ASK Cubby, Version- More Of Your Questions (And My Questionable Answers)

“Special edition ask cubby

Hey cubby how’s it hangin? I read in this week’s ask cubby about the state of on road racing, and I have to strongly disagree with your industry insider. Here in the Twin Cities, (MN) one of our few remaining tracks, (and quite possibly the most popular track in the state) is an indoor on and off road facility with in house hobby shop. The track is MMR (Molser Morry Raceway). They host a variety of on road events including carpet oval, bolink/Rjspeed legends, and all the other typical on road classes like vta, 12th scale pan ect. They also host a ton of different off road classes, including spec slash. I know it’s not on road persay, but just hear me out. Spec slash is basically you buy a brushed 2wd slash, charge up your battery and race. Must use stock everything including motor, body, wheels, electronics (minus radio), and parts. (No rpm, mip, integy ect). The only thing you can change is springs. It’s been one of the most popular classes for the 6 years that I’ve know about the track. Lots of laughter from the driver stands not swearing and controller chucking like the rest of the night.

My point is, if something as simple as a bone stock slash which let’s be honest, isn’t a terribly great truck by today’s standards, can bring so much joy for several years to a local track, I don’t see why a spec… vatera, or rs4, or tt01 class couldn’t work out for onroad. I kid you not, I feel almost embarrassed when new people show up at the track to watch my class, (which is also the best class in the world I might add lol) stadium truck! And they see the other drivers losing their mind on the drivers stand, I get associated with this drivers. But when I see how much fun the drivers of spec slash are having, I wish those new people could watch that and know the track as that, instead of “get the F#$% of the track!” Or “flip my F#$%ing car over what are you doing?” Sorry for the rant, just caught some energy after reading that your industry insider thinks something that has been happing at my local track for at least 6 years won’t ever catch on or make it in today’s market. Kind of laughed actually when I read it lol. Thanks for reading my poorly written rant, keep up your awesomeness cubby!

Spencer M.”

Cubby- Hey now Spencer, big props on the cool email, it has won you “Letter of the Month” for July. Shoot me your snail mail and shirt size so we can hook you UP.

Ya, I got a lot of email about last week’s ASK Cubby. While I might write an “answer” column and talk all kinds of crap about so many different people/companies, I truly am a question person. There is nothing I like more than being able to pick people’s brains about the state of the hobby.

And… I hope the “industry insider” guy that was in last week’s ASK Cubby reads your response above. You state a perfect example of how well a “true” spec class can work when given some time to grow and when the rules are held in check. Unfortunately, you also talk about how the other classes are out of hand with people losing their tempers, which is another thing that desperately needs fixed in rc. And the track you talk about isn’t the exception to the rule when it comes to unruly drivers, it is pretty much the standard nationwide.

In fact, I feel the problem of A-hole drivers needs to be fixed first. I mean, what is the point if you end up pulling in a bunch of noobs with a properly done spec class, when they become too aggravated (or downright disturbed) by the acts of unruly racers to ever come back? And ya know, fixing the a-hole driver thing is WAYYYYY easier than getting noobs in the door, it just takes a track director with the balls to perma-ban all the a-holes. Curse on the stand? Banned. Throw your transmitter? Banned. Yell at a marshal? You got it, banned. From what I’ve seen, it would only take banning 3 or 4 people to clean the house out. Get rid of 4 guys, gain dozens of noobs. Yes, it is just that simple. Yet, too many track directors don’t have the balls to pull trigger on banning the a-hole guy they’ve been racing with since ’93.

“X-Maxx Question

Hello,

I want to upgrade my traxxas X-MAXX’S esc and motor so I can run two 6c Lipo at one time . Which system do you have for this (the esc should be able to connect two 2 parallel batteries)

Regards,
INDERPREET”

Cubby- Yo to the yo Inder, mucho gracious for the email.

So… you have an X-Maxx but don’t feel it has enough power. Therefore, you want to jazz-it-up with a new power system. We have tried 3 replacement systems in the X-Maxx thus far and all three provided a ton more power than stock.

Ok, so you say you want to run two “6c” batteries in parallel. I am going to correct that and just assume that you have two 6S packs, not 6C. “6C” would refer to the current output capability of a pack, while “6S” refers to its cell count. I highly doubt you would ever run any “6C” packs in an X-Maxx, and if you did, please be sure to take video so I can watch it burn to the ground. Why is that? Because a typical 6C pack would not be able to supply the current necessary to run an X-Maxx at full tilt boogie.

With that said… you say you want to run a pair of 6S packs in parallel in your X-Maxx. Wiring them in parallel will give you double the available current and run time. The voltage would stay the same, but with each pack being 6S, you’ll have plenty of voltage on hand. You could actually run them that way on the stock speedo/motor combo, but you would have to do some simple re-wiring. As far as aftermarket systems go, look for our review of the Castle Mamba XL X and our review of a pair of Leopard brushless systems from Kershaw Designs. All three reviews can fairly easily be found at This Link. Two of the systems we reviewed are capable of 8S use, while one maxes out at 6. All totally annihilate the stock power system and are easily capable of doing what you want to do.

Oh yes, another ASK Cubby is a WRAP. Got a burning question? Absolutely need an answer? Have something that you must get off of your chest? Write me, thecubreportrc at gmail dot com is the addy you want. And no, you can’t just click on it and write to me, my addy is done that way to eliminate spam. CCP it and dump the word “at”, put in the @ symbol, then put a period where the word “dot” is, and remove any spaces. THEN your email will go through. Anywhos, until next week keep those emails coming.

YOUR Cub Reporter