1/8 Buggy Servo - Specs vs. Performance
 

To start a Descussion...

... given that nowadays, we have more efficient Servos, the 1:8 Buggies are more efficient etc. I wanted to see what people were using in their Steering and Braking servos.

I only say that, because the trend you see at times, is to have the strongest servo for steering, or fastest for braking etc. and any other Variation.

I run the Protek 170T for both braking and steering, and also use them in Truggy. Having had success with the P2 Evo servos, I have outfitted giveaway buggies with these.

Yet in all honesty I think we have much more servo than what we are using, yes a high torque servo may be super reliable, but is having the latest ~400= oz/in or .002sec. Servo overkill / necessary.

Years ago I ran Hitec servos, and usually the max torque was right under 200 oz/in and perhaps ran at .011sec. So what gives?

The latest and greatest Servos have us drooling (I am steadily focused on the OS Servos, or the new Tekin), but really? Our radios have become faster, but 95% of RC racers can not tell the extra speed of their radios! And perhaps yes the new servos make the best of transferring your inputs from the radio into exactly what is required of them...

But again... how much do we need, and how much is too much. Some may say you can never have enough speed or torque - but if you are really not using it, why waste money? I want an efficient Servo that has the right specs, lasts and does not cost half of what a new kit costs!

(If you can get the job done with a 12V Makita, why do you need a 28V Makita).

Thoughts.

Im sure you make good points. I always want at least 300oz per servo, both throttle and steering. I personally think a servo is much like a rubber band. If you constantly operate it at the edge of capability, it's gonna break eventually.

I've had Hitec, Savöx, Protek and MKS servos. The Hitec and MKS felt the best to me in terms of smooth operation and feel for the car. The MKS were faster, not only on spec but on feel. I just felt I could control the car more accurately.

I'm sure thou that I'm not using the capability of my servo. But then again, why do you buy a Mercedes AMG? Because you COULD go from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds. Doesn't mean you do that at every light.

I love this kind of discussion, I think it really comes down to the average joe purchasing something at a good price point/specs. When I used to race buggy I had to turn down the speed of my savox on the return sweep because it was to fast, and this was with a 60 buck servo.

I cant imagine using something thats even faster. I also cant image spending more than 100 bucks on a servo when comparing specs.

Another thing to look at would be build quality and warranty that come with whatever you buy.



So true, but people who buy a Mercedes AMG dont buy it just for the speed. They buy it for the other features included with something like that.

I personally run the 170t for all my 1/8 needs. Is it more than I need. Yep. But I have spent good money 1 time. Not every season. Same goes with my radio. My thought process is buy what I like no matter the price. Then “dumb” it all down to where I can drive it. This way I can slow it down till I feel it is to slow. Gradually race after race I find myself turning the speed back up and the expo back down towards 0. When I first started I bought cheap metal gear servos that were decent. Now I see the error in my ways. Had I just bought good servos to start with I would’ve saved a lot of money. Broken gears, burned up, too slow after a few races....

So now I buy a good Servo once and I’m done with it. I adjust my radio to fit me always. I can slow it down, but alas I cannot speed up a slow Servo to be faster than its specs. Or stronger. In carpet 1/10 2w Buggy I’ve found you still need about 200oz-in torque to hold the little wheels at speed. I can’t imagine an ebuggy or nitro on carpet, we would need way more Servo then!

Just wondering, what expo are you using?

I know for me id have to say for example, as we realistically do not use a full 100% range of sweep. I believe my steering is always within 65-72% of the servos range.

I loved the Futaba Servos I ran back in the day, but now with the prices of Protek, and their performance sofar has been awesome, as also the support from A-main / Protek. Never really cared for the Savox Servos, could not deal with their "Noise".

But I do believe that when we are not straining / abusing the servos they tend to last a while. I have a couple Futaba Servos that have done awesome and all they may have needed was a gear cleaning and reassembly.

In the early days we were running analog 4kg with platic gear servo's. Today's onroad cars and buggy's are fine with 8 to 10 kg servo's with a speed of 0.07 to 0.1 sec over 60 degrees turn.

I must say I changed the servo in my 1/18 car from a speed of 0.11 sec to 0.05 sec version and on our tight indoor track it was much easier to take the tight corners. So yes, when you have a short track with fast left-right corners some speed is helpfull to to take the corners more precise.

By the way when you are running a normal non high speed transmitter (like an old DX3) you first should make a step to a transmitter with a high speed framerate and low latency. this can speed up your reaction time up to 25msec without needing a faster servo.

For throttle I sugest to get a same servo as for the steer so you can buy a 3rd as spare for both positions.

Last week I was at a shop that was quiting their RC department and I could buy some Spektrum H6205HV servo's with 50% discount, Funny thing is that the servo cable is connected by a 3-pin connector to the servo, that is nice for a faster servo replacement. No rewire needed.

Agreed 100% on upgrading to better radios but there is a fine line of diminishing returns. When I went from a hobbyking GT3B to a radiopost TS401 the change in reaction time was noticeable. I bet if I switch to something like a 4pxr, the change would be even harder to notice.

Those small cars really do benefit from faster servo's, thats the next upgrade for my mini revo.

I think what you experienced was similar to when Futaba Released the 3PJ (Super). I think given how quickly tech evolves, nowadays look at how much firmware changes things.

When I started I used more than normal. Say -40 on my 4px radio. Now that I’ve been racing consistently every week for about 5 years straight it’s all in feel. If I seem to be over correcting on a new track or something is off with my hands that day I’ll slow the servo down and add a bit of expo. If it’s a track I know and I’m on point that day I generally run my Servo speed at 95-100% and expo around -15 to -25. This expo setting is based off of the traction levels on the fastest sections. My usual 1/8 setup is 97 speed turn and return, with -18 expo. This gives me the crazy fast Servo speed I need to whip the 1/8 and smooths it out for the high speed sections that I barely turn the wheel to navigate.

When my new 7px got here it was a big difference. Yea it’s flashy. Touch screen. Whatever. But I mean on track performance. I have used a 4px for years. But the switch was noticeable, I was turning into the pipe just before the turn. About 2-3 feet to soon. Took several runs to retrain my brain I think.

Thats a pretty interesting anecdote, Sounds like my switch from GT3B to radiopost.

Does the 7px require futaba servo's to get the most out of the system? I've been mulling over replacing my ts401 because of Rx price and scarcity on the used market.

Nope. All it requires to get the fastest speed are the r334sbs receiver and turning the telemetry off. I run savox and protek servos and they are lightening fast. Protek in 1/8 and a savox in my 1/10 buggies. Got a deal on a couple savox’s so I couldn’t pass it up.

Isn't the M12s still faster?

Only in combination with their superspeed servo's in superspeed mode.

With any other digital servo both Futaba and Sanwa transmitters are almost equal.