[SpEEdyBL]

This is a very interesting thread. It has always puzzled me how novak motors have received so much bad rap. Here's what I've collected ever since people started using brushless motors in bigger vehicles. First there were the feigaos. People started out using the 8l and 9l winds, which from what I've heard, have had way too many overheating issues. Meanwhile, the HV4400 was out and it seemed to receive a lot of criticism from people who didn't didn't even own them. My guess is that they were referring to novak motors in general since the ss5800 had its issues causing the widespread assumption that sensored was inferior technology... etc. Also, the fact that both the motor and esc had a thermal shutdown made it seem like novak systems were overheating more than they actually were. Now, while more and more people began to use 8l, 9l and 10l motors, the complaints of overheating began to show through. The explaination for this was too much kv, and thus the overall trend was leaning to the bigger, low kv XL motors, where 30k-35k rpm is now the norm. Even so, the xl motors still have heating issues.

Fairly recently, novak replaced the rotors in all of their motors with sintered rotors. After that, all complaints about novak products seemed to have disappeared almost completely. You don't hear about many hv maxxs on the forums, but they are out there because every lhs has them.

Psychologically, the raw look of the feigao motors and the fact that they are sensorless give a limitless impression. That could be another reason why the feigao motors receive a lot of loyalty. In summery, I think the HV4.5 deserves more credit than it gets. Nobody has proven it to be a "weaker motor" or have "too high kv" for the job. Sure it has has a smaller rotor, but what really matters is how well it can dissipate heat and how efficient it is. If you look inside a feigao motor, its hard to see how it could be more efficient than a novak motor. The feigao motors are basically bundles of wire held together by epoxy while the novak can holds its wire neatly in place with a nice steel stator stack. In fact, when I opened up my feigao 380 12s, looking through the front, the rear bearing wasn't even centered in relation the coils. I've had three feigao motors and a novak ss5800, and the novak after all, ended up being my favorite. Other than some of the early issues that this motor has had, I haven't had any other problems. All my feigao motors have 1. fell apart, 2. overheated, and 3. didn't fit properly in my vehicle. Sure they were more powerful than the novak, but there really wasn't a gear ratio for them that didn't cause heat. The novak would run stone cold on any of the lower pinion gears and only overheated when the pinion gear reached a certain point.

Now, I am about to switch to a 1/8 buggy and I am seriously considering running a novak motor with it. The esc is a totally different matter, but if the mamba max, which I have, can handle the 8xl, why can't it handle the hv4.5, especially if castle is releasing software to handle the novak motors? Mamba Max + HV Maxx: That would be the ultimate, lightweight, affordable setup.