my only post in this topic
Since whenever I post about batteries, my points are immediately labeled as trying to start another pro-lipo discussion -> I will add the following:
nimh over the course of the last several years has been about going from company to company in an effort to squeeze the last .04v from each cell regardless of the consequences to racing, reliability, durability, and r/c in general. It went from GP to IB to EP (with the battle now between IB and EP,) all the while on-road electric touring car racing has seen a tremendous decline all over the country.
this effort at performance above everything and trying to say that competition and the drive to win demands it is killing on-road racing.
Local racers strive to be championship racers. But when you have to WASTE this much money on new cells that don't last at all, on tires that are good for 1 or 2 runs, on getting new chassis' and hopups every 6 months, and in general paying full price price trying to keep up with others who get things at a discount or free, the end result is that the local racer loses interest and leaves.
WE ARE RACING TOY CARS and nothing that anybody says can contradict that. You can call r/c cars scale racing machines all you want, but they are only toys. R/C is not a sport, it is a hobby where racing occurs, and the more that everyone treats it like life and death - win at all costs - spend whatever it takes, the more it will suffer.
Now back to my pro-lipo stance. You currently have on the market batteries that are half the weight, last cycle after cycle (not forever, but 60, 80 cycles minimum,) and maintain most of their performance from cycle to cycle without maintenance. The batteries are being sandbagged because racers can't use them in sanctioned racing and are forced to weigh them down to compete with nimh in club racing. Plus given their slightly lower voltage at peak, they are at a disadvantage when weighed down. This is the same argument as brushed vs brushless, you are comparing technologies that are not the same and applying the rules for old technology to the new technology.
If you reduce the weight limits in racing by the 5 or 6 ounces that LIPO's save, it is obvious what everyone will use, but while that will help racers and hobbyists, it will hurt the r/c industry. So I wonder which side is being favored?
Last edited by billjacobs; 10-25-2007 at 02:10 PM.