Well I had one of the original Novak 4.5's with standard shaft, and it never gave me any troubles. It was an insane speed run system. The newer one has the lipo cut-off, and from what I've read on other boards, Novak has increased the voltage 5s lipo's. I probably wont go over 4s, but 5s is a nice option too. Some PPL like Novak, some dont, I personally have had good luck with them in other offroad applications. And its alot cheaper than going the MGM/Neu route I did with my Emaxx :yes:.

Novak has not increased the voltage to 5s lipo. NovakTwo on here stated this fact. Then there is the fact that 4s and the 4.5 have never gotten along.

With novak it has always been to little product for too much money for me. Why not just run the MM on 4s and a 7xl. It will beat the pants off the novak, is programmable, and costs less.

I was running 4s with a 4.5, never gave me a bit of problems. I must say following Novaks gearing is key, they do not like it when you stray from the recommended ratio. I've already went the MGM 16018, Neu 1515 1y route, and I'll tell ya I'll never dump $280 on a MGM again. When it worked it was sweet but half the battle was getting the thing set-up. I havent tried a Mamba with Feigo motor, my bud did try his on a 8xl geared 68/17 and it fried the Mamba first time out on 4s. And to add insult to injury he ordered a Monster Max and ran it 2-3 times before the BEC went south on that one......Now if Tekin could get there monster stuff together, I'd be all over that.

MGM setup was pretty simple for me. Hook it up, calibrate the controller, hook it up to computer with the software, enter your settings, then go play.

I just installed my MGM 16018 yesterday and it was just calibrating once and then you're good to go. You can of course make additional changes which is very easy when using the USBCOM interface... I wouldn't try the "count-the-beeps" method though ;)