This may have already been done and most likely so but if not I thought I would get peoples opinions on the variety of 8th scale ESC's out there. Share all experiences good or bad....also it would be nice to get insight on upcoming ESC's. I have been running the HobbyWing 150amp ESC for a few months now and just started having issues with it so I'm on the market for a replacement. I know everyone, or most, seem to go with Tekin but I have seen 4 burn up in the past few months so I'd like to see what other options are out there.

The Viper VTX8 is just around the corner. Been testing very well and with Tekin smoothness and castle toughness tough to beat. Plus the progauge make tuning a piece of cake.

Novak has the Activ8 that should hit shelves in about a month. Im waiting on one myself. Water resistant, x-drive, and boost. Only runs 4S but should be a monster of an ESC if its anything like their 1/10th scale stuff

Heck now most 1/8 scale esc/motor combos are better it depends on how the user uses it if it wil last or not.

But in my exprience the Castle Mamba system is pertty relible on a 1/8 scale you can make the BEC at a higher voltage on the Castle link. Yea its sensoredless but you can make it smoother just by some little tuning.

I race with this system by the way.

I would agree with you that I haven't seen too many MM systems go up in smoke. I just thought the Castle was very VERY twitchy. Had great power but no matter how I tuned it (both radio and esc settings) it would jump from mid range to SUPER FAST way to quick.

I had Mamba Monster, but it was too sensitive to water (it fried).
I have two 150A Hobbywing, and they ran nicely for a year or so, but are beginning to fail.
I run two Tekin RX8 for racing, and IMO they are the best.

RX8 for the Win.

If it's anything like there 10th stuff I would stAy away!

When you say they are beginning to fail what do you mean? I ran into some issues with mine this weekend that has me stumped. First off the BEC was going bad. Determined this by using a nitro receiver pack in the 3rd channel on the receiver to eliminate it cutting out for a few seconds when it was under load. Ran great for about 3 packs (45 minutes) then it started just loosing power bad. Now the ESC has no power from the Lipos...it was just getting juice from the receiver pack. I could plug in the receiver pack and it would power up but when I removed that and plugged in the Lipo nothing happened. I know it didn't overheat and I know the switch is good because it would power up with the receiver batt plugged in. Im going to re-solder my connections just to be sure but the plugs look solid and I know the batts were good because they would run in other vehicles. Im at a loss at this point and hope I don't have to try and send this back to Hong Kong.

The Castle does hit hard if you dont turn down the expo on the radio to negative . If you tune that down its not bad .

RX8 is the best performer, of what I have used. Best performance, hands down. However, they just don't last. No matter what I do I cannot get more than 7-8 months out of one before something goes bye bye. I've tried everything to cushion and protect it, but no dice. Good company and customer service though. You get instant action with any problems you have.

Castle MMM is more durable. I have one that is almost two years old and still going strong. Not as smooth (not sensored) as the RX8 though. Still, I'm starting to lean more toward products that are not going to get me a DNF during a race. Customer service is a bit dicey. They are polite, but slow. If you do have something wrong with your MMM, it takes weeks and weeks to get it serviced. Best to have spares.

I just started using the Speed Passion Silver Arrow 1/8th ESC. It performs great and it is much cheaper. We'll just have to see how durable it is before I make a final judgement. Don't know yet about their customer service, since I haven not used them yet. We'll see.

I really like the RX8. If you do get one, you'd be surprised at just how much you can configure on the ESC itself without hooking up the Hotwire. I configure Furrent Limit directly on the ESC which makes things super fast and easy while testing.

The RX8 would rule if it was actually durable. But it's not. Tekin put no thought into the fan, case, or shock isolation on the boards. If you bolt it down it'll rattle to death. If you servo tape and velcro it down, with a ziptie for added insurance. The zip tie crushes the fan due to the flimsy case. Best way to mount a Rx8 is with long screws and rubber orings. The posts are a bit of a pain to solder to securely.

I'm giving Tekin one more chance to repair my RX8's. Hopefully they'll get them right. They need a 12month warranty if they want to stay in the 1/8th scale game. People are starting to not trust them.

The Speed Passion is very nice and way tougher. The case is strong and servo tape and a ziptie work fine. The case is raised around the fan so a ziptie clears well.

Castle is garbage and deosn't even have a BEC that works.

Hopefully the ESC companies will get there heads out of there @$% and actually test their ESC's, not just release some chinese junk that belongs in a slow 1/10th scale car.

Hopefully racers will put some pressure on the ESC companies to add:
-Longer warranties. I gladly paid $200+ for your $40 part. At least stand behind your product. I know, I know, it's hard putting a warrantee on a racing part that's going to get beat on blah blah blah. But it's time to put the big boy pants on an make a tough product that you're proud to put a warrantee on. Hitec has an excellent servo warrantee department that would serve as a good example to follow.

-"Chuck it at the wall" guarantee. If an ESC can't be taken out of it's shipping box and be thrown at a brick wall repeatedly by a MLB pitcher, then it's not tough enough for 1/8th scale. My Airtronics RX can survive this (allthough they are wrapped in 1 layer of RX foam but that's how they're designed). ESC's need some sort of built in shock dampening. They only have to be tougher than a cheap pot metal nitro engine block.

-better solder posts, or just go back to permanent wires on the board.
-higher quality. Many ESC's fail right out of the box.
-case chemical resistance to mild traction compounds like TAG body spray.

-Servo ears. You know those things that servos have that allow them to be mounted, with rubber block isolators, so that they are up off the chassis? Add those to your ESC case. It ain't $%^&#$ rocket science. If a Hitec 7955 servo can be uber reliable, than why can't a much simpler ESC?

-7.8-8.4v BEC, no need for a stepping voltage regulator, those just glitch anyways. But if you could lower the BEC resistance so that higher voltage passes, I'd appreciate it.

If you want I'll gladly beta test your prototype ESC or offer my extensive engineering knowledge (for a fee, but I can throw stuff at a wall for free).

Come on i wouldnt call the Castle Mamba Monsters Garbage i know my and many others i know its been really relible. And the updated Castle link has a thing where you can turn up the power on the Bec if its a issue.

Thumbs up to the Orion R8 Pro. No issues so far.