Which 1/8th Buggy for Novak Conversion?

[ianjoyner]

I'm looking at trying one of the Novak brushless conversions, I've already got a Novak HV4.5 in my E-Zilla, but fancy trying it in something with a slightly lower centre of gravity.

I'm only really interested in bashing for now, but I've never had much to do with 1/8th buggies, so not sure which one to look at. I'm thinking second hand. Main requirements are strength and parts support as it will probably get jumped a bit, but it would be nice if it could handle corners too. I've been thinking Xray or Hot Bodies, only because I've liked other cars I've had from them and they've tended to be strong. What tough 1/8th scales are popular in the UK? Thanks.

Ian

[James]

Hong Nor's a good bet, its also just won the 8th scale worlds warmup...

[HKP]

I'm doing an Xray conversion at the moment. The quality and strength of the Xray certainly impresses during the build up. Plus on the Xray you don't need to cut the servo tray, so you can always put it back to Nitro without buying any new parts.

I'm going for the 6.5 though, apparently the 4.5 gets a bit hot due to not being able to gear it low enough on anything but the RC8? 5.5 should be OK though

[ianjoyner]

Originally Posted by smOkin

Hong Nor's a good bet, its also just won the 8th scale worlds warmup...

Hong Nor looks great, but it's one of the few Novak don't do a kit for. Have you bought one of the other kits available, or is it all custom on the Oople review car?

[bigred5765]

Novak do its just listed under it American name the jammin

[ianjoyner]

Originally Posted by HKP

I'm doing an Xray conversion at the moment. The quality and strength of the Xray certainly impresses during the build up. Plus on the Xray you don't need to cut the servo tray, so you can always put it back to Nitro without buying any new parts.

I'm going for the 6.5 though, apparently the 4.5 gets a bit hot due to not being able to gear it low enough on anything but the RC8? 5.5 should be OK though

I have seen quite a few Xrays on Ebay, I doubt I will have to worry about going back to nitro , but less hacking is generally good.

I know the 4.5 will have too many revs, but it's what I've got, I've had no problems with over heating on my E-Zilla, but that has a natural torque limiter - when the front wheels lift up .

[Answer-RC-Pete]

Hey there - you have to consider the Caster Fusion Ex-1 which is basically a stock 1/8th buggy ready for all your electrics to drop in and will be more than happy with the Novak gear.

The upside is that it will be around £150 for the rolling chassis, the down side is that they are still at least 5 weeks away!

[ianjoyner]

Originally Posted by bigred5765

Novak do its just listed under it American name the jammin

oh okay, so looking at the Novak's listing I take it the Ofna 9.5 / Jammin kit is right for Hong Nor.... I just don't know these names at all .

[Answer-RC-Pete]

Hmmm, thats intesteing that they list the conversion working for both the 9.5 / Ultra series and the X1.

the 9.5 an ultra are a different chassis design than the later X1, the image they show is that of the older 9.5 / ultra but if they say it works for the X1 I cant argue that.

Pete

[ianjoyner]

Originally Posted by Answer-RC-Pete

Hey there - you have to consider the Caster Fusion Ex-1 which is basically a stock 1/8th buggy ready for all your electrics to drop in and will be more than happy with the Novak gear.

The upside is that it will be around £150 for the rolling chassis, the down side is that they are still at least 5 weeks away!

Thanks Pete, I heard about the Caster in news items, but don't know much about it.

Where does the ESC sit?

Is it balanced left to right with the motor on one side and the batteries looking equal? Or are the batteries slightly to the right?

Is it electric only brakes? I'm used to racing electric and would be happy with this, but what about front / rear bias?

How is body shell clearance, I guess with a motor / heatsink / fan, it may get a little tight at the front.

[James]

Originally Posted by ianjoyner

Hong Nor looks great, but it's one of the few Novak don't do a kit for. Have you bought one of the other kits available, or is it all custom on the Oople review car?

How do i say this.. hmm.. Novak make awesome stuff but the electrics ive seen for brushless 8th dont look that good to me.. just my opinion..

We used:

NEU 1512 2.5 d/f motor (and a 1.5)
Mamba Max Speedo
Trakpower(Flightpower) 14.8v 5000mah 25c 4s lipo

there are various conversion kits, the rc monster is probably the cheapest.

The Neu motor is expensive but is regarded at the best, you could save money here and buy a cheaper one.
The mamba max is a reasonable price and tried, tested and proved.
The flightpower battery is a beast, they were expensive(ish) but ive think theyve come down now, if you ring trakpower they will be able to advise...

The hong nor is just a great car, very reasonable, simple, parts are readily available, clearly very fast, you cant really go wrong

[Answer-RC-Pete]

Where does the ESC sit? - see the image below fopr my badly photoshoped location!
ot to be better than running one big
Is it balanced left to right with the motor on one side and the batteries looking equal? Or are the batteries slightly to the right?
The cells are slightly offsett though it is only by a small amount and it certainly keeps the weight a lot more central than some designs out there. Equally by having two packs you are splitting the weight so you can have 2 or 3 on each side which has got to be better than running one big pack all on one side.

Is it electric only brakes? I'm used to racing electric and would be happy with this, but what about front / rear bias?
Yep - electric only brakes - with any decent speedo and motor set up you will have more than enogh brakes but yes you do lose control of bias but gain loads of simplicity.

How is body shell clearance, I guess with a motor / heatsink / fan, it may get a little tight at the front.
Suprisingly its not too snug - equally there is not loads of room but a finned motor poses no problems.

[ianjoyner]

nice photo Pete , thanks for the answers I will definitely look at that.

[ianjoyner]

Originally Posted by smOkin

How do i say this.. hmm.. Novak make awesome stuff but the electrics ive seen for brushless 8th dont look that good to me.. just my opinion..

We used:

Thanks for the info James.

I know a lot of people don't rate the Novak stuff, but I'm not really sure why, I've been running it for a year, it has more power than I can possibly use in the E-Zilla, the smoothness and control is as good as their 1/10th scale systems, I've never had it thermal or any other problem with it. The E-Zilla is heavier than an 1/8th buggy, with much heavier wheels, so I would have thought the system would rock in an 1/8th buggy. I never tried a Mamba Max, I hear they're good, but I haven't found anything wrong with the Novak. Main reason I went with Novak in the first place was because I didn't want any cogging after a bad experience with sensorless, seems this isn't much of a problem on the Mamba though, how smooth are the standing starts on yours?

Hong Nor sounds good, I hadn't really considered one until you mentioned it, but like I said I don't know the 1/8th buggies well at all, chassis will probably come down to what is available to me.

[Answer-RC-Pete]

A converted X1 would be my second choice if you didnt go Caster

If the Novak works for you thats cool but generally it is not that well regarded. For conversions have a look at the RC Monster stuff.

Pete

[mambamax]

hi m8 the hyper 7 go cheap as rollers here some pictures of my hybrid http://img508.imageshack.us/slideshow/p ... 6806m.smil

[James]

Originally Posted by ianjoyner

Thanks for the info James.

I know a lot of people don't rate the Novak stuff, but I'm not really sure why, I've been running it for a year, it has more power than I can possibly use in the E-Zilla, the smoothness and control is as good as their 1/10th scale systems, I've never had it thermal or any other problem with it. The E-Zilla is heavier than an 1/8th buggy, with much heavier wheels, so I would have thought the system would rock in an 1/8th buggy. I never tried a Mamba Max, I hear they're good, but I haven't found anything wrong with the Novak. Main reason I went with Novak in the first place was because I didn't want any cogging after a bad experience with sensorless, seems this isn't much of a problem on the Mamba though, how smooth are the standing starts on yours?

Hong Nor sounds good, I hadn't really considered one until you mentioned it, but like I said I don't know the 1/8th buggies well at all, chassis will probably come down to what is available to me.

Little bit of info here, including a short standing start vid ..

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthre...380#post146380

[ianjoyner]

nice teaser vid, I had seen it and thought about that after I mentioned starts, look forward to the review.

[rickwales]

I am looking at the Losi 8ight to convert using the Novak HV
Just a few questions i hope someone can answer
I see Losi do there own coversion kit. can this be used with the Novak brushless or do you have to use the Novak conversion kit
I have Novak Mongoose in my Micro and Novak rooster in my crawler and both work well, are there any issues with the HV ?? or is it as good as any other Novak
Thanks Rick