Castle Creations Sidewinder Review

[johnrobholmes]

Pardon the magazine style intro, this was written as an article and not a forum post.


As technology and manufacturing progress, hobby electronics become more affordable and complex. Castle Creations gives a taste of the future with the very affordable Sidewinder ESC. This little powerhouse is available alone, or as a motor/ESC combo. The Sidewinder has all of the features of the Mamba Max, including Lipo cutoff, brushless mode, brushed mode, and a variety of programming options. The footprint is also the same as the Mamba max at 1.8x1.4". Adjustable drag brake and regenerative braking are also built into the Sidewinder. This allows you to have controlled descents on steep and technical sections, or you can program zero drag for those go fast bashers. Programming can be accomplished via stick or PC interface with the Castle Link. If you are familiar with the Mamba max, you will find the programming almost identical.

The first test was to see how well the Sidewinder pushed my XX buggy around. I used a stock Castle Creations 4600 motor/ESC combo for this test. No programming changes were made from the factory settings. The power was provided by 7 matched GP 3700 cells, gearing was 20/76. I noticed right away that the startup has been significantly refined as compared to the Mamba Max. Startups were rock solid and immediate. Also, I could push the rig backwards and it would take off in forward locomotion as soon as I told it to. A third change is that the startup is in fact slower. If you want to putt around at 1mph, you can now do so. Certainly a large improvement over previous startup routines. Even with the mild 4600 motor, I could pull wheelies from a slow roll. Once the rig was moving it was very easy to keep the rig dialed into whatever speed range I wanted. I went to test the temperatures, but there wasn't enough heat to even worry about. Castle gives a spec sheet that states about 45mph with a 3 cell lipo and the 4600 motor. I trust that data enough to move on to the next stage.

The second test was in a Wheely King with a HK-2221 scorpion outrunner of 4400kv. It is a 9 slot motor, and slotted motors are notorious for giving the Castle startup trouble. This is my worst case scenario. I even made the gear mesh a bit tight and put on my super heavy MSD delrin beadlocks. The gearing was 25/90, and the battery was a 3 cell 4000mah PolyRC. With the Mamba Max, the startup was not consistent. Sometimes it would take off, and sometimes it would stutter a bit. With the Sidewinder it took off every single time with no flaw. The motor had enough power to make the rig wheelie at any speed, and was really too much for the rig to handle. With full throttle the soft Moabs turned into pizza cutters, I would guess about 30mph. The outside temp was 38f, and the ESC and motor never got over 120F. In hotter weather it might push the Sidewinder a bit hard, but lighter wheels and gearing would certainly help. The main point is that the Sidewinder has better startups. Good job Castle!

The final test was in the AX-10 Rock Crawler. I put a Crawlmaster Sport in with a 3s Vislero 2100 pack for power. The servos were powered via CC BEC, since a 3 cell lipo makes the Sidewinder's internal BEC near useless. The startup was smoother than a Mamba Max, with no surprises or hiccups. Neither the ESC or motor got warm at all during the test. The biggest improvement was startups while the rig rolls backwards or is under load. Every time I gave it throttle, the motor would start up predictably. The only problems were in very hard binds, when it would be better to pick the rig up instead of trying to throttle out. In these hard binds the motor would chirp and try, but I was too afraid to give more throttle for fear of breaking parts. All in all, it worked very well with an outrunner.

Next up was brushed mode. Unfortunately I could not get the ESC to hit the 9th step in programming, so I could not test this. I don't know if this is my problem or an oversight in the first release of firmware. Castle will be contacted.

Overall, the Sidewinder is a great controller for a great price. The positives are the startup, the cost, the overall power, and the plug and play aspect. The downside to the controller is that the Castle link has not been updated yet, so the controller cannot be USB programmed as of this writing. Also, the lack of brushed mode troubles me. I know it is supposed to have brushed mode- it is in fact in the manual. I would have liked to see Castle release the ESC and the Castle Link update at the same time. But, until that day it is still a great brushless ESC at a price point that no other company is near. My final conclusion- Castle made the right choice when they designed this ESC.

JRH

[lincpimp]

Nice write up John. Glad to see that you tested it with an outrunner. Looks like CC has figured out the programming. Hopefully they will release a software upgrade for the MM soon.

[johnrobholmes]

It works really good with an outrunner. I am just bummed that it was released without updating the Castle link at the same time, and that brushed mode was seemingly forgotten. The firmware update will fix this, along with offering the same startup for the MM.

[johnrobholmes]

added a pic

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by johnrobholmes

The firmware update will fix this, along with offering the same startup for the MM.

So there will be an update for the mm soon?

Played w/ an early version of the Sidewinder that Johnrob was testing down in Crawlapaloza at the Midwest Nationals in Oct.

I was really impressed w/ the extremely smooth start up! Not a hint of stutter in the short time I was driving it.

Great ESC and fantastic write up Johnrob!

[johnrobholmes]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

So there will be an update for the mm soon?

Before the MMM most likely. It is all coming together.

[sleebus.jones]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

Hopefully they will release a software upgrade for the MM soon.

+1

If they don't, we'll have to send oodles of weasels after them!

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by sleebus.jones

+1

If they don't, we'll have to send oodles of weasels after them!

And where would we find all of those weasels? It is not like I have been secretly breeding them. Certainly not an integral part of my plan for world domination. You know too much already. I must leave.

[Serum]

John; What is your relation with castle?

[neweuser]

So it sounds like the Sidewinder is comparable to the MM.

[BrianG]

Saw the sidewinder in person today at the LHS. All they had were motor/ESC combos or I would have picked up just the ESC. Would've made a good CRT.5 ESC for 3s. It looks nice.

I also talked to one of the guys there about it and said that the SW seems to have much better firmware that the MM. One of the major gripes about the MM was the cogging and unpredictability of reverse - mostly for the hardcore racers. So hopefully more people will try it and BL will become more mainstream.

He didn't even know that you could run sensored motors on a sensorless ESC.

Also saw the little Losi 1/36 ESC (6A cont, 9A peak) and motor. Wow, talk about tiny! They had the 8750kv motor.

[JeffEmbracedDC]

A friend just noticed they're in stock at tower.. $77 for the ESC

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXTJJ3&P=ML

-J

[skellyo]

They're also available HERE

[hobbimaster]

Here's a secret......ssshhhhh dont tell, want to buy a castle sidewinder for $62? Use Tower Hobbies discount code 010NP at checkout. It works 90% of the time, and I ordered one over the weekend using this code. Its a special $15 off of a $75 order. I found this lovely web sight with all kinds of discount codes for retailers.