1/8 scale electric racing
 

For myself, I prefer the power of a good 1/8 scale ralley cross buggy. When people think 1/8 scale they think nitro. Well I prefer electric. Problem is they do not make electric 1/8 scale buggies, so to get one you have to convert a nitro powered buggy to electric.

This thread will be dedicated for those who want to convert their 1/8 scale buggy to electric. For those who are interested in converting their own or just want to learn more, this is where you can post your questions and we will do our best to answer them.

Here is a pic of the Hyper 7 PBS that I started with.

Now here is a pic showing how far I am in the process in converting it to electric.

I did one a different way. I converted an e-maxx into an electric 1/8 scale buggy (kind of). It is in the picture forum (truggy) with the yellow body. I took off the 1/8 tires/wheels and narrow suspension to race in the e-maxx class. The truck gets quite a bit of attention wherever I go. It goes as good as it looks, too!

Tomorrow I will be making plates to be used for mounting the batteries. They will have slots allowing me to use velcro to strap in the batteries.

Here is a pic with a Bolink 57 Truck body. I took off the rock guards and converting it into a truggy.

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...?s=&postid=124

To studysession: What is the weight of the nitro vs the electric buggy? Have you raced it against the nitros yet?

I have no clue on the weight. Holding in my hand they are both heavy. I can weigh the electric once I repair it :) But I am not going to remount all the nitro stuff just to weigh it.

It is fast though - I ran it for first time this week and yesterday and all I can say is WOW it was fast. I was using the Warrior 9918 controller and the Feigao 10L motor with a 16t Mod-1 pitch pinion on 12 GP3300 cells.

I was doing some jumping yesterday and all was going well. It is very cold here in the UK and plastic breaks easier in the cold. I landed wrong on one of the jumps and broke the wing mount - kept jumping and then broke where the rear shock tower connects to the rear diff. So I am ordering new spares for the buggy this coming week. So it is out until I get them now. :)

Cold definately makes the plastic brittle! That buggy conversion is nice and clean! One of the best I've seen for sure. Nice work!

Thanks Mike! I am bout to publish a full How-To article in a couple of magazines of the conversion.

Thanks for the kind words.

Got any up to date body off pictures? i would like to see the finished product!:)

Thats a beautiful conversion. I always wanted an 1/8 scale electric buggy. Maybe that will be my next project. :D

I have loads of updated pictues but have to wait for the magazine article to be released before I am allowed to release any of the newer pics. :) It is great and loads of fun.

I got the H7 back together last night fron wrecking it really bad. Can't wait till the weekend to run it. LOL :)

Latest pics of my Hyper 7 PBS....

Pics:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...67/heading.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...ounted1-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...ounted2-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...ounted3-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...arMesh1-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...LidTop1-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...dFront1-lg.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/r...FAngle1-lg.jpg

The cool part is the ESC and motor can be purchased from Mike of:
http://www.RC-Monster.com

My batteries come from Model Electronics, Corp:
http://www.modelelectronicscorp.com

I just got to have an electric 1/8th scale racer.:D

THANKS! :) I love it. It is not as clean now though. LOL

I sell batteries, too! That is a nice conversion, Keith. That motor mount is BEEFY! I see you don't run a receiver pack or UBEC with that. How does the bec in the controller do? I was talking to Alex of BK electronics for a while today and he said it can handle up to 16 cells with one servo! I haven't even tried to use the BEC in my E-maxx on 12 cells. I guess I will try it and see what happens. Nice article on RCU also!

Thanks man! :) BEC did fine. No worries there.

Nice conversion - cant wait to do one myself:)

Newbie Question
 

Hello,

I currently have a Sportwerks Mayhem Pro 1/8 scale buggy and I am burned out on nitro racing. After reading some forums it looks like converting to a brushless setup is somewhat easy to do. My questions are:

Do you recommend the Feigao 9L or 10L?
Do you recommend the Warrior 9918?

The next event that I will attend for 1/8 racing will be the Dirt Nitro Challenge in CA.

Will this brushless combination with 12 GP3300 matched cells allow me and more importantly the buggy to keep up with the nitro counterpart?

Is there as much torque as a topend .21 and is the top speed similar to a topend .21 with a brushless system?

What would the runtime be with this setup?

Do you run the batteries in series or parallel?

I read that using a 6v receiver pack will increase the steering servo performance, but add a little additional weight over using a UBEC. Is it recommended to use a receiver pack or UBEC in a 1/8 buggy for racing purposes?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just need to know if the performance of a brushless 1/8 buggy will be equal to a nitro 1/8 buggy before making the large investment.

Thanks,

Damron

Re: Newbie Question
 

Either will work well, depending on the gearing, and either will provide plenty of power.
The 9918 warrior will work fine in this application(as you can see!). The micro 18120 would be a better controller, as it has more adjustability and can handle hotter motors, but the 9918 warrior keeps the cost down.

These converted buggies will run just as fast on the top end and have even more punch on the low end (will out accelerate the nitro buggies). I have beaten nitro buggies in drag races with my e-maxx!


This I can't answer accurately - Hopefully studysession will check in and answer this based on his recent experiences. With gp3300 cells, you can definately finish a 5 minute heat, but a lot depends on the track, the gearing, etc.
Keith: a little help here?


Batteries are run in series, so 14.4 volts.


I am pretty sure Keith (studysession) doesn't use either. The BEC in the controller puts out 5.5 volts, the ubec will put out a consistent 6 volts and the receiver pack will put out slightly more than 6 volts when it peaks, and the voltage will decline throughout the run.
Don't worry about all the questions. That is what these forums are for! Ask away.

Thanks,

Damron [/B][/QUOTE]

By the way, welcome to the site!

I guess my last post doesn't look so good. I placed the answer in between the quote, so they are hard to read. Fixed.:)

Thank you for the quick answers. Runtime will be a determining factor, since most qualifiers range from 5 to 7 minutes. Then the mains are another issue. A quick change battery system would need to be setup.

Thanks again

LiPo batteries could also be used to get the runtime up in the 15-20 minute mark, but you are talking some expense there. Not to mention the nitro guys crying about the fact that you don't have to pit! Nimh batts should get you through 7 minutes, especially the new gp3700s when they become available.

A quick change battery system would be awesome to come up with - That would take a little thought though.. As for them nitro guys crying about not pitting - we'll wait for them just before the finish line..:)

I am getting anywhere from 8 - 12 minute runtimes at the moment. There are things I can do to improve but to be honest, I am happy with that right now. I am running 12 cells in a series. A lot of people recommend to use 14 to get more speed out of it. I think it is fast enough with 12 cells and not going to 14 anytime soon.

Hope that helps.

nice setup :004: what tires are you running?

i just got an Ofna 9.5 pro kit and 9L motor :027: hopefully i will get to it once all of my other projects are completed.

justin

Nice buggy study,I wanted to ask to you if the pinion it resists on the metal spur,is hardened metal?I must use the spur of plastic otherwise mine pinion ruin easy.
Thanks Ettore

I have not ran it to much since the article. Just ordered a new 9920 ESC from Mike today and hope it is here before the weekend so I can run it again. or I might put the ESC in my EMaxx and wait on this.

As for wear of the pinion. Yes metal to metal does wear quickly and get expensive. It is worth converting to a plastic center diff.

THANKS

Sweet buggy. I don't know how I missed this one.

Now I just can't wait till I get the new ESC to run this again. I also have a MTroniks Genesis Truck ESC coming. I had one but it was a dud from the beginning so mailing it off for warranty and will use it when it returns.

what tires are those??

justin

The tires are from OFNA... Bought them off EBay.
Click Here

Here they are on OFNA's website.
OFNA SITE
They are the 1/8 scale Excel tires...

BTW -
The rims were white. I dyed the wing and rims black.

kewl, those look like they would probably work good on grass. thanx for the info regarding the dying of the wheels and wing, i am going to have to do that to Nemisis.

justin

Sweet ride! I have a Jammin X1-CR roller on the way. So far I think I am going to run a 9L and Genesis Truck on 12 cells. Can't wait to start it.