Is This Normal?

[jhautz]

The MM cogs with the Neu motors. Well documented fact. So bad in some cases that you toast the MM. Neu and MM are not a match made in heaven. Some have made it work thru conservative gearing and are willing to overlook the remaining startup issues, but for a smooth setup you should mate the Neu with another controller like the Quark or MGM.

As for the 8 minute runtime, a 3850 4s pack isnt that big. Vehicle weight, gearing, tire size and weight, and driving style all play into your runtime. So if you are looking to increase it look for weight you can drop or run a little shorter gearing. I have also found that a smooth throttle finger vs a heavy on/off nitro stlye throttle finger can really increase the runtime and also make you faster on the track. (At least for me it does)

The quick fix for both of your problems seems be to gear down a little. It will help with the startup cogging and increase your runtime but at the cost of some top speed.