ASK Cub Reporter, Version 08.04.2010, A Weekly Q & A Session

You ask the questions, we do our best to make up some kind of ridiculous answers……..
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was up i need some help with a delima im looking to get a tamiya clod buster
and i do not like the stock wiper speed control that it comes with and was
woundering what type would be best as an esc would be -simon

hello brian ive found the clod buster i will be getting its the metal plated
one and was woundering if its a 2 steering servo setup and it also has an
esc too lol and if you know does she come with ball bearings
simon

Cubby– Wow, lots of questions on a truck that I dig, but have never owned. First off, just one servo on the truck, I’m gonna guess slap’n in a 200+ oz Hitec would be a burly upgrade. Secondly, the truck comes with some bearings, but also some bushings. Also, as far as I know, a stock Clod Buster comes with an ole’ school mechanical/wiper speedo. For an upgrade I’d be giving Novak a ring ASAP. And seeing as how I really know absolutely nothing about making a Clod way super dope, you should probably give the guys at Thunder Tech a ring, they know their Clods, and at the very least can give expert advice to you, rather than me just making stuff up. But thanks for reading, and congrats on your new Clod, those things are cool, I really should break down and make Brian get me one.

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I’m not going to post a an email here that we received, but I will post roughly what it stated (due to some legal mumbo jumbo). An email we received last week stated that using foam tires during the high speed testing of our Lipo shootout was a poor choice, and it also stated something to effect of why don’t we test a 30C rated pack at a full 30C discharge for the shootouts.

First off about using foam tires on our high speed runs- during our first Lipo shootout we used a mod Slash with rubber tires and stock body. That combo was hard to drive and not as consistent as we would have liked. It was essentially a setup where the faster, more powerful packs would actually want to wheelie out harder at near full speed, giving perhaps faster packs a poorer top speed rating. Learning our lesson from the first shootout, during the second we used a much easier to drive Associated T4 on foam tires. We mounted the batteries all the way forward to eliminate any chance of blow overs at full speed, and the foam tires did not turn into pizza cutters like rubber would, resulting in more traction and drive ability. The person that shot us the email stated that foam tires wear quickly and that in turn ruined our top speed measurements.

Ok, we don’t screw around when we do shootouts, we go above and beyond making sure everything is fair and square. During our speed runs nearly no wear was shown on the foam tires, it was a blind test where neither the driver of the truck nor the person running the radar gun knew what pack was inside the truck, but most importantly, we double checked our results. After all packs had been tested, a couple more were thrown back onto the track and retested to make sure the results were the same, and yes indeed, they were. At BigSquidRC we do not care who wins a shootout, our highest priority is that there is an even playing field for everyone.

Now, why didn’t we test the 20C packs at 20C and the 30C packs at 30C? I’ve stated this before, but I’ll say it again, for two reasons- 1. None of the packs would have lived through the test, and 2. most importantly, we want real world results. The average driver most likely expects ten minutes of run time now days, that’s an 6C average discharge. A 30C discharge gives a theoretical runtime of just 2 minutes, a length of time only the drag guys would be happy with. We use a 30 amp discharge, a load high enough to be a challenge and one that reasonably matches what might be seen during hard driving. All this “C” hype with Lipo batteries is out of hand, if it was up to me I’d do away with that completely, and simply state on each pack the expected typical output voltage under a 10C load, the better the pack, the higher the expected voltage. A brands cheaper 2S pack might only hold 6.4 volts under a 10C load, but their uber race pack might maintain 7.5 volts. Easy for the consumers to understand, easy to test. But that’s just me….

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That’s it for this week, shoot your questions to cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter