Anyone into R/C?

Some more pics of On road racing. My two dirt toys, and a shot from a 12 hour (night time) endurance race amongst 16 teams with 3-5 members each. This is very time consuming, but I have a very supportive GF who deals with my shenanigans.

 

It is fun for a little bit.... I had one and sold it a year later. I stuck with speed and handling.

 

i have an rtr short course truck and 1/8 bushmaster buggy runng 5000c 4s 2200 castle motor / esc. it's stupid fast.

 

Motor and esc fans.

 

We ran brushed motors and had all chassis setups identical. They were geared very conservatively and were issued 5 sets of tires.
We didn't have to run fans on anything. They weren't setup for all out speed. My normal racing, we use lots of power in short bursts, so we do run fans.

It was a test of team participation and machine torture. Since we all had so many personal batteries and chargers in a team, we strategized battery changes (pit stops) based on driving capacity and how aggressive each driver is on tires. Kinda like real racing. We had broken parts, electronics failures, drivers wearing out, and any sort of typical drama as the race winds down.

It's a lot of fun to do. I've done real enduro racing at work for 25 hours (Thunderhill)and that really helped with the knowledge that I could apply during the RC event. Two of the real cars from last year.

 

Just got back fromthw track. Had a blast. Here's me and my two friends crashed on the track lol

 

I plan on taking my mustang and my r35 to thunder hill next year I've never been can't wait. I used to be a regular at willow Springs. Been on many other tracks Road Aamerica, Road Atlanta , Watkins glen,Portland international, Laguna Seca, Sonoma raceway,and more !!

 

That looks fun. I'd love to run my Talion there.

 

Question for the guru's here: Does a brushed motor have longer runtimes than brushless and can LiPos be used in place of NiCads?

I've been out of the hobby a while....my last car was a Losi JR-X2 (I'm old AF) but contemplating picking up either a Revo (brushed or brushless) or X-Maxx for bashing with.

 

I'm not a guru by any means but I'll give some input.

As far as I know, the brushed models don't really run much longer than brushless. They are pretty close. A friend of mine has a Stampede 4x4 (brushed) and the VXL version. The brushed might get a couple more minutes of run time. He uses both Nimh and Lipo in both trucks. Keep in mind, the lipos run the same output from full charge to when your low-voltage kicks in. The Nimh will gradually decrease the power as they discharge (you may know that already, but worth noting). I have 2 E-revos. The mini E-revo VXl which I run 2s lipo and my big E-revo which I run on 6s. Both are pretty awesome. If you go with an E-revo, def get the VXL brushless.

As far as the E-revo VXL vs X-maxx, that is a tough one. My friend just got an X-Maxx 2 days ago. I'm excited to run it with my Revo and compare. The way I see it, the X-Maxx is going to go over terrain smoother and easier, due to the size. The E-revo is faster and crazier, in general. On 6s, they are totally insane, but very fun.

 

Thank you for the reply and answer. My understanding is that the X-Maxx is kind of on hiatus right now due to a motor, esc and a few other upgrades to combat the overheating problem. Tower Hobbies pulled invemtory and sent them back (so I'm told) until the new model comes out around February. I'll wait for that one if I go that route. I kinda like the 1/10th size and the X is a monster comparably size-wise. Brushless Revo is on my radar because of that and not being (ahem) bent over due to the one off size of the X.

 

Ya as far as the X-maxx, the one my buddy just bought is the '16 model (6s version). The hobby store told him that it had the newer 6s esc so no worries about the previous problems they were having early on. Not sure if that is salesman speak or legit. Guess he will find out soon enough lol. I think he paid $750 for it and then bought the charger / 6s bundle pack. It looks like the 2nd-gen is going to run for $900. Then add in getting (2) 4s lipos, to run it on 8s. So it will be a hefty investment. But the upgraded driveline, esc etc might be worth it, for anyone looking into going with an X-maxx. To me, the thing is too big for what I want in an RC. The E-revo is still pretty big. It's perfect for me. Plus, if you are the type to tinker with them, the possibilities are endless with the E-revo. Both are awesome.

 

Oh okay. I wasn't aware the upgraded model was available yet. A friend who just picked one up has the older version and just got an email about a "hop-up kit" to fix the issues. I think I'd rather go the Revo route. The X is a fun drive but it's really bigger than I want for my yard and places I'd frequent. Bull in a china shop seems fitting.

 

There have been two different recalls for the Xmaxx. One for the software update to the ESC and one for battery x-over cables.

I know there's an upgrade package you can buy for $300 but I haven't heard anything about warranty replacement of ESC or motor.

 

I don't think the new model is available yet, but there is that kit available. But that is more of an upgrade kit that changes the esc to the 8s one. It also includes to bulkheads and driveline, to convert to the same center-diff system. It is basically to convert the gen1 into the gen2 that will be out here in Feb (at least I'm pretty sure).

And the update that my friend had is supposedly just the replacement esc from the recall one, not the same esc that will be coming in the new one. Like @ian408 said, there were recalls on that truck but the fix is not to install the gen2 parts.

But yes, your thinking about the Revo is why I went that route. Plus, they are just way more hyper, to drive. To me, that is more fun anyways.

 

I'm just waiting on the esc to die on my X-Maxx so I have an excuse to replace it. Hopefully it doesn't catch on fire when it does.

And it is indeed a bull in a china shop. I damned near took out my mailman the last time I drove it because it gets moving so quickly. If you have only have small areas to run, then definitely stay away from the X-Maxx. It doesn't work so well in confined areas in my opinion.

 

Lol. Hopefully if it goes, it'll just start cutting out and not actually catch fire. That is what happened on my Talion. I knew the early '14s had bad ESCs so I was just waiting for it to go. It did, and they compensated me with a new BLX 185 to replace the BLX 180 esc. So it all worked out. Traxxas should take care of you as well.

 

In a way, I feel the xmaxx wasn't ready for prime time and the two recalls were an attempt to fix something whose solution is far more extensive than what's been offered.

I can't really complain. Mine doesn't overheat tho I also don't run the biggest batteries either.

 

Most RTRs, no matter who manufactures them, will lead to some sort of failure once you start multpling volts. Axial's entire Yeti lineup runs well out of the box with the supplied gear. Add lipo and then more S's and things break and burn very fast. A bullet proof Yeti XL or X-Maxx is as much as a decent used ATV.

 

Most new RTRs Are designed to run with LiPo batteries. You just need to follow the instructions as far as pinion gears and ESC settings and you'll be fine.

Personally, I'm happy with my Losi and the instructions for running LiPO. Easy peasy.