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| Mamba Max Controller Specs | |
| Cells |
6-12 NiCad/NiMH (7.2V-14.4V) or 2-3s LiPo |
| Continuous | 100 amps |
| Resistance | 0.0003 ohms |
| Brake | Proportional |
| Reversible | Yes - with lockout |
|
Low Voltage Cut-off |
Programmable |
| Size |
ESC overall: 1.9 x 1.3 x 1.2" Motor: |
|
Weight (w/wires) |
ESC: 2.5 oz (70.9 g) Motor |
| Connector Type | Universal |
|
Weight (Motor & Controller) |
9.5oz 270g |
| Waterproof | Yes (For legal reasons it is not advertised) |
| Brushed Motor Limit | None |
ESC Research and Motor Compatibility
The Mamba Max controller comes with nicely pre-tinned heavy gauge high strand battery wires ready to accept your favorite high current connector, such as the Dean's plugs I used. The controller's motor wires and the wires on the motor already have industry standard high current 4mm gold banana connectors, installed. Obviously someone at Castle realizes that you may want to do a little motor swapping. All very nice touches.
The Motors
I was, falsely, under the assumption that Castle was just picking up some
existing brushless motor and simply adding some green anodizing, which
is definitely not the case.
motors are "easy" for the controllers to run accurately. Motors with a less than optimal design are "difficult" for the
controllers to run accurately
and efficiently. While
looking for a motor from currently available models, Castle realized quickly that most of
the sensorless motors available were not able to take full advantage of
the Mamba Max controller. Although not their original intent, Castle made the hard decision to
build instead of buy its' motors and now has its custom, hand made,
brushless motors, built overseas, to specs which perfectly match the
capabilities of the Mamba Max controller. With the motors in hand, it is quickly noted they are precision motors of the highest quality with milled end bells and aluminum housings. The motors have pre-attached heavy gauge wires with gold high current connectors attached. Spinning the hardened rotor with milled spur notch gives you the impression of a expensive hand made Swiss watch that you should be wearing not mounting in a R/C car.
system's presentation quality box is a motor, the
controller, a Castle Link Mini CD, a long USB cord, and a user manual.
Conspicuously absent was an
assortment of decals. The Mamba Max
user guide was very well thought out and provided a great quick start
guide as well as hitting all the "Do's and Don'ts" in a
fast, concise manner. An interesting piece of info: the Mamba Max system is an audio
transducer - i.e. all the music and beeps
are not made by the controller, rather electrical pulses and micro
movements of the motor.
I am sure someone will eventually hack the controller to play some other
melody each time the controller boots.
Testing
The test vehicle was my highly customized Traxxas
Rustler (the Ultra-Rusty) which provides a good baseline for performance
and can handle the high speed mishaps that a
brushless system brings. I didn't want to sacrifice a brand new set of track appropriate
bowties to the gods of torque and decided instead on the more durable all purpose Dirt Hawgs
as a good general tire that would work well on and off road during
testing. Dirt Paws were employed to test off road wheelie-ing
capabilities - yes if traction is available, even the Rustler will
wheelie with any of these systems.
The Mamba Max controller
was installed via industrial strength Velcro. The motor and controller wires were braided
and zip tied to the shock tower.
The motor mounted easily and securely via a choice of four end bell
holes. Castle even supplied machine screws to mount the motor
with. Although the screws were clearly intended for a aluminum
motor mount and were too short for use on my Rustler. Initial controller/receiver
programming was the industry standard process of doing forward, reverse,
and neutral throttle recognition and is all that is required to operate
the system in its' default setting mode.
The next, optional step, was plugging in the controller to the laptop for initial configuration values. Default values as follows, Brake/Reverse Type - Disabled, Brake Amount 25%, Reverse Throttle 25%, Punch Control 100%, Drag Brake 0%, Disabled, Start Power Low, Motor Timing Normal, Cutoff Voltage None, Motor Type Brushless, Brake and Throttle curves perfectly linear.
I left all defaults in
place with the exception of turning on Reverse, geared the 4600Kv
equipped Ultra-Rusty at 15/87 and grabbed a fresh peaked 6-cell GP3300
brick pack and headed outside.
First Run
With 4600Kv motor in place and controller configuration in the default
"safe" mode the thing that struck me when I made the initial
and subsequent runs with the other motors was that they all ran smoother
than any brushless system I have driven. The 4600 was tame enough that I would feel
comfortable even handing the controls to an
intermediate driver. Extremely smooth power output that started
like it had the torque of a good stock brushed motor, but just kept
accelerating without a lot of wheel spin - exactly what you need at the
track. I was impressed with the overall power, speed, and torque
but not exactly what I was expecting from a system named after the
world's most fast and deadly snake. I expected no holds barred power
that was un-manageable.
By
the time the
first pack dumped, I was dieing to jump back into the CastleLink PC
interface. I grabbed the laptop and reconfigured to
soften the brake curve.
I also disabled the punch
control
and popped the start power to medium, thinking that probably wouldn't
make that big of a difference. With the click of the update button
my Rustler was
suddenly another beast and I was about to get fatally bitten by the Mamba Max.
Not only were the brakes now working spectacular, but in this "Get Stupid" configuration I was doing less driving and more holding on for the ride, power drifting, lots of donuts, and simply attempting to maintain control. So out of control at one point during a very cool power drift I hammered my garage door hard enough to send my wife flying outside. You want fast, uncontrollable, scary, overwhelming power, you got it even in the 4600Kv (the slow motor in the group). That also doesn't take into account the ability to even further increase start power, timing, tweak the throttle curve, or add more cells, better batteries or go to LiPo's. Even with just a good 6-cell pack, I am not really sure anyone really needs more power than what the 4600Kv delivers. On my "Get Stupid" setting, no tires I used were able to maintain any semblance of traction, controlling the power of the system was serious work, and the power was anything but useable other than to scare the heck out of oneself. Luckily the Castle Link system provides all the control you need to tune the system just the way you want and remove as much of "the stupid factor", as you like with a couple clicks. This was no ordinary snake, this was one that has the ability to morph effortlessly from a elegant performer to an obnoxious class dominating power leader with the click of my mouse.
When testing the different motors, I of course had to test the 5700 with 12 cells just to see how fast it really was. Initially, I had set punch control to 50% and left the start power at medium and the result was the equivalent of attempting to drink from a fire hose, a completely un-drivable R/C. I wimped out and moved everything back to the super soft default mode. Again the Castle Link software showed its' flexibility and made the 14.4 volt power beast somewhat drivable but still allowed that amazing top speed.
My average run times came in at around 10-15 minutes with GP3300 brick battery packs in 6 or 12 cell configuration. The 7700 was on the bottom of that run time range and the 4600 on the top.
Recommendations
4600Kv - Best Bashing
Motor
I think many people will
get all involved with how fast they can go with the 5700Kv or 7700Kv
motors and overlook the most versatile motor in the group. The 4600Kv
offers the smoothest low speed feel, more power
and speed than most stadium style R/Cs are able to handle and will allow
for broader gearing options than the other motors, all while
providing longer
run times. The 4600Kv also seemed the most tunable all the way up
and down the performance spectrum because it could be detuned to a stock
configuration on the low end but allowed an immediate
shift to something insane on the high end, up to 12 cells. Getting your feet
wet in the brushless world? The 4600Kv would be my choice and is still
more than most experienced drivers are ready for.
5700Kv - Most Likely
to Cause Injury and Property Damage
A Darwin award winning statement, "Hey watch this!", comes to mind
when testing the 5700KV with 12 cells plugged in. The 5700 hit the magic
allowable voltage and maximum RPM
that rocketed the Ultra-Rusty to stunning speeds.
The 5700Kv is probably the most flexible system in the group sitting happily in the middle
with the flexibility to run all the way up to12 cells or 3s
LiPo's. This is my favorite motor on the Rustler and pick for the
speed hungry stadium truck owners.
7700Kv - 6 Cell
Touring Car Winner
Like all the other high Kv juice sucking
motors, this motor really should have LiPo's
providing the power and can drain GP3300s in under 10 minutes at full
throttle.
Although this is the flagship from a Kv perspective, due to RPM and
Voltage limitations the speed award still goes to the 5700Kv
motor running 14.4V. For dirt track racing and bashing, its' speed
is beyond the capabilities of any track I know of and the run times and
gearing options are also limiting - it's just too fast. Where this motor does come up golden is in a head to
head, 6-cell road race and simply out spins the other two motors by a
pretty significant margin and is best suited for powering touring cars.
System Ups and Downs
UPS
More controller tunable torque, power, speed than should be legal.
Super flexible system for intermediate to advanced user.
Motor/Controller wires come plug and play ready.
Battery wires come pre-tined and Motor ESC leads pre-tipped.
Great instructions.
No Cogging
Not limited to only 6 cell input.
CastleLink PC interface - Wow!
Waterproof controller
Competitively priced
Downs
No USB interface cover.
Power on "Get Stupid" setting is unusable.
Where are the yellow snake and Mamba Max decals - must have decals.
Motors not ROAR approved - yet.
No 50% power "training" mode
Conclusion
In my opinion, Castle Creations has built the best
controller interface on the planet with flexibility
and ESC tuning options that blows away every other
system's interface. It is easy to use, clean,
simple, allows simple firmware and controller updates, and most
importantly, allows infinite adjustability. They have paired this
powerful
software with the Mamba Max brushless ESC which can deliver more
power than your R/C can handle. The new CM36S
series motors that are made specifically to match the abilities of the
controller and are among the best, sensorless brushless motors available to
R/C'ers. Add all this together and Castle is now one of the few
brushless manufacturers to offer a complete ready to run brushless
system in a box. In the end the deadly Mamba Max claimed me as a victim, I am hooked.
Highly Recommended
configurable via the CastleLink PC software and USB
controller interface. The interface is truly the high point and "The
Feature" of the entire system and without it the power would be unmanageable. Sure some manufacturers offer some programming control or several
preset profiles, but it
is anything but simple and no where near as comprehensive as Castle's
offering. With Castle's PC interface there is no holding down a button for
X number of blinks, clicking the same button four times, count to five,
clap you hands, and do the hokey pokey... while that may be a bit of an
exaggeration, it seems like that much of a pain on the other ESC's I
have used and I
always get it wrong and have to do it again and again. 
surfaces, and kill reverse? In a couple clicks the settings are done
and uploaded and you are on your way. If you really go wild, a handy "Default"
reset button appears on each tab.