Intro to Nitro

I have close to 15 years of RC club racing experience at the time of this writing, though the only nitro engine experience I have was flying .40 nitro planes in the 90's and being a pit man for many racers in my area for the past 5+ years. If you are reading this post and are considering to get into the nitro classes then I would encourage you to hold off and gain as much experience in the electric classes first and buddy with a nitro guy to be his pit man for a while before you buy a nitro kit. This will give you the basic fundamentals of how to properly start/stop, tune and refuel a nitro before diving into the deep end. You should already have a solid setup on the electric version of the same platform you're racing so the only thing "new" to you will be how to drive a nitro instead of electric. Preferably you'll already be a seasoned driver with reasonable consistency ratings. 

My goal is for this to be a guide on how to get started and a buyers guide.

1. $50-$80 - Pit Caddy Bag: This is more of a personal preference and doesn't really matter which brand bag you buy, I am using the HB Racing bag which is one of the larger bags in the industry with lots of large velcro pockets and dedicated slots to store virtually every nitro specific accessory I need on pit lane.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. $20-$30 - Glow Starter: This is a critical tool that you don't want to go cheap. I can't tell you how many times I've seen these fail at the track so it's important to always have a backup ready, especially if you have an inexperienced pit person who accidentally walks off with your primary starter.  I have learned the the TLR brand is generally become the most trusted glow starter among dozens of racers that I've pit for over the years. It's extremely important to put BOTH of your glow starters on the charger the night before every race event!
   
3. $10-$15 - P3 Glow Plugs - Hot: This is another crucial part that you don't want to go cheap on. The most reliable and longest lasting plug are OS branded plugs. You will save money in the long run buying a higher quality plug. You can save a few bucks with the Protek Samurai plugs which are rebranded OS plugs and there is no difference in performance between the Gold/Silver plugs so I run the Silver Samurai P3's myself. Generally you want to use a sacrificial plug for engine break in, then save that plug for practice, and always install a new plug just before the main of a big race event, so buy as many plugs as you need to account for however big events you plan to attend for the season. You can also re-use your "main-day-plug" several times with confidence if your collection of good working older plugs starts to grow
   
   
   
4. $5-$20 - Fuel Bottle:  personal preference on this, some have cap holders which can be nice but I would always carry spare caps regardless as they tend to get lost and always carry a spare bottle as I often see these walk away by mistake and can be hard to track down
   
   
   
5. $70-$150 - Starter Box: wide array of features to consider, I recommend selecting a box that offers decent part support where belts tend to be damaged with newer motors during the break-in process. I run the ProTek box with recycled 4S LCG packs from my eBuggy. I also added spacers (per the instruction manual) under the bump stop to improve clearance to start the engine easier
   
   
   
6. $20-$40 - Temp Gun: personal preference on this essential tool, need to pre-heat the motor to 170° before every start and monitor temps so that engine comes off the track between 210°-230° to ensure a proper tune.
   
   
   
   
   
7. $20-$120 - Heat Gun or Engine Heater: Another personal preference here where engine heaters are convenient with a 12V supply or 3S Lipo but they can be cumbersome with having to carry an extra battery and cord dangling around. I prefer a heat gun which typically takes less than a minute to warm up and I prefer a cordless gun to avoid a messy cord as well as avoid popping circuit breakers at the track! Since I already own Ridgid brand tools/batteries I use their same cordless heat gun too which easily gets 4+ starts on a single 2Ah battery plus the attachment that comes with the heat gun is the perfect diameter for the engine head making this a great space saving option in my pit bag. 
   
   
   
8. $7-$35 - Glow Wrench: This essential tool will serve many purposes so be sure it has both an 8mm socket for the glow plug as well as a 10mm socket for installing your clutch on the flywheel too
   
   
   
9. $4-$24 - Slotted Screwdriver: This essential tool is used to tune varioud needle valves on the engine, any driver will do and it personal preference on the quality of handle you prefer to use
   
   
   
10. $40-$80 - Fuel Stick: This is completely optional but can potentially save you precious seconds for a faster pit stop in the main if you want to be more competitive than using a fuel bottle 
    
    
    
11. $90-$110 - Bearing Tool Kit: This essential tool will help you service your engine bearings where I use the RED's tool myself
    
    
    
    bearing replacement is discussed by Adam Drake here:
    
    
    
    
    
12. Engine Break-In process is very complicated where I used the following resources for my first engine break-in:
    https://www.rctech.net/forum/offroad-nitro-engine-forum/443611-engine-break-bible.html
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Proposed ROAR Body Rule Changes

First week of December 2024, I went back and forth in email with several ROAR officials regarding the new rules they posted on their website. ROAR promised to raise my concerns in their board meeting in the second week of December then ghosted me.

https://www.roarracing.com/downloads/ROAR_Rule_Book.pdf

As of right now, ROAR expects all manufactures to pay 4 years in ROAR fees in advance, plus send each body plus an inspection fee which will cost roughly $1K to get 1 body approved initially and then after 4 years pay an additional $200/yr to keep their body on a list of approved bodies. Markings need to be stamped into the windshield of each body.

I explained that many drivers are tied into package deals where bodies/tires/wings/accessories are put into driver contracts, so if ROAR eliminates bodies from brands that used to be legal then drivers will be forced to violate their contracts and/or be forced to sign contracts with larger brands that can afford to pay the ROAR extortion fees.

The timing of their decision is in haste because they are not giving drivers time to test/apply to larger companies who are ROAR approved putting the industry into a catch-22. ROAR has the power to effectively put smaller companies out of business over this decision if tracks follow ROAR rules to the tee 

These rules are not only truggy bodies, but buggy bodies too... so someone running a buggy body from a brand that was discontinued (or doesn't pay ROAR inspection fees) will be considered an illegal body without the stamp on the windshield.

I said that charging inspection fees is double dipping and that those costs should come from the ROAR fees that drivers already pay. This will prevent the threat of companies from going out of business so that racers pay any increase in fees to cover inspection expenses. Ultimately price increases will fall back to the drivers regardless when increasing unreasonable inspection fees.