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There's no clear winner in the debate between nitro & electric power for RCs. What's best for you won't be what's best for the next hobbyist. If you're not sure which you will like best in the long run, pick one to start with, get used to it, and then try the other for awhile. You might even discover that you like them both.
| Nitro | Electric | |
| Speed, RTR | Very Good | Fair |
| Speed, upgraded | Great | Great |
| Acceleration | Very Good | Great |
| Power band | RPM-happy | Torquey |
| Ease of starting out | Medium | Easy |
| Maintenance | Can be difficult | Medium |
| Initial purchase cost | High | Low |
| Long-term cost | Medium | Low to Very High, depending upon how fast you want to go |
| Sound level | Loud | Quiet |
| Driving environments | Almost exclusively outdoors | Indoors or out, but nothing wet |
| Key strengths | Fast out of the box, realistic sound, long runtimes | Easy to get started with, clean, quiet |
| Key weaknesses | Loud, messy, tuning can be difficult | Batteries take time to charge, upgrading to go very fast can be very expensive |