – it does ours!

The 2-stroke motors that you'll find in the Nitro RC vehicles from Traxxas, HPi, and others have a lot of similar features.  The carburetor on the front, along with a crank shaft and exhaust plus a cooling head to vent the heat that's generated from the engine.  Yes, there is real heat – these aren't low powered electrics. 

The high pitch purr of a nitro RC comes from the fast pounding piston moving within the combustion chamber.  RPM's on these tiny nitro RC engines can reach over 40,000 RPM – that's a lot of power and heat that produces an amazing amount of power. 

Nitro Engine Torque and RPM:

A lot of the hobby shops will naturally try to push you to the most expensive and powerful engines on their shelf.  Be sure to look for kits that are right for you – start off with too much power or torque and you may have trouble keeping your monster truck on the track.  For most beginner and intermediate users, the base kits from Traxxas for example have more than enough power to get you started and running smooth.

For some upgrade kits, be weary of adding too much torque to your engines from upgrades and adjustments to your tuned pipes.  Tuned pipes control the pressure escaping from the exhaust port and manage the pressure that pushes air & fuel back into the manifold.  More torque is often a good thing – but get too much and you'll have a hard time preventing your wheels from spinning from bursts of power.