Upgrade Motor for Neo Fighter?
 

I got my son a Tamiya Neo Fighter buggy for Christmas that came with the Tamiya RS-540 Torque-Tuned Motor. The stock motor seems to be sufficient on pavement but it's really getting bogged down in off road conditions.

I used to run 1/10 RCs way back in the 90s and I have tried to get back up to speed (no pun intended...well maybe a little) on motors but things have certainly changed. I'm finding it much harder to compare motors. If memory serves it used to be all about the RPMs back then and some motors still do focus on that but I see just as many others with specs that forgo the RPMs in favor of criteria like turn rotation or voltage. To my eyes there doesn't seem to be one particular industry wide criteria that I can use to compare all the various options out there. And I'm not looking to get him the fastest motor as it's his first RC Car. But I'd like to get him something that isn't troubled by off road driving and preferably can use his existing ESC, gear box, etc.

I reached out to Tower Hobby and they recommended the Tamiya Dirt Tuned motor. But near as I can tell that improves off road performance by adding torque but it's slower so it decreases on road performance.

If anyone can recommend a "happy medium" that he can just pop in without over hauling everything else I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Did the kit come with the TBLE-02S ESC?

If so then it is compatible with both brushed and brushless motors, in fact that ESC can handle up to a 10.5T motor which would be perfect for you!

Yes, it appears to be

How do I determine what motors are compatible with this ESC and are there any ones in particular that you'd recommend

According to the manual, it specifically states that it is compatible with this motor here:

I have not tested other motors yet, but I can try to hook up a Trinity Punisher 10.5T motor that I have to see if it will be compatible, I might have some time to test it later tonight or tomorrow.

I downloaded the car and the ESC manual to see what else it might tell me but I couldn't find the section you're referring to. The best I could find was the bottom of the ESC manual says "Tamiya sport-tuned motor; Tamiya motors over 25T". Where is the right place to look?

That would be great, thanks.

I found this video here where he shows that you can use any brand of 10.5T motor you want, or to play it safe, maybe go with a 13.5T motor: