Notorious 4s battery vs. 6s for general tooling around

[tobmaster]

Still new here, and new to the Arrma world and this forum. I did search quite a bit before asking this, but nothing I found seemed to answer.
As posted in introductions, my son purchased a Notorious last summer. Soon after we rebuilt it due to an unfortunate mailbox incident, I decided to get myself a Talion EXB. We run both vehicles on 6s 100c 6000mAh battery packs. I sold some older nitro stuff and am -thinking- (don't tell wife) of grabbing a Mojave as another toy to drop money into. That said, for general "just tooling around", not bashing, not jumping, not racing; would a 4s 100c 5000+mAh pack be worth picking up to use in the two (maybe three...shhhh) vehicles listed? Or should we just stick with the 6s packs? Right now, we can't run much due to weather, but I have access to a large (cold but dry) building we could go play in but I am a bit concerned with speed. Just curious (besides the cost) if a few 4s packs would be worth having on hand.
Do they run slower? and define slower if you can.
pros/cons

 

[RC-Dude]

The benefit of 6s is also runtime if you have a small pinion.

4s = 4 x 6000 mAH > 24.000mAH
6s = 6 x 6000 mAh > 36.000mAH

You automatically have 50% more capacity to drive with.

Once you have been with 6s the 4s seem lame. Just get a smaller pinion to get the Amps down and lots more runtime. For small space rather look at the 3s series and get 3s packs that you use in series on the 6s rigs.

Get that Mojave.... . Best fun rig to just race around.

 

[SIK-RC]

when I first got my Granite I ran it on 2s my friend goy him one a few weeks later and got 3s it was night and day on the speed
I use these all the time have had no issues
https://www.amazon.com/Zeee-Battery...&pd_rd_wg=Dby59&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

[morrjr71]

For general "tooling around", which is most of my running, I run my Kraton 6s on a 4s 5000mAh 100C battery. I don't have a huge area to run in, so the slightly lower speed of the 4s vs. 6s works well for me. When the weather warms up and I can get to a larger area to run I may try running on 6s again, especially since I upgraded the motor and ESC in my Kraton to a Castle MMX 8s 1650kv system.

 

[JHB]

I run 4s batteries in my Kraton 6s all the time; in fact I don't even own a 6s pack yet. My current running areas aren't big enough to support 6s speeds, but more importantly my driving skills aren't up to what I feel they should be for running 6s.
I'm hoping to have more running time this spring/summer to drive more and get my skills up, and I also have a lead on a place to run that's a BIG open space that can support 6s speeds (if the Google Maps imagery can be trusted).

 

[The Bean]

You can run a 6s with the throttle reducer, to help throttle control if necessary.

 

[Doom!]

I usually start my sessions off on 4S then finish them on 6S. There is a difference but for just having a casual session 4S is still fun.

 

[419RC]

I bet on 4s with the punch cranked up it would be a blast. I tried 4s at a skatepark (factory punch) and it just couldn’t get up to speed fast enough. Still fun to tool around. Once I got 6s, I can’t imagine going back now.

 

[Soppy]

I run my kraton on 4s and it works great in smaller areas and get around 20 minutes run time on grass.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

For a smaller space, a Granite 4x4 is great...

But yeah, I ran my Kraton and Typhon on 4s for years. Bump the pinion a few teeth, and they still have a decent top end, but they are not as wheelie and flip happy as they are on 6s. Calmer, but still lots of fun, if you concentrate on technical driving vs just blasting around.

Also, 4s give you pretty short run times. 10-15minutes.

One more thought - instead of spending the money on 4s packs, spend it on a good/better radio. Something like DX5C or a RC6GS or similar. Then you can set multiple profiles - I have one for each car - "Bash 100%", "Track 60%", "kids 30%". Set the throttle EPA of the profile to the % in the name, then you can quickly swap between them. 6s pack with 60% EPA gives performance similar to a 4s, but with a pretty long run time.

 

[JHB]

Also, 4s give you pretty short run times. 10-15minutes.

v3 Kraton 6s with only a little extra metal (M2C chassis braces and Armorwerks servo mount, otherwise stock), 14t pinion, punch @ 6 (I think), hard-packed dirt, and not being gentle... I get over 20min drive time on a 5200mAh 4s battery.

 

[Duggin]

The benefit of 6s is also runtime if you have a small pinion.

4s = 4 x 6000 mAH > 24.000mAH
6s = 6 x 6000 mAh > 36.000mAH

You automatically have 50% more capacity to drive with.

Once you have been with 6s the 4s seem lame. Just get a smaller pinion to get the Amps down and lots more runtime. For small space rather look at the 3s series and get 3s packs that you use in series on the 6s rigs.

Get that Mojave.... . Best fun rig to just race around.

Run time is dictated by the mah of the battery, not voltage. An 8000 mah is going to run longer than 6000mah regardless of voltage.
I’ve been running 6s and am going to try 4s. I have a large natural terrain track in my backyard. Top speed according to my friends telemetry on his Xmaxx is 36 mph.
No need for 50+. My friends Teknos are running 4s and are just as fast.

 

[The Bean]

Run time is dictated by the mah of the battery, not voltage. An 8000 mah is going to run longer than 6000mah regardless of voltage.

Though with a 6s and a 4s with equal mAh, the 6s will still last longer. With 4s, you'll be at full throttle more, draining the bat faster.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Run time is determined by how much power (watts) is used over time (hours), (watt hours) and how much energy (amp hours) is in the tank multiplied by voltage (Volts * amphours = watthours).

4s 5000mah = 14.4v * 5wh = 72watt hours.
6s 5000mah = 22.2v * 55wh = 111 watt hours.

Motors are mostly amp limited, meaning a motor that draws 100a max @ max load will draw that same 100a @ max load regardless of voltage. But as voltage goes up, total power goes up. volts * amps = watts

Also worth pointing out, speed is determined by power. Same truck driving at same speed (30mph, for example) needs the same amount of power, regardless of motor or battery. If you need 1000w to go 30mph, you need 1000w, regardless of motor or battery.

When you are running 6s, you have more power, so are mostly likely using more power, so you are burning AH faster, so that 111wh does not last much longer than the 72wh.

If you run 6s and limit your EPA to 66% - now you only have available power similar to running 4s, but you have an extra 1/3 fuel in the tank = longer run times.

 

[SrC]

4s will be slower but more controllable. Sometimes more enjoyable. I mix mine up with 4s and 6s. Depending where I am bashing.
The general rule is when you Volt down, you Gear Up. Volt Up, you gear down. But running both 4s and 6s, I have pinion gears in place that provide the sweet spot for both 6s and 4s. Works for me. Gearing is trial and error based on each specific rig and their unique final drive ratios. This includes varying Tire diameters of each rig. (Tire's rollout)

 

[RC-Dude]

I was trying to compare apples to apples. Meaning to use a bigger pinion with 4s and a smaller pinion with 6s. If you adjust those pinions to the same end speed you (lets say 80km/h) will see that you have more driving time with 6s. You have 50 percent more capacity in the following example.

4s = 4 x 6000 mAH > 24.000mAH
6s = 6 x 6000 mAh > 36.000mAH

But you don't have 50% more driving time as you will accelerate faster, break harder and therefore use more energy. Perhaps it's 30-40% more driving time. That is why going on 4s it would make sense to take a 8000mAH 4s Lipo to increase driving time.

 

[The Bean]

Or 2x a slightly smaller one. Less weight is more run time

 

[dure16]

I would just run your current batteries at 50% or 75% throttle. It’ll slow the truck down, you’ll get more runtime, and you don’t have to spend money on additional batteries.