Speed

[charlieinsurance]

Hi everyone

 

Can anyone please help me? Essentially I want to buy a new RC car to go FASTER but I am getting very confused...

 

I have two FTX's, a Vantage which I brought brushed and modified to brushless (with a Leopard combo, 60A ESC and 4370kV 9T motor) and upped the pinion gear one tooth to increase speed, and a Carnage which I bought second hand as already brushless on eBay (but with Tamiya battery connector - weird). The Vantage is obviously the faster but actually I prefer the Carnage. Both will take up to 3S Lipo.

 

I have a couple of cars in mind to buy, my latest temptation being the HPI Trophy Buggy which boasts a top speed of 45mph out of the box on 4S. This sounds great, but before buying I wanted to see how this compared to my FTX's, and NOWHERE could I find any indication of my FTX's top speeds. Therefore, I strapped my (work's - and hence a HEAVY protective case on it :-) BlackBarry to the back spoiler of my Vantage (which almost maxed out the suspension due to the weight) with a GPS speed app loaded and loaded a 3S Lipo, ONLY 25C, and this battery has sat doing nothing for probably 6-8 weeks. The road I live on is not that long but on that road I managed 32mph. I then went OFF road which was also a confined space and it was not maxed out (although probably nearly) and it hit 37mph. Given all this, with a freshly charged Lipo of a higher C rating, no heavy BlackBerry on the spoiler etc., I have no doubts AT ALL the Vantage would hit 45mph. So, my first question, what is the point of the HPI Trophy? Given it will cost almost DOUBLE the cost of my FTX Vantage even with my modifications? Secondly, what is all that power (given it requires 4S to get to it's top speed of 45 mph) actually doing since I can do that on 3S?

 

Furthermore, the other car (the one I REALLY want) is the Arrmo Typhon BLX 6S. But that, even with a bigger pinion gear, will "only" do "60+ mph". Now, some of the Traxxas cars, albeit only 2WD versions, but for less money than either the HPI Trophy or the Typhon, will do 70 mph+ on 3S Lipo's, so again, what is all that power actually doing? A 180A ESC (in the Typhon) and it will only do maybe 15mph more than my 60A ESC Vantage? In theory, with appropriate gearing, the Arrmo should be able to BLITZ a 3S car and yet it seems it can't. Why not?

 

Finally, despite everything, I really *DO* want the Typhon but there is very little about it online and, it would seem, very little support for spares (and from the manufacturer they are VERY expensive). Anyone got any experience of after-sales support? But the fact it will only run on a MINIMUM 4S is putting me off - why can't it run on 2-3S, albeit clearly with lower performance?

 

Finally (again!), any recommendations for a fast semi-off-road car (buggy ideally?)? I am not interested in stunts / jumps / competition, just personal use in open areas for speed runs and fun and I really do want 4WD. But I am not all that experienced so I do need good support for spares etc..

 

Thanks everyone!!

[lilllad83]

no direct recommendations but with a 4s buggy u can modify things gearing etc and add more lipos (esc permitting) to achieve speeds up to and beyond 100mph search team associated rc8 speed runs on YouTube.

[Noj]

Don't believe the hype. Manufacturers put these speeds on packaging to entice buyers, achieveable real world speeds are very different.

The combo fitted, along with gearing and cell count affects speed. Weight of RC, size of wheels also have a big impact.

You are comparing 8th and 10th scale vehicles, so naturally there will be significant differences in claimed performance. Bigger, stronger diffs and drive train means you can expect better performance, but every RC has limits. This is where the aftermarket parts enter the equation, so for example, you can take a tenth scale, run an eighth scale set up and see huge performance differences, accepting that if you exceed the limits of what the drive train can take, things will wear out/break more readily. In my experience, speed isn't everything when bashing...so, rather than run one of our bl 5th scales on 8s, 7s is the sweet spot for general bashing, which puts less strain on the electrics, bearings, gears etc.... Think about what 3s will do to a Carnage's drive train over time...of course, FTX would love everyone to run 3s, as it generates more income through selling spares...

The stock electrics on many rc's are 'ok', but may struggle to fulfill claims made on the box. Upgrade, play with gearing and see what you can achieve.

All part of the fun of the hobby, experimenting with different set ups to nail your perfect basher. Four pole motors are more efficient than two pole, the physical can size has a huge bearing on power and speed; the combo you run currently has a finned, 540 can. This is a 380 rotor in a 540 can; swap for a true, 540 can in a similar kV and you'll see an immediate difference.

[Si Coe]

1/8ths like the Trophy are a lot heavier, so require more effort (read cells) to get up to speed. 4S in a 1/8th is more akin to 2S in a 1/10th in performance terms.

 

You don't need a new car, just better electrics. I've got 1/10ths will do 45mph on 2S and they aren't even set up for speed runs (they are race cars). They can't run 3S but TBH they are plenty fast enough as is.

[NuttyProfessor]

For a 1:8 speed machine I use an XTM XT2E buggy with a hobbyking 150a esc with a 2650kv leopard 3674 motor, 56mph on 4s geared 48/15 so has a lot more to go,solid drivetrain once the rear dog bones and cups are swapped out for a set of front CVDs fitted to the rear. Spent about

[mugen mark]

what you need is a 1/8th buggy,2650kv motor,a 150amp esc and a 6s battery,that should get you beyond 60 and torward 70mph plus,speed is never cheap

[RCpete]

Buy the Trophy buggy flux, it comes with a 15 tooth pinion  but can be geared up. I have  a 18 tooth pinion on mine and it made a difference, its probably good for around 45mph, it could be geared up even more before you get too hot. You could swap out the ESC and run up to 6s if you want and you could get upto maybe 60 to 70mph, but you would wear out the drivetrain quite quickly. 6s wears out all 1/8th scale cars quickly no matter what you drive.

 

On the other note 1/8th scale is better than 1/10th, better on the rough stuff and a lot tougher, and just more impressive in general. Honestly get the Trophy flux or a hyper, run it on just 4s gear it up a bit and watch it go. 4s means you wont be replacing diffs, dog bones and out drives as often. 

 

Go 1/8th you wont regret it! 

[charlieinsurance]

Thanks for all your comments - that is all very helpful. I have bought a Trophy Flux and will up-gear it and see how I get on.

 

Loving RCs - will comment how I get on!

[RCpete]

Thanks for all your comments - that is all very helpful. I have bought a Trophy Flux and will up-gear it and see how I get on.

 

Loving RCs - will comment how I get on!

 

Glad to see you got the flux, its a good car and also has great part support if you ever need. It comes with a 1965kv motor which on 4s means you can gear it up a bit. Like i said above i have a 18t pinion on mine and its pretty quick. I had it out yesterday blasting up and down the fairway on the 18th hole at my local golf course and the motor was barely warm, it would of had a lot to do with the freezing weather tho (i live in Edinburgh), but even in the summer i had no temperature issues. Get yourself a couple of different pinions and see what you think.

 

Have fun   

[charlieinsurance]

Just an update following this thread - just over a eek ago I took delivery from MS of my new HPI Trophy - naturally I had to try it out straight away and did so on 3S. Tbh I was a little disappointed in terms of it's outright speed. So I upped it to 4S and whilst on holiday last week had one excellent bash with it - it was WAAYYY powerful but was still slightly disappointing in terms of outright speed. Anyway, I have just now up-geared it from 15 tooth to 18 tooth and WOW, oh my goodness what a difference!! I expected a trade-off in power for the extra speed but not a bit of it!!! Also I reckoned that 20% extra speed was in really terms not that much. Again, how wrong you can be!! it is now the insane barely-controllable sped-machine I was after!! Thanks so much for the tips here!!! When the wife gives me the thermometer for Christmas so I can keep an eye on the temps I will try a further upgrade to 19 or 20 tooth (I already have the latter) as I agree with RC Pete that this AMAZING car has more still to give. Then I need to find a VERY long road or open space to really open it up!!

 

Thanks so much to RC Pete for your help and recommendations here, you have totally understood what I wanted to achieve and I am VERY grateful for that and am now having lots of fun!! I also agree that the 1/8th car is much more substantial than the 1/10ths - still love the latter but this is a far more solid machine and so much more room under the shell to work with which makes the whole thing so much more pleasurable - I am a larger lad and do not have particularly delicate fingers for the smaller cars!! Thanks once again and will contribute more to this forum generally when I can.

[RCpete]

Just an update following this thread - just over a eek ago I took delivery from MS of my new HPI Trophy - naturally I had to try it out straight away and did so on 3S. Tbh I was a little disappointed in terms of it's outright speed. So I upped it to 4S and whilst on holiday last week had one excellent bash with it - it was WAAYYY powerful but was still slightly disappointing in terms of outright speed. Anyway, I have just now up-geared it from 15 tooth to 18 tooth and WOW, oh my goodness what a difference!! I expected a trade-off in power for the extra speed but not a bit of it!!! Also I reckoned that 20% extra speed was in really terms not that much. Again, how wrong you can be!! it is now the insane barely-controllable sped-machine I was after!! Thanks so much for the tips here!!! When the wife gives me the thermometer for Christmas so I can keep an eye on the temps I will try a further upgrade to 19 or 20 tooth (I already have the latter) as I agree with RC Pete that this AMAZING car has more still to give. Then I need to find a VERY long road or open space to really open it up!!

 

Thanks so much to RC Pete for your help and recommendations here, you have totally understood what I wanted to achieve and I am VERY grateful for that and am now having lots of fun!! I also agree that the 1/8th car is much more substantial than the 1/10ths - still love the latter but this is a far more solid machine and so much more room under the shell to work with which makes the whole thing so much more pleasurable - I am a larger lad and do not have particularly delicate fingers for the smaller cars!! Thanks once again and will contribute more to this forum generally when I can.

 

No problem glad to help, the 18 tooth pinion makes a difference. Let me know how you get on with the 19 and 20 tooth. SPEED IS GREAT!