There is exactly the same discussion going on in German forums at the moment too. It's funny to see this thread raging on and having exactly the same arguements pop up.
It seems as though we now have a proposal in Germany most people agree on for offroad. It reads along the lines of:
- minimum 3000mAh and 20C
- max 7.4V
- free format
- LIXX tech (allowing, LiFePo when they become readily available)
and leaving everything else open.
If anyone wants to blow their cells up by overcharging, then so be it. The newer cells will just swell and not blow.
The same goes for charging at over 1C. Some manufacturers already allow charging at 2C and it does nothing for the power delivery apart from heating the cells a little more before they go in the car and reducing the charge time a little. If you want to be really anal you can warm your pack to about 45-50°C before driving to get max power out of it but doesn't make a huge difference either.
Seriously speaking, for offroad there are no real advantages to using anything over 5000mAh as it just results in more wheelies on grip or more wheelspin on slippy surfaces.
I now run 3200mAh cells in 20C flavor and have been going just fine with them. Even whole races with practise on 1 pack, recharging about 1200-1400mAh into it between heats. This was with a B4 with a 7.5 brushless on astroturf and the car was plenty quick! I try and rotate packs a little but that one race had to run one pack as others had not arrived.
During that race the pack did not once come out of the car hot, nor did it ever feel "different" to the other runs and is still going strong.
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