Nitro RC Truck Fun is All About the Jumps

Some RC modelers claim that there is nothing more fun than racing RC nitro trucks. There seems to be something special about racing trucks at breathtaking speeds, especially off-road. Let’s look at some of the aspects of this division of radio-control racing.

The most powerful RC trucks run on nitro. Nitro is a special mixture of fuels (nitromethane, methanol and oil) that is used to power the biggest and fastest RC models. The step up from electric to nitro in terms of power and speed is huge. You can have lots of fun with electric RC models, even trucks, but once you race with nitro, you’ll probably never go back to the battery.

One interesting point of nitro racing is the ability to customize. Just like a real truck with a real engine, you can actually purchase and install performance modifications to get even more speed and power out of your model. For nitro truck enthusiasts, this means that there’s more than just racing to the hobby. You can look forward to constantly improving, testing and adding to your RC truck. For some, this is where all the fun is, regardless of the racing and jumping.

Did I say jumping? Making off-road jumps is one of the primary attractions of RC truck modeling. When real-life trucks jump at monster truck exhibitions, the crowd goes wild. But compare those real-life jumps to what an RC truck can do. If you do the calculations from scale, RC trucks are jumping up to ten times their height. That kind of action can really get the adrenaline pumping.

If you want to get started jumping with your nitro RC truck, you should start off small. You want to avoid having only one very spectacular but very damaging jump in your RC career. Successful RC truck jumping is usually all about throttle control. Begin with lower, slower jumps and move up as you gain skill with the throttle. And above all, have fun!