charlieinsurance

Thanks again to EVSSV - I managed to find a couple of hours today and this is how my Vantage now looks: http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/gallery/image/34134-/ http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/gallery/image/34133-/ http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/gallery/image/34132-/ http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/gallery/image/34131-/ Hoping this will be acceptable to local club as would love to race it soon! Also converted it to two wheel drive by removing central shaft and the axels to both wheels from the diff. Speaking of which, when the car is up on a stand one rear wheel runs by default faster than the other - is this a shot diff? Can I fix that or will I need to replace that entire unit?

Thank you both - that is v helpful indeed - forgive my "newness" but hadn't thought that a "home-made" solution would be acceptable but now you have said it, why not?? The only purpose, so I am told, is so the astroturf doesnt get damaged (makes sence!) I presume this is why wth the car shown you have not worried to put them on the back, as that is protected by a (hard, from the picture) spoiler? I may do both front and back 'cos my spoiler is floppy. Thanks so much for your help.

I wouldn't even know where to begin with that... the sort everyone else had were the hard plastic variety that (I think) screwed into the mount or otherwise to the car - how would you make something like that??

Hi - does anyone know if it is possible to get shock tower covers for a Vantage? Need them to race at my local club - cannot find them anywhere. Any advice appreciated. Many thanks.

Didn't realise that - so there is a voltage regulator in the ESC that equalises the voltage output to the receiver (and therefore to the steering servo?) regardless of voltage input? I asked on another thread about whether a standard servo could take 6S but from what you are saying the answer to that is also yes since it would not actually be 6S voltage that outputs the ESC to the receiver? Anyone know what voltage does output the ESC?

There is a reserve lock to prevent damage, ie, forward, brake, reverse, so a slight pause after braking before reverse will engage is normal. May need to reprogramme Failsafe though? Re batteries, trust me on this, once you have gone Brushless (which is exactly what I did, went from brushed on NiMh to Brushless on same) you will want to go for LiPo almost immediately, the speed will become intoxicating! So just get NiMh batteries appropriate for your brushed and then go whole hog and go brushless and LiPo, pref 3S - it gets everything very hot in an otherwise standard Carnage but it will shift! See my posts with my now 4S HPI Trophy which I am looking at potentially upping to 6S and I started with a brushed Vantage and a commitment to spend NO MORE money than that......

Hmm..... will have to see how I get on..... Thanks again. PS - Optimus mentioned a 150A 6S ESC - will the standard motor take 6S? From the info I can find on the HobbyWIng 150A 6S ESC looks to me like a good fit but nowhere does the motor actually specify a voltage limit? Same question for the standard servo?

Thanks Optimus - that is very helpful. I have been in touch with MS who put me in touch with HPI re the existing ESC. They were very helpful and have confirmed that the fan on the standard ESC is NOT supposed to be on all the time but usually does go on on start up. Therefore there should be nothing wrong with it and I can carry on playing! Excellent! But I will keep the advice of an upgrade in mine for future :-) Thanks again.

For 2S I use nVision Sport 45C. Currently on offer at MS for

Quick question - the ad or these lights says up to 11v. Have you run them on 3S as at full charge they are closer to 12.6V? Does that voltage blow them? Thanks!

Thanks MrDoody - I've dropped MS a line and will see what they stay. I too was worried about a get-out due to water damage but the history here is that it originally worked on 3S but then stopped wen I first used 4S. I assumed this was just how it worked and when I went back to 3S low and behold it started working again. Today on either 3S or 4S it would not work and when running it was slightly unpredictable, such as on full throttle it sometimes was running at less than full speed (obviously so) or would reduce power in the middle of a run. I presume therefore that the ESC may already be partly fried or also and separately damaged??? I hope MS will resolve under warranty as I note that these are circa

Hi - I took delivery of my Trophy from MS week before last and am getting used to it (and loving it!) - however, can someone please tell e if the ESC fan should be on all the time? I know I have seen it running but it does not run any more - is this a broken fan? Is this normal in under a fortnight or is this a warranty issue? It has flipped a couple of times but has not been jumped etc.. Thanks all!

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.

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!

Sorry, maybe a slightly dumb question, was reading through this thread and others have said putting 3S on the Vantage will ruin the diffs - I have been running 3S on mine for some time without a problem, is this just luck? How will I know when the diffs go (and presumably I can just replace them at that stage - cost permitting :-) )?

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!!

Thank you Suicide Neil - that is EXACTLY what I needed to know. That is my favourite battery and is only a few weeks' old so really didn't want to throw away and cannot afford to replace atm. Thanks again.

I have managed to rip the balance plug off my battery as above. I am happy to connect a new plug on but does anyone have any idea how to tell the two black wires apart, i.e., which one is the middle wire and which is the right-hand wire? Thanks everyone!!

Just as a follow-up to this, I now also have my new rx and tx from MS and the car is now working like a different vehicle. Was definitely the problem. Will now upgrade to brushless, yey!! Thanks all for your help.

MS got back to me within a couple of hours and agree it is a faulty tx/rx and they are sending replacements. Have to say their customer service is the best I have come across in a very long time, very impressed. Thanks again everyone for your help.

Many thanks for your replies. I have dropped Modelsport a line to discuss further. Unfortunately it seems like a faulty tx/rx is indeed the cause. I am absolutely sure that for today's and yesterday's run the battery was absolutely fully charged.

Doesn't appear to be a programmable ESC (the one with the replacement brushless I have yet to use is) - instructions simply say that when switched on it automatically searches for a neutral point and then emits the "do re me" music (which is almost instant) and it is ready to go - again, unless I am missing something?

HI everyone - I have recently bought my first car, a FTX Vantage. It is the bushed version at the moment, but I already have a brushless motor and ESC to upgrade to shortly. I love the car, however, its shortfall is its range - at best 10-15 metres from the transmitter. It has a Etronx 2.4 Ghx tx/rx with a mini aerial (about 2 inch protrusion from the shell of the car). I have tried resetting the failsafe and rebinding the fx and tx but it has made no difference. The car has had three runs and appears otherwise in perfect condition (it was bought new from Modelsport). I have tried both brand new Duracells (4 x AA) in the tx and freshly charged NiMh AA's - again, no difference at all. Am I doing something wrong here / any tips generally? There seem to be plenty of YouTube videos of this same car going very, very much further from the tx than mine is capable of - I am nervous about upgrading the motor with such lack of control. Also, at the end of its third run, it locked on driving forward at about half speed and turning right and would not take any control from the tx at all, even when I was right beside it, and I had to catch it manually to turn it off - is that normal (perhaps for a battery almost running out of power?)? Again, makes me a little nervous of increasing the motor power... Any tips / advice appreciated. Many thanks.