Peter_B 997 Posted May 20, 2019 Guys, for those of you that dabble in a bit of vintage racing what brushless ESC's are you running? In the coming months I'm intending to race my Boomerang, Top Force and Procat in some vintage events and am not sure which way to go ESC-wise. The Boomer currently has a TBLE-02S wired up to a Speed Passion 13.5T MM motor. The Top Force has a Trackstar Sportsman ESC with a Speed Passion 13.5 (non MMM) motor. The Procat is currently in pieces, but might well end up running a 10.5T motor. I don't want to go too mad in terms of motors but I might want to go to 10.5T in the Boomer and possibly 8.5T in the Top Force. I'm not saying I will run those kinds of motors, but I would whatever ESC's I run to have the capacity to handle them. I do have a couple each of TBLE-02S and the Trackstar ESC's spare but, the TBLE-02S is only rated for a 13.5T, could go to 10.5T if I fitted a fan but I think I'd be at the limit. Likewise the Trackstar specs say the max is 13.5T in a buggy. TBLE has next to no programming options and the Trackstar is limited (has punch and brake adjustment but no timing). Again, I might not use any programming features but it would be nice to have the option. My current thoughts are: Hobbywing 10BL120 - I have a couple of these already, and have the programming card, seem fine for bashing not sure about racing. Reasonably priced Trackstar GenII 120A - no experience of these but the specs seem ok plus I do have the programming card (same as the one for the Sportsman ESCs). Almost twice as pricey as the Hobbywing. Hobbyking X-Car 120A - again I've no experience of them, but they're cheap, seem to have a decent reputation and use the same programming card as the Hobbywing. Anybody have any thoughts on those? Any suggestions for anything else? Hobbyking do have the Trackstar Turbo 80A listed on their site, which I know a couple of people here have used, but they currently don't have any stock. Obviously there are also "proper" race spec options, but they are a fair bit more expensive than these ones and seeing as I need 3 that kind of rules them out. The other concern is that the first even is only a few weeks away so I can't really take a risk on anything coming from too far overseas. So UK (possibly EU) availability is a must. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted May 20, 2019 What are your local vintage racing rules allowing...? Anything goes or are they expecting a "Blinky" brushless system? Motor choice depends on the track; ESC depends on what motor & what the fast guys are running and how much you can afford to chase them with. Our local vintage racing scene has only ever used 540s and SportTuned motors, so the best racing brushed ESCs back then are still the best today IMHO the Novak Cyclone still gives the best punch even for this relatively light duty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter_B 997 Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, WillyChang said: What are your local vintage racing rules allowing...? Anything goes or are they expecting a "Blinky" brushless system? Motor choice depends on the track; ESC depends on what motor & what the fast guys are running and how much you can afford to chase them with. Our local vintage racing scene has only ever used 540s and SportTuned motors, so the best racing brushed ESCs back then are still the best today IMHO the Novak Cyclone still gives the best punch even for this relatively light duty. To my knowledge, there is no regular vintage racing in my area. I'm doing 2 of the Iconic RC events - the Revival in July and the Schumacher Challenge in the middle of June. As far as I know, there are no rules controlling which motors can be run. I certainly don't have any aspirations of keeping up with the fast guys. I'm just after some thoughts on budget-to-mid level escs that will cope with the motors that I have available. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted May 20, 2019 You're right, it's listed as "open" electronics https://bmrrc.wordpress.com/events/bmr-iconic-schumacher-challenge/ i forecast an epic arms race ppl will be bolting in faster & faster motors, cranking up the timing until ESCs start smoking then you'll need top grade batteries to keep up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LongRat 616 Posted May 20, 2019 Your ESC options are all ok, personally I would go for the 10BL120 from that list. Sometimes the power systems people run at vintage events are a bit OTT. I raced a couple of weekends ago and there were several vintage Schumachers running 6.5s. Needless to say they were 'slightly' faster than my 35 year old 17 turn brushed. It's a balance for the organisers in keeping the racing reasonable but not placing too many restrictions and putting people off. The iconic events have struck that balance well it seems, given the enormous popularity. That's really a credit to JW and the organisers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathon Gillham 4607 Posted May 20, 2019 So it sounds like you'll need a programmable ESC so you can add in some boost if required. The good thing about mod class is its heaps cheaper than stock - you can so easily overpower the vehicle that it doesn't lead to an arms race. Stock on the other hand requires the motor of the week, an expensive battery that can handle charging at 30amps to get an little advantage etc. Mod any cheap motor and ESC with boost and you're away. I don't know that Hobbywing - is it programmable with boost and turbo or just punch, brakes etc? The Trackstar Gen II would work fine, a few guys at my offroad club have run them for years without issue. I have the 80amp but they have a recommended motor limit of 10.5T. No idea about the Hobbyking,my impression is that they are the cheap version amd Trackstar is their 'racing' brand? Real cheap is the TSky 120amp from banggood, you could buy 2 for less than the price of 1 of those on your list... The SkyRC Toro TS120 would do the job and are reasonably priced, I'm pretty sure that the Trackstar GenII is one of these rebranded. Heaps of people at my clubs run them, I've just bought one for my 2wd buggy as it was US68 delievered rorm RCMart and the specs are good. Not sure if your programming card would work with it though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wooders28 4723 Posted May 25, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 11:10 AM, Peter_B said: Hobbywing 10BL120 - I have a couple of these already, and have the programming card, seem fine for bashing not sure about racing. Reasonably priced In use one in my Yokomo truck, finished 2nd in the B final at it's last outing, running a speed passion 6.5t. A better esc would give you more control over boost/timing , but I figured I'd just run a lower turn motor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
