Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro 1/10 Brushless ESC with SMARTSENSE

When the 2nd unit of the Traxxas 3355X VXL-3S Waterproof ESC failed by intermittently going into thermal shutdown while running 3S Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries, I had it. Whenever it would go into "shutdown", and this happens a minute or so into driving when the ESC is not even luke warm, I needed to disconnect the power and reconnect, and then it would work. You cannot imagine my frustration especially when the car is at the other end of the park! At the recommendation of my local hobby shop, I purchased this Mamba Max Pro (MMP) ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) using the stock Traxxas Slash 4x4 setup (motor and servo). The MMP came in an attractive box and was shipped in a securely held foam package. Two instruction booklets were inside the box, along with the ESC.I mounted the MMP onto the Slash 4x4 using Snappy RC Mamba Max Pro Mounting Kit. It was a simple bolt-on mount. Very clean.The only issue I had during initial MMP setup was having to obtain and solder/shrink wrap the necessary/matching bullet connectors to the motor and the MMP. I got the matching connectors from my local hobby shop.Setting the throttle and brake limits via the stock Traxxas 6507 TQi 4 Channel Transmitter with 5 Channel Receiver and Docking Base was extremely easy, and I initially never got past that paragraph in the instruction booklet before I started driving. The difference in my driving experience was immediately recognizable. The MMP simply kept going, and the power just poured on. Using stock gearing, I was hitting 56-58 miles per hour without breaking a sweat - on GRASS! I ran out of grass (in a park) before I could reach maximum velocity. On pavement it was CONTROLLABLY fast, especially from a dead stop (unlike the original ESC). As many of you probably already know, once you start going fast, rapid turning is out of the question. :-) So I digress. My motor would reach 150 deg F (when I stop driving) while the MMP kept humming along.Knowing that the MMP can do much more, I downloaded the Castle Link software and plugged in the USB adapter (http://www.amazon.com/Castle-Creations-Link-Programming-Adapter/dp/B000BOG8V0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390344098&sr=8-1&keywords=castle+link) to the MMP. The software was very easy to use, and connected immediately to the MMP. Once the Castle Link USB adapter is connected with the appropriate polarity to the ESC cable the USB adapter will light up "green", indicating that you have the correct orientation on the plug. The Castle Link software will also indicate that everything is ready to go. The explanations offered by the software were very easy to understand even for a novice RC car driver like myself. I was able to further adjust the throttle settings so I maintain control of the car starting from a dead stop and going to full throttle. Adjusting braking power was also very helpful so my driving control and experience is improved. From what I can tell, the fan on the MMP kept it running cool, so it never went into any sort of shutdown.The Castle Link USB programming adapter can be purchased from Amazon or Castle Creations. My MMP came with a coupon code for a free Castle Link USB adapter.If you need a reliable and powerful ESC for your 1/10 scale RC car, I would highly recommend this ESC. Absolutely no regrets getting this ESC so far.

A great ESC! Castle Creations has thought of everything with this ESC for 1/10 scale. Very impressed with the performance and tune abilitySupporting both Brushed, Brush-less, and Sensored Brush-less Motors with battery support up to 6 cell packs and provides built in BEC to power your servos and receivers. This is a top notch ESC.You can program a number of attributes, braking, curves, reverse, power output. Castle Creations make it easy using their castle link software and programming cable. Don't worry, you can get up and running even if you don't spring for the cable software, having access to the software allows you to set up profiles for the ESC: Carpet, pavement, offroad, crawling for your castle creation equipped RC vehicles. Allowing you to move the ESC from one vehicle to another and just send the profile to re-program. Brushed setup in one vehicle using NIMIH and a Brushless in another with LiPO in the other, all possible.I would offer 5 stars but Castle does not include the link module with the ESC I can understand , one should be able to register and get a free one.Otherwise a GREAT ESC.

I picked up this ESC for my MERV setup due to fact stock ESC went into thermal shutdown and never came out of it running through some 3S packs. The MMP feels like it is solidly built, the integrated fan is great and a must for any ESC running LIPO. The ESC is vey configurable using the Castle Link so I suggest picking up both if you want a finer grain of control on throttle and braking characteristics. I have so far only ran through 2 3S packs so I am going to reserve my star rating to 3 for now with a pending update once i run through more packs, but I definitely see big improvement all around in acceleration, top speed and braking.

Not a fan yet, probably never. I have the sct esc combo from momba in a losi scte 1.0 and have no issues. I am running this esc with the sct combo motor in my scte 2.0 and it thermal overloads on me constantly, will be swapping out the sct esc asap. The tuning software does offer cool features that only the pro provides but is of little use if the esc is always shutting down.

I Recommend this product to all the people that wants to reach 80+ miles, of course u will need a a great motor to achieve this speeds, I have tested this esc with 4 and 5s and the esc doesn't overheat which is good new, another thing this product has also a greatttt! Quality. If u are looking for this features then this is the right thing for u!

My SV2 finally died, and I replaced it with the Mamba Max Pro. I instantly noticed a substantial increase in power to the wheels even with the Mamba de-tuned as much a possible. It's goofy fast with a 5700kV castle setup -so much so that my friend with a slower system was lapping me around our track. *With great power comes great responsibility* I made some adjustments to the car (TA05) and was able to manage it somewhat better. I estimate that it is making close to a horsepower now, so there is a large increase in power for a small amount of trigger pull. I'm thinking about changing from a 3S to a 2S battery.The coupon for a free castle link adapter was awesome. Cant wait to change power curves.Incredibly powerful and adjustable system. Just realize that if you advance your timing, throw in a 7700kV motor and a 3S lipo that you will create something so ungodly powerful that the car will create Einstein-frame-dragging under acceleration. The r/c car will disappear into another dimension of space and time in an almighty storm of thunder and lightning. It will be more powerful than you ever thought an r/c car could be.Have only put a few packs through the Mamba, so I will update this later if I need to reevaluate my rating.

The best servo out there. Compact and can handle a 6s battery! Crawlers love it because its easy to set with your computer and the field card! 200% drag brake and crawler settings. the only thing bad.. ITS NOT WATERPROOF!