Updates:

I've replaced the MM/XL setup with a high-voltage, hi-efficiency powerplant. I am now running a MGM 9032 ESC and a Neu 1515/2y/F (1100kv) driven by 33V 10S A123s or 8S Lipos. Geared 16/36 on std 2nd gear. Top speed is geared for low 40s (~42 mph on radar.) I have room to gear up still, but this is plenty fast.

Basically the aim was to be able to keep the A123 cells and go to a hi-eff setup, and not have to up in cell count. In short, any setup that draws more than 70A really needs to have a 2P config to not overly draw the cells. That leaves a 10S1P or a 5s2p like I had. Going the HV route, I am able to run the cells I want, but also run @ higher eff which translates to more power to the ground, less wasted heat, and a very smooth and powerful system.

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lcm2jPcBDQU"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lcm2jPcBDQU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

The old system drew nearly 120A @14V to make ~1650W. However, the XL setup was only maybe 70-75% eff. Meaning less than 1250W made it to the wheels, while 100s of watts were lost as heat. It was easy to overheat motor w/o careful driving.

Now I make 1650W with 61A peak @ 27V+. At ~95% eff, that translates to nearly 1570W to the ground an only 80W lost as heat.

===> Extremely powerful and cool running system. The motor never gets very warm. The esc is dead cold. :mdr:

Here is a torture test. I dumped the full pack in less than 8min. (Normally I get ~20+min bashing.) WOT thru long wet grass up and down a hill non-stop. Doing this w/ my XL system would over heat the system fast. I'd see 180-190F on the motor in minutes. Here, final temp is only 112F. The ESC was 85F at the end. Ambient temp was 65F.

Even at that the temps only spiked at the end trying to drive on the dumped pack. Mostly stayed ~100F. This has been a dream system so far. :)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...4/f983a983.jpg

Here's a few setup pics. Not a whole lot has changed from before. The Esc is long, so some care was taken to place it right and protect those huge caps. I re-did the batt straps to be easier and much stronger. The RCM Bash was tearing up my old ones w/ all those roof landings. lol So far I'm very pleased. I've also mounted a RC8 wing on a mugen MBX5T stay which isn't shown.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/830a2c9d.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/0e8a68d1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/aa5cdf50.jpg

Here's some pics from the last race this weekend, RCMTRA Worlds @ Barnstormers. I did pretty well overall and I was happy w/ the truck this time around. Qual'd 2nd in MT, lead the main for a bit, then made some errors and fell back to 4th. doh! Also ran in BL class and took home 2nd place trophy.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/25ceb502.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/b4857453.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/ecce4a08.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/d83f3d66.jpg[/QUOTE]

Nice job!! Thats the same track that the RCM bash was at, right?

Yeah, same basic layout, but they redid the end of the track to accomodate the RC MT side by side races. The enormous triple was toned down a bit, where the last jump was more a tabletop leading to a turn, but it was still a good jumping track.


Also, I went up on the springs from the bash. I ran golds in the front w/ 60wt oil, and in the rear I went upto tans w/ 70 & then 80 wt. It was doing really well overall, some more tweaking should get it in.

The rear is still a bit soft, even w/ preload all the way down. The spring rate seemed pretty good, but the intial rate was a bit soft. I may try some blks, else go to the 120mm springs to take off a bit of the pre-load.

I also recieved my TrueRC 8S 3200 15C batts right before the bash. I ran them in the mains and was pretty pleased, may more power then I can use. On the 10 min main I used up 1600mah, including a bit of driving around during the warmup. The batts are 650g, and can certainly be sized down a bit for shorter mains, but you never know until you run it. Should do a 15 easily. 8s A123s may work good as well.

Short video of the race:

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My father in law filmed it.. its 3min long, but the race was 7min+.. that's how much I had to cut out as it got a bit crappy at points. Too bad as Alex and I had a really good battle going. He kept wanting to zoom close in, but the trucks move so fast it was hard to keep up like that. Lots of thanks to him tho, so be nice :yes:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...s/aa5cdf50.jpg

what kinda rims are those?

they look like maximizer beadlocks, hard to tell from this angle though.

in the video its the same rims and they dont look like beadlocks.

idk though but they look sick with the 23mm hex.

Can't see the pic now, but the black rims are Maxx Mashers mounted on maxximizer's beadlocks. The white rims are Ofna 17mm maxx-sized dishes w/ CFs