We have some locals running 1M to 2.5M wt silicone in their diffs. I can see it still functioning a bit at 1M, but beyond that, I'd guess they're like a spool with a little give.

I'm very happy with mine. It is however not a fast down the straights as the Killshots, etc. It seems to top out about 3/4 of the way down a 70-80' straight where the Others will pull all the way. but I do seem to have lots more rip out of the infield sections of the track and can make up ground there. Should be a good motor for a small to medium sized track and you cant beat the price.

I also use black RTV in all the nooks and crannies in my gearbox to give it a "quieter" tamiya noise. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Perfect! $38 shipped is hard to beat!

I just can't bring myself to agree with this at all. Sometimes cheap is really expensive. If you spend $85-90 on a top of the line motor, you'll have a better motor built with better components. That motor is priced at $38 cause it's components are cheaper. That is a fact.

Yes, it was slower down the straight as you stated. However, whether it had more "rip" out of the corners is immaterial. What matters is who had the faster lap time. On the tighter circuits, the guy with the Killshot can back down on his timing and just ream you out of the corners.

We had this discussion about servos awhile ago. I don't skimp on servos and buy really good servos. I have a friend who all excited about a servo that worked and was $30 or so. My servo was a good JR servo at $120. Over a span of 4-5 years, he spent $120 on new cheap servos and I still had the original JR servo. We both spent the same amount of money,but he still had a cheap servo and I had a great servo. Both cars are M03's which are much tougher on servos.

Point being that cheap isn't always inexpensive.

The opposite of that can also be true.

Rob King used one in his F1 car at the TCS finals. The one I have in my F1 car is the fastest one at my local track. With a $45 hobbywing speed control in both cars!

Not opposed to paying for value. Anyone who's seen my pride and joy setup board knows this. But the trackstar motor isn't garbage. Color me surprised. I only bought it because the Reedy I ordered didn't come in and that was the only 21.5 the LHS had, and I wanted to go racing.

Recently i use mugen seiki 1 million silicone oil for my M03 gear differential. I mixed it little bit , about 8 pct , with tamiya ceramic grease for gear contact longetivity reason. At first the differential action was tight as I expected. I am very pleased with it.

After the race I notice the differential action become loose and looser. I checked inside my car gear box is somewhat messier because the silicone diff oil most probably was leaking out during the race. I am not happy with this setup because the diff oil is somewhat leaking during operation.

I build a new set and I try to improve the gear diff ingridients this time with serpent putty cleaning gum mixed 10pct with silicone oil 450 from suspension oil. I take my time slowly putting the putty inside the diff. Finally, this time works awesomely...., the ingridients remain inside the gear diff unit. The diff action is still there even after 2 race meeting. One addtional tip, I also use longer screws : 2x10mm i guess , I want to make sure the diff cover will not split open during operation.

I understand what you're saying, but you may have missed the point. In most cases, cheap stuff is is made from cheap stuff…………Admittedly, you can't judge the quality by the price tag cause some people gouge you with junk, but from your accounting background, you know that manufacturers will price with the standard formula for pricing. A $45 motor has cut corners somewhere compared to a $90 motor. Yes I know there are other factors. Also, have been involved in a couple of retail hobby shops and a kit manufacturing business, so do understand how this stuff works.

F1 is more about set up and driver than motor. But it's nice to have the fastest motor at the track.

The HK motor is nearly as fast as some of the others.

The quality is nowhere near the same.

I haven't seen any failures though...

The funny part about the price vs quality question is when the inverse becomes true. I've seen a few manufacturers sell the same product, with no increase or reduction in quality, for years, but the price remained either static (indexed to inflation) or increases, due to acceptance of the name brand in the market. The initial investment is complete, R&D costs covered years past, advertising budget decreased due to global name recognition, yet the price remains the same or increases. It's a great business model.

Define quality, please?

There are any number of acceptable definitions for quality on the net. If you are sincerely looking for the definition, you'll find it there.

The word quality in itself is an interesting word, in that it changes in reference to what it's being used to describe. If you're referencing a person, it means one thing. Or a diamond, a plant, perfume or scent etc, etc.

But taken in context, I'm going to assume that the you're referring primarily to manufacturing quality. Most people don't need a definition of this type of quality, and can recognize instantly. For example, if a Bently was parked next to a Hyundai, anyone with an eye for quality would pick the Bently. Since the electric motor is similar to watches, most people could determine my Swiss Army watch is inferior in quality to my friends TAG Heur.

The B/L motors work the same way. Look at the intricate machining on the Schuur end bell. Quality doesn't have to be defined, it's just there. Most can recognize it. It's in the details.

At some point tho, the quality to price curves will cross in most peoples racing budget

I work in the industrial MRO industry and the quality question is raised daily by our customers. Usually the first question is where was the product manufactured, when really they should ask where is the performance data? Let's be honest here, most products in this hobby are produced in countries with inexpensive labor. What you are paying for is name recognition and to a lesser extent quality control.
Just my 2 cents;)

There are some Ferraris I would be scared to drive.

What would be considered must have mods for a m05 to TCS race?