Brushless motors and speedos offer a huge advantage over conventional brushed motors like the so called 'silver cans' as found in many ready-to-run cars and buggies as well as in many kits as those from Tamiya for example. Due to their construction brushed motors develop a lot of heat during use that not only reduces the overall performance (read: acceleration and top-speed) but also decrease their life-span. So, if you not only wish to have a faster ride but also to safe money the long way a brushless system is the way to go.
Overview
Let's start with Team Orion's Experience 2 Carbon motor. It is available in three different windings. A 17 turn, a 18 turn and a 19 turn motor. As the packaging states the 17 turn motor is build for speed while the 19 turn motor is meant to develop more torque. And, guess what, the 18 turn offering should be somewhere in between. This means for you: If you wish to power your on-road ride (whatever that might be) pick the 17 turn motor. Off-road guys grab the 19 turn item as it develops more 'oomph' from the bottom end which is needed for the sometimes heavier off-road buggies or trucks. And the one or two of you that are unsure what to choose order the 18 turn offering. Simple as that. Oh, we forgot to mention. Due to the 540 can size the Experience 2 Carbon motor is for 1/10 scale models only. 1/8 scale and even 1/10 scale short course heros should better pick one of the dedicated motors offered by Team Orion.
Back to the Experience 2. The motor is a piece of art with its gun metal caps and the sandwiched carbon ring. And be aware, this is REAL carbon. Not just a cheap sticker! The rotor runs in ball bearings and the wires that route towards the speed controller come ready-to-go with 3.5 mm gold plugs. Now this is nice! The can also clearly states the winding so there is no guess work needed on which motor you've installed in your ride.
Like said before the motor has the usual 540 motor size which means its can is 46 mm long (around 65 mm with cables) and 36 mm in diameter. The 3.175 mm shaft holds the common pinions. Team Orion claims the motor is capable of handling 6 to 8 NiMH cells or 2 to 3 LiPo cells with a continuous current of 46A and a peak current of 66A. The KV rating is 3200 which means the motor shaft rotates with 3200 RPM per volt. As a rule of thumb, and this applies not only to the Team Orion motor, the higher the KV rating the more power the motor produce. We come back to this in a future 'how-to' feature on how to get the most out of your motor.
And now for the Experience brushless 2 controller. It is of a forward/brake/reverse type meaning you can run your car forward and backward and also brake if you wish to (hey!). The reverse function separates the speedo from true competition controllers but it is a nice feature and the Experience speedo everything but an ESC (that is for Electronic Speed Controller) for competition. BUT, and this is a big but, you are able to adjust a lot of software parameters like five different power profiles, the brake setting (more or less brake in case you transmitter does not allow for those settings), the drag or automatic brake, the motor timing (this increases or decreased the overall motor performance) as well as the neutral dead band (again in case you are using a cheaper transmitter) and last but not least you can also dial away the reverse function. BUT (big but here again), you need Team Orion's DSB Vortex Digital Setting Box (Team Orion part number ORI65020) to change those settings. Or you need to buy your best buddy a burger and a coke to make sure you can use his TODSBVDSB (Team Orion DSB Vortex Digital Setting Box). Err, back to the speedo.
Like the motor it comes pre-wired with 3.5 mm connectors for the motor and a Tamiya-style connector for the battery. This, the Tamiya connector, was ok in the 1980's when daddy drove his Tamiya Frog with a 50 turn brushed motor and a pack of 1200 NiCd cells. But we have the year 2010 with all of its benefits like high performance brushless motors and 6000 mAh 45C LiPo batteries! So, please MTV, pimp my ride! Err, no, wait - wrong addressee! Please Team Orion, pimp your Experience 2 speedo! Team Orion offers a lot of nice battery packs and some of them come with the so called 'Deans' high current connectors. We are sure there are a lot of guys (and gals) out there that would pay the few extra Dollars (Euros, Yen, Pound, ...) to have a Deans connector ready to go on the speedo. Why? Because, due to the construction, the Tamiya style connectors generate a lot of heat during use when high amps flow through them. And brushless motors draw a lot of amperes, that is for sure.
A small downside of the speedo are its dimensions. With a width of 27 mm and a height of around 28 mm including capacitors and wires it is one of the smaller brushless ESC's but the overall length of nearly 52 mm can cause problems in some chassis. The dimensions are ok for trucks, buggies and many on-road chassis but if you like to use it in tight chassis like a Tamiya TA-05 for example, you may run into problems. This means: better grab a ruler and do some math before buying the Experience 2 controller.
In Detail
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Experience 2 Carbon motor The motor comes in a hand box with a small sticker sheet and a manual that is a bit sub-standard for our understanding. The Experience product line addresses the less-experienced buyer and therefore we sadly miss any any recommendations regarding the gearing of the motor. We would have loved to see a list of the most common cars with pinion and spur recommendations or at least a hint regarding the overall gear ratio (and a tip on how to set this up on the car or buggy in question) ... |
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Experience 2 speed controller The speedo also comes in a nice box with a manual and sticker sheet. This time the manual is way better compared to the one that comes with the Carbon motor. It addresses the optional settings (the ones that can only be changed with that magic setting box) and should therefore be stored on a safe place in case you plan to invest into a Vortex Digital Setting Box! |
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Connectors Motor and speedo come equipped with 3.5 mm gold connectors for the motor but only a Tamiya style connector for the battery. Depending on the type of plugs found on your battery packs you should consider an upgrade to high performance connectors like the ones from Traxxas or Deans. |
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Likes & Dislikes Team Orion Experience 2 Carbon brushless motor - KV (PRM/V): 3200 - Voltage range: 6-8 cells NiMH, 2-3 cells LiXX - Shaft length: 14 mm - Shaft diameter: 3.175 mm - Dimensions: 46.4 mm x 36.1 mm - Weight: 170 g Team Orion Experience 2 brushless ESC - Function: Forward/Brake/Reverse - Voltage range: 6-8 cells NiMH, 2-3 cells LiXX - Voltage Cut-off: 4.5v NiXX/LiFe, 3v/Cell LiPo - BEC: 6V/2A - Dimensions: 27 x 28 x 52 mm - Weight: 52 g |
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Likes & Dislikes + Easy to set-up + Pre-wired + Good on-track performance - Manuals lack a bit of information given these are entry-level components - Controller a bit too long for some applications |
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