Lipo shootout is done!
 

http://www.bigsquidrc.com/lipo-battery-shoot-out/

Check it out. I have yet to read it but I am sure its good.

Well, no surprises there... :lol:

I think they should've used a higher discharge rate (than 30A) since all of the packs they tested could handle it (supposedly).

:sarcastic:

A bit of apples, pears and oranges going on...

Only common thread was that they fit in a slash...

The shootout was done fairly well IMO. Could have been better in several aspects, but not bad overall.

Not surprised, either.

I agree with Art1k, there were too many different mah sizes and C rates to draw any terribly useful comparisons. Thing that made me laugh the most was that packs were marked down for being expensive; since when does having a higher price tag make a pack bad, especially when its a high spec TP pack compared to the cheapo lower mah and c rate packs?

Packs with identical or near identical specs shold have been tested to determine which were true to their specs and which were over rated ( to make them appear better & compete with better brands).

I dont like how they did that at all. Plus look what they said about the battery they put in last place. The SMC 5200 40C.

So its the lowest rated battery because of its speed and power? Something seem fishy there to me.

I agree with both Arct1k and Neil, too many variables. I was expecting them to take, for example, a 5000mah 20C battery from each company and test them against eachother. The data they ended up with wasn't useless by any means, but it wasn't terribly useful either. If I was in the market for new lipos that article wouldn't have been very helpful to me in my decision.

Good to see the TrueRC packs did as well as they did, Go Dan !
He had more testicular fortitude than someone else that I will leave unmentioned
"M.A"

Yeah what the hell is that?

Possibly the tester needs to go back to nitro..... or perhaps some of those "puff to fit" packs that would be a bit easier for him to handle..

My Heavens? Wheelies?

For Shame!

And then ther's this...

From the shootout:

"So you as a reader and a consumer, please keep in mind that those companies that did send us packs care about their product and potential consumers- THEY want your business. Those didn’t respond, perhaps not so much. One note here, we also invited MaxAmps to submit a Li-po for the shootout, but we later pulled our offer due to them being the only paying battery advertiser on BigSquidRC. We did so because we didn’t want any readers thinking we were pulling any favoritism in our test results had MaxAmps won or placed well. We wanted to present the most honest, fair, and legit shootout possible, even if it meant excluding one of our site sponsors."

How convenient, the mystery shall continue....

HAHAHA :) that one made me chuckle:lol:


Looks like a decent comparison, but then again cant compare a 4000mah and a 5000mah pack.. but its better then having a runtime comparison...:oops:

Well actually that appears to be another built in design feature on the premium lipos, no clips, straps or velcro hold downs necessary!

That test didn't tell me much, to be honest.

The capacity should have been compared to weight. In one test an 8000mah pack could be last place on the weight test but first place on the capacity test.

Price should have also been compared to capacity and C rating. Can't knock a 35C pack for being 150 bucks and praise a 15C pack for being 80 bucks.

Personally, they should have made some sort of comparison for packs in the 4000-5000mah range or something.

Im kind of mad that they didnt include a zippy. they would have probably been in the top half of that field if not won.

I wonder if maxamps did so bad that they told bigsquid not to put them in so it didn't hurt their rep. Or maybe they're too cheap or greedy. I thnk they'd lose in about all those categories too.

I honestly think most of this is random bits of information being shoved together like people going to an AA meeting. They all have something in common, but you can't rank them all fairly.

All the categories could use work too. Fit in a slash? Price?(maxamps loses) 30a load test and not __c? No big brands? Flawed top speed testing? Weight (regardless of mah)? Need to compare similar packs..

I'm getting a pair of True RC 8000mah 10c soon so hopefully they're good.

I'd get zippies or hyperions if I were you. You'll be much happier, especially if those packs puff.

I like the shootout. At least they did something. Particularly impressed with the 3600 and the smc lightningvolts 5000.

I can easily see why overlaid graphs are much better to visually compare. 2-3 different currents are nice to do comparisons on different packs. 10, 30 , and 60 is nice. 30 is a nice comprimise.

overall I'm pretty impressed with article. If they had used cba graphs then later on it is easy to "add packs" or "share files"

If anyone is willing or able to test a pack that is similar perhaps we can "add" some more packs to the shootout. I have 1 2sx4000 I may do just to see where it stacks up.

This lipo shootout was for a stock slash. Useful if you want a good lipo for your stock slash, useless for anything else (save for observed lipo capacities, and maybe the voltage under load if you have a 30 amp draw).

I am sure a MA pack would have been fine, 30amps and a stock slash is not much load. They should have thrown in a decent 6 cell nimh stick pack for comparison, as that is what the majority of stock slash owners will run during bashing. Would have been nice to see that difference.

After reading through, I wasn't too impressed with the testing either. Seems like they could have gotten around the same MAH in each of the packs to provide a closer competition. Also like Linc said, something a little more useful than stock Slash would have been nice, something more Amp hungry.

But they did have fancy bar graphs at the bottom of each page. thats a plus.

It is very hard to compare tests, but here's the best of my ability to do them with the bigsquid standards. It's as fair a comparison that I can give. AcePow 2sx4000 lipo,Good stick pack, generic e-bay stick pack.

Points Manufacturer/Battery Capacity
1 SMC Sport Max 8000mah 28c+ 7831
2 Thunder Power Sport Race 8000 22c 7704
3 True RC 6400 15c 6342
4 Thunder Power Sport Race 5400 25c 5354
5 CORE RC Core RC 5000 5188
6 True RC True RC 5000 5141 my used TRC pack ran 4781 mah
7 SMC C-Max 5200 40c+ 5060
8 Thunder Power Pro Race 5000 40c 4917
9 SMC Lightning Volts 5000 20c 4904
Good stick pack (4500) 4335
10 Speed Power 4000 25c 4017
AcePow 2sx4000 25C 3815 mah
11 Team Checkpoint 3600 30C 3589
e-bay stick pack (sold as 6800 mah) 2620

voltage under load test, this is very hard to get an average without the comp electronics, I wish I had one. After comparing my used TRC 2sx5000 pack I think it would be fair to knock off .2 volts from my votage under load readings for a fair comparison.


Points Manufacturer/Battery Voltage Under Load
AcePow 2sx4000 25C 7.24v
1 Thunder Power Pro Race 5000 40c 7.13v
1 Thunder Power Sport Race 8000 22c 7.13v
3 Thunder Power Sport Race 5400 25c 7.12v
4 SMC Sport Max 8000mah 28c+ 7.1v
5 SMC C-Max 5200 40c+ 7.08v
6 SMC Lightning Volts 5000 20c 7.03v
6 True RC 6400 15c 7.03v
8 Speed Power 4000 25c 6.98v
9 True RC True RC 5000 6.97v my used TRC ran 7.145
10 CORE RC Core RC 5000 6.96v
11 Team Checkpoint 3600 30C 6.8v
Good stick pack 6x4500 6.28v
Cheap stick pack 6x6800 5.74v

I had to use a 5 volt cut off for the generic e-bay super duty stick pack since it only ran 134 mah over 6 volts (not good)

Points Manufacturer/Battery Weight in Grams
1 Team Checkpoint 3600 30C 233
AcePow 2sx4000 25C 234
2 SMC Lightning Volts 5000 20c 235
3 Speed Power 4000 25c 256
4 True RC True RC 5000 275
5 CORE RC Core RC 5000 285
6 Thunder Power Sport Race 5400 25c 294
7 Thunder Power Pro Race 5000 40c 297
8 SMC C-Max 5200 40c+ 317
8 True RC 6400 15c 317
10 Thunder Power Sport Race 8000 22c 370
Cheap e-bay stick pack 372
11 SMC Sport Max 8000mah 28c+ 373
Good stick pack 422

I hope this is not copyright problem.

interesting results.

For the C Ratings on the TrueRC stuff, they didn't do too bad.

I guess what I would have liked to have seen is tests based on what the backs were rated at to confirm if they fit the C rating or not.

Yes, (more power) hehe. TrueRC is one of the few whose ratings I have trusted.

I haven't bought a TRC pack in a while since I found Zippys, the only beef I have with Dans packs are they are only rated at 20C max. Not that I've had a problem but if he had 30C's I'd rather had bought them instead. I have
(2) TRC 2s 8000mah 20C in my ERBL and they are great packs, very happy with performance and after 150+ cycles still balance perfect.Money well spent.

It may be a case where Dan's 20C are better than a lot of other's 30-35C.