FTX Vantage/Carnage owners Thread

[Jens]

10 hours ago, Ant.p said:

That makes sense, but I have a little cash (want to avoid using the account so the wife doesn’t know 🤫😓) and am being impatient not wanting to wait for the shops to open up again. 
 

as for model, I’m not sure, but was thinking in the region of £500

You will have a good choice with that budget.

If the budget is strict, keep the model price £100 lower to do the usual "recommended" upgrades. ie servo.

 

You could possibly post a question in General RC, but then you will be flooded with opinions.

Want my recommendation?

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I have 1 criteria to keep the cost reasonable, if I would upgrade.

Since you probably use 2S/3S right now, go for a 4S/6S model that uses 2 batteries.

Then you don't need to invest in different batteries as well.

A good example (but over the budget for you): Traxxas e-Revo 2.0 (dual 2S or 3S).

A bad example: Traxxas Maxx (single 3S/4S battery).

[Gtiracer]

So I've just received my sway bars for my vantage, but only realise now they don't come with everything I need to attach, need sway bar clips by the looks of it and I'm not sure what else, can someone point me in the direction of which screws I would need to attach them please? Can't see any threads as such for where there supposed to go?

 

Edit: ignore, don't worry it comes with everything in the bag. Was just acting blind

Edited March 31, 2021 by Gtiracer

[Ant.p]

2 hours ago, Gtiracer said:

So I've just received my sway bars for my vantage, but only realise now they don't come with everything I need to attach, need sway bar clips by the looks of it and I'm not sure what else, can someone point me in the direction of which screws I would need to attach them please? Can't see any threads as such for where there supposed to go?

 

Edit: ignore, don't worry it comes with everything in the bag. Was just acting blind

 

[Ant.p]

Just incase you need reference for fitting:

 

[Iain .R]

Well my 9t pinion arrived today and fitted  it's a lot better  still coggs on the grass   so the 60a esc not arrived yet but will soon . 

 

But  I went to gravel carpark where it had time of its life on the gravel.  But I noticed it's a bit faster in reverse  ?????? So I swapped the cables around just to see if make an difference  apart from going in reverse than forward . Nope I swapped the red to yellow and yellow to red . .

 

Why isn't faster in reverse????? 

[Stormbringer]

i think the throttle channel is reversed

if you reverse throttle channel it should work properly 

[Iain .R]

I'll have a go that 

[Iain .R]

2 minutes ago, Iain .R said:

I'll have a go that 

I forgot to add I snapped the rear body tower . I did a full left hard turn and it  just flipped  and somehow  snapped the body peg mmmm odd as it's got the rear spoiler which is higher than the body peg yet it broke   still connected to the clip   as I have both clips wired together so I dont lose them . 

[Redback]

Ooof just an idea to try if you fancy, put heat shrink wrap over my body posts, yep need slightly bigger bodyshell holes but the posts dont snap as easily.

[Gtiracer]

Can someone please tell me why the hobbyking motors are better than the standard brushless already included with my vantage?. For example, if I was to compare my etronix 2950kv Vs a hobbyking max10 3300kv combo, both on 3s, apart from the kv, what makes the hobbyking better, because by my extremely limited knowledge, a lower kv means more torque, meaning more acceleration correct? And a higher kv means a faster top speed? So can someone Lend me some Insight as to why the hobbyking is an actual improvement over the etronix please?

 

I am not doing speed runs, I just take it out for fun off road, acceleration is my fun factor, not top speed, although, obviously the overall top speed plays a part as I don't want it dead slow, 

[Ant.p]

6 hours ago, Gtiracer said:

Can someone please tell me why the hobbyking motors are better than the standard brushless already included with my vantage?. For example, if I was to compare my etronix 2950kv Vs a hobbyking max10 3300kv combo, both on 3s, apart from the kv, what makes the hobbyking better, because by my extremely limited knowledge, a lower kv means more torque, meaning more acceleration correct? And a higher kv means a faster top speed? So can someone Lend me some Insight as to why the hobbyking is an actual improvement over the etronix please?

 

I am not doing speed runs, I just take it out for fun off road, acceleration is my fun factor, not top speed, although, obviously the overall top speed plays a part as I don't want it dead slow, 

Do you mean hobbywing? If so, they are just generally better built and will take more abuse; they also have built in self preservation so will cut out if too hot/overworked to keep from damage. Etronix are aimed more at the budget end and are fine, but will not last so well. 
you are right about the torque/top speed depending on KV. I personally went for the 3300 on the carnage, and the acceleration is immense, combined with a top speed that is hard to control.
Regardless of which KV you choose, the actual performance will be hugely affected by which pinion, spur and wheels you use. This is something you can fine tune to your needs with experimenting !

Edited April 2, 2021 by Ant.p

[Ant.p]

8 hours ago, Iain .R said:

I forgot to add I snapped the rear body tower . I did a full left hard turn and it  just flipped  and somehow  snapped the body peg mmmm odd as it's got the rear spoiler which is higher than the body peg yet it broke   still connected to the clip   as I have both clips wired together so I dont lose them . 

I’ve had this a few times so upgraded to the carbon shock tower with aluminium body posts. I’ve since managed to snap/bend two of these.

I used nerf gun bullets cut to length to keep the body shell at maximum height on the posts and this helped, but if you land badly from height or travel at any speed inside down, they just can’t take the stress and break. I may look into having some posts made, but then the shock tower may be the part that suffers. You only ever seem to move the problem to the next weakest part 😖

[Gtiracer]

15 minutes ago, Ant.p said:

Do you mean hobbywing? If so, they are just generally better built and will take more abuse. Etronix are aimed more at the budget end and are fine, but will not last so well. 
you are right about the torque/top speed depending on KV. I personally went for the 3300 on the carnage, and the acceleration is immense, combined with a top speed that is hard to control.
Regardless of which KV you choose, the actual performance will be hugely affected by which pinion, spur and wheels you use. This is something you can fine tune to your needs with experimenting !

 

Hi, thanks, yes I do mean hobbywing. For some reason I kept reading it as hobbyking but my phone kept auto correcting to hobbywing and I kept changing it back. 🙂

 

so if I get this right the hobbywing combo is more likely to take bigger adjustments with pinion and spur size changes thus adjusting speed/acceleration and effectively be faster in that respect with more durability not burning out etc?

[Ant.p]

16 minutes ago, Gtiracer said:

 

Hi, thanks, yes I do mean hobbywing. For some reason I kept reading it as hobbyking but my phone kept auto correcting to hobbywing and I kept changing it back. 🙂

 

so if I get this right the hobbywing combo is more likely to take bigger adjustments with pinion and spur size changes thus adjusting speed/acceleration and effectively be faster in that respect with more durability not burning out etc?

It’s more likely to take bigger punishment for sure. Hobbywing seems to be the ‘go to’. I had this recommended to me by just about everyone I spoke to, so I’m just passing that on. I have not been disappointed with mine, but I did upgrade from the brushed with NiMH so the difference was just huge.  The difference for you will be less, but I would still like to think it will be noticeable and worth while.

[Redback]

I have a max 10 3300kv and the same etronix 2950kv motor as you.
The issues i found with the stock etronix electrics, is the esc is only 45amp with a lower peak vs the hobbywing esc, the motors are ok but the hobbywing motors are better with a sealed can vs the open shaft endcap on the etronix.
Also with the motor the hobbywing motor is a little bit bigger even if its 520mm length its still bigger than the "540" motor from the etronix that is really a 515mm length motor.
It will be a slight improvment on performance but not night and day vs a brushed upgrade. A decent lipo will make a big diffrence on brushless vs nimh as it will deliver the constant power needed for the higher power drain.

 

[Gtiracer]

6 hours ago, Redback said:

I have a max 10 3300kv and the same etronix 2950kv motor as you.
The issues i found with the stock etronix electrics, is the esc is only 45amp with a lower peak vs the hobbywing esc, the motors are ok but the hobbywing motors are better with a sealed can vs the open shaft endcap on the etronix.
Also with the motor the hobbywing motor is a little bit bigger even if its 520mm length its still bigger than the "540" motor from the etronix that is really a 515mm length motor.
It will be a slight improvment on performance but not night and day vs a brushed upgrade. A decent lipo will make a big diffrence on brushless vs nimh as it will deliver the constant power needed for the higher power drain.

 

Thanks, great to have a comparison. So maybe a future upgrade if it fails as opposed to a 'do it now' type upgrade then? Maybe I'll bump up to 3s on my etronix setup when I fancy a bit more speed for general hooning around and replace when it wears out.

 

Are ESC fires common?

[Redback]

33 minutes ago, Gtiracer said:

Thanks, great to have a comparison. So maybe a future upgrade if it fails as opposed to a 'do it now' type upgrade then? Maybe I'll bump up to 3s on my etronix setup when I fancy a bit more speed for general hooning around and replace when it wears out.

 

Are ESC fires common?

not at those volts but as soon as you go 4s+ yes they can flame up, never had a hobbywing cook, even forgetting to plug the fan in. Also running a way higher kv than the esc should be doing but its fine. They are pretty bullet proof from my experience.

 

[oscart2005]

19 hours ago, Gtiracer said:

Can someone please tell me why the hobbyking motors are better than the standard brushless already included with my vantage?. For example, if I was to compare my etronix 2950kv Vs a hobbyking max10 3300kv combo, both on 3s, apart from the kv, what makes the hobbyking better, because by my extremely limited knowledge, a lower kv means more torque, meaning more acceleration correct? And a higher kv means a faster top speed? So can someone Lend me some Insight as to why the hobbyking is an actual improvement over the etronix please?

 

I am not doing speed runs, I just take it out for fun off road, acceleration is my fun factor, not top speed, although, obviously the overall top speed plays a part as I don't want it dead slow, 

Hi, I run the hobbywing Max10 combo with the 4000Kv motor on 2s, ran it on 3s earlier with no faults, and its definitely fast enough and its a lot of fun. It is nice to have the temperature cut off just so that I don't have to check to see if the motor is to hot, would definitely recommend doing the upgrade, it feels a lot more solid and feels like it is better build quality than the stock system. If you do end up upgrading then you'll definitely need to do spur and pinion gear upgrades if you haven't already.👍

[Gtiracer]

1 minute ago, oscart2005 said:

Hi, I run the hobbywing Max10 combo with the 4000Kv motor on 2s, ran it on 3s earlier with no faults, and its definitely fast enough and its a lot of fun. It is nice to have the temperature cut off just so that I don't have to check to see if the motor is to hot, would definitely recommend doing the upgrade, it feels a lot more solid and feels like it is better build quality than the stock system. If you do end up upgrading then you'll definitely need to do spur and pinion gear upgrades if you haven't already.👍

 

Thanks for the info,

 

I have the hardened spur and pinion but am yet to put them in, did you change from the standard cog sizes with your hobbywing?

[oscart2005]

2 minutes ago, Gtiracer said:

 

Thanks for the info,

 

I have the hardened spur and pinion but am yet to put them in, did you change from the standard cog sizes with your hobbywing?

Yeah, I now run a 47t spur and a 13t pinion, gives it a bit more top speed and still accelerates really fast.

 

[Gtiracer]

6 minutes ago, oscart2005 said:

Yeah, I now run a 47t spur and a 13t pinion, gives it a bit more top speed and still accelerates really fast.

 

Where do you get steel pinions of varying sizes and how are you supposed to know which cog size variations work together please?

[oscart2005]

2 minutes ago, Gtiracer said:

Where do you get steel pinions of varying sizes and how are you supposed to know which cog size variations work together please?

I have the RW Racing ones from Modelsport and they seem to work well. If you go back to page 268 @Jenshas some calculations for gearing and there was a chat about how to choose the right gears there so I'd give that a read. If you mean like DP or MOD then from my experience I've bought 32DP spur and pinion and they work really well.

[Ant.p]

3 minutes ago, Gtiracer said:

Where do you get steel pinions of varying sizes and how are you supposed to know which cog size variations work together please?

You just make sure you match the pitch. So a 32DP pinion with a 32DP spur. 
you can get them just about anywhere. I purchased a set of pinions for less than a tenner from Amazon allowing me to try different tooth counts. The spur must be suitable for FTX carnage/vantage as it needs to fit the friction plates on the slipper clutch 

[Gtiracer]

Thanks guys. Top advice as ever

[oscart2005]

Hi, I’m new to using lipo batteries and every time I run them when I get home I storage charge them on my charger, do I need to do this every time I use them as it takes ages or can I leave time discharged until my next use?