Hey guys, I'm looking to do some racing and have a Sidewinder with the 5700k motor. The thing really rips but I feel is too much for the tight indoor tracks I want to run for the rest of the winter. My queston is how bad is the cogging when using a 17.5 sensored brushless with the Sidewinder sensorless ESC? If is not too bad are there any motor recommendations? If all else fails recommend me a good brushed 27t. Thanks!

Did you try going down a tooth in the pinion? I run a 90 spur with a 15 pinion as the track I was running on was small, you could also change the esc through the castlelink, or manual programing.

Did you try going down a tooth in the pinion? I run a 90 spur with a 15 pinion as the track I was running on was small, you could also change the esc through the castlelink, or manual programing.

thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I went down to a 16 tooth (littlest I had). I also cranked the esc down about as far as it would go. This was only my 2nd time racing and I'm still getting the feel for it. I did discover my ball diff had melted a bit due to being loose and when I tightened it turned into a semi-locker making my truck handle like a dump truck. That was part of my problem.

I'd still like to know how bad the cogging is with a stock spec brushless on a sensorless esc. I believe the track I want to run at frequently has a stock class. Maybe a 27 turn brushed motor is the easy answer; I doubt a higher turn motor like that will eat brushes all that fast anyhow and they are cheap.

quote"I'd still like to know how bad the cogging is with a stock spec brushless on a sensorless esc. I believe the track I want to run at frequently has a stock class. Maybe a 27 turn brushed motor is the easy answer; I doubt a higher turn motor like that will eat brushes all that fast anyhow and they are cheap."Quote

I wondered that myself, I've heard of problems with sensored motors on a sensorless esc, but I've been wanting to try a Novak and that being sensored, I don't know how it will act. Diff definately needs rebuilt, worse comes to worse, buy a 15t pinion, it might cut out top end, but it get you through corners faster, which is what helped us being on a short track. Let me know the results if you do any testing. Thanks!!

thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I went down to a 16 tooth (littlest I had). I also cranked the esc down about as far as it would go. This was only my 2nd time racing and I'm still getting the feel for it. I did discover my ball diff had melted a bit due to being loose and when I tightened it turned into a semi-locker making my truck handle like a dump truck. That was part of my problem.

I'd still like to know how bad the cogging is with a stock spec brushless on a sensorless esc. I believe the track I want to run at frequently has a stock class. Maybe a 27 turn brushed motor is the easy answer; I doubt a higher turn motor like that will eat brushes all that fast anyhow and they are cheap.
you might get a ton of replys with this one but i would not do it. with the cogging issue it all depends on the motor which brand and so on

I have run a Novak 8.5 with a 13MM rotor in a XXX-T for off-road using a Sidewinder ESC and I liked it better with the Sidewinder than with the Novak Supersport. Rarely any cogging (rarely as in, maybe not at all in a 5 minute race, just every now and then). But that was an 8.5 and you are more likely to get cogging with the gearing you need for a 17.5.

I went ahead and got this:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPBX0&P=SM

Associated V10 Spec 4 19t double. I hope its good... It makes 155w (compared to my 5700kv motor with about 500w!). The track I want to run at seems to have some fast and loose rules and I was told most people run 27t but I didn't want to bring a knife to a gun fight. :) I can always dial the speed control down if needed.