Goal: Trying to keep the build as light as reasonably possible while making it a nimble and reliable basher. Drivability for my young kids is key, while making it also fast and fun for me.
Intro: This is my first RC since about 1990, so things have changed a little since then. I have a lot to learn and this forum has been invaluable and the people amazingly helpful. Thank you all for that! I bought a Talion because I got my kids a TRX4 a year or so ago and I thought it would be fun to have a 2nd car, as well as give me something more my speed when I want. Debated a long time between the Kraton and Talion and just decided I was more excited about drifting than wheelies, so just went with the Talion.
First Impressions: My first impression on the Talion build before I ran it was that I was surprised how much slop there was in... well... just about every joint, both suspension and steering. Part of my build will be tightening all that up for sure, but what fun is a build without things to do. After my first run, I was blown away with how fast this thing is. I only ran it up and down the street, and through the grass at my house so I didn't have room to go crazy. I'm sure this made it feel faster than it would have in an open field, but wow. I turned down the throttle to 50% and it was still super fast! There is no way I was going to let my kids (5 and 7) drive this thing unless I could make it wayyyy slower. I only had a 6s battery, so first thing would be to get a smaller battery in there.
Stock Weight: 4727 grams (10.42 lbs)
First Mods:
ESC: the MMX8s gets a lot of good talk on the forum, and it's the match for the motor above. This seemed like a no brainer for me. I considered the 6s version of it, but in the end just went with the 8s version because it matched the motor and gave me options in the future.
Transmitter / Receiver: I had a Futaba setup growing up and it looked like Futaba is among the top quality transmitters you can get. For me, quality in a transmitter is important since this is the tangible interface to driving the car. Give me quality or give me death. Super happy with this transmitter. I was a little nervous that the menu system would be confusing, but it's actually not bad at all. Couldn't be happier with the decision.
Weight: After changing out all of the above, the car lost 64.9 grams. I was shocked. I thought that I would be gaining weight, but I didn't think about all the wires that would go away, and wires aren't light. Granted if you're running dual batteries then some of those wires would need to stay. I'm only going to run a single though.
New weight: 4662 grams (10.28 lbs)
Post Mod Impressions: There is snow on the ground outside so it's not an apples and oranges comparison, but so far, I love it. I won't be able to tell the power difference until I get some dry ground and a chance to run it in the grass, but so far I'm super happy. I figured that if I run it at about 22%, it's perfect for the kids to handle, and it's super easy to adjust that limit digitally on the fly with the transmitter. I still like to run it at only about 60% for myself. HA! It's notable that I lost the gyro when changing out the esc. I do notice the difference and am still deciding whether I want to get the Futaba gyro in there. I need more drive time to really make that decision. I can't seem to find a Futaba gyro in stock right now anyway. Low speed driving is great since it's a sensored motor. I knew that I would really appreciate this, especially for the kids driving it. It's night and day difference for controllability at low speeds. It's no longer a light switch at the low end. Couldn't be happier.
Next Mod: Lighting - By the time I usually get out to run it during the week it's getting dark. With the black body it's impossible to tell which way it's facing half the time so I need some lights to help me out there. I have a Polo Creations lighting kit on the way and will report back with more info once its installed.
And now for the moment you've really been waiting for... pix!
The stock mount with the ridge cut off so I can glue the esc on onto a flat surface. I wanted to glue the esc right to the chassis, but there wasn't any flat place to put it.
Waiting for the glue to dry. I used Black RTV because it's what I had laying around.
Reassembled and ready for a maiden voyage with the new electronics!
Intro: This is my first RC since about 1990, so things have changed a little since then. I have a lot to learn and this forum has been invaluable and the people amazingly helpful. Thank you all for that! I bought a Talion because I got my kids a TRX4 a year or so ago and I thought it would be fun to have a 2nd car, as well as give me something more my speed when I want. Debated a long time between the Kraton and Talion and just decided I was more excited about drifting than wheelies, so just went with the Talion.
First Impressions: My first impression on the Talion build before I ran it was that I was surprised how much slop there was in... well... just about every joint, both suspension and steering. Part of my build will be tightening all that up for sure, but what fun is a build without things to do. After my first run, I was blown away with how fast this thing is. I only ran it up and down the street, and through the grass at my house so I didn't have room to go crazy. I'm sure this made it feel faster than it would have in an open field, but wow. I turned down the throttle to 50% and it was still super fast! There is no way I was going to let my kids (5 and 7) drive this thing unless I could make it wayyyy slower. I only had a 6s battery, so first thing would be to get a smaller battery in there.
Stock Weight: 4727 grams (10.42 lbs)
First Mods:
- Sensored motor (Castle 1520-1650Kv)
- Better ESC (Castle Mamba X 8S)
- Better transmitter / receiver (futaba 4pm)
ESC: the MMX8s gets a lot of good talk on the forum, and it's the match for the motor above. This seemed like a no brainer for me. I considered the 6s version of it, but in the end just went with the 8s version because it matched the motor and gave me options in the future.
Transmitter / Receiver: I had a Futaba setup growing up and it looked like Futaba is among the top quality transmitters you can get. For me, quality in a transmitter is important since this is the tangible interface to driving the car. Give me quality or give me death. Super happy with this transmitter. I was a little nervous that the menu system would be confusing, but it's actually not bad at all. Couldn't be happier with the decision.
Weight: After changing out all of the above, the car lost 64.9 grams. I was shocked. I thought that I would be gaining weight, but I didn't think about all the wires that would go away, and wires aren't light. Granted if you're running dual batteries then some of those wires would need to stay. I'm only going to run a single though.
New weight: 4662 grams (10.28 lbs)
Post Mod Impressions: There is snow on the ground outside so it's not an apples and oranges comparison, but so far, I love it. I won't be able to tell the power difference until I get some dry ground and a chance to run it in the grass, but so far I'm super happy. I figured that if I run it at about 22%, it's perfect for the kids to handle, and it's super easy to adjust that limit digitally on the fly with the transmitter. I still like to run it at only about 60% for myself. HA! It's notable that I lost the gyro when changing out the esc. I do notice the difference and am still deciding whether I want to get the Futaba gyro in there. I need more drive time to really make that decision. I can't seem to find a Futaba gyro in stock right now anyway. Low speed driving is great since it's a sensored motor. I knew that I would really appreciate this, especially for the kids driving it. It's night and day difference for controllability at low speeds. It's no longer a light switch at the low end. Couldn't be happier.
Next Mod: Lighting - By the time I usually get out to run it during the week it's getting dark. With the black body it's impossible to tell which way it's facing half the time so I need some lights to help me out there. I have a Polo Creations lighting kit on the way and will report back with more info once its installed.
And now for the moment you've really been waiting for... pix!
The stock mount with the ridge cut off so I can glue the esc on onto a flat surface. I wanted to glue the esc right to the chassis, but there wasn't any flat place to put it.
Waiting for the glue to dry. I used Black RTV because it's what I had laying around.
Reassembled and ready for a maiden voyage with the new electronics!
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