Recommendation on a setup

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but not to RC. Have been lurking here a bit to do some research and finally decided to register. Seems like a wonderful site you all have here.

I am absolutely new to the world of brushless. I have a Savage project I'm working on and am now deciding on a powerplant. After much thought and research, I have decided to go with a brushless setup. I have always been a nitro head, but am VERY intrigued by brushelss. My problem is that I don't know where to begin. It seems the more I read, the more I get confused and most of the terms I come across are Greek to me. So if you make suggestions, please use small words.

This is my project...


It has...

Aluminum diff cups
Hellfire arms and all items needed for conversion
Vertigo ext lcg tvps
3-speed tranny
17mm dish wheels/proline bowties (on the way)
XTM Mammoth CVDs
XTM Mammoth 17mm hexes
Savage X quick access diffs
Triple rate springs
Some other stuff I can't remember right now...

What I am looking to do with it, is race. I currently have a Bashing Savage and only have experience driving like a mad man. I am in no way a racer, but would like to practice. So a High end system is probably not for me (right now). I DO like lots o' power, but it'll prolly have to be able to take a bit of a beating at first.

All your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kook

[captain harlock]

There are a couple of people here who have a brushless Savage.

For this thing, I might suggest a 7XL with a Quark Monster Pro and 16 cells.

Such a setup provides you with plenty of power and torque.

I personally, would choose a Lehner 1950/8 with 5s lipos and a MambaMax controller or a Schulze 149.18 controller. BUT, this gonna cost you a leg and an arm.
And, Welcome to the forum, Kookahdoo!

you need to set a budget first... there really is no limit to how much you can spend... if your on a high budget... you would get lipos or limn batts, shultz esc, lehner/neu/plettenberg motor. your choice of specific esc and motor will depend on your decision on the battery... my suggestion is go all out... what turned my head onto all this brushless stuff was a video of a savage with a plettenberg big maxximum on 6s lipos... once i saw that it was all over for me... lol

[neweuser]

First off, WELCOME! Also, I would not suggest a schults controller at all. Many here like Mamba maxx esc's, but I think that may be a tad small for a savage. Not sure. I would go Quark 125b, Neu, and lipo. But not sure what your budget is????

[jhautz]

The basic entry level sensorless system has been the Warrior 9920 and a feigao XL motor. The motor wind is dictated by the battery choice. The Mamba max controller is now a good alternative to the 9920 if you are planning to run 4S lipo, possibly even 5s lipo. I think the jurry is still out on the stability of the MM on 5s so I would not go recomending that just yet.

Next level up is the 9920 or mamba Maxx on a better motor. The Lehner or Nue. THe system will be much cooler running and a much more stable and enjoyable to run. (note the Nue and the 9920 dont mix)

Higher end systems would be the Quark 125B, MGM, and BK Micro controllers. With one of the higher end motors mentioned above. I have never owned a Shultz, but I have not heard many good things about them as of late so I would not recomend them.

From my perspective, I like to buy stuff from companies that have a presence here in the US (like.... Nue, Mamba, Quark) because the customer service levels are much better than the far away(from me) asain and european manufactureres.

The only sugestion I have is not to go to cheap to start with. You don't necessarily need to go top of the line, but not total entry either.
I would definatley recomend going with something better than a Feigao motor right from the start. The feigaos are powerfull motors, but run very hot compared to the nue or lehner motors.

I personally love the Quark 125 and Nue 1512 motor combo and would recomend it to anyone. I think it is amazing bang for the buck. The quark is a great controller as long as you mount it to a heatsink and the nue motors are as good as the lehners (maybe even better), but 20% less expensive and made in the USA.

First of all, thank you very much for the input thus far. One thing I failed to do is let you all know budget. I was expecting to pay around $300-$400 for a system, including batteries. I don't know if this price range is low - mid - or high. From your suggestions, it seems to me that I must first choose a battery type. I have my mind set on LiPo, but don't know which would be good for me. I do want to have decent run times. If I have to spend more than the $300-$400 budget, I am willing to wait the extra time it takes to save up for a better system.

Thank you for all the comments thus far.

[neweuser]

With 300-400 and getting batteries included, that would be difficult. If you would like a nice start up system, than yes, go with the 9920/xl motor. The batts you could get from maxamps. I would go 7xl with 4s lipo, maybe 8000 mah would be good run time.

[jhautz]

Just a note: With the 9920 and lipo you will also need to get an external low voltage cut off for the lipo batteries($20-30). The 9920 does not have a built in LVC. No big deal, just something to remember.

With a $3-400 budget, I'm thinking that a mambamax and 8xl motor, external BEC or Rx pack and a pair of 2s maxapms 6000mah lipo packs wired in series for 4s would give you a nice start up system and pretty decent run times. Its about the only way I can see getting there on that budget with lipo.

Mamba Maxx - $140
8xl - $90
Extenal BEC or Rx pack - $15
Maxamps Lipo (2) x 2s 6000mah - $90 x 2 = $180

Thats around a $425 dollar system. But dont forget with Lipo you will need to get a Lipo charger and balancer also. Plan roughtly $150 for this. $100 for decent lipo charger and $50 for good balancer. There are a bunch of possible otions for charger/balancer setup. You can go up or down from the $150 number depending on what you think you will need.

When you consider that a good pair of good 6-7 cell nimh packs will be $50each its only another $80 to go lipo. But you could get in the game with NiMH packs for cheaper if you already have a decent NiMH charger. I know you said that you were a nitro guy so you might not even have a good NiMH battery charger yet. If thats the case, spend the extra cash now and just go Lipo. You will eventually anyway.:D

With the mamba you can adjust the amout of power that you want so you can get a powerful setup you dont have to use all of the power!

Mamba Max - $140
8xl - $90
BEC - $15
Max Amps IB4200 WCE 14 cell - $160
977 Charger - $100

Not bad for $505 for a powerful setup!

You are correct, I have a crappy charger. So I would be buying all my stuff from scratch. The more I read, the more I want a very nice setup. I know I'm going to invest a good deal of money for this, so I want to do it all up front. I don't want to buy a so-so system now, just to want to upgrade later (because I know i will). Even with nitro, I have a tendency to go bigger and faster. With that said (and I'm sorry for all the questions), what am I looking to spend for a very powerful system with chargers and everything that I won't be disappointed with after one month?

[jhautz]

My opinion:

For racing as you stated in you first post....

I would go with the Nue 1515-1y (2200kv) motor and the Quark 125 ESC. Get the heatsink that Mike sells for the quark, For racing you will need the extra cooling. Then go with a nice 4s lipo setup. I hear that the Maxamps stuff is good, but, the Flightpower EVO20 is the top of the line. For racing you will want lipos with a little lower capacity to save weight, but built with higher quality (20C) cells so they still have the discharge power to allow the system to run hard without dropping voltage under load.

If you want to use this for bashing and some really silly speed you could get yourself a 5s lipo setup also. On 5s this motor is unreal. 4s is more than enough for any track, but 5s is really entertaining in a wide open space.:D

Nue 1515-1y $280
Quark 125 $280
Set of (2) x 2s 5000mah Evo20 Lipos $300 (guestimating here)
Good Lipo Charger and balancer $200

Your looking at a little over $1000. Expensive, but IMO this would be a really sweet racing setup.

There are a lot of options for chargers, so just look around and see what suites you. I actually have the Superbrain 989 and I like it allot. There are better ones out there, but they really start to get pricey.

Wow, you guys here are awesome. Thank you for all the input. I guess I just have to knuckle up and save for a good setup. I just want to make sure it's right the first time. I don't like spending money over and over again.

Thank you all very much. I'll keep you guys updated as I go along with this build.

Kook

[Finnster]

I like all of jhautz's suggestions for both ends of the spectrum. If you are going racing, I would try to save for the higher end system, and it would be more reliable (ie less heat) in the long term.

You may or may not need the Evo 20s, they are the nicest lipos, but really what you are saving is weight, so its something to consider. Don't fool w/ NIMH, lipos really are worth it. The Neus are great.

[MetalMan]

To add to Finnster's post, Maxamps Lipo packs are good quality, and a lot less expensive than the Flightpower packs. Just to make sure that you get a good deal on the Maxamps packs, you could get their 3-year 300-cycle extended warranty. If you were to get a 5s setup, you could go with a 3s and 2s, 6000mah or 8000mah. 5s 6000mah with the extended warranty would cost $285, and as long as you use and maintain the pack properly (LVC for discharging, balancer for charging) then you would pretty much be set for the next 3 year or 300 cycles.