What's the current "Hot" Battery?
 

Thinking of switching out of my ProTek's as they are starting to puff. I've never been dissatisfied with them, but just curious what's considered the current best for racing.

My application is 17.5 stock buggy, and 13.5 4wd buggy.

My friend, there are so many good batteries out there now that it is hard to go wrong short of ordering them directly from China lol.

Ones I've recently tested and been happy with in spec buggies:
Battery pack (cost):
Reedy wolfpack (cheap)
Revtech Graphene (mid-range)
Maclan HV packs (somewhat pricey)
Reedy zappers (mid-range)
SMC true spec (cheap)
Promatch (mid-range)

And there are others that are great too just nothing I've tried personally. I doubt either of these will feel much better than the Protek's you're using.

SMC is my go to, great price/performance IMO....

+1 for SMC and Promatch, I've also been happy with RCJuice (free shipping) and ValueHobby

A bunch of guys in my area have been running the Voodoo batteries. I just got some a few weeks ago and they seem to have alot of punch.

VooDoo Cells

Maclan and Fantom both recently released graphene and HV packs that are worth a look.

I've also noticed more companies touting "LCG" (flatter) batteries.

Thanks guys.

I had forgotten about the VooDoo cells, any idea what size the bullet connector is on them?

The ones I have a 4mm.

Man, no love for Max Amps here? They assemble their own packs. MaxAmps has an excellent warranty. Even a 50% buy back towards a new pack when needed. Sure they may be on the higher end cost wise initially, but in the long run you will benefit from all I mentioned above which lowers the cost of ownership if you stick with them. If you keep an eye out they also put stuff on sale which helps out on that initial cost side. I also like how they don't drop off at the end of a run.

(I am not affiliated with this company in any way. Just a satisfied customer )

Not many folks are willing to shell out speed controller prices for a battery. I've never paid more than $100 for a lipo and they've never left me wanting more.

A few years back there was a nasty melee between MaxAmps and TheJANG over on URC where TheJANG published a battery review on his YouTube channel and compared some GensAce and SkyLiPo packs with MaxAmps of comparable capacity and his discharge curves showed that the C ratings published by MaxAmps did not line up. MaxAmps filed copyright protection and had YouTube remove the video, they also filed legal action against URC and forced them to ban any mention of MaxAmps to prevent any threat of slander.

I personally believe MaxAmps is falsely advertising their C Ratings and I don't trust what they are selling, here is a copy of the discharge graph that I took before URC shut down:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7198/6...df943c8e_b.jpg

It's worth noting that SMC has published a very interesting article here that is well worth a read:
https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php...gory&path=163A

I'm not here to judge any real or not info or tests on batteries.

I just wanted to state my opinion on MaxAmps batteries.

Your SMC reference doesn't use a MaxAmps battery in that test data.

Showing a graph from 2011 that also doesn't have any data from testing a MaxAmps battery helps no one.

I have high regards on the now gone SPC battery line as well as the current and past SMC configurations of Lipos. I've used (still do) them both with no issues.

Your mileage may vary....

Everyone is falsely advertising their C ratings. That graph however is showing voltage over time, essentially showing capacity, not C rating.

IIRC the graph was based on a 20A bulb discharger where TheJANG felt that was the average draw from a typical 1/10 car on a race track, notice each pack was drained at about the 10 min mark which indicates (to me) that this was a reasonable test. In the testing I've done, the higher the voltage is directly related to a higher C rating, I have produced similar graphs myself and used a multiplier of C rating x Capacity and referenced it as rA (relative amps) that a pack is advertised to handle under load.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1582/2...cf0bde5e_b.jpg


*** In a racing condition, it's the voltage under load for the first 5-8 min (however long your main) that is most important, voltage toward the end of the curve is irrelevant on a track.

smc= one of the closest paks C rate and mah
max a- never close to whats on label.both C rates and mah.been this way since 2008
turnigy-puff city ..close for 1s few runs then falls like a rock
pro tek-always puffed on me..never lasted ..ok C rates and mah
Orion Carbon_good Close S rates and mah.. costly..3 to 4x that of smc.ill take 3 smc
hyperion -ok C rates where close mah also close
many chin brands why bother

USA 4 me