how much do cheap cells hinder performance
 

I posted a while back on urc forums about the horrible performance i was getting with my 7018 and my chili pepper motor (540 4400kv) on 6 cheap $20 3000 cells in my rs4 mt. at first i though it was the motor cause ive never seen any body run this motor in a truck. but when i posted that every body said it was the cells. with that setup i was getting to maby 25mph geared 68 14 32p i think it was about a 12to1 ratio. at around 14to1 (98 18 48p) it wouldn't even try to get the front tires off the ground, to say the leased i was steaming mad that this 200 dollar bl setup wasn't performing like i though it would. my old xxt i bought from a friend with a brushed 9t and a cheap $15 2000 pack was it seamed like 4 times the power of my bl setup on about the same quality of cells what gives. i know now that good cells are a must but how much performance is a person going to see going from cheap arse cells to say some nice gp3700 or ib3800 or even lipo? take my case for an example, how much could i have gained going to nice cells?

duude, they do alot! i had some powerizer 3300s, and when i dropped in the gp3300s, it doubled in performance AT LEAST!

Well, you have the bad construction of the pack, with thin nickel strips that have such a high resistance that they will limit the pack's amp handling capabilities. The cheap cells can really only handle about 40amps max, so their voltage will drop with anything much higher.

Your XXT ran better with them since a brushed motor can't/won't pull as many amps as a brushless. I am sure that it also weighed less than your RS4MT, too.

I have seen cheap 3000 powerizer batts 14 cells in a emaxx. It did far. I seen the same truck with same gearing 14 gp3300s put in the truck. If I didn't know better I would have swore the truck had a different motor. The batts make a huge difference. You talking form no wheelie in the emaxx to a back flip with out moving. :D

the difference between cheap cells and good gp 3700 cells is like going from brushed to brushless all over again.

cool guys. i dont think ill be skimping of cells for the bl rigs i have plans for :)

You can skimp stampy. You will not be happy with it. :D Try it out on a set and let us know what you think. I know I won't buy cheap batts unless have to. :D

it's probably good too to save for lipo batts in the future if you're into RC that much. when i use 20cell gp3300 i was breaking/stripping gears most of the time. with lipo of the same power, you'll lose weight so gears could last much longer.

well i wish i could test and try it out but i cant:( broke my 7018 about 4-5 mouths ago. plus i need so much to get it going. im ether going 8ib3800s or a 2500mah lipo from flightpower. plus i need a charger a balancer and a low voltage detector if i go lipo and ubec and a controller. lots of money for all that so its gunna be awhile.
o btw if i go lipo am i going to see any performance gain from a lipo pack? i know the pack i wont is under half the weight of 8 ib3800s but how much will i gain from that weight drop?

i'm not sure. i'm still saving for my lipo batts :)
i just want to save weight. not concerned too much on power.
surely someone will answer your question though

I have not ran lipo. I have read up that the lipo does not drop the voltage under draw like nimh cells do. so the voltage stays up in turns give you more power.

u mean ib4200s! lol

na i mean 3800's i like to wait till cells prove them selfs as good cells before i buy them :P

the max poweroutput of a system depends on the quality of the cells. if you use bad cells, your output power will terrible..

if you use IB3800's, the 6 cells should be able to put down 6-800 watts.. with a crappy pack of 20 dollars, i don't think it will be more than 250-350 watts..

Usually Lipos will give awesome performance, as long as it hasn't had too many runs where it was pushed really hard (where after those many runs it won't perform as well). Lightweight isn't the only thing to gain from Lipos; quicker acceleration will be attained from the lighter weight as well as the higher voltage holding. AKA wheelies!