Originally Posted by syndr0me

I had a chance to run the 416 last night with the Novak 13.5. Nice car, I'm very happy thus far.

I'm running the 13mm rotor in my motor because I prefer how it feels off-power. The natural drag brake feels better to me in rubber tire, much like it did with the LRP 13.5. Last night, we had very little traction due to nobody showing up (snow, holidays) and some paint dust seemed to have settled on the carpet after spraying the ceiling white to improve lighting. They covered the track for 24 hours, but it seems like particles suspended in the air still found their way to the rug.

Anyway... the motor, well actually its torque seemed entirely too strong for the track. It was very difficult to get on the throttle without the tires wanting to spin. It was a good lesson in throttle control. I also learned that if the car isn't pointed straight, you probably shouldn't jump on the throttle. These things never mattered as much with foams. :-) Anyway, the 17.5's actually looked way more behaved and drivable than the 13.5's. I'm thinking last night may have been a good fit for the Orion 13.5. Which leads me to...

I think the wire gauge in the Orion 13.5 is the same as the Novak. I didn't mic it to see for sure, but it looks that way. The stator, however, seems a lot shorter. Perhaps that's why it weighs less, and seems to produce less power. Also, the ID of the stator seems to be larger. Anyway, I'm not sure how this motor is going to hope to compete against the Novak if traction is available. Maybe on wide open tracks it works out, but on tight carpet tracks, I'd be surprised if it's even close. The race next week should tell us a lot. If the Trinity 13.5 is of a similar design to the Orion, which I'm guessing it is since they're both Feigao, I wouldn't be surprised to see those drivers struggle. I don't know how it will play out in 10.5, but if there's a lot of pros with motor sponsors in that class, and they're not running the Novak 10.5, it could be interesting.