wintersdawn

Bought my Sand Viper here & was the cheapest price I could find inc. delivery: https://www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/tamiya-58374-sand-viper-dt02-without-custom-deal-bundle-radio-controlled-model-p-53.html?osCsid=mimd6hb0ee5g88qcek34svdvt1

Last night I upgraded the motor in my maverick strada sc (originally a brushed MM-22 540 22T) to the maverick brushed mm-550 15T. My existing pinion gear was 17T but I used a 15T as this is the pinion gear used in the maverick phantom xt that has the same mm-550 motor. The only thing I didn't do is change the spur gear, mine is 48T and the one used in the phantom is 56T, not sure if I'll get some heat/premature wear problems. Took it out for a test run and its a lot faster than the stock 540. The first picture is the before picture and the second is the new motor installed.

Thanks for that

A first upgrade recommended for the Maverick Strada SC is to change the stock 17T pinion with a 19T to get a higher top speed, I'm sure this won't make as much difference as changing the motor to a more powerful one but might be worth a try for £4.

Cheers. Hopefully that is a standard motor shaft diameter, maybe that's why they don't always state the size.

Thanks to the advice here I understand that I can re-use the existing pinion and spur gear when upgrading the motor to either brushed or brushless but I am struggling to find the shaft diameter of my existing mm-22 540 motor, needing this to ensure that the replacement motor has the same diameter shaft so the existing pinion will fit

Cheers for the info. I'm using NiMH with the current 22T set-up with a Tamiya plug. Got a few NiMH batteries with tamiya plugs so thought I would try a lower turn brushed motor first as I would have to change to deans connectors (I think) if I get a brushless ESC. After running it a bit I feel it could do with a bit more speed. It will be used off-road too so if I stick with the existing ESC, maybe 15T is the lowest turn I should go? Cheers

Thanks, my ESC can handle 12T, 30000 KV. Can I use the existing pinion & spur gear when upgrading to a different brushed/brushless motor? Cheers

Just started wondering that if I upgrade to a lower turn motor whether I will also lose some torque which might translate to lesser off-road ability in some way? If this is true, if I can be happy with the 22T motor, I may retain more torque.

Think I've found one, a bait boat battery tester for a Procat bait boat. They seem to take 7.2v 6 cell nimh batteries with Tamiya plug.

Any recommendations for one of these that I can hopefully plug the Tamiya battery straight into to check the voltage? Cheers

Thanks for the info :-) I do prefer faster acceleration especially if space is limited. Sounds like brushless may have better top speed but slower acceleration which may not be as exciting/engaging. I am glad I went for the cheaper brushed version now from feedback here and may find it fast enough in stock form or with a 15 or 12T upgrade.

Got the answer to the above, they soldered XT60 connectors to their ESC lead and tamiya/lipo batteries. All new world to me regarding lipo, having only used tamiya batteries up till now.

Found this video giving a speed of 18 mph with the standard motor using a nimh battery. This was on grass so perhaps on a smooth surface it might reach 20 mph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29KkqnCR3-A&ab_channel=TrekRC They go on to test the speed with 2s & 3s batteries but I don't understand how as the standard ESC has a Tamiya battery connector, maybe they used an adapter for Deans/T connectors?

Cheers, yeah it might be fast enough. I ordered mine from Time Tunnel Models in the U.K. as they have the option to remove the included battery and charger (I've got plenty of batteries and a 1-5A charger) bringing the price down from £129 to £114.