ASK Cubby, 02.26.2015, Version- Excuse Me While I Take This Email

“Review Request

Hey Guys,

I was reading through your review of the ECX Circuit and noticed that there is a newer version that ships with brushless. While I was surprised to see the original rated so well I was curios if you have had the chance to play with the newer one and how much of a difference the new motor makes in it?

I jumped head first into the deep end of nitro a while back and have sense hung up my hat. Between life and maintenance I just didnt have time for it much anymore. However I have recently been thinking about jumping back into the RC scene but going with electric in hopes to avoid spending 90% of my time tunning my engine :).

As a result I have been reading through every review I can get on everything from INTECH’s new shourt course all the way to the classics of traxxas and losi. I am hoping to keep the RTR to 500 or less seeing as I still need to buy a battery and would prefer a water tight set up as I live up north and want to be able to deal with snow. Those options have lead me to the new losi XXX along with arrma and a few other new brands like ECX and INTECH (which I love their short track just no RTR for it).

Anyway I am pretty sure I have gone WAY off topic of my original email. So any thoughts on the new brushless from ECX? Oh and if you have any opinions on anything I mentioned or suggestions for me I am all ears 🙂 (I still have no idea how to figure out what kind of C rating I need in a battery lol)

Matt R.”

Cubby- Well hello there Matt, thanks for taking the time to write in, I’ll try to take it easy on ya. Oh and, shoot us your snail mail for the hook-up on a sticker pack.

First off, congrats on seeing the light on nitro. If you are a hardcore racer perfectly breaking the engine in, and buying a new one every other week to compete with, and have years of tuning experience, life isn’t half bad with nitro. If you are anyone else, oooofffaaahhh, they can be a giant PITA.

Secondly… nope, we have not tested any of the brushless tenth scale ECX trucks, so I can not say first hand if they are worth your cash or not.

Lastly… about the “C” rating on Lithium batteries. You can look through many of our previous reviews (and shootouts) to see that we’ve tested packs that were lower “C” and capacity than others, yet put out more voltage. My advice is to go with a pack from a reputable company that is well reviewed, or one that we’ve reviewed and tested well.

“Cubby-

While cruising a Facebook group I came across a guy telling everyone to put grease on their spur gear. I have never seen that recommended before, is it really a good idea?

Steven L.”

Cubby- Hey ya Stevie, the answer is… Yes! And… No! But seriously, the answer is… it depends.

As I always say, “for example”, lets say you drive an Associated B5 buggy. Lets say you drive it in dusty/muddy/dirty conditions. In that case no, you absolutely would not want to put grease on the pinion/spur. The grease would hold dirt like a sponge, chewing up the softer of the two gears (the plastic spur) and also create some unwanted resistance.

However…. Lets say you drive an electric 8th scale buggy that has a metal spur gear. Lets say you drive it in relatively “clean” conditions (blue groove/damp clay/pavement) and the noise coming from your pinion/spur is driving you insane. In that case you won’t notice the tiny amount of extra resistance, and the grease will do a good job of quieting things up.

So there ya have it Stevie, another one of my famous “Yes! And No!” answers.

You are a glutton for punishment aren’t you, making it all the way to the end of this week’s ASK Cubby. Send me your questions (or answers, or rants, etc) to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. If your letter hits the big time we’ll send you a free sticker pack, if your letter is named “Letter of the Month” (which I will be picking next week) we’ll hook you up with one of new t-shirt (in your size even!).

YOUR Cub Reporter