RX8 Race Report
 

hokay...I gave the RX8 a shot at a weekend clubrace. I'll try keep everything short and simple and to the best of my knowledge.

First off, the setup:
Jammin X1-CRT truggy
BBT Rims, LPR Bow-Fighter Mix (both sets in M2 compound), taped
Tekin RX8, #3 TP, 0 DB, default BS, fan installed. No other adjustments made aside from 3S cutoff
NeuEnergy 25/50c 3S 5000mAh
Neu 1515/1.5D/F
stock center spur
14t pinion
10K weight center diff
7K front diff
5K rear diff

Total weight: approximately 10+lbs

Next up, Track Conditions:
hard-packed dirt, loose sections in some areas.

Weather & Time:
roughly 3pm, temperatures hovering around 95-96 degrees

Opponents:
Jammin X1-CRT Novarossi SP21 Hollinger Edition Motor (20% nitro)
Jammin X2-CRT Novarossi SP21+ Hollinger Edition Motor (20% nitro)
Mugen MBX, unknown motor, 30% nitro


RACE REPORT:

Started off with the 1.5D and the Neuenergy 3S. Ran 4 10min mains, came in 2nd place behind the X1-CRT in three of four. Not for lack of speed or handling, I was out-driven. The driver of the nitro X1 happens to be a good friend of mine as well as mentor. He's been racing for 15+ yrs. I discounted the X2 and the Mugen...the X2 had a new driver and the Mugen had a rusty driver. Guess I'm doing alright.

The RX8 handled the race requirements with ease...only one or two cogging moments, but they were inconsequential to my placement. The RX8/1.5D combo is pure insanity...power delivery is good, but just a hair less than the MMM.

After the first main, I decided to try out the RX8 and the T8 2650 motor. Grabbed a fistful of throttle and holy crap. :oh: The sensored motor would lag for about a split second and then turn on the juice. This made for a particularly distressing 2nd Main. Off-throttle corrections in the air and around turns proved to be my downfall. I ended up placing 3rd, just ahead of the Mugen. I was not happy at all with the power lag...not at frikkin all. :angry: The startups and all were smooth, don't get me wrong...there was ZERO cogging with the T8. But the power delivery was just not what I needed to stay at least in the thick of the pack. If it wasn't for the Mugen flaming out (although they fixed the problem quickly), I would have placed dead last. :grrrrrr:

Power delivery between the Neu and T8 are markedly different. The Neu motor screams for the throttle lashing. The T8 takes it time and is mostly nonchalant. Now it is possible that this could be due to timing (which I did not touch on the RX8), but I didn't care to find out. At least not on a race day with everyone eyeing and curious about the performance of a converted 1/8 in a race setting. Tried and true, I switched back to the Neu. (Hey...that rhymes! :intello: )

After switching back to the Neu for the 3rd main, I was able to regain second place behind the X1-CRT. It was a seesaw battle between me and my mentor for 1st place, but he ended up being the more consistent racer and ultimately pulled out the victory.

The final Main was a mirror of the 3rd. I was choppin it up with the old man for 1st place, but his consistency beat me out. He made no mistakes, kept his lines and cornering clean and his jumping smooth. I made very few mistakes, but those mistakes added up and ended up costing me the final main. Oh well...consistency is THE mitigating factor on race day.

Now on to performance temperatures.

1st Main - Motor: 136
ESC: 123
Batt: 112

2nd Main - Motor (T8): 123
ESC: 120
Batt: 115

3rd Main - Motor (Neu): 144 :oh:
ESC: 125
Batt: 120

Final Main: Motor (Neu) : 146
ESC: 124
Batt: 123

Overall, I'm neither pleased nor displeased with the RX8. Seems to give me about the same performance (power-wise) as the MMM, but when run in tandem with the T8 and the sensor, it is a good combination. Smooth, no cogging, but questionable on the delivery. AGAIN, it could possibly be due to the timing not being set up right. I don't know, nor would I care to find out at the moment. I'll stick to the Neu for the time being and possibly until I find something that performs better. I'm sold on the Neu motors right now. The T8? Meh...no thanks. I'm gonna need a motor for my buggy, so I'm going to pick up a motor from lincpimp and perhaps sell the T8.

One thing I did not try, though: I didn't try running the T8 without the sensor module on. I'm wondering if it would have made a noticeable difference. We're possibly having another race this weekend, so I just might try it this way if I'm so inclined to forgive the T8 for her ghastly performance.

I'm not happy with the temps that the 1.5D and the 3S packs were reading that day...a little too close to the edge, if you ask me. I might go back down to an 11T pinion and see how things work from there.

And as a closing note, I was able to try out some new batteries that I had ordered. They are the new Thunder Power 40/80c hard packs. I picked up a 3S 5000mAh pack from rclipos.com, and holy CRAP....these things are friggin monsters. The 3S acts very similar to a 20c 4S pack...looks like I just might have to order some more of these and use them for race days. The 3S pack I was using was barely sweating after an exhibitionary main...it temp'd at 100degs after a good 12mins of running HARD. The 1.5D wasn't too happy to be run so hard, though. She temp'd at 148. :surprised: The RX8 wasn't fazed, though...she was happily plodding along at 125degs. :yipi:


So there you have it...a race report from halfway around the world. :yes:


If you guys have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you. And I hope this review helps some of you. :great:

forgot to mention...I didn't get a chance to get any vids or any race pics. There was no one there to take 'em. :(

Perhaps next time I'll be able to get someone to snap some up.


In the meantime, let me pacify the mob...and show you pictures of the track and some scenery from this little place I call home.

the beginning of the track, the straight and a shot of my mentor.

the first turn, the second turn (right after the first whoop), and the beginning of the first rhytm section.

the midpoint of the the first rhythm section (and a shot of the other racers), the end of the rhythm section and the third turn.

the beginning of the second rhythm section (and a bonus pic of the other racers), the middle and end, and the 4th turn.

the last tabletop, the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th turns, and the beginning of the straightaway.

a lone buggy, a shot of Brushless HQ (the altima), and a scenic of greener pastures, trees, clouds and a hotel-type building.

a shot of what was to the right of Brushless HQ, the road heading in to the track, and of course....The NEMESIS: the X1-CRT with a Nova Hollinger. :whip:

a look at where the pics were being snapped from, the view of the road that was behind and to the right, and directly behind me.

an upclose of HQ (NeuEnergy 3S being charged and balanced with a MRC SuperBrain 989), and gratuitous shots of the T8 2650 (with a shot of my hand).

AANNDD...where would we be without pictures of the warriors? I present to you the RCM CRT.5e and the RCM X1-CRTe.

and my knife.

the munchkin...revo shocks for the front, buggy front shocks for the rear, R1Pro with a VXL motor. All being run on 2S for race, 3S for insanity.

and of course, I must represent RCM all the way out here. Mike, I'm doing my best to give y'alls a good name. :great:

and of course, the big brother. I need to get rid of that damn snake sticker. yes the wires are sloppy...I know. :whistle:

and of course, some last pimpin shots of an AWESOME paint job (done by yours truly).

And...proud shots of the badges of brushless. :great. I am proud to sport the RCM logo.



That's all she wrote, folks....stay tuned for another exciting weekend of Life on the Rock.

I tried once 3S battery on XT8 wit 2200KV motor and tried to gear it up to stay par with nitros and 5100mAh battery didnt last 10min at all and pack was overheating. So nothing to expect from 3S. Go for 4S and you will be satisfied with with perfomance. Maybe on buggy its OK but for truggy its definatly not enough. If pack can deliver enough amps it will be definatly hotter setup than on 4S.
I think real potencial of RX8 system starts from 4S battery

Good report, but I am quite suprised that you chose to run these without at least some bit of "test and tune" - "At least not on a race day with everyone eyeing and curious about the performance of a converted 1/8 in a race setting......."

I would have thought being the combo and all the RX8 would have come kind of pre set for the T8, or maybe it does. I am just thinking out loud here.

Nice report though. Most reports I have seen have not done it back to back same race day and same racers exactly as you had. That's pretty consistent.

This report would some up what my theory is on the two systems. The RX8 has some things better than the MMM and the MMM has some things better to the RX8 without either being vastly superior/inferior to the other.

I would love to try one, but don't see myself spending the extra money on the RX8 when the MMM does everything I need and more.

R those temperature in degrees or F?

Those are definitely Fahrenheit. That hot in Celcius would be seriously bad!

You have to do the manual or Hotwire tuning. It is not a plug and play system.

However, if you have the Hotwire, everything is programmable on 1 screen. Super, super easy. Then if you needed to do manual track tuning (throttle curves, etc..) the RX8 is pretty easy.

Oh, and timing makes a big difference in performance. I have mine dialed down to 8 degrees. Doesn't hesitate though like Bustafied's... I have the linear throttle curve selected, I just feather the throttle. Takes off instantly.

Bustafied, great race review. Personally, I would get the system worked out ALONE first, haha, before you show up at a race and figure it out in a main.

Buddy of mine is running a Tekin system and I've taken a few laps with it too. It runs really smooth and throttle response is crisp... no lag time, etc. He is very happy with it.

I'm running Castle MM/MMM and Neu motors and they are still working good for me. I also have run the MM Pro and it's very nice too.:whistle:

Swine!

Enough said.

Hmm...I've had no problems with my 3S pack. Truth be told, I'm satisfied with the performance on 3S. :yes: Then again, I'm running a 2700KV motor compared to the 2200KV you have. That could also be a factor.

Another possibility is that the "C" rating of your 3S pack could be a bit low.


And it could also be that maybe the nitros here are slower compared to the ones you run with. :neutral:

4S on my truggy is great...but it's overkill for the track.


Just my two cents. :mdr:

Thanks! :)


Yes...I should have looked further into it. Then again, this is my first foray into "sensored" applications. The concepts that I thought would normally apply didn't. :neutral: Oh well.


Perhaps more adjusting with the TP and timing is in order.

Hmm...good thinking. Seems logical to me...makes perfect sense, actually. I dunno why Tekin would leave it out. It could also be that they're (Tekin) letting the racers set their own profile and responses to adjust for each track. :neutral:

Thanks...and I agree with you. The RX8 does have some points over the MMM, and MMM has it's point over the RX8. The systems are so similar that neither gives up more than a hair to the other. WITH the exception of the cog-free starts in sensored mode. But then again, comparing the two modes wouldn't be an "apples to apples" comparison.

I've tried the RX8, and quite honestly, unless you're a full blown racer with a sponsorship on the line, I think the MMM would suit most needs. It'll definitely work for the club racing stuff...but when we're talking regionals and national qualifiers, the RX8 would be the way to go.


If only they could squeeze more power out of the 2650, though. Then, it'd be golden.

ah yes...thank you. :)


I had forgotten about some of the members here who use celsius instead of Farenheit. My apologies.

If you're running this in a truggy, you're running the wrong motor. You should be running the 2200kv truggy motor at max, not the 2650 buggy motor. Personally I'd run the 1500-1700 in 4 to 5s before running a 3s setup in a truggy

excellent feedback. I hope you stick around awhile!

Between Hotwire and the Castlelink, my vote goes to the Castlelink. It's a bit easier to use (which is saying something, since the Hotwire system is simple as well) and I absolutely love the custom throttle adjusting feature.

I'll try and take a look into the timing thing. However, if the top end speed of the motor is any indicator of the output, then I think I just might stick with the Neu. From what I've seen, the Neu is putting out probably about 20% more power.

Thanks! And yeah...perhaps I should take the truggy and motor back to the lab for more tests first rather than just dumping it in to swim with the sharks. :)

Yup...smooth and crisp would describe it perfectly. Looks like the lag I have is all user error...damn.

and a MM Pro? That all of us should be so lucky... :)

I'll second that motion. Nice to see good straight forward feedback.

why is it the wrong motor? Why must it be a 2200kv at max?


When I first started ordering motors for the conversion, I think I was looking at the 2.5D AND the 1.5D. Figured I'd try one first and see how it went, so I cancelled a motor from the shopping cart.

Only to find out after the order shipped that I had cancelled the 2.5D instead of the 1.5D. I spoke to Mike as well and he said that the 1.5D would be fine, but just to be aware that my battery and gearing options would be limited. He also informed me that the 1.5D is an amp-monster.

So far I haven't had any major problems with temps in my set-up. :neutral: I mean, aside from just this previous race session, my electronics have been happy. Average temps (on an 11T pinion) for everything were as follows:

motor: 126-135 (no fan)
ESC: 130-150 (MMM v3)
batt: 105-125 (3S, 5000mAh, 25C) - the 125 is usually after a rather vicious bashing session

Now bear in mind that most times when we run the ambient temps are usually hovering around 95-96 degrees.

I could be wrong, but I think the set-up is quite happy. For this race session, I moved up to a 14T pinion...which would explain the higher temps. :neutral:

Am I misguided in thinking that the temps are ok?

thank you! Yes...I hope to stick around awhile too. I've been meaning to post up and stuff...I've just seriously had no time. :intello:

thanks, man. :great:

The neu was probably ok, was it a 1515/1.5d? I was refering to the tekin motor, the 2650 is designed for the buggy not the truggy, its even listed on tekin's site as such. The highest kv motor on the truggy list is the 2200kv, Size wise, the truggy motor would be better at handling the load

As far as the temps, you seem to be ok. I was refering to the tekin motor being a buggy motor, you even said it run a bit warmer over the neu, I think it was because it was a smaller (shorter, as in a 1512) motor than the neu

affirmative...the motor is 1515/1.5D/F. Don't recall where I said the T8 ran warmer than the Neu...in fact, the temp was lower. 123F, if I remember correctly. :)

I have one last test remaining for the T8...if she fails to perform, it's off to the chopping block for her. :diablo:

Or you could just send it to me! I promise you the punishment will be just brutal!!!!

You were right, I misread the temps. I still think part of the problem with the tekin motor, is its designed for a buggy, so less power available and less torque from the input