TRIED • TESTED • TORTURED
Performance Proven
MAMBA MAX PRO
SCT BRUSHLESS
COMBO
Since their beginnings, Castle Creations has been making some of the most powerful speed controls and motors on the market and selling them at a great price. Because of this, I wasn’t too surprised to see that they had done
it again with the Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro SCT 1/10 scale
Brushless Combo. ;is nicely packaged combo comes out of the
box ready to plug in and play. All you really need to do is solder up
a battery connector, plug it all in, and you’re ready to sling some
dirt in a huge way. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.
FEATURES
From the first time I opened the box, I was impressed with the Pro SCT. It’s well
packaged and comes with nearly everything you will need to install it into a RC
vehicle—just remember that the 4-pole motor comes with a big 5mm shaft so
you will need the appropriate pinion gears. You will also need the correct plug
to match your battery pack. Aside from the pinion and battery plug, the combo
includes everything from extra bullet plugs for the motor, zip-ties, and motor
mounting screws—definitely a great e;ort done with the packaging. ;e
motor is a sealed unit, which keeps dirt out of the motor when running longer
between rebuilds and includes a 5mm rotor to handle all the power it makes.
;e fit and finish of all the parts is top rate, and the wires are even sealed at
the motor, which is a nice touch. On the speed control, all of the motor wires
have bullet connectors installed from the factory and they fit nice and snug.
;e wires from the speed control to the battery are even stripped and pre-tinned for you; Castle really does a top-notch job having this combo ready to
install.
Item no.: 010-0096-00, $220
castlecreations.com
TESTING
I just got a new Traxxas Rally, so I installed the combo test
platform and went to work installing the combo. After removing
the stock electronics, I noticed that I needed a little piece of
Lexan so the speed control would have a nice base to be mounted to. After
installing the SCT, you’ll need to calibrate the speed controller to your radio,
which was a very simple process. Being the curious person that I am, I immediately started playing around with manually programming the speed
control. At first it was a little tricky, but I was able to quickly catch on to what
the directions told me to do and it was really easy after that. ;is speed
controller also includes the option to plug it into your laptop and program
it using the Castle Link, which is sold separately. ;is method of programming is equally as straightforward and lets you tune your speed control more
precisely including timing and many other options. Another great feature of
this combo is the motor fan that comes with the kit. With the vehicle on the
ground, I pulled the trigger and immediately noticed the di;erence. Power
is instant and even with 4WD, it spun the tires with little e;ort. I tested the
system at a track with a fairly large jump that the car couldn’t clear before I
installed the Mamba Max Pro SCT. After installing the combo, however, the
3800Kv motor had more than enough power to get the job done. I could
easily roll up to the face of the jump, pull the trigger, and the car would launch.
;e combination of the 1410 speed control and the 3800Kv mo-
tor is also smooth and drivable at low speeds and comes to life
as soon as you ask it to. ;ere is plenty of power throughout the
range of the system and it al ways responds exactly to throttle input. Even in
reverse mode, the brakes are very consistent. I set the braking at 25% using
the manual adjustment and the brakes worked great with plenty of drivability
under easy braking and good stopping power when you clamp it down. With
some systems, you have to wait for the reverse to engage or double click the
reverse with the throttle, but with the Castle combo, it’s a seamless transi-
tion from forward to stopping to reverse. To test the included fan, I ran a pinion
that was one tooth larger than the one recommended in the supplied gearing
chart. After running with the fan o;, I ran with it on to see the di;erence. I
was very surprised by how much cooler the motor ran with it on. From the
time I opened the box until the time I was packing up, the Castle Creations
Mamba Max Pro SCT 1/10 Scale Brushless Combo was impressive. With the
well-designed speed control, included cooling fan with aluminum mount, and
the powerful 4-pole motor, Castle Creations backs a lot of value for the price.
;is is truly a complete ESC/motor combo and is a great upgrade to any RC
vehicle. — Tom Epting
