From what I can tell, nitro is on a downturn at the moment. Used to be able to find 5+ engines that were good in any range for pretty much every vehicle. Now they just aren't out there. Sadly, LRP stopped making engines, I think they are still in the electric business, but they may be shut down entirely.
I have 3 LRP's... maybe 4, can't recall. I have 2 (a 21 and 30) in trucks and I know at least one on the shelf that was giving me fits, but I'm 99% sure the issue I was having ended up being the fuel tank leaking, not the engine. I've had 6 or 7 of them over the years, most were the LRP28 Spec3. They were all really good engines that gave great power and had a very long life if broken in properly and tuned properly. Really sad to see them go.
Picco was also a good engine. Could be a bit fussy to tune, but retarded performance out of the Picco 28 P3. I have one of those NIB that's been sitting for years waiting for an LRP to die.
I've never seen a Novarossi run, but have seen many videos and read many threads about those that had them over the years. They were a fantastic engine that liked to rev with tons of power and very well built. Most were out of my price range.
I've had a few SH branded engines and they were ok RTR engines. Ok power, 6-8 gallon life before having slipping OWB issues or loss of compression. Similar to many Dynamite engines I've helped others with or owned. One thing I do know is the dynamite spin/pull combo start mechanism is fragile. The pull start part of it likes to fail. If you end up getting a dynamite (because that's what's still available), try avoiding the ones with the roto/pull combo starter. Unless you want to stick with a roto start.
OS makes some very long running engines. Probably the best/easiest to tune engines I ever owned. I've had quite a few of the 21RG (old weak RTR type engines) over the years. It was all I ran for nearly a decade in various trucks. Low on power, but super reliable and had decent life span, 10+ gallons if cared for. I've also had their TM engines, 18Tm and 21Tm for my revo's. High cost but solid performers and very long lasting. I'm not sure if they still offer the 30VG engine, which is kind of an in between RG-TM/TZ engine. RG being the cheapest, TM/TZ being higher quality. Not seeing much around for OS either anymore that will work in a MT.
Personally, I prefer pull starts over any other type of starting be it an external roto type or onboard ez-start like traxxas uses. I like the pull start because you can feel what the engine is doing. If it's flooded, you can feel it. If compression is starting to die off, you can feel it. With e-starts, you lose that ability for the most part.
