I talked to a buddy, and he suggested most 8.5's should be in the 30°-35° range for end bell timing. I went from the stock 20° to 30° and my next run I only raised 10° in motor temp. That was during the main. I would jump up to 30° end bell timing without a doubt.

It seems we were both looking for a bit more, and went at it differently. My next race with this truck isn't for a month, so I'm sure you will be testing prior to me.

It's no secret that SMC sends stuff out tame, especially compared to other manufacturer's. So every package needs some tweaking to get to what you want to feel.

Sweet ty. I'll increase timing a little on endbell. Maybe between that and punch control it will be closer to what I'm looking for

13.5t: motor rips but runs a little hot. Anyone know the timing sweet spot for the smc 13.5t?

I have a 6.5t and it sure does fly! I have a minipro dyno but I need the heavier flywheel to get a better reading for the faster motors.

Hard to tell. Could be gearing.

Any suggestions on boost and turbo?

I had an SM-1 8.5t in my B5 on a dirt outdoor track. It was a used motor I got with the buggy and the tick mark end bell timing was in the middle. I gather from the comments here that means it was at about 43 (26-60). Well I got a new totemic 8.5T that I replaced that motor with and tried it out at first with the default 20 degrees. Out of the box it was noticeably slower and ended a 5min race at 105 F (81/24 gearing).

During the last race I increased the timing for each qualifier and watched the temps. I ran at 20, then at 27, then 35. My laptimes got better even with loose conditions that day and I felt it was easier to drive getting back to normal speeds that I was used to. Its a significant performance increase. The motor temp went from 105 to 110 and ended at 115, still very cool. I am probably going to go up to around 40-45 and see where that takes the temp. (no analyzer)

ESC turbo and boost is turned off.

I have "heard" increasing the timing removes some of the bottom end torque and can make it easier to control in the lower rpm range in loose dusty conditions.

Will these compete with $150 dollar top shelf boutique type motors? I'd hate to spend more than needed.

Thoughts?

Save yourself $30 and get a Maclan team edition in the turn you want. I've got two and have never been happier with a stock motor. Only other I've liked as much are the Schuurspeed Extreme Spec motors.

With that said, yes the SMC motors are pretty damn peppy but they are not optimised from the factory the way some of the "certified" motors are. Which is no biggie if you have the gear to tune the motor timing perfectly.

I've got a few of the SCHUURSPEED extreme hand modded motors now. I was just hoping to do a little better than the $150 money dump. How's the maclan compared to the SCHUURSPEED overall? Observations between the two?

I'm kinda waiting for the muchmore racing v2 motors that are going to be available soon.

Between the Schuur and my Maclan Team Edition, the team edition definitely has the edge. Out of the box, both of the motors felt roughly the same when geared similarly, but the main difference was in how cool the Maclan would run in comparison. I was able to gear the team edition quite a bit more aggressively than the Schuurspeed without hiting a temperature ceiling.

That probably didn't make your decision any easier lol. Playing the motor of the month game is tough. I've decided to just stick with the motors I know work.

My select 17.5 runs warm, but is a monster. Runs like something a few winds down. The good part is I can get support from Ron Schuur, he's always around. Well, I may just wait for the new muchmore motor, looks Interesting.

I brokedown and got the 6.5 motor. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Supposed to be here by early next week.

I'm sure that thing is gonna rip. It is a 6.5t afterall lol Just try to not burn it up on the first practice day ;)

I really hope SMC brings back their short course motors though. I like my 4500kv enough to have a spare if they'd restock lol.