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Castle Creations Sidewinder Brushless Motor System Review
by Tony Arnold - StampedeProject.com

In my very first RC Car article, I reviewed the now legendary Castle Creations Mamba Max brushless system.  Just over a year later Castle has released the little brother to the Mamba Max and stuck with the snake theme.  Let’s find out if the newer lower cost 1/10^th scale Sidewinder brushless ESC/motor system is “almost” as deadly the Mamba Max.  

The Design Goal
I heard about this project back in July/August of 2006, so here is a little history.  Castle recognized early on that although the Mamba Max has class leading features, power, and programming flexibility, its not exactly the least expensive ESC on the market.  They also noticed that everyone and their brother was introducing sport level brushless systems and without a less expensive option, buyers with a more budget minded projects were probably going to reach for competing brands. The Sidewinder was born with a little less power, a lot less money, but still retaining the features of the Mamba Max including brushed motor support.

A New Design
Despite rumors, the Sidewinder is not a repackaged Mamba Max. The Sidewinder was designed to be inexpensive and still handle the current demands of up to 11.1V 1/10^th scale sport RCs. Technically the Sidewinder has the same 25V FETS as it’s bigger brother, but just less of them. According to Castle, the result is the Sidewinder has about 60-70% of the Mamba Max’s maximum voltage and current handling. Don’t expect the Sidewinder to survive the abuse the Mamba Max does.  In testing, my MaxAmps 11.1V LiPo pack pushed the Sidewinder hard. Noting that Castle does not recommend 14.4V, plan on adding a fan, don’t use the on board BEC, and exercise extreme caution if you really want to attempt more than 11.1V.  It’s seems clear to me from the literature, from discussions with Castle, and my testing that the Sidewinder ESC will handle 14.4V with the proper precautions and under a low stress environment, but it was specifically designed for 11.1V 3S and lower Lithium based packs with 5700 or lower KV motors.

CastleLink PC Interface
The Sidewinder is CastleLink capable with the full programming flexibility found on the Mamba Max, however the familiar USB port is gone so you’ll need a CastleLink adapter ($25) if you want PC based programming.  According to Castle, omitting the USB and prerequisite microprocessor was a major factor in the ability to reduce cost.

Features
The Sidewinder comes packed in the familiar Mamba Max box and same CM36 motors, but with a label change.  Instructions are good, however I though they were a little light on content – good thing tech support at Castle is great. Like all Castle ESCs, the Sidewinder is sturdily built. Sidewinder goes for the flat case profile to increase the heatsink surface area to improve cooling and decrease manufacturing cost. Power leads are ready for your favorite high current plug and the motor leads come with pre-attached 4mm banana connectors.  As with the Mamba, only limited configuration options are available on the beep and click interface. However once you are spoiled with the highly flexible CastleLink PC software for complete tuning control and unlimited savable profiles, I doubt you will ever go back to manually configuring the ESC.

Testing
I tested the Sidewinder in everything from my Fast Lane Machine Stampede, Traxxas Rustler, to a Hot Bodies Cyclone TC, to a various rock crawlers and even with other brushless motors.  The 4600Kv motor equipped Sidewinder brushless system has a great flexible Kv range. The 4600Kv probably is a better match to the ESC all the way up to 11.1V if you are a voltage junkie than the Castle 5700Kv motor I tested later.  This time I don’t think Castle was being modest with their recommendations, as stated in the manual, the ESC is workable at 3S LiPo 11.1V with the 4600Kv motor and the 5700Kv setup is best with a 2S power as stated.  Pushing either motor past the recommended voltage will noticeably stress the Sidewinder ESC and heats things up. 

One disappointment was that the Sidewinder is not as smooth as Mamba Max. In fact in some situations where stressing the system with truly unrealistic gear rations, my beta test unit experienced full on cogging that required a tap to the back side of the RC to get things moving.  Castle noted the next non-beta firmware release (free as always) should smooth things out.  What was impressive was testing the Sidewinder ESC in crawlers with various sub-1300Kv ranged motors – the Sidewinder might be the ultimate inexpensive option for brushless Rock Crawlers.

What We Like
Castle quality, features, firmware update and CastleLink capability, and power at $80 street price – what’s not to love.  Built in BEC is sufficient for most typical 1/10^th scale servo driving duties as long as you stay within stated voltage ranges.  The same great motors that Castle includes in the Mamba Max systems are included with the Sidewinder systems.

What We Would Change
The flat wide design can create some mounting challenges on cramped chassis such as my Hot Bodies Cyclone TC and my Axial and Wheelie King crawlers. Castle starts with untipped leads ready for your high current plugs.  Cogging – I was both surprised and disappointed… un-useable no, and at half the price it not twice as noticeable, but I am disappointed Castle took a step back in initial performance with the Sidewinder even on a budget ESC.

Conclusion
As far as snakes go, the Sidewinder may not be a Mamba but it’s still plenty deadly. I may seem harsh on a budget minded $80 street price brushless ESC that even when purchased in a system with motor included it’s still under $150 and well within reach of every entry level RC’er. I guess the rumors that the Sidewinder was just a scaled down Mamba Max had made me over optimistic.  Even considering I stressed the ESC to the point of cogging hell via some fairly impractical gearing ratios, in truth it’s a freaking bargain and for those looking to go brushless cheap, the features the Sidewinder packs are likely to exceed any “Lite” ESC versions competitors have in the works.

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THE FINAL CALL

Highs - Super cheap and feature rich with Mamba Max motors included.  
Lows - Not as smooth or powerful as the Mamba Max.  
Final Call - Rocket brushless speed for well under $150

 SPECS
Type: Sensorless Brushless Motor System  
Estimated street Price: $150
Class Rivals: Novak, LRP, Quark, Hacker, Tekin, Reedy, M’Troniks

SOURCES
Castle Creations - www.CastleCreations.com