grimreeper621

here are a couple pics of my firestorm, they might be a little blurry the pics were takin with my cell phone
this is my truck fresh out of the box right before i put the sidewinder 4600kv in

this is after a little bashing at the park

and this is my firestorm and my friends stampede vxl on a nice rock i found, after a long day of bashing i didnt break anything but my friend wasnt as fortunate and left with a broken bearing carrier

73

Just an option for those in search for cheaper alternatives to cooling fan for their trucks.



Got the plug from local hobby shop for $3, so I can tab the power from the reciever.
Got the 5V fan from local computer parts store for $2.
Hook them up and it worked, the whole setup cost, converted, should be slightly above US$3.

But I can only tell if there's any improvement after track testing the $3 cooling system.

boone450r

After reading every post in this thread I am very glad I ordered this truck. Should be here Friday or Saturday. I am going to leave it stock until winter and then I will go brushless. What battery should I go with until then? I havent seen any posts referring to 8.4v 7cell packs. Is there a problem with those? I was looking at 7cell hump pack Traxxas-like design for more punch or should I go lipo and what lipo? I dont have the truck yet so have no idea what batteries fit. Can the ESC handle 11.1v lipo?

I am just a basher looking for some quiet fun when my Cen Matrix Truggy needs a cool down.

powerslider

Flat packs are what you need 6 or 7 cell fit fine, hump packs won't fit with the stock battery retension setup. I run 7 cell EP4600's with the Mamba 5700 system and it has plenty of power. If you have to buy the charger and are thinking lipo then do it now, Hyperion has chargers with the built in lipo balancer and Trackpower or TrueRC would be a couple good choice's for batteries....

boone450r

Thanks......I ordered a charger also, a GT 6a does everything and the kitchen sink.LOL What lipo would you suggest?

boone450r

This is my feedback on battery question to HPI support, I thought the specs on truck said "most lipo" would work.

Hello Dan,

The battery that is recommended for the E-firestorm is a stick pack like the Duratrax. Unfortunately this truck wont handle any lipo batteries if you want to do lipo you need to switch out your ESC. Sorry for the bad news


HPI Racing
Customer Support

powerslider

You need to decide what brushless system you'd like to run, that will help with picking the right batteries. I'm no lipo expert, don't own any yet but from what I picked up reading posts from people that have them you get a feel for what is good and what to stay away from. Myself I would probably go 3s as I like big power and throttle controlled driving. The MAH is up to you and your wallet, larger mah commands higher price tags....

powerslider

[quote]ORIGINAL: boone450r

This is my feedback on battery question to HPI support, I thought the specs on truck said "most lipo" would work.

Hello Dan,

The battery that is recommended for the E-firestorm is a stick pack like the Duratrax. Unfortunately this truck wont handle any lipo batteries if you want to do lipo you need to switch out your ESC. Sorry for the bad news



HPI Racing
Customer Support

[/quot


Yeah I wouldn't run lipo on the stock esc/motor set up, you would need a lvc (low voltage cutoff) so the lipo does get over discharged and damaged...

boone450r

I just ordered 2 7cell 4500mah flat packs. Should work for me. I will post some pics when I get the truck.

Enzyme80

Can't wait. Should be ordering the MM 5700 combo or the Sidewinder 4600 this week or next. Not sure if I want to spend the extra money as I am not racing but I really like the specs of the MM. If you were just bashing (not going lipo yet) what would you go for an why?

That said I still cannot break anything on this truck. 3 months running and I have only lost one pin that holds down the body not bad if you ask me.

calvino

i saw a video of an e-firestorm with a 3-s (ya, sorry man, you can couple packs) lipo and a sw 4600, DANG this truck was doin good, really, the only difference is one is made for "sport use" and the other is designed for racing (go fig, castle motors aren't ROAR approved[>:]), the SW seems to have more than enough power from videos... do your own research to, dang, that sounds like a great, truck, loosing only a body clip, wow, im wanting one now[8D]

Always Dreamin

I would like to maybe sell my Rustler for the E-firestorm then add a MM (?) system. Or SW.

Enzyme80

Yeh I have been doing a lot of research. They both seem to be great. I like the option of going 3-s lipo but don't think I need that just yet. I like the price of the SW over the MM (who doesn't right?). I guess it will be a little more searching and then I will purchase.

This is a great truck. I am not gentle with it either and for the past month and 1/2 I have been trying to break it (jumping anywhere from 5-15ish ft in the air and trying not to land on all 4 tires. its not that I want a broken truck but I want to put on new parts and have an agreement w/ my wife that I won't until it breaks.

Always Dreamin

Man, now I really want one. What BL setup should I put in it? It's between the:

SW 4600/5600
MM 4600-7700

....Hard.

fusebmx13

dude get the MM 7700 lol. I know it sounds wrong but my brother uses it in his rustler and it is over a year old with now problems. tons of speed and tons of wheelies.

But i wouldnt recommend using it do to the fact that it is just not right for the truck. My brother doesnt know what he is doing and i told him that he could ruin it and he didnt care lol.

Always Dreamin

The SW 4600 looks like my best bet. Or the SW 5700.

powerslider

I have the MM5700 in my E Firestorm and I would get it again, plenty of power on 7c. 3s would be a handful for sure but it's nice to have the option of higher voltage if you want it later....

Enzyme80

I am leaning more towards the mm 5700 but its not going to happen just yet.

Always Dreamin

If I get one I will leave it stock for a while. I was thinking I should keep it stock for a while. There is only one thing I have a problem with on the E-firestorm. It has no bodies made just for it, no Rpm parts for it, no FLM parts for it, and no other replacement parts aside from the Hpi parts. That means there's less of a chance my lhs will have parts for it. No upgrades are even out for it yet. That's the only downside, really, of the truck. Other then that, the truck looks great!

Enzyme80

there are no parts for the truck because #1 it is still new and #2 no one ever breaks it.

So I think I have decided on that SW 4600. It is much faster than stock and with 3s it should do around 45... plenty fast for me. the MM 5700 at 60 + is just too much for me. There is a way to do the SW 5700 on 3s but it will void the warranty.

Also with my budget this allows me to get a nice 7 cell maybe ener-g 4600 or something like that.

Always Dreamin

The SW is a very fast system. On 3s lipo it can be just as fast as a MM 5700. Well, close, you could gear it up.
I know it's still new, that's a reason, but it doesn't solve the issue. I bet someone has broken it. The truck has no potential as I see it. No room for upgrades, besides electronics. I know no one ever breaks it, but you still have to think about that. As a consumer, it's not a good thing. It's like buying a cheap toy car. It might last a while, but if your spending lots of money, it feels good to know that you have other companies avalible for upgrades and replacements. I mean, there's not even a wheelie bar out for the truck. Yet for the Rustler there is the Swami, Traxxas bar, and other custom bars. Such as the "Spark bar" that Fusebmx made.

Redvanmafia

7700 does run a little hot ina pede but nothing that cant be controled with gearing and esc settings.

Frozen72

It wouldn't be that hard for you to make your own wheelie bar, would it? I'm selling my Rustler and I might get one of these for racing and bashing when I get back into 1/10.

Always Dreamin

Ok, lets say I could make my own wheelie bar. Your still not getting my point. Parts support pretty much sucks. Not because it's a bad car, because it's new. That's all I was pointing out. I'm sure I could make my own A-arms, too. That doesn't change the parts support.

DARKWAV

Here's the only wheelie bar I know of. Looks pretty stout.

http://rcwheeliebars.com/index.htm

My bumpers just arrived yesterday... a set for myself and another for a friend. Mostly interested in the rear bumper to protect the 'spensive brushless motor.

http://www.t-bone-racing.com/

If you like to really mod-up a truck until there's more aftermarket than original on it then the E-Firestorm isn't for you. At least for now. There are some options out there to customize and make it your own but it takes some looking around. There's some aluminum (not just the HPI aluminum hop-ups) aftermarket out there, and some flat CF items as well. Not at the point yet where you can build an all-alum E-Firestorm. I don't know of any Stadium Truck style bodies that are a direct perfect fit other than original DSX-2. I think it just comes down to being able to try bodies in person at the LHS. Fit the body over the rear shock towers and see how it looks. HPI Baja TT (Original Bug for E-Zilla/E-Sav) looks pretty awesome on the E-Firestorm.