ASK Cubby- I Check My Email Once A Year, Just FYI

“Transponders

I was wondering what the future of lap times and transponders will be. It seems to me that with WiFi , Bluetooth, and GPS, being in everyone’s pocket the transponder companies would be selling them cheaper. I thought traxxas was making cars that transmit telemetry to your cell phone?? I’m thinking of doing a little club racing and I don’t want to drop a couple hundred bucks on tech that will be worthless next year. What are your thoughts.

Chris B.”

Cubby- Hey ya Chris, thanks for writing. You shot in a non-typical question, that’s why it’s going up.

I don’t race nearly as much as I used to, so I haven’t been following any new transponder tech. However, I am verbose and can’t keep from talking on any subject, so here goes.

First off, the current transponders are wayyyyyy too expensive for “casual” hobbyists. Today’s transponders cost dern near as much as Most people pay for their entire used car bought off of CL or a FB group. Ya, I know, hardcore racers would pay $50 for a can of compressed air if they thought it would make their car faster. Also, they have zero problem spending half a grand a year on transponders, but in the great vastness of the overall scope of our hobby, they are too expensive.

Secondly, we should hope that rc racing even exists 10 years from now. And… as the participation keeps going down, so will the rise in its technology.

To boil it down for ya, I have no scoop on transponders for ya Chris, I just hope racing picks back up again.

“Runtime

Cubby,

I have a battery question for you which you seem to post a lot of. I drive a modified ECX Ruckus. It has a Castle brushless system, a Hitec servo, and Pro-Line tires. With all things being equal, will I get longer runtime with a 3S 5000mah compared to a 2S 5000mah of the exact same brand and C rating?

Charlie”

Cubby- Hey Charles in charge, what’s up? Snail mail for a sticker pack, just sayn…

So…. will you get more runtime in your Ruckus with a 3S or 2S 5000 pack? You will get more with the 3S. You can look at very roughly a gain of 33% more runtime. And just how would that be? Very simple brah, the 3S has a third more 5000 cells contained within, therefore it packs a third more energy than a 2S pack.

And ya, you can talk efficiency at different voltages, differing weights of the packs, and other factors for run-time, but the biggest factor is stored energy, and the 3S pack simply has a significantly more to run your car off of.

Ha, ha, you’ve made it to the end of another ASK Cubby. Shoot me your questions/rants/thoughts/etc – thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.