frogger

I got my Novak Mongoose 10.5 today, installed it and went for some runs up and down my road. Heebee Jeeebus this thing is fast! The setup is real easy, the same as it's bigger brother the GTB and installation was a doddle.

I am having one problem though - brakes - it seems to have very little brakes. Can anyone suggest a way to make the brakes better?

I am using a KO Esprit III tx, Spektrum and I have reset the model memory before doing the initial setup. All EPA's are where they should be (100) and increasing brake EPA makes no difference. Any ideas

bigb11

iTrader: (59)

what type of battery connection did it come with?

frogger

It doesn't ship with any battery connector, you have to fit your own.

rschoi_75

iTrader: (30)

mmm.... that's a sweet looking st. I like what you did with the shock towers. Is that paint or black anodizing? (edit... nm, I just realized they are the c.f. towers. I couldn't see the weave at first) Oh... and what tires are those? I have a set of hpi superstars that need new treads. Those look ideal.

edit- Shouldn't the mongoose have adjustable brakes? It should be pretty easy to increase the brake rate by reprogramming the esc.

oldschoolracer

Are you referencing the brakes relative to those you'd expereinced with a brushed motor package you'd run before?
It's been my expereince that bl systems don't have near the brakes of brushed systems, but I could be wrong.

Have you tried emailing Novak directly?

utahrcracer

iTrader: (1)

WOW that is a sexy ST!!! I really want the mongoose.... I think I am need to put my Quark 33A and Wraith on ebay.

Jason Pelletier

iTrader: (33)

Sick mini bro !!

pinoyboy

iTrader: (2)

I think your on your own until more people get their systems I'm not sure if your system came with all the paperwork, but this is what I found
http://teamnovak.com/products/brushl...gprogsheet.pdf

Hope that helps!

frogger

Thanks for all the comments.

I am comparing brakes to other brushless systems (Quark33, Tekin and Mamba). They all have settings to increase brake strength, the Mongoose does NOT. It only has drag brake and initial brake, neither of which increases brake strength.

I did not actually race with the Mongoose last night as I did not have the right pinion. I was using a 15T/45T and the system was getting hot very quickly. Not wanting to blow my brand new Mongoose I kept my tests to a few laps between races.

1. This thing is a rocket! It's easiest the fastest brushless motor I have ever seen. If you have seen Jae's speed runs with his Neu then you have seen nothing yet. This is even faster.
2. It has torque - even massively over geared it would still wheelie if it got grip at any speed.
3. It needs to be geared really LOW - I am going to start with 11/49 and go from there, just waiting for the pinions. If the 10.5 needs to be that low what the hell does the 8.5 need to be!? I've cancelled all my orders for 8.5's and changed them to 13.5s!
4. Throttle control is SUPERB. Not felt anything like it in a micro brushless system. My Tekin/Neu combination was the best I ever felt until tonight. It possitively encourages going faster and pushing it! It has incredible low speed and mid throttle response. Seriously, it's that good.

BRAKES - actually, the brakes worked OK on the track. I still want them to be better but they were a bit like real life ABS brakes. When I hit full brakes the car would brake just enough to still allow steering without losing grip. It definitely helped me carry more corner speed but there were the occasional situation I wanted to stop a connection with a wall and couldn't. I want them stronger so I emailed Charlie at Novak.

Charlie recons the brakes will be tons better with the right gearing. He knows his stuff so let's wait and see, I am hopeful.

Overall I am very impressed by this system even with all the initial hassles. People watching the car asked me what the problem with the brakes were cause they said they looked OK (but they weren't driving!). I had 2 of the guys drive it and both put it into the barriers at least twice each Let's hope sorting the gearing out is the answer. Watch this space.

frogger

O forgot to add, tyres are 10th scale saloon Schumacher Rally blocks in yellow compound. It's a great all round tyre that works on multiple surfaces and it lasts well.

jaejw1

hmmm well your saying its faster... that i doubt.. a 7,300kv motor geared with a final drive of 7.59:1 to a 7000kv motor that is much larger and has much more torque and runs cooler and can be geared higher running with a final drive of 5.99:1..... i doubt its faster..
im not saying that your wrong.. but my video doesnt show top speed.. i could never hit top speed.. either the wheels would lift up or the wheels would just spin

just simple math,, 7117rpm for the mongoose compared to 8647rpm for the neu with the power to go with it..

and in order to get rid of the heating issue and be able to run the system a full 5 minutes.. you will need to use a smaller pinion...

like i posted before... inorder for the mongoose systems to be as fast as the permax they should be able to race without over heating with these gearings.... http://www.rctech.net/forum/showpost...9&postcount=36

but if you have to gear them with a higher final drive just to keep tempts down.. then the system wont be able to keep up....

but i will add this... it is the smoothest damn system i have ever ran... extremely smooth..

frogger

Jae, sorry buddy, I'm not wanting to get into 'which is faster' argument. I think we all know that mathematical/theoretical calculations will show one thing and then put them on a track and you'll see something else. 'Faster' is a relative term as you'll never run the system at top revs for 5 mins during a race, there are just too many factors at play. I'm a racer and don't do speed runs so to me fast is the system I can get round a track faster.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Tekin/Neu combination and it will take a lot to beat it but I think the Mongoose will have the edge. Maybe a lot more than an edge as soon as I've solved the brakes issue with the correct gearing.

oldschoolracer

Not trying to start an argument, but before anyone gets all carried away ~
these RPM figures we're quoting are "supposed rpm" figures more than actually accurate ones. Arguing one manufacturer's 5000 relative to another's is pretty pointless unless someone knows for a fact that both are spot on to their claimed RPM.

jaejw1

well i have tested both the 8.5 and the 13.5 mongoose... and it isnt nearly as fast as the neu... not by a long shot.... smoother yes,, faster no.... it wasnt even faster than the permax..

not saying its a bad system,,, but once you solve the heat issues,, and are able to race it for 5 minutes without it over heating and shutting off.. then come back and tell us about it... the longest run time i was able to get during my test was about 3 minutes before shut down..... and i had tried every gearing i could.. with the supplied pinions that were given....

but once again i will say ... its a very smooth system.. just wish the motor was larger and had more power


now if novak has fixed the problem then the you shouldnt have these heating issues..

jaejw1

well I have seen the system operate in a rc18,,,, the motor I think was the 10.5,,,, it was fast but not nearly as fast as the neu or the permax,,,, but it was very smooth
the speed had to do with the limited gearing of the rc18


and he was able to run a complete pack without it going into thermal