5.5t for indoor?
 

hello all, I raced over 10 years ago but havent touched a buggy since so am pretty much a newbie but cant wait to get back involved... recently bought a losi 22 and with it got a nosram matrix evo esc and a Losi xcelorin 5.5t Motor...I was told at the time that the motor would be fine for indoor racing but as I research and look around the forum I read lots that I should be looking at 7.5t upwards? Im not fully aware of all the differences in motors. I am planning to race at southport in the new year and was just wondering whether i can/should race with a 5.5 or whether i would need a different motor.

thanks in advance

Gavin

6.5t, even outdoors, is the absolute limit. 5.5 outdoors would be pretty suicidal, indoors simply uncontrollable. As you are new to brushless/lipos, i would recommend 8.5t or 10.5t.
hope this helps

get a 8.5 - 7.5

thanks for the responses, what would a 5.5t be used for? is it more for touring cars? out of interest i guess there is no way of turning the motor down? its just best to get a new one?

2wd I run a 6.5 outdoors
4wd I run a 5.5 outdoors

Never tried a 5.5 in 2wd - it would be insane!

5.5 is for those who are crazy or can handle it!
I use 7.5 in 2wd and 6.5 in 4wd. Don't think I could handle anything hotter to be honest.
Brushless was newish when I started 4 years ago and I wish someone said to me 13.5 rather than 6.5 in my 2wd as a beginner. You'll just spend longer on your roof and replacing parts with silly motors.

Less is more, slow is fast and all that.

Hope this helps, mate. Welcome back and good luck

I agree with this totally.
Indoors it's more about driveability not out and out speed.

I use a 6.5 in my 4wd, and a 7.5-8.5 in my 2wd depending on track and conditions

My sons use 10.5 in the 4wd and 13.5 in their 2wd's, with the right gearing the 13.5 is very good and plenty fast enough down the straights and has good jump launch speed

Mr White for example... :)

Thats all I ever run too :)

I'm not crazy, just slightly unhinged :woot:

Ha Ha!!!! knew you would spot this thread!!!!!!! :D

Mr Owen I can assure you that slow is most definitely not fast :)

There's no point running a fast motor in a 2wd as all you will find is its like driving on a skating rink in the midfield.

I have recently changed from a 7.5t motor to a 8.5t motor in my 2wd.

The funny thing is I am actually getting a lot better lap times lol.

It's still as fast as the 7.5t easily and the tyres are wearing less as they are not spinning up all time.

And with the correct gearing there is no loss of top speed.

Someone I know told me its better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow lol ;-)

Cheers

Agree with all of the above really. Last winter I ran a 6.5 indoors and had the Esc turned down to 40%!! This year I started off with a 7.5 which was a big improvement and now I am running an 8.5 which is better still. The loss of top end is negligible, but the improved control of the car means my lap times have improved each time I have changed to a 'slower' motor...

you could always keep the motor and turn the epa down on the tranny and just turn it up as you get better :) I run a 5.5t indoors in a dex410 and a 6.5 in my b4 we have do it to keep up

Tried a 5.5t ONCE and went back to a 8.5t with barely any boost it is a lrp x12 which are fast motors but still if there wasnt a football goal in the way my car with a 5.5t motor in it would of ended up out the door under full brakes
I have been toying with the idea of putting a boosted 13.5t in my car

Just read the first post and losi motors are a bit soft its what my 13.5t is
However running that in blinky will still put you in the 6t catergory still a bit quick it would be fine in 4wd though

agree
 

yep.
I run a 6.5 and 5.5 in my 4wd.

7.5 or 10.5 in the 2wd.

I put a 5.5 in my 2wd for a larf, just span everywhere all the time.

a 7.5 or 8.5 is lowest/fastest for 2wd i would say, and as coming back. get a 10.5t and then you can add timing and turbo etc if your speed control allows as you get faster.

I love my 10.5, in 2wd, its great in the midfield, easy to drive etc, but on the strait and faster sections, with timing and turbo, as fast as the 7.5t on the track.....

in my 4wd, i prefer the mental 5.5t, as the car can handle it..... me, maybe not so much thou lol.........

thanks very much for all the replies, really appreciate it...seems sensible and probably what I will do is look at an 8.5 or 10.5....my esc is a nosram matrix evolution, ive no idea what this is capable of regards turning it down?...i am planning on buying a etronix pulse ex3g pro next week...

Are you running a 5.5t in your k1 and what make?

you can turn down the speed to what ever you want on your transmitter its called epa if you turn it down to 70% the motor will be the same speed as a 7.5t you dont really need to do much with your esc not until you start getting good anyway

thanks again...so if I can turn it down why do i need a different motor? Is it not recommended to do this? does it affect the motor etc?..thanks

I've been reading this with interest. I have the option of my 10.5 with boost or timing which is insanely fast or I have the othe setup with a 5.5 which is as quick but harder to drive.

So Ive decided that as I have a spare 8.5 motor I'm going to try it at the Area 51 race in the morning as I ran my 5.5 there last week I can get a back to back test - might be interesting to see which works best

I would wait till you get your new remote and try it with some of the settings you will be amazed what you can do with them nowadays
we run 6.5t in my sons car turned down to 80% on his remote works great:)

I ran a 5.5 on nimh and it was too much motor.
a 5.5 drains battery life like mad:woot:
I like the 6.5's better because it's really all the power you need for a 4wd buggy.:D

thanks for the advice/comments tisher, sounds like it might be worth hanging on until i get my remote and just seeing if i can turn it down...main issue would be battery life?

luniemiester would be interested to hear your feedback..

I think that motor with the EPA turned down would still be too torquey for 2wd and would still break traction a lot. EPA would stop it reaching maximum revs, but it would still have the torque... grunt, of a 5.5t motor.

the C rating on your lipos make quite a big difference as well!

worth thinking about (obviously batteries degrade over time though)

Feedback: I am nearly 2 laps faster running a boosted 10.5, rather than a std 6.5 in my 4WD.
Slightly slower in the straight, but much more driveable in the infield (York indoors)

However (as mentioned earlier) the losi motors are a bit soft - probably only equate to a modern 6.5, poor 7.5 anyway. I'd still be tempted to go 10.5 anyway

I'm also definitely quicker running a boosted 10.5 than I was with 5.5's and 6.5s both in 2wd and 4wd. Mines boosted so hard that on the straights you can't tell it isn't a 6.5 unless its a long straight, but its a lot smoother on the infield.

Running a faster wind with the EPA reduced isn't quite the same as a less powerful wind, though you can do a lot with software settings. A less powerful motor is undoubtedly the better option if you have the chance, but if money is tight I can see why you'd want to try EPA first. In a 2wd I think you'll find the power band all wrong, though you can adjust that on the TX as well.

Put it this way - if it was all down to EPA why don't we all run 2.5T's and adjust the EPA so its driveable......

This is very true Si but the motor he has already got does not have much torque and there is not just the epa that can be reduced on the tranny you can also reduce your throttle curve which again take away the punch of the motor as batterys if your a beginner you will not use the full amount out of your cells in a race these days as they are all rated quite high. As for me I have never boosted a 10.5t motor as I would rather have more power when needed than less because when you get better you will end up putting the bigger motor back in anyway

I would adjust the EPA first, especially before buying a motor if you've already got a 5.5 and your just starting out again. Your Etronix has EPA, it basically just reduces your throttle, so will bring down speed and torque.

If you run into any temperature issues or can't find a setting that works you may want to look at a slower wind, but you will probably find other things to spend on before going for the ultimate power curve.

thanks again for all comments and opinion..

from a financial perspective I want the right stuff so if i need a new motor ill get one rather than making do, if i dont however and if its possible to turn mine and slowly increase if i get better that would seem a better option to me? I just wasnt aware how possible this was etc...i think ill try this as a starting point and go from there....have been advised my etronix (pulse ex3g Pro) may not mix well with the savox low profile servo if anyone has a view on that? buying both next week...

am going up to southport for a look tomorrow so will pester a people there aswell :) thanks

I would try trading your 5.5 for something nearer to an 8.5 in the trade section. In reality, you are never going to need a 5.5 in a 2wd. As has been mentioned, a 5.5 is not going to deliver power as smoothly as a more realistic wind motor. I'm sure there will be someone out there with a 4wd car in a similar predicament only reversed.

5.5
 

Try running your 5.5 in blinky mode will be more than enough horseys

I am at southport tomorrow, pester me:thumbsup:

I tried the 8.5 for practice and first qualifier. Car was smooth and easy to drive but I struggled for pace down the straight which wasn't as long as normal. Also during the sprint between corners it didn't quite have the power I was used to

So for the next run I put the 5.5 back in. Car was much faster as to be expected but harder to be consistent. I knocked a second of my best laps but I did make more mistakes as I wasn't used to the track with the 5.5 and you had to be steadier in the jumps to get it right. I did an almost identical run to the 8.5 though!

The rest of the day I improved and got faster so I would say that the 8.5 is ok if your new or looking to get consistent times through driving. Once you reach a point where you just dint seem to get faster that's the time to either put in a faster motor or to add boost/timing to te 8.5.

I do prefer the feel of my 10.5 with boost to be honest over a standard 5.5 - nice and smooth in the tight stuff but ballistic on the straights especially outdoor

if your 8.5 lacked pace could of tired a bigger pinion probably wouldn't be such as drastic difference in pace compared to the 5.5.. but might of gave your the top end

Nonsense.

Tried that but then didn't have punch off corners. This is without boost as the 5.5-8.5 setup in the car I used doesn't have any timing like my other car does