Ansmann Brushed Motors - any good?

[bertberr]

Hi, still considering a Mad Rat for a bit of bashing, notice that some places advertise it including a 23T motor and others say no motor included. As far as brushed motors go, what are the Ansmann branded cans like? I see you can get an 18T from Modelsport for £5.99. Pretty cheap, but cheerful too, or a pile of cr*p???

Looking to get it on the road for the minimal cost, so also looking at a Modelsport (Mtroniks) Viper RV-12 ESC at £21, again are these OK for the money, or is better to pay a bit more to get something much better???

Cheers

[kaylon]

I'm running the items you have just mentioned and so far all seems fine :)

I'm not gonna win any Nationals. But the Rat is good fun so far.

I've also swapped out the plastic shocks for the standard Allu ones from Ansmann, (75mm front, 95mm rears with soft springs all round) I do have the X-Pro ones on backorder but these cheap Allu ones are okay, for £12 a pair can't complain :) All other parts are still standard with some additional washers added to the T-Plate.

I guess with the shocks and sprigs and clear lexan shell I've added £40 to the kit as it stands now...With hindsight I probably should have just got the X-Pro hehe

Still...it's all a learning process :)

K

[bertberr]

Out of interest, why did you replace the shocks with ali ones? Was it just because they looked nicer, or is there really a tangible advantage? And where did you get the upgraded shocks, couldn't see any at Fusion?

This TQ Racing SX10 I'm hearing about - is it just an X-Pro under a different name for the US market? I take it TQ is a brand name owned by Ansmann?

Looked at the X-Pro, and apart from the shocks and a metal motor plate, I can't see any other differences to the Rat - am I missing something important here... :confused: certainly can't work out why its over double the cost.

Was the shell just a spare, or is the standard item a weak point?

Cheers
BB

[kedal]

Bertberr : many thread talk about that, but for you :

Mad Rat hasnt bearing ball, a painted shell and wing, plastic shocks and plastic part (the xpro has plastic/graphit part)

The part really needed for the Mad Rat are the bearing ball set and some other aloy shocks, who are really cheap if you know where to buy it ;)

TQ Racing is the distributor for the US market. Ansmann for the european market. Team C Racing is the builder and the distributor for the asian market.

If you want more information and some picture of a Mad Rat, check my blog (in french)

[kaylon]

First off..the X Pro shocks are fully adjustable and cost £54 for the full set (fronts & Rears) so add that to a Madrat and you get £99, but the X Pro comes fully ball raced which cost me another £15. So to get a Rat close to a X Pro will cost you £114.

Also I'm thinking the plastics for the front and rear suspension arms and some other parts are different as they are not the same part numbers, I think the X Pro is a graphite resin rather then just ABS. The cars share the same chassis and shock mounts but other plastic parts are individual to the X Pro.

The shocks I got from here The Ansmann Store (http://www.ansmannstore.com/radio-controlled-models/accessories/aluminium-shocks.html) the main reason for now while I'm waiting for my X pro set is that they are tougher and less prone to the top cap blowing off :)

The shell that comes with the kit is pre-finished, I wanted to do my own paint job so order up the clear Lexan :) I also don't like green :)

When the Blizzard and X pro 4 are out..I'm going right to the X4 this time, it's cheaper in the long run.

However...still aint nothing wrong with a Madrat, a set of the cheap Allu shocks and some ball bearings... still only about £75 all in and will get you a nice kit to club race or bash around. Totally worth it :D

K

[Battle_axe]

Hi, still considering a Mad Rat for a bit of bashing, notice that some places advertise it including a 23T motor and others say no motor included. As far as brushed motors go, what are the Ansmann branded cans like? I see you can get an 18T from Modelsport for £5.99. Pretty cheap, but cheerful too, or a pile of cr*p???

Looking to get it on the road for the minimal cost, so also looking at a Modelsport (Mtroniks) Viper RV-12 ESC at £21, again are these OK for the money, or is better to pay a bit more to get something much better???

Cheers

the motors are ok yes remember they are sealed cans though so they cannot be rebuilt when they start to lose there power i would run this spedo its good and i had no problems running it http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=23692 although i did blow it up in the end mtronics quickly sent me a replacemant

[kaylon]

Also... Ansmann as a company are electrical engineers first and racers second...and they have a very good rep in that department so I have faith in the motors...

Granted as just said you can't strip them...just have to buy fresh :)

To back track a a bit.. Fusion do stock the shocks I use... here (http://www.fusionhobbies.com/Dampers-Springs-s/61.htm)

K

[bertberr]

The two K's - thanks for that - explains the £50 odd price difference then... :blush:

Kedal - who / where are you referring to to get the cheap(er) ali shocks???

Kaylon - do you race your Rat? Is it competitive?

I've ruled out the Tamiya Desert Gator now, as while to start with I wanted to ease myself back in to R/C with a bit of bashing, I can see that it wouldn't be that difficult to catch the racing bug..., and while a Rat isn't the ideal basher, I imagine it would at least be ballpark competitive in 2wd racing with a few treaks and careful setup, whereas the Gator, though probably a better basher, would be a bit lost on the track due to the tuning / adjustability limitations.

Just need to think a little more about whether I spend the extra £50 up front, or get the Rat, use it for a bit, and if I really get back into it, then sell the Rat and get an X Pro.

Based on your experiences with Rats, if you were starting from scratch with a new build, what motor / esc combo would you recommend and why (not too expensive or the wife will notice... :D).

[kaylon]

It's not bad competition wise...I'd not win a national currently but I also suck as a driver so ROFL...

To hide the cost from the wife....I'd just use the orig kit with Ball bearings and go from there... total cost for the kit would be About £55 That's one decent trip to the pub :) ... the motor that comes with it is pretty decent for buzzing around :)

If you get the bug for buggies again The Base Madrat is quite upgradable but If you do the maths you'd be better off getting an X Pro and using the old Madrat you have for spares. That's probably how I'll progress with my 2wd racing.

K

[Battle_axe]

The two K's - thanks for that - explains the £50 odd price difference then... :blush:

Kedal - who / where are you referring to to get the cheap(er) ali shocks???

Kaylon - do you race your Rat? Is it competitive?

I've ruled out the Tamiya Desert Gator now, as while to start with I wanted to ease myself back in to R/C with a bit of bashing, I can see that it wouldn't be that difficult to catch the racing bug..., and while a Rat isn't the ideal basher, I imagine it would at least be ballpark competitive in 2wd racing with a few treaks and careful setup, whereas the Gator, though probably a better basher, would be a bit lost on the track due to the tuning / adjustability limitations.

Just need to think a little more about whether I spend the extra £50 up front, or get the Rat, use it for a bit, and if I really get back into it, then sell the Rat and get an X Pro.

Based on your experiences with Rats, if you were starting from scratch with a new build, what motor / esc combo would you recommend and why (not too expensive or the wife will notice... :D).

i would buy the madrat and run it with the kit motor to get the feel of things but buld it up with a good set of bearings such as the ones from rc bearings for £7 then i would change the motor to a 19T stock such as a checkpoint money motor gear it right (24) and it will be faster than allot of mod motors i would buy a seccond hand speed controler like a LRP QC2/3 or a MRT VX and run that you will find it nice to drive and qick enough to let you get round the track and be easy enough to drive so you dont crash.

[kedal]

Well, the cheap aloi shocks is currently second hand shocks. You can find in this forum, and other, some b4 shocks for less than 35€ (well, I'm a french, so euro's speaking ;) )
The good point is YOU choose the shocks you want. I wanted Losi shocks, I bough Losi shocks...

The bearing ball set is very cheap at rcbearings, as said by well advice battle-axe. In my position as euro's buyer, I do some good deal...

About the esc, I bough a ezrun 60A combo with a 8.5T motor at ebay. Very good price, very good esc and motor !

I'll do some competiton too, ad I'm not afraid about the Rat...