[UPDATE] Thursday Testimonials: MIP Aluminum C-CVD kit, Savox 17.5 Stock Spec brushless motor.

0 Oct. 23, 2013, 8:22 a.m.

Main Photo: [UPDATE] Thursday Testimonials: MIP Aluminum C-CVD kit, Savox 17.5 Stock Spec brushless motor.

10/24/2013

By LiveRC Staff
LiveRC.com

Whether it's wheel nuts, wings, tools, tracks, trinkets and/or anything in between, the LiveRC staff gives their testimonial and mini-review of each every Thursday morning!

MIP Aluminum TLR 22 C-CVD Kit

$45.00

www.miponline.com

MIP recently announced their new aluminum C-CVD kits for various makes and models. The idea behind the MIP aluminum C-CVD kits is to significantly lighten the overall drivetrain compared to the heavier stock parts. By lightning the drivetrain this decreases the amount of rotating mass, which in turn will in theory increase acceleration, corner speed, stopping time, and overall speed. Obviously the main concern with lightened parts, is durability. We decided to try out the MIP aluminum C-CVD kit on our Novak Ballistic 6.5 brushless powered TLR 22 2.0 buggy, and put it to the test!

Pros:

Everything from wheel pins to grease is included in the kit, making installation and assembly a breeze.
Includes signature MIP pin retainer, which ensures your CVD's won't fall apart if the set screws back off.
The 7075-T6 aluminum construction is in fact significantly lighter weight, providing more acceleration (most noticed when using a 17.5 spec class motor).
After over 600 laps on the track using a 6.5 brushless setup, the MIP aluminum C-CVD's show little to no wear what-so-ever.
Unique coloring and "factory look" labeling sets your car apart from the crowd.

Cons:

While assembly is pretty self explanatory, no instructions are included, and must be downloaded of the MIP website.

Conclusion:

If you are a 17.5 or 13.5 spec class racer, the MIP aluminum C-CVD kit is an excellent way to lighten your car, and get the extra "punch" out of the corners you are looking for. For mod class racers, the overall performance enhancement isn't near as noticeable, however, they sure look cool! MIP has successfully combined lightweight, durability, and style with these kits.

Beacon Rating: 4/5

Savox 17.5T 540 1:10 Sensored Brushless Surface Motor

$89.99

www.savoxusa.com

Savox has come on strong within the past few years, offering racers of all skill levels a variety of servos to meet their specific needs. It wasn't long ago they entered the brushless motor race, and we were fortunate enough to get our hands on the new 17.5 540 sensored motor to try it out for ourselves!

The Savox sensored brushless motors are designed for superior power and throttle control. They feature a lightweight design and cooling vents to help create efficient air flow and lower temperature. Each motor features adjustable timing, and is fully rebuildable.

Pros:

Lightweight design matches, or is less than, many race winning spec motors on the market at only 180g.
Timing marks are very visible and easy to read.
Provides good acceleration and top speed.
Solder tabs are easy to work with, and make for a clean wiring job.
Overall average lap times were .13 seconds faster using this motor.

Cons:

Majority of tracks and races follow the ROAR Rule Book strictly when it comes to stock spec racing. This motor is not currently ROAR approved.

Conclusion:

There is no doubt that Savox has quality and high performance products, as this motor proved to us that it has quality, the durability, and the performance to run with the best of them. The major downfall to this specific motor is the fact that it is not ROAR approved...YET. From what we can tell, this motor meets ROAR requirements, however, the final decision is not up to us. Without ROAR approval, it eliminates the chances of racing with this motor at various tracks and events, depending on how strict the rules are enforced.

Beacon Rating: 3/5

(The performance, quality, and overall build of this motor is an easy 4/5 on the Beacon Rating, however, we are left with no choice but to award it a 3/5 until it is officially approved to race with.)

UPDATE - 10/26/2013 - 5:38PM

It has occurred to us after the help of loyal viewer, Joel Eaton, that the Savox 17.5 brushless motor IS ROAR LEGAL! Apparently the ROAR Approved Sheet that we referred to was severely out of date, and/or it was too early in the morning when this review was written. Needless to say, we sincerely apologize and would like to re-rate the Savox brushless motor. As we stated earlier, this motor is in fact a high quality motor, that provides plenty of performance for the stock spec classes. Now knowing that this motor IS in fact ROAR Legal, we would like to award it with a strong 4/5 on the Beacon Rating!