3200 vs 4800 Saddle Pack
 

What would be the main performance difference between a 3200 lipo saddle pack and a 4800 saddle pack? Would the 4800 have more punch and top end compared to the 3200?
Thanks,

The main difference is in run time.

For most practical purposes they would have about the same punch and especially top end. With a hot motor the larger pack may have slightly more punch, IF it has the same C rating.

this helps because im going to lipos too soon and the lhs has come orion ones for a cheap price compared to the 4900 trakpowers. but there wouldn't be a difference in them at all? besides runtime?

My main reason for asking is because i'm doing club racing in the 19t/10.5 class, and the 4800 trakpower lipos won't fit in my car, but the 3200 will, and I didn't know if I would see a big drop in performance. I need all the punch and speed I can get. :smile:

If you are comparing batts with same C rating, there will be a diff between 3200 and 4800 lipos. If both are, for example, 20C rated, the 3200 will deliver 64amps where the 4800 will make 96amps continuously. The real question is whether this makes any diff to the motor you're running. The bigger lipo should also maintain higher voltage if they are both pulled to a signficant percentage of their current capacity and that will also make a diff if your motor pulls a lot of amps.

The way to offset this is to get a 3200 with a higher Crating - if you have a 3200 thats 30C rated, again for example, it would supply the same 96 amps as a 20C rated 4800. If the 4800 won't fit, I'd be looking for highest C rated 3200 I could find.

I just checked and both have a 20c rating. What I don't know about is the motor thing you mentioned. I'm running a 19t checkpoint money motor in onroad tc racing. I appreciate all your help.

I run an Orion 3800 Carbon LiPO and I believe it is all that you will ever need.

Most stock and 19T motors will only pull 35 amps or so anyway so I don't think you'll see much difference in acceleration. We use a Tegin G11 which allows you to set max amp draw manually and I turned it up from 35 to 50 amps with no perceptible difference on a stock motor.

ITs all about the discharge curves guys. Which holds the highest average voltage across the run time?

If you running stock 17.5 and 13.5 sure not much difference between a 3200 and 4800 but once u start hitting 10.5 and lower your starting to use up more capacity and the discharge curves will prove that the high capacity pack is the pack to be running.

Thats the "motor thing" that I didn't have a feel for - I run amp hungry MT conversions where C rating has a big impact on how things run and temps. If your motor is only going to draw 35a or so, then the smaller 3200 lipo is more than enough and I doubt you could tell a diff in the 4800 lipo even if you figure some way to get it to fit.

if capacity did not show up as performance on the track i would have never witnessed my early days of 1400mah nicads go to 1500,1700,2000,2400 then nihm3000,3300,3600,3800 ect ect ect.............

Discharge curves are a reality of both, and even running just in stock classes discharge curves are a reality, not huge and i agree a 3200 will do just fine, but its hard to argue the rip i have at the 20seconds to go mark when my 5000 is still high in its curve

Thanks for all the input. I contacted Trakpower, and this was their response...

"You should only notice a performance difference if the power consumption of
the set up reaches or exceeds the C rating of the pack. Other than that
would be a little less run time due to the lower capacity."

My question is how to determine whether my set up exceeds the C rating of the pack. Someone in a previous reply mentioned about most motors pulling around 35 amps...but a 3200 20C lipo would supply 64 amps. So since the 3200 can supply an ample amount of amps, then I theoretically wouldn't see a different between the 3200 and the 4800, correct?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to the whole lipo thing.

Is the max amount of amps the motor can draw based on the type of motor, or does other factors contribute to the amp draw of the motor, such as drive train friction, etc.?

Only way I know to really get an answer is to run a data recorder in your car and see what it is actually drawing.

A data recorder is handy because it gives you actual draw under running/racing conditions. If your motor is well known to draw about 35a as pointed out, the data recorder is more a curiosity than a necessity. Since you're running a well known setup, I suspect you have the answer you need.