ASK Cubby – More Of Your Questions, More Of My Babbling

“Stock motor madness

Hey Cubby, Jimmy D writing in once again!

Just read TheCub report about $180 stock motors. The other day I was at the dirt track with my 17.5 (Gen2 Tekin, its old, but still works great) AE B6. It’s fun, I don’t race, ever, but I like going to the track every now and then. A guy shows up with a Losi 22 4.0 (2wd) and is screaming around the track. We start talking and he told me that he usually runs AE, but won this kit in a raffle, built it out of the box, and places at every race he is in. He was very impressed with it. Ok, I get it, Losi put out 3 cars before this one, so number 4 better be right. Chassis set up and driving is one thing, but this thing was crazy fast. I asked what 7.5 mod motor he had. He laughed and said its 17.5. I laughed and said you must be using 3s lipo. Apparently those $180 “stock” certified motors really make a difference. That’s what this was. Trinity is king. He told me that sometimes there is not enough people in is local mod class, so they let him run this “stock 17.5” in it. He said he wins sometimes, but always places.

This means paying the extra $90 to $100 for a motor thats been picked, ohm’d and resistance tested, dipped in nuclear waste, blessed by the motor kings is definitely the way to go. I know the BigSquid reader, and average RC’r may not care about ROAR and rules and turns of race motors, but this is proof of how broken things are and most likely why you rant on the RC race scene.

I have an idea for the next BigSquid shoot out. Buy one of these certified “stock” motors and compare it to its non certified version, not just in driving, but literally dissect it, ohm and resistance check it. Unwind the windings to see how and why this is. But in reality most people don’t care and are waiting for the next Traxxas scaler to come out.

Another reason scale is cool. $9.99 35 turn motors and 38.99 speed controllers with drag brake are the best thing since lipo and 2.4ghz.

Maybe Traxxas should re invent the next brushless sensored motor and not even put a turn rating on it. Just call it “CertaTrax” or something. Sell it for $79.99 and start their own race series. Done, everything is now equal.

Jimmy D.”

Cubby- I’ve always been a proponent of using sealed-can RTR motors like the one in the ECX Torment, the Traxxas Slash, the ARRMA Granite, etc, for “stock” class racing. They are a pain to cheat with, they don’t put out much power (thus encouraging “fast” guys out of the class) and they are DIRT cheap. For mod, IMO that should be all brushless. Put your big boy pants on and install a real motor if ya wanna race “mod”.

So ya, I know right, companies that make motors only make money when they sell more motors (and that does need to happen to keep their doors open). That is much harder to do in the brushless era when motors are a zillion times more reliable than they used to be. However, I have talked to a prominent person in the BL motor industry, and he sounded quite content to build motors that would last years upon years if not over-heated and if the bearings were taken care of. He knew that every few years new tech would pop up, thus creating the need for consumers to upgrade to his latest models. I love that approach compared to the “motor of the week/spend more for the tweaked model/keep raising prices until people stop buying” method that some companies seem to use.

“Dromida/Maverick/Traxxas

Hello,

I ordered a Dromida FPV Monster Truck and a 1/10 Maverick Strada Brushless RX a couple of weeks ago from Amain.com and both trucks are still currently on backorder. Dromida and Maverick are both owned by Hobbico who just filed bankruptcy. SO, my question for you is would you keep both of these trucks and hope that the businesses continue or would you cancel this order and instead order a Traxxas TRX-4 Tactical Unit Truck? My biggest concern is that I will receive the Dromida and the Maverick then they close up doors and I will have a problem getting parts. With the Traxxas I don’t ever see that being a problem. SO, would you get the Dromida and Maverick or would you get the Traxxas with the current Hobbico situation?

Thanks,
Bruce C.”

Cubby- Yo Bruce, thanks for writing in.

You don’t have any worries about your Maverick. Maverick is the entry level line for HPI Racing that is now owned by Ripmax over in Europe. We are currently working on reviews for a couple of the new BL powered Maverick cars and so far they have held up really well. Hobbico was the exclusive distributor for HPI in the states for a long time, that’s why there have been rumors that they owned them.

About the Dromida. I don’t have to tell you we are Huge fans of the Dromida FPV Monster Truck. I mean, it is a great entry level FPV surface vehicle. One of its other high points is that its base platform has been on the market for several years. Therefore, there are loads of parts for it on the net and on hobby shop shelves. So IMO, you would probably be dialed for parts for at least a couple of seasons, regardless of what may or may not happen with Dromida.

About the Traxxas TRX-4 Tactical Unit, I am a big fan. Some people don’t like its body, but I dig its rugged, yet modern, look. I am also a fan of how capable it is off-road. Great off-road rig, but because it is geared more for crawling than for speed, it will give you a much different experience than the other two cars that you are considering.

So there it is folks, yet another ASK Cubby is in the bank. Do you have a question? Feel the need to tell us how biased we are (get around a half dozen of those a week)? Want the world to read/feel your passionate internal anger? My email box is always open – thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.