Center Diff Review with MMM Combo! Finally!

[rrgirgis]

OK guys i wanted to post the results of having the Traxxas center diff installed with the MMM 2200kv combo!

first the installation was very simple and straight forward, the part looks solid as well.

as always let me give you my detailed setup so that you all can get a true picture of how the car is powered with this part..

gearing: 18/65 - i have figured that this will be the stock BL-Revo gearing
MMM - lowest settings, punch control 70%
wheels - 17mm talons
diff oil - F/R 30k - stock.. center diff 500k stock
i think that's all that matters for this review.... if not let me know

Now for the good part! the center diff is in my opinion a must have for track use. when i was at the track without it, it was very hard to keep the front down and get good traction. i tried changing the suspension but ended up with a rock on the track by stiffening things up.

the center diff puts the power to the front and really keeps things down, yes no wheelies... i have not had a chance to take it to the track but on the pavement and grass it really showed its colors keeping the truck down and giving the all important BITE!

i did notice that from a stand still or slow start it does cause the slipper to engage more, which means the center diff is working, but caution for everyone to keep there on on there clutch shoes when using it as it seems it could eat it up quickly.

i think traxxas did it right adding 500k in the CD and having 30k F/R (stock settings) make for an awesome track combo and allows you not to have to change your suspension so much to keep the nose down. I would rather have the CD and be able to tune my suspension to my track as oppose to tune my suspension to keep the front down

I'm sure the MMM with the right gearing could make the truck still wheelie with the CD for all of your concerned out there , but i highly do not recommend trying this, as i believe it will put to much strain on the CD and probably damage it, remember it is meant to keep the power on the ground!

i hope this review really clears things up about the center diff, what is does, and its performance with the MMM.

P.S. Racers IMO must have part ; Bashers i would not recommend the CD as i feel it would put more strain on the MMM than benefit, i am going to remove it and only install it when im at the track (its easy to remove/install!) i like my wheelies too!

[MickeySilver]

Thanx for the review. I am just starting to build my brushless E Revo. I am a racer and I would have the CD installed 100% of the time. With my Nitro Revo I used the CD and would never consider taking it out. What kinda of batteries did you test with?

[DiFabio42]

Great review! Any pics?

[BL-Bob]

How was the braking?

[Adonnay]

Which CD did you install? The Traxxas standard CD only has 100k oil prefilled.

[rrgirgis]

Thanx for the review. I am just starting to build my brushless E Revo. I am a racer and I would have the CD installed 100% of the time. With my Nitro Revo I used the CD and would never consider taking it out. What kinda of batteries did you test with?

opps i did forget to mention i was running it with SPC 12C 8000mah lipos... and you definitely can run the CD on the truck all the time i just think if your going to gear for top speed and bash hard it might but more strain on the slipper clutch pads and heat the motor up just a little than without it... but if you gear conservatively im sure you can get away with bashing and racing with it in all the time. you might see a difference from the nitro version, to me brushless and nitro are both fast but the power translates differently between gas and electric

[rrgirgis]

Great review! Any pics?

thank you, went i take it out i will post some pics of the part

[rrgirgis]

Which CD did you install? The Traxxas standard CD only has 100k oil prefilled.

that is the diff i installed and there is a typo i believe on the website it comes with 500K diff oil, i think someone on here posted that they talked to traxxas and it is 500k and when i turned it by hand its definitely 500K

[rrgirgis]

How was the braking?

with my setup the braking was good, now i do have the MMM breaking trimmed down to 65% so only on a very hard stop would it cause the truck to turn a bit but other than that no flippin or odd breaking it was nice to see it brake the same way it normally would without the center diff...

i really think Traxxas hit a home run with this center diff... the 500k there there and the 30 F/R is a great balance

[Emmeth]

Beside the differential itself and the 100k ( or 500k ? ) oil, which other components are needed to mount it and properly use it ?

Is it available only on Traxxas site ? I can't see it on TowerHobbies.


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[rrgirgis]

the differential itself comes ready to install, the center diff is built for you with 500K fluid inside, all you have to do is open the tranny and swap out the gear in there for the center diff, very easy...

i got the part from impaktrc

[Emmeth]

I spot it into Tower too, I am quite blind today.

Any pictures / movie of your new upgrade ?

[rrgirgis]

I spot it into Tower too, I am quite blind today.

Any pictures / movie of your new upgrade ?

Video Time!

http://s457.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=MOV01024.flv

[BrianG]

Glad it worked for you. Just watch motor/ESC/battery temps. I tried a CD (modded 8th scale) and found it unloaded too much and cooked the motor (running unloaded front tires). I was using 100k, but that is roughly equivalent to ~200k+ since I used an 8th scale diff.

[rrgirgis]

Glad it worked for you. Just watch motor/ESC/battery temps. I tried a CD (modded 8th scale) and found it unloaded too much and cooked the motor (running unloaded front tires). I was using 100k, but that is roughly equivalent to ~200k+ since I used an 8th scale diff.

Thanks Brian! i completely agree but i think with the 500k it really helps to even things out they way the CD was intended to work... but I myself do advise with the CD to Gear very conservatively. im running 65/18 in the clip on 4s and this setup does warm up that slipper, you can hear it in the beginning of the clip, slipping a lot.. so be careful out there people

However Temps were awesome with this setup and the CD, it was about 60F outside and after running thought the whole pack the motor never saw over 120F the esc fan off and the batterys 75F!

Also for clip purposes that was me giving full throttle from a stand still at the beginning, i wanted to show how much the CD helps keep the truck on the ground but another word of wise, not good to do! remember this is a racing part intended IMO for the track and on the track this gearing and power is plenty!

[Emmeth]

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems your revo turn in a very tight way, what's the trick ?

[BrianG]

Thanks Brian! i completely agree but i think with the 500k it really helps to even things out they way the CD was intended to work... but I myself do advise with the CD to Gear very conservatively. im running 65/18 in the clip on 4s and this setup does warm up that slipper, you can hear it in the beginning of the clip, slipping a lot.. so be careful out there people

However Temps were awesome with this setup and the CD, it was about 60F outside and after running thought the whole pack the motor never saw over 120F the esc fan off and the batterys 75F!

Also for clip purposes that was me giving full throttle from a stand still at the beginning, i wanted to show how much the CD helps keep the truck on the ground but another word of wise, not good to do! remember this is a racing part intended IMO for the track and on the track this gearing and power is plenty!

500k should be a good mix of turning ability and control.

To help a bit more on the initial torque burst, you can also try 100% punch control on the MMM. It should have a similar effect of a properly adjusted slipper, but will use power a little more wisely instead of the slipper wasting it away...

[padrino]

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems your revo turn in a very tight way, what's the trick ?

Have you installed the extended steering mount that the e-revo comes with? That helps out a lot, along with that set your endpoints if you have a setup that allows it so you can take good advantage of it.

[Cain]

Yeah, its amazing how much punch the MMM can put out. I ran 80% on my old E-revo and could still wheelie on command, but it was very raceable for the way I drive.

[rrgirgis]

500k should be a good mix of turning ability and control.

To help a bit more on the initial torque burst, you can also try 100% punch control on the MMM. It should have a similar effect of a properly adjusted slipper, but will use power a little more wisely instead of the slipper wasting it away...

yeah i think i will try it at 100% it is at 70% now and see how it goes. but the power of of MMM is incredible, i think i have my setup very modest(gearing, settings, 12c batteries) and it still puts down a ton of power!

[Smashwings]

18/65 seems too conservative gearing (30mph), I have it geared 20/56 (39mph) for the track , less would be little too slow for my track.
However, I would have heat issues with a CD with that gearing?

[revo guy]

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVDU5&P=7

here you go

[spcpicard]

I pretty much only use my e revo on dirt track, and personally I found the center diff useless. I even tried it with 50k front diff oil and it would balloon the fronts. I guess if I could have tried to put in 100k but I didn't feel like taking the front diff out again. The main reason I wanted to try it was due to the whole truck wanting to almost do endos with hard braking. The center diff did solve that problem, but like I said, I couldn't even get up to top speed on the straights with the front tire diffing out so much. FYI I run the neu 1512 2.5d on 4s geared 18/54.

[Dragonfueled]

i know its an old thread but im wondering how the diff is holing up on the brushless e revos? I wish sometimes someone made thicker oil the 500k. I know its allot but the e revos center diff needs it to keep all that torque from going straight to the front wheels

[8ight-e]

I would get the front diff to at least 50wt if not 60wt as well.. the rear at 30 is fine, as well as the center at 500k.

70wt all around is ideal on most tracks too; blue(r), white(f) for shocks.

[rrgirgis]

hey dragon,

the center diff is holding up perfect in the erevo i have not had any problems and have gone to the track a few times with it and it does help to keep the truck on the ground, however it does allow the front to ballon up, but i think with the power the brushless puts down your going to have that issue even with thicker fluid...

the motor revs up so fast that even with 500k its still not enough... i think its a matter of gearing and setting the mamaba beast to fit your driving style and above all you have to learn how to control your trigger finger to keep the front wheels from balloning so much, the center diff does work and holds up well to the mamaba

[EvilDylan]

I personally found that my revo wheelies just as much after the diff install as it did before the diff install. The only difference I see is that the wheels balloon now when wheelying whereas they didn't before the diff install. But I will say that climbing steep hills with loose soil or gravel is much improved.

[UberBricky42]

I just installed my CD at the same time I installed the MMM, and thought that the MMM had less power then the xcelorin!! But then I remembered the CD, and realized it works great! The front tires do ballon alot when wheelieing at 50%punch, I'm going with a higher punch to see if I can't keep those fronts on the ground. My lhs has 1000k diff oil

[8ight-e]

Why put a center diff in if you're going to push such thick oil in that it's basically lcoked up? LOL Just take it out and save the money!

[UberBricky42]

I'm not putting that oil in my diff, I agree with you 100%, just a response to someones question earlier in the thread

[marksp]

Center diff works perfectly in my setup on local track. Running 18/62 on 4S with center diff (stock 500K), Panther Switch 2.0 LPR's, variable piston shocks and RPM Tru-trac rears, the truck is dialed. Full mash on high grip clay, the front end lifts about an inch, then power is transferred to front as diff distributes power. Accelerates, corners and brakes better on the track with the center diff.

[Thomas Anthony]

Heres some track footage of 2 ERBE's oth with center diffs and 2 cells. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC4dWhoflYw

there are 7 different vids on here, just click on "more from nursinggerm2009" and youll see all of them. Im also gonna post more this wednesday....hopefully 5 ERBE's on the track at once this time!