You won't be disappointed. But, just make sure to follow his instructions, do NOT mess with the timing. The only thing you need to mess with is the gearing.

I still run a Rotor Ron Hobbywing, people laugh at me...until they can't pull away, and my car comes off the track with my motor at 100 degrees.

😁 Gotta stick with what works Burl. Let the haters hate, especially when they are running from behind.

What’s a good starting point for gearing by the way? I’m currently running 78/29. Small black carpet track with shirt run ups.

on our small carpet track I’m running 77/30

👌

The Fantom Helix in general appear to be very high torque, so you should have some nice pop for a small track. Be curious what timing he ended up with as Fantom mentioned that they changed their recommended timing settings from I think like 50 degrees to 45 as they felt it provided better low end pop.

what the track you race at?

Currently running at Indy RC Raceway. There’s a larger track called Turf burners I want to check out but am waiting to convert to black carpet.

As far as the timing on the Helix, its been set at 50 deg.

interesting versus what I believe Fantom is recommending now. I'd probably shoot Ron a message to see if he has recommendations on gearing at least he should have some good ideas on where to start your gearing.

In general personally for spec classes if I don't have an idea where to start I look to top out towards the end of the longest straight, then adjust my gearing for feel and if needed, temps. This has worked out pretty well, and I got this information from the Late Big Jim, one of the premier motor men of his time.

You have a nice track, your car in this vid?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUfMyc-5cX8

I’m the great looking blue/white/gray b6.4 in very last place. Actually there’s last then there’s me lol. That was a particularly off night for me.

I’ve been tweaking a lot of stuff and still getting use to the car. But I have noticed even when I run a near perfect lap I’m typically still 1-1.5 sec off the avg which is why I figured I could probably benefit from upgrading my 5 yr old motor.

I have found that my gear/equipment is almost never the reason why I'm slower than others. If you have something wrong with your equipment, that's one thing, but older equipment isn't always an issue. If you get the chance (not sure if there are enough in your class to have multiple heats), try to watch the other racers and see if you're managing your speed in the same areas as they are.

The last time I picked up some speed I was watching the faster guys, I noticed where I was just maintaining my speed through wider corner that they were actually on throttle in that area. Made a huge difference, especially in a 5 minute race.

I greatly appreciate the advice. I’ll certainly try watching the guys and see if I can pick up something that could help. I realize I’m new and still learning also my car was not setup correctly but I think I’m making some progress just trying to get to that level and I know that better equipment won’t necessarily get me there but it can’t hurt either 😄

I recently test my volta 17.5 and WOW this thing had torque. A little blip on the throttle sent forward a lot further than Im used to. i felt like this helped the buggy clear jumps way easier and really punch out of corners. Now I gotta dial in the grip since theres plenty of power. If i need more I could always go with a smaller spur. using a 71/33 set up was pretty good for me. I dont feel like this motor will hold me back, just my driving skills.

edit: ooooo I can post pics

Having the right setup definitely makes a big difference. The track configuration before this last one had a hairpin turn then a double jump and I noticed most other guys could clear them easily even taking the hairpin turn slow but I had to basically drive through the turn fast to have a chance to clear the double jump which resulted in me wrecking more often rather than being able to take it easy then hit the throttle.