Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Hey guys. I hope all is well. I have read pretty much every forum about the villain boat. I have had a traxxas blast for maybe 7 years now..I have only used it a hand full of times. I modded it and put this old car esc i have and hot 12 turn modified motor. That thing flies but i learned i cant open up the throttle full out bc the boat is just too fast..Its too skinny, its like an arrow across the water. But anyways i knew that would only last for the time being, i have been researching boats. And decided to narrow it down to a few boats. Now i know brushless and lipo are the future. Considering i upgraded my offroad and onroad cars to brushless and lipo. ANd i love the difference it gives me. I have narrowed it down to the Villain EX, Supervee 27, and Brushless Black Jack 26...And a Fastech Brushless..
I like the villain ex, bc i have noticed it seems to be more stable, in any kind of water, whether it be a beach or a calm lake. It seems to have a good speed of about 20 mph depending on the batteries. And for some reason i feel like 2 props are better than one..But i see the only downside maybe you cant really upgrade the motors to brushless without spending 200.. or more..And also i like the inside alot more..It looks much better.And it doesnt seem like it flips over as much. I saw that one thread that coolecool put about there about how to mod a villain, but it doesnt seem it will be near as fast as a brushless boat.. i was thinking of maybe running two traxxas 12T motors in there, since it would be less maintenance..and i believe the EVX 2 can handle as low as 12t size 550..but i read on the website it said you should not run two 12t's together..there meant for single motor applications. Can anyone explain what the harm would be, since i would upgrade it too water cooling and deans plugs..i mean i dont really care about a super fast boat..but i want something that isnt slow..maybe about 25 or 30 mph..and i like the villain..and i thought about maybe buying the villain and hooking up novak super duty esc with hot motors, but i wonder if you can hook up water cooling to that esc..

I liked the supervee and blackjack obviously bc there much faster and there brushless. And the blackjack you can run lipo, i dont know about the supervee..NOw the supervee i see flips over alot, and i dont wanna mess with that at all..But i presume that may be bc its so fast and low to the water..And i know the black jack seems to flip over as well..but i have heard its not as much as supervee..and i presume since the hull on the blackjack is a catamaran body style, it seems to be more stable then the supervee's design...but one thing that bothers me about both of these boats is there is no reverse..which is a big thing for me..for maybe if i run into something or need to reverse out of it..and i read somewhere that if you buy the blackjack you need to change the steering system bc its not very good at all..and one thing that bothers me about the SV and BL is that there electronics box look like somebody just put there electronics in some tupoware...doesnt look very appealing at all.. From watching videos it seems like the villain might turn a little better than the SV and the BL..

I like the fastech brushless, it seems to solve alot of problems i had, but i read a couple of forums about it and noticed many people complaining about the company who makes it. And there may be a hull design problem..Maybe has problems turning?

I know this is alot guys, but i could use some help, i know you can upgrade the villain but it would cost way more than just buying a SV and BL ready to run..
any suggestions? And i guess explain your reasons please.

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Is anyone alive?????????

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

I just had to be nosy and look at the Fastech boat. To me it looks like something Traxxas would put out.
They really need to get rid of that awful Python radio. Theyre still screwing up the mounting of the rurn fins, no big surprise there. The person designing the boats is an unknown. I feel better knowing that there is someone doing the R&D that we'd know.
When looking the boat up I also saw that they are coming out with a .15 powered version. Why? They've got an .18 out now in the Miss Formula, why not use that engine instead?
I'd toss the BJ 26 BL also as the steerable outdrive has issues which also kills the handling not to mention the U-joint breakage.

"Is anyone alive?" is considered bumping a thread by the way, a no-no in here. I've been seeing more members in here lately bumping threads because somebody isn't replying right away. Some members only go the the forum of their choice and don't wander out of those. If you want to ask questions about an electric, nitro or gas boat sometimes you'll get better replies in those forums.

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Out of all the boats you picked, the SV27 is the best in quality for sure. As far as flipping, they all flip, it's all in how you run them and how rough the water is. You can run lipos with the SV27, but the stock ESC has no cut off. So you either have to use a inline 3rd party cut-off (novak makes one off the top of my head) or you have to be extra cautious not to run the cells down to low. Believe me, I know. I ruined a set of lipos discharging them to much during a race. No, it was not worth it.

The villian EX is slow. I GPS'ed mine at 17MPH and that was with nice IB3800 cells. 2 props is NOT better than one. One prop is faster, ask anyone. Notice how NO ONE else makes a twin drive electric.... thats cause it's a gimic...it looks cool, thats about it.

I had a BJ26 also. nice boat! But not very stable. Flips way more than my SV27, and like Ron said, the U-Joints break, and they bind in the turns...Just a bad design.

Do yourself a favor and get a SV27....want it more stable? Put the trim tabs down some and sacrifice a couple of MPH for some stability.

Hope this helps. Also, your first post was at 130am my time, and you bumped at 1230pm the same day. Give people a chance to reply. And like Ron said, bumping is a no no. seeya! -chris

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

I have to say here I have the villian ex and it's a fun stable boat and is a great retrieval boat for those big gassers but it is slow.
I have run a super vee as my best friend has one and they are super nice with 7 cells in them.
They fly and run very well with a few minor changes
Turn fin addition
Different prop
trim tab's down about 1 degree from stock.
Awesome all around set up!
If you want a super handleing boat that is good in tight areas buy the EX
Straight line performance Super Vee

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Chris, or anyone........have you GPS'd your SV27? I am trying to get the very last bit of speed out of mine, but I have no idea what the expectations are.

Thanks,
Doug

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Plenty of people have GPS'ed the SV. Read through the big SV thread and you'll get the speeds. On average expect mid 30's.

RE: Decide between Villain EX, Fastech Brushless, SV 27, BL 26
 

Yeah I have GPS'ed mine many times. 30-33 MPH on some good nimhs like ib3800's or ib4200's.....

lipos? lol.....:D you'll be dancing with 40MPH if you trim the boat right. Granted, thats a pretty loose hull and kinda on edge. BUT a safe assumption is 30MPH with 12 good nimhs and 35MPH with a good set of enerland lipos.

EDIT: Grant ed is correct. sorry lol.