ASK Cub Reporter, 03.14.2013, Version- Oh Ya! Your Questions, My Drivel

Hey cubby, where do you come up with the titles for the cub report?

Max R.

Cubby– Hey Max, your email has “hit the big-time” so shoot your snail mail info to Brian for a free BSRC sticker pack.

So… where do the titles for THE Cub Report come from? When I first started doing the CR about a half decade ago I decided to do a fresh “title” for each edition. Little did I know that the CR would still be kicking for years afterwards, and little did I know how hard it would be to come up with 52 original titles per year. In the early days it was quite easy, but for the last 4 and a half years (LOL) it’s been pretty hard coming up with something new and witty. So… often times the titles are simply an inside joke between me and the BSRC staff (or other industry people), or sometimes they might be related to the music I am listening to while I am writing up the CR (like last weeks “Paint it Black”), or sometimes the title might just be a combination of keywords for an SEO kick. To boil it down, don’t take anything in the CR too seriously, not even the title, it is for entertainment purposes only.

Hi Brian,
I am about to start racing mardave / supastox 1s lipo with a thunderpower 13.5t motor and lrp sxx esc.
I was advised that the Turnigy nano-tech A-SPEC 6000mah 1S 65~130C Hardcase Lipo Pack if worth getting as its only £15 in the UK compared to the Orion 1s Carbon 6800mah which is £50 in the UK.
I saw you have tested the 2s A-spec and it was similar but not as good as the Gens Ace. Have you any idea how much better the Orion or reedy 1s lipos would be compared to the Turnigy? Do you know if the Turnigy last very long, just trying to work out if they do not last if I will need to replace them more often than a £50 lipo.
I use a orion quad 6 ac/dc charger and always store my lipos at 3.8v per cell and charge them on the day I need them and discharge them for storage the same day.
Any advice would be great thank you. I could afford to buy 2 of the Orion packs at a push, but thats 7 packs of the Turnigy!!!!!!
Thank you guys, great tests on lipos too.
Robert

Cubby– Hey what’s up Robert? Those Mardave cars are something else eh? We should post more of their cars up. Ya, I know they are pretty much a Euro only brand, but they certainly make some interesting “bare bones” racing equipment.

So… your question is- how much better is an Orion or Reedy Lipo compared to a Turnigy.

First off, we’ve never tested or driven a Reedy Lipo, so I have no idea if they are junk or the cats meow. Personally I’d skip’em for the fact that they won’t give us the time of day. I mean, if they won’t even talk to the guys at your favorite website why should you spend any money with them?

So… how much better is an Orion than a Turnigy? A big part of my answer depends on the context of what you race. You race a 1S 13.5 class. In that class even a tiny amount more voltage is quite beneficial on track. Therefore- I am going to recommend you pop the extra cash for the Orion’s. They put out more voltage under load, plus, they simply feel faster on track than the Turnigy. You won’t be able to buy as many packs, but the extra voltage of the Orion’s is well worth it.

However… if you were racing 2wd mod off-road on a slick outdoor track my answer would have been different. On slick tracks the power difference between the two brands would become much harder to feel (if not impossible). I’d still probably recommend the Orion’s (because ours have lasted a long time), but the Turnigy’s would be a decent option if you were looking to save some cash.

That’s it for this week, shoot me your questions, answers, and subliminal messages to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com. If you make the big-time you get free stickers, if I proclaim yours as “letter of the month” we ship ya a free BSRC t-shirt (even in the size you want!).

YOUR Cub Reporter