Recently decided to try 17.5 non ramp buggy class. Built an X factory cubed with reedy mach2 motor. Used lightweight parts, adapted mip pucks, smc factory spec shorty, took seals off of bearings and cleaned and lightly oiled them, etc. The car came in at 1470 rtr. I added 30 grams to bring it up to weight. The speed and acceleration difference between my car and the fastest cars was huge. Those guys have way more acceleration and at least 5 mph on top end. Started asking around the pits and was told I need to charge my batteries at 10 amps min and a lot of guys are over charging to bring voltage up to around 9 volts. They are also using tweaked motors (whatever that means), ceramic bearings, cut down trans gears, etc. I know that every little bit helps as far as reduced friction but the difference is way more than ceramic bearings are going to give me. I asked a couple of guys what gearing I should run and even called associated and asked and all said 30/72 with 40 timing. Tried that and my car was slower than anything on the track. Went to 32/69 and 50 timing and it was better but still slow. Motor was about 120 after 6 minute run. I guess my questions are what am I doing wrong, and is cheating really that rampant in this class? Over charging the battery is the only way I can see getting my car up to their speed but that seems dangerous as well as illegal.

And I haven't actually seen them overcharge their battery, and of course they're not going to admit it, but wondering if this is common at races that don't tech voltage.

Nobody is overcharging their lipos (at least they better not be, they are asking to blow their, and whoever is around them, equipment up)....they are charging at higher amps to get them a bit warmer which helps the battery to release the energy (lower IR). As for your Reedy motor, try a 69/33-34 with 30-32 degrees of timing. The higher the timing the lower the window for optimal gearing. You are going down the right road with cleaning the bearings out and adding oil. I am not a big fan of the cut gears myself.

If you are on med/high bite track lock the slipper.

I put my old reedy at 34* timing and the motor pulled 2.7 amps on our dyno we built, put it to 42* and it was 10.1 amps, drains a battery faster, but gets the speed you want/need and is 100% legal because all you are doing is changing can timing. Still get 10+ minutes before lipo cutoff on a fresh battery. They key is finding the timing that gets your motor to 10 amps, anything more is going to burn it up, anything less and you are under powered to the other motors around you.

As far as charging lipos at higher amps, if you have the money to buy new lipos monthly, and want to risk an explosion that is on you, but everywhere I race has a 8.4v battery tech per roar rules. I charge my batteries at there MAH # in amps, so 4600 is 4.6 etc.

I always ran my reedy motors in the 40° timing range but after talking to Sean at Reedy and going with his suggestion of changing the ratio a bit and lowering the timing I am alot happier.

Charging at a higher amp rate doesnt overcharge the pack, just gets you there faster. You are not setting yourself up for something bad if done properly. Some batteries are rated at upwards of 5c rate, that means if its a 5000mah lipo you could charge at 25amps. But, if you run by roar rules they state max charge rate is 1c.

I really like this class and from my expierence I HAVE seen people over charge their batteries. It does make a difference, I have never done it my self. Not will to hurt myself and others. I like to practice like I race. When you go to big events they have voltage testers to test the battery so good luck getting away with it there. I have only seen it at a club level. You also mentioned cut gears, seen that to. Agian if at a big race and your car is susspected of cheating they can tech your car. There are also slipper eliminator's. Depending on the track, owner and I would even say the locals, some rules may be observed more then others. I wound not recommend over charging your batteries, (while I don't condone cheating) out side of that I say do what ever you can to keep up with LFG's . Just know if you ever plan to run a ROAR sanctioned event you will have to observe all ROAR rules. That's what I mean by practice like I race. Just my $.2!!!

A couple of things you can try at your own cost is buy a good battery with super low IR. I currently run an orca infinity 6200 the IR on my FMA charger is about 1.4-1.5. Thats pretty low as to what I have found. Also try a better motor, I currently run a TSR( Team scream racing) 17.5 motor, it is a super rocket, might as well be a 13.5. This is in touring car, (i will be switching to buggy next month, ran it last year) The guys are our track are pretty good, they go to snow birds and Vegas and do a good job, like top 6 mains. Anyways my car is the fastest on the track, and I am scared SCARED to put another tooth on the motor, it is too fast almost (motor comes off at 120 after 7 mins). I have ran the Orca tx 17.5 and it was also pretty good, I have also heard that the R1 wurks motor is also good. Another could be your speed controller, running a "stock" spec speed contoller would not benefit you either. A 120 amp speed controller would help use high strand copper wire, to reduce the resistance between the esc battery and motor (TQ 13 gauge works well). Shorter leads are less resistance as well. Another could be when and how much your charging your battery at. If you charge your battery at 10 amps (less than what most manufacturers recommend) and finish charging your battery about 1 race before you go race than your battery will have more punch than it would normally. These are some things that I do that make my car fast.

If people are intentionally overcharging their lipos, let your track owner know about it and identify the people doing it by name. They are risking your track's future for an extra mph or two and any track owner who cares about their business will warn them once and eject them if they do it again.

^^This isnt on-road but most of what you said still applies, the Reedy motors are very popular for a good reason in the stock off-road classes. I have also heard good things about the R1 motor but they are always out of stock (for a good reason I assume). As far as the speed control...I was always a 'name-brand' guy and always used the LRP esc's at $200 a pop. I just recently tried one of the Hobbywing Justock's (at $50 each, blinky only) and was very impressed with it. Performs just as well as anything else out there in blinky off-road.

I completely agree with the HW JuStock! Best esc I have owned, and for the money you just cannot beat it.

I've been meaning to try this. What will I notice? Mine is set to were the front wheels come up about two inches.

Instant punch, great for 180 turns that come into a jump.

Been running this on my 22 2.0 for about 3 weeks.

http://www.exotekracing.com/b5-b4-t4...spur-gear-hub/

Forgot to mention I have the aluminum top shaft and exotek slipper eliminator.
Running the juststock esc. I also have a v2.1, v3.1 and lrp sxx. Was going to try one of them to see if it makes any difference but sounds like it won't.

Like I said I don't know if they are over charging their batteries or not just what I was told.

Running above motor with HW esc. Seems slow compared to others. 22 degrees timing at 140 degrees. Went to 30+ degrees and was 170ish. 33/69 gears. Any suggestion on getting more out of this motor. Thanks

What motor are the fast guys running?