2.2 vs. 2.6 vs. 3.8

Namuna · #1 08-19-2002, 10:30 AM

Did some comparison testing this passed weekend, between the 2.2, 2.6 and 3.8 motors...pics and videos coming soon!

Car
All motor tests were done in a Skyline GT-R Bit Char-G. All components of the car are stock, the only changes from test to test are the motors

Track
4'x7' oval, vinyl surface. Lanes are ~16inches wide

The Stock, 2.2 Motor

Installation: None, stock motor

Performance:
Good speed; fast enough to be fun, but not so fast that I had to make adjustments in driving to compensate. I was able to keep the throttle on 100%, through the straights and taking turns wide or narrow.

2.6 Motor

Installation:
When I first put the new motor in the car, I noticed I had a rough time keeping the motor mount locked down (it kept popping back up), upon further inspection, I found that the new motors are in fact a slightly larger diameter than the stock motor. After a little fidgeting, I was able to keep the motor locked down.

Performance:
There's a nice boost in speed going from the 2.2 to 2.6. You can hear the difference as well, with the 2.6 making a bit more noise. Adjustment to the steering trim had to be made (car pulls to the left more than with the stock motor) as well.

The straights are full throttle, and I can take the turns full throttle as well, as long as the turn is taken wide. Sharp turning, if done too quickly, results in traction rolls (car turning over).

With a little adjustment to driving, and some consideration on turns, this is a fun motor for that nice punch in speed vs. the stock 2.2 motor.

3.8 Motor

Installation:
Same size motor as the 2.6, so it took the same fidgeting as the 2.6 to keep the motor mount down.

Performance:
This thing is a screamer! You can hear it, you can see it! I had to move the steering trim ALL THE WAY OVER to compensate for how hard it pulls to the left. Straights are fast as heck, turns are near impossible to do without traction rolling...Wide or narrow. There's no taking turns at speed, you HAVE TO slow down.

Speed, speed, speed. If that's what you crave (above all else), this is it. I could still drive the 3.8 on the oval, but it takes A LOT of adjustment and there's no whipping around turns with this speed demon. A definite drag racer motor.

Hmmm, I just thought of something...I didn't take runtimes into consideration when testing these motors. I'll do that tonight as well.

ssstraub · #2 08-19-2002, 11:39 AM

What about gear ratios? Don't those have to be changed for each motor?

ssstraub · #3 08-19-2002, 11:39 AM

I love how in a few posts on this forum you go from "TinyRC newbie" to "TinyRC Pro." LOL!

Namuna · #4 08-19-2002, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ssstraub
What about gear ratios? Don't those have to be changed for each motor?

Have to? No. I ran the stock 9.85:1 gear (stock) for all motors.

I suppose you can try the other gear sets, like the 8.xx:1 on the 3.8 motor for an even higher top speed...But it's NOT a must do.

...As a matter of fact, there are some people that believe you should stay with the stock gear set because the lower ratio gears, while giving a higher top end, also put more wear and tear on the motor. YMMV.

323iT · #5 08-19-2002, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Namuna

...As a matter of fact, there are some people that believe you should stay with the stock gear set because the lower ratio gears, while giving a higher top end, also put more wear and tear on the motor. YMMV.

lower ratio does not give myou higher top end. it gives you more acceleration. less top speed. a higher ration gives you less acceleration, higher top speed.

Namuna · #6 08-19-2002, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 323iT

lower ratio does not give myou higher top end. it gives you more acceleration. less top speed. a higher ration gives you less acceleration, higher top speed.

Alright, we're playing word games now. Let's be more specific.

with a ratio of X:1
As X goes higher and higher, you gain torque (acceleration) but at a cost of less top speed.

As X gets lower and lower, you gain top speed, at the cost of torque (acceleration).

Example: Using the same motor, the gear ratio of 8.25:1 has a higher top speed than a 9.86:1 gear...But the 9.86:1 gear has better acceleration.

QFM Racing · #7 08-20-2002, 01:42 AM

If you have a large open space, then use any gear with your pink 3.8 motor, cuz it wont matter. But if you want have high performance steering, use the 12:1 to tone down the top end speed, but boost your take-off (this becomes really evident in sharp turns).

For example, your gunning down a straightway, and you wanna make that sharp turn at the end, let go of the gas just as you make the turn, and the deceleration will sharpen your turn. Then hit hte gas again, and your lower ratio will give you a quicker takeoff to get out the turn.

For very sharp turns, begin the turn at speed, then a quarter of the way into the turn, then tap the reverse. This slides your car into a completely sideways motion, and comes to a complete stop facing almost 180 degrees. Then hit the gas again, and clear out.

Hard tires definitely for the front. Soft tires for for courses with lots of turns, hard tires for more relaxed courses with wide turns (to allow for drifting).

If you dont have a 3.8 motor, get them at QuestForMadness.com in the online store. We sell the original OEM pink 3.8 motor from China/HK.

Namuna · #8 08-20-2002, 09:18 AM

Hmmm, so your 3.8s are pink? Tinys' 3.8s have a green bottom.

Obviously you 2 have different suppliers.

mcbusiness · #9 08-20-2002, 10:45 AM

I think there's a little changing in the whole color scheme. I got my friends supra in the mail yesterday, and it has a greyish-white colored 1.0 with it. Same motor, but my 1.0 is green. And my 2.6 came with it, its a pinkish-orange. My 3.0 is the standard red color. All of these have came from TOMY. I've got a few motors coming from bitchar-gmotors.com, I'm very excited about trying them out.

Namuna · #10 08-20-2002, 11:09 AM

I now have a little video up of the 2.2 motor in action, I need to redo though...The blue car on the black vinyl surface is a bit hard to see properly.

I had wanted to have a vid for all motors up by now, but capping/editing/encoding video is no 5 minute affair!

So far I have the following info to add...

Runtimes (with stock NiCad batt):
2.2 Motor: a little less than 3 minutes
2.6 Motor: ~6 minutes (nice!)
3.8 Motor: ~4 minutes

Colors:
2.2 Motor = Yellow
2.6 Motor = Orange
*3.8 Motor = Green (from TinyRC)

*- May be a different color, depending on where you buy. QFM's 3.8 motor has a pink bottom.

QFM Racing · #11 08-20-2002, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcbusiness
I think there's a little changing in the whole color scheme. I got my friends supra in the mail yesterday, and it has a greyish-white colored 1.0 with it. Same motor, but my 1.0 is green. And my 2.6 came with it, its a pinkish-orange. My 3.0 is the standard red color. All of these have came from TOMY. I've got a few motors coming from bitchar-gmotors.com, I'm very excited about trying them out.

So your Tomy motors are different? Wow, thats kinda cool, because i like to match my motors with the colors of my bodies. Hehe. Anal I know. Any chance on posting pics of the Tomy motors with new colors?

mcbusiness · #12 08-20-2002, 11:58 AM

Sure, I'm at work right now but I'll get on it as soon as I get off....

Namuna · #13 08-21-2002, 11:46 PM

After much capturing and recapturing and blah blah blah...

I now have videos for all 3 motors up, I sacrificed audio quality to keep the movies small...But you can still distinguish the 3.8 motor QUITE EASILY. And if you listen on the 3.8 video, I had to keep jumping on and off the gas to keep the car on the track and from traction rolling in the turns.

Bez · #14 08-23-2002, 08:46 AM

There's something that I don't understand..... you get MORE runtime with the faster motors??? It's usually less runtime with faster motors.

Namuna · #15 08-23-2002, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bez
There's something that I don't understand..... you get MORE runtime with the faster motors??? It's usually less runtime with faster motors.

Equating runtime vs. RPM only, is where you're getting stymied.

It's not about just RPM, it's also about Load against the battery...'Load' can be in the form of different gearing and whether you're solid on the throttle or stop-n-go (which eats more juice) and such.

Apparently, with all things considered for 'load', the 2.6motor lasts longer than the 2.2