3S Lipo in 1/8 scale buggy

[Cain]

Thanks for the info everyone. You guys have given me alot of insight into this.

Edumakated: Few questions I hope you can answer:

1. How large is the longest straight on your indoor track?

2. How large is your track dimensions?

3. Do you know anyone who has used the 2D on 3S and how well it performed?

with the improvement in C ratings on batteries, seems you can handle more power without needing as much cells which drops weight.

Originally Posted by Cain

Thanks for the info everyone. You guys have given me alot of insight into this.

Edumakated: Few questions I hope you can answer:

1. How large is the longest straight on your indoor track?

2. How large is your track dimensions?

3. Do you know anyone who has used the 2D on 3S and how well it performed?

with the improvement in C ratings on batteries, seems you can handle more power without needing as much cells which drops weight.

www.leisurehoursraceway.com

The indoor track is 125 x 65 feet. The back straight is 125 feet and I can barely hold full throttle for 1 second on 3s. Probably get it up to 40 or so. The fastest nitro's can't hold a candle to the car down that straight. It ain't even close since the acceleration with the 1.5d is so fast. My biggest problem is slowing the car down for turns. I accelerate so fast it is hard to take tighter turns and really easy to over jump. I am getting a Mamba Max today, so I will see how the adjustability of punch control, etc will affect my driving.

The outdoor track is 200 x 125 feet. I haven't driven the car on it yet, so I don't know if the 4s is going to work better than the 3s. I will know in a few weeks. However, the 3s works a lot better on the indoor track dimensions.

I would think the 2d would work pretty well on 3s. It really depends on how fast you need to be for your track. The 2d on 3s will probably be just as fast as the nitros in terms of top end, but you are going to accelerate a lot faster, so even if they have higher top end, in most cases it won't seem like it unless you are going down a very long straight. I think at rctech there is someone running a 1515 1y (2200kv) on 3s in a truggy and they really like it.

Honestly, I like the 1.5d because I do a lot of street bashing with my car, so being able to gear up for senseless and retarded straight line speeds was important to me. However, I will say that the 1.5d is overkill for most race situations from what I can tell. I am just getting into racing and will probably tone the car down to a lower kv motor as I get more competitive, possibly a 1509 size motor running on 4s for cooler temps and longer run times. From what I can tell, on the track slow = fast.

[GO-RIDE.com]

Hey Cain,

I've been following the 3S 1509 or 1512 buggy posts. Ultimately I think 4S is better due to cooler running temps, unless you have a really good ESC that only runs on 3S. However, there is one big mistake I keep seeing quoted. Going from 4S to 3S will not save you weight unless you want to give up run time.

Essentially (run time = watts). Watts = Mah x Volts (basically). So a 4S 6000 will have the same watts as a 3S 8000, and also very similar weight. However, the volts will be a bit more efficient and still have a bit more run time. Of course this only holds true if you have motors and gearing optimized for each battery. In the end the 4S will still run cooler and have a wider gearing range.

I think if you want to save weight and still have good run times I'd look at a 1509 on 4S. It will probably be like a good Nitro .21, but still be quicker off the line with the instant torque.

Originally Posted by GO-RIDE.com

Hey Cain,

I've been following the 3S 1509 or 1512 buggy posts. Ultimately I think 4S is better due to cooler running temps, unless you have a really good ESC that only runs on 3S. However, there is one big mistake I keep seeing quoted. Going from 4S to 3S will not save you weight unless you want to give up run time.

Essentially (run time = watts). Watts = Mah x Volts (basically). So a 4S 6000 will have the same watts as a 3S 8000, and also very similar weight. However, the volts will be a bit more efficient and still have a bit more run time. Of course this only holds true if you have motors and gearing optimized for each battery. In the end the 4S will still run cooler and have a wider gearing range.

I think if you want to save weight and still have good run times I'd look at a 1509 on 4S. It will probably be like a good Nitro .21, but still be quicker off the line with the instant torque.

This is my line of thinking now. I think the best set up for a buggy is going to be a lower wind neu 1509 and 4s or 5s battery for track duty. The cars will probably run an 45 minutes on that kind of set up and ESCs should run cool. The 1512 1.5d and 2d are gas hogs. Plus the power is insane from these motors. Heck, a lot of people are starting to use the 1512s in truggys now.

It seems a lot of the conversions are overpowered for track duty from what I am seeing. I know my car is... As more people get more serious about racing, we will find out what the best set ups are going to be...

[GO-RIDE.com]

I have a Losi 8ight waiting to be converted. I'm being held up by the MMM, so hopefully there will be some testing of a 1509 on 4S before I purchase a motor.

[lincpimp]

As I read this, the talk of 8000 and 6000 batteries leads me to belive you guys are running maxamps packs. Do not buy the 6000 pack and expect it to work well, it is made of a 2p configuration of 3000 cells which are 12c cells at best. All of ma stuff drops voltage quite a bit under load. And their prices went up, so buy flightpower, neuenergy, polyqest or polyrc batteries. They are all made with enerland cells, best tested on the market right now. They will give you longer runtimes and more punch, and will most likely last longer. I had a bunch of maxamps stuff, and have recently changed over. Huge difference. A 3700 polyrc 5s pack can outdo a maxamps 5000 5s pack, punch, runtimes, everything. A pair of trakpower hardcased 4900 2s lipos will outdo a pair of maxamps 5000 2s lipos, in fact a huge difference! And if you plan to run 3s, you will need good batteries, as the amp draw is higher. That is why 4s is better, and will not add weight, just improve temps.

[GO-RIDE.com]

I'm planning on using the Neuenergy batts for racing and maybe the cheap Proteks for practice. At this time most buggy racers are using 4S 6000 and 5000 batts whether they be Maxamp or not.