Is anyone racing their 1/8 buggy?
 

I know there are a lot of people out there that have converted their buggy and Trucks to electric, but I want to hear from people that are racing 1/8 buggies. I would like to know how long are the heats, and what is the setup you are using.

i think metelman races his and im pretty sure that people with converted bugies just race against nitros.

Metalman, is that true do you race yours?

I have not raced mine. I mainly bash it around. I would like to race it though.

CCristo and I are working on my 1/8th buggy conversion now, and I plan to race it at my local track this season. First race should be May 7th.

I don't expect to bash with it at all, actually...just racing :003:

1/8 Brushless setup
 

My next project is to convert a 1/8 buggy from nitro to electric for strictly racing purposes. . I am planning to go brushless and Lipo. My questions are:

What is the best and easiest buggy to convert? Does anyone know what the lightest buggy is out there that is a good racer?

What is the best ESC/Motor combo for competitive racing? I am looking for power similar to a quality nitro engine, and the smooth power curve of a quality electric ESC.

What are the best Lipo’s to go with? The packs on Maxamps.com are reasonably priced, but do they have the same quality and output when compared to other manufacturers?

What are the run times based on the suggestions that you may have for the buggy suggestion, motor/esc setup, and the battery setup?

I am aware that a voltage regulator, charger, and cell equalizer are also necessary. I think those are all of my questions for now. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

I will answer you as best as I can from the testing I have done. One thing I would caution you on is if you are trying to get something that can truly race, becareful who you take advise from. Qualify wether the person that is giving it to you is just bashing their stuff or if they have actually tried it under race conditions on a track. 10 minutes of bashing is not even close to the same as 10 minutes of racing as far as temp goes to a speed control and motor. These are just my opinions:

The biggest problem is figuring out how to get a plastic spur gear on whatever buggy you choose. It is for this reason alone that I like to do either a hyper 7 or a Kyosho k3. Kyosho makes a plastic replacement spur gear that will work on both the K car and the ofna Hyper 7. There is no other modification necessary and you don't need a slipper. This makes things simple. Hyper 7 is definatley the lightest of the two, but Kyosho will out-handle it, so choose your poison.

As for power, most everything that you read on these boards will perform equal or better than the nitro. The problem is trying to find something that will last for the duration of the heats you are going to run without overheating. I would need to know how long are the heats that your track run in order to give you a suggestion.

Lipo's are a little easier. I have Thuder Power 4s2p 6000mah packs. IMO this is the best. I also have Max amp packs and I think for the price they are great, although I have not tested them long enough to see how long they are going to last.

Runtime. I myself am trying to get a 20min setup that won't overheat. Batteries aren't an issue. I have got one combination to do it so far, but I wasn't pleased with the software in the controller. I think that if you want 10min's or less you have a ton of choices and the lipo's I mentioned above can run that time with no problem.

If you want to check with me as you get closer to doing your project I may have more info for you because I am still in the process of testing motors and ESC's. I have tried just about every ESC out there and most of the motor's, so I would be glad to share my info with whoever wants it.

If I did, you would know about it! I would rather choose to race with you there also, it would provide some nice competition for the nitros!

Yeah, I didn't think you had but I thought I would ask just in case. Well we'll have to go to Revelation Raceway and race!

Great post, cspurlock!

I'd like to add that another option for an "easier" conversion is the OFNA Ultra series. The 51T nylon spur so many people are used to seeing on the Strobe slipper is actually a replacement spur for the OFNA Ultra center diff, so it's a direct fit.
Bear in mind that the OFNA Ultra series (Ultra LX Comp, Ultra MBX) aren't the higher-end racing buggies, but they can hold their own in the right hands and are a more economical alternative when considering the total cost of obtaining the buggy and converting to electric. These buggies typically cost from $275 to $325 in RTR form, while the more race-bred buggies can be over $400, $500, even $600 in kit form.

I'd recommend the best you can afford at the time you purchase, and also wanted to add this option.

Best of luck!

We'll see how my 3-year-old OFNA Ultra MBX Pro does in about a month :003:

CS,

Thanks for the help regarding the buggy. Why is the plastic spur necessary? With a nitro buggy everyone runs a metal spur and a metal clutch bell, and they last for a good while.

Since the batteries are not the main issue, in you opinion what is a good motor/ESC combination that will run for at least 10 min. without overheating while providing ample power?

Thanks

With an electric motor to be run on a metal spur gear, you need a hardened steel pinion gear, which would cost more and aren't [easily] available. With a plastic spur gear, you can use one of the commonly available mod1 pinions.

You have to go with a top notch ESCs( Schulze 129.18 or 149.18 or a Micro 12020-15020- the micros come with large heat sinks, BTW, the Schulzes dont. All of these are around the 400-500 dollars). Mostly any brushless motor will deliver you top performance, but if you want to race against a real high quality engine , like the Novarossi for example, I would go for a Lehner 1940-1950 motors( around 7-8 turns) with 4-5s lipos. The Plettenburg is great, too. These highend motors are built with extreme precision and they stay cooler than most brushless motors with high effeciency and more torque. These motors are between the 270 and 340 dollars. They're worth it, IMHO.

If you want to wait until after this weekend, I am going to try the MGM 160 with my lehner and see how it works. So far the only thing I have tried that can go over 10mins without getting too hot in "race" conditions is the BK 201120 with a Lehner 1950\6. All the less expensive motors will overheat unless you are just bashing around. The MGM is a little cheaper than the BK so it might be a better way to go. If you plan on racing, I wouldn't go any less than these or you will just overheat.

Guys I'm thinking about running the 10xl and warrior 9920 on 2 3s 6000mah in an OFNA Hyper 7.

You think I'll get any heating issues. What run-times should I expect?

I would say around 45+ minutes. Gear it right, and you won't have any heat issues as well.

Ofna makes an MBX R2 rollerfor $179 http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAXV2&P=0 If i do a buggy i'll use this

Not a bad deal at all.

I used an older MBX version for my 2nd conversion but one thing I didn't really like is the fact that the MBX is more narrow than like my Hyper 7 for instance. You almost have to put the motor over the diff or get creative somehow. I ended up with the motor on one side and a battery on the other.

Well I have begun racing my 1/8" scale. Have you found an ESC that can handle the heat?? I have a fan on my motor and it stays WAY cooler than my esc (8XL 4s lipo 9920).
Today I could only race 5 to 6 minutes with 13/46 gearing on a hyper 7 then it would thermal. after 5 minutes the esc was 155' f. Speed is where I want but it just gets too hot.

Anyone want to buy a 9920?? I am going to get a Quark 125.

Do you have a fan on the esc? the quark would run just as hot,it just wants a lower gearing and more air cooling.

Trouble is the rpm is too low so to get any kind of performance the gearing is too high.If i was going to replace anything it would be the motor along with an adapter to run a 51T spur.

Well I was looking at the motor it says 2084 KV thats more in the 7XL/6XL range?? Any one know whats up with that?

4s lipos would be over reving??

Gustav, shouldn't the Quark 125 stay cooler than the 9920? It's got an aluminum case with the FETs mounted on it (are all of the FETs mounted to it?), whereas the 9920 only has a heatsink on half of the FETs, and the others get no cooling air. So, that means that the Quark 125 has more surface area to cool, making it run cooler.

I guess so.Or a fan on the 9920 would be cheaper.I just think the money for the quark could be better spent elsewhere rather than masking the problem slightly with a different esc.

Edit;i do take your point about the difference in construction,but do you think it could make such a difference if the 9920 thermals after 5 mins? I s'pose with fans aswell it should but i'd still be more inclined to run some more rpms with a lower gearing.

Well, half of the FETs on the 9920 have no sort of cooling at all, the other half have a heastink (and possibly a fan on the heatsink). I can imagine that the Quark 125 might also have more FETs than the 9920.

The extra money spent on the Quark is money well spent IMO. The Quark has actual programming that the 9920 can't get close to, and it's case design is a million times better.

I'd like to try the quark soon.I expect it will be a good controller.The PWM puts me off a bit though,schulze recommend 9KHz for >8 turn lehners and hackers and that's what i look for since my schulze and MGM seem to do well with my motors at that frequency.They say it's the optimum for controller efficiency with these motors,and to experiment with which frequency heats up the controller the least (since it's adjustable on schulzes).I guess i could just try it at 38KHz and see.

Should i not worry about PWM,i'm really not clued up on this,just wondering what you think about it? At the moment i was thinking my next controller will be another schulze because of it(and the smoothness of the schulze too).

Well, there are many people that are happy with their Quarks that run 2pole motors, so I don't see why it wouldn't work for you. These are also supposed to be very smooth.

I am going to try running a few more RPMS and a fan first and see what I get.

First thing to get is a 5s lipos pack and reduce the gearing.
I am concerned the 8XL will be the weak point with 5s lipos. Should we not be around the 9XL for 5s lipos??
Anyone race with a 8XL or 9XL?? What kind of gearing are you using?

I need to do (3) 5 min heats and (1) 10 min main. So I need to be able to double what I am getting out currently of the controller.

First off i'd try a fan on your current setup and see how it does.The 8xl would be fine on 5s,or you could use the 4s packs you have with a 7xl which would be cheaper than buying good 5s packs.Either setup should do well,the 4s obviously the lighter.they both put you in the 33-35000 rpm area.I'd try an 11/46 or 10/46 gearing and go from there.