I need a sensorless ESC that occupies a small footprint, because I'm installing it in a Tamiya XV-01 and there's not a lot of space in the electronics box. It would be nice if it had minimal cogging on startup, because the car is geared fairly high for a rally-car (5:1 FDR). Running a sensored setup would eliminate cogging as a concern, of course, but there's also minimal space to wedge any more wires between the motor and the shocks.

There's the Tekin RS Gen 2, but my god it's expensive -- it costs more than twice as much as the SkyRC ESCs in my trucks. I would consider that as a last option. Are there any other ESCs that would work well?

EDIT: There's also the Tekin RS Gen 2 "Spec", which costs quite a bit less, but I've never been able to decide whether I'd miss the extra tuning options. I've never actually *used* boost or timing on my brushless setups, but it would suck to have to buy a whole new ESC if I decide I need those settings after all.

EDIT 2: Nevermind, the Tekin RS Gen2 "Spec" isn't an option anyway, because I'm running a 9-turn motor and the ESC is only rated for 13.5 turns.

Not sure about the cogging, but might be worth looking into.

https://www.hobbywingdirect.com/prod...ant=4734196356

If you can make do without the boost stuff, Turnigy TrackStar Sportsman 60A. Cheap as chips, while good performance and quite reliable from all I've read. And very small. I have one on my Tamiya M-05 V2 R, with two more coming for my Turnigy TD10 V2 touring car and AE B5M offroad buggy. It's rated for 10.5t offroad and 8.5t for onroad but while my buggy has a 9.5t I'm fairly confident that it'll work just fine - but, I'll have to keep an eye on it to make sure, might throw a fan on it to be safer.

As for cogging, I haven't noticed any with my M-05 going forward, on reverse it does cog at first. But I would certainly recommend running sensored if possible. There's always the holes on both sides of the shock tower where you can route the wire - heck, even just over the tire with some tape to hold it in place if need be

If you don't need it to be new, the RS Gen 2 can be had on eBay for <$80 if you watch. I've purchased several of them in the $75 shipped range and one even less than $70.

That's a thought. Lots of used RC electronics seem to be filthy and have awful soldering work, though. It would be most unpleasant to drop $80 on a used ESC that was damaged by overheating during soldering, find out it doesn't work after soldering new wires to it, and then have the seller tell me it's my fault and they won't accept a return.

Always a risk, but I've personally purchased five and pointed a fellow racer to two others. All are working perfectly. Ebay is also heavily slanted in favor of buyers. If there is a dispute on an ebay item, 99% of the time the seller will be on the losing end of the transaction. Still, YMMV.

The HobbyWing 10BL60 is small enough to fit, and runs smoothly enough for my needs. There are two versions of that ESC; the one that I used is the older non-waterproof version. The new one has a "fairing" around the fan and heatsink, and has integrated caps that make it too large.

*goes to eBay to buy spares*