explain electronic speed controller....

[autonm]

after about a 15 year absence I got back in 1/10 buggies about 3 months ago.

I bought a B44 along with a LOSI XCELORIN S 6.5T BRUSHLESS COMBO for around £115.....cheap entry - but good enough to get me going.

Im now looking into buying a more improved motor - possibly a LRP X12 for around £80-£100.

Now I can understand that a better motor would give me faster acceleration/speed etc etc .... but can anyone explain the benefits of buying a £100+ speed controller?

I dont understand what in a speed controller differeatiates a £60 one to a £150 one?

thanks for any explanations

[Fabs]

Right,

First of all, there's nothing wrong with the Losi motors, in fact they're very good. The speedo however not so much.

So if you're going for a motor with similar turns but different brand, I can garantee you'll barely see any difference.

Likewise with the speedo, as long as it works it provides good speed. It's the reliability department that is the Losi's downfall. From what I've seen the fans can break (and they don't like running with no fan at all), the speedo sometimes loses all speed for no reason, I've even seen one go backwards (when it had been doing fine the run before). Sometimes resetting the speedo with the PC interface gets it back to normal, but not always.

End of the day it's NOT a competition speedo and it is reflected in the pricing, and quality.

More expensive speedos are bound to be more reliable and in most buggy applications will not thermal if the fan stops working, will keep their settings etc...

Top of the range speedos also are very adjustable, brushless technology is a million miles away from the brushed you've known. In brushed you needed to prepare the motor to get the best out of it, good brushes, proper springs, etc... None of that in brushless, it's all down to the speedo's software, and every manufacturer does it different.

I would say your best bet is to keep your electronics as they are as the 6.5 losi combo is certainly fast enough for a 4WD buggy, and you might be lucky with your speedo (some people never have problems, some have endless problems). Then if your speedo starts getting gizmos, have a look at a better one.

[Alfonzo]

This is interesting as I'm considering buying a Losi Xceleron setup. Are they that bad?

[Brooks]

The losi motors are very good in performance and price
Have never used the losi speedo
Blue is Better - LRP

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by Alfonzo

This is interesting as I'm considering buying a Losi Xceleron setup. Are they that bad?

As always, you get what you pay for. As I said, people have had mixed experiences with them, you might get lucky, but chances are at some point it will go wrong.

[blue_pinky]

More expensive esc's will typically deliver better, smoother acceleration and brakes, and have better feel, more useful and noticable when your racing regularly and reasonably well practiced. They are usually able to better handle the fastest motors as well, like the 4.5t and lower, and typically give you a more robust ESC for racing.

The Losi ones from what I've seen can work perfectly well in competition, but there is some question over reliability and software. The software seems to have improved over time and can be updated via your pc, so it's an ever changing benchmark.

But in the right hands and with some care I get the impression they are perfectly ok, and perform very well on the track if you take a look at some of the results. I'm pretty sure the Losi team drivers are running them and not under performing, so if your system is working ok, then I'm not sure you'll notice a siginificant difference in overall performance?

In general though, I do agree with Fabs, like with everything, you get what you pay for! And each brand/model does feel different, I've never tried a Losi system and have been using novak for all of my racing. About to try out a Tekin now so I'm interested to see how different it feels.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by blue_pinky

I'm pretty sure the Losi team drivers are running them

Used to run them