Cougar Classic / Pro Trans / Help me with gearing?

[Ty89m]

I'm looking to order the Cougar Classic and the pro-trans upgrade alongside a Hobbywing BL setup, but as I'm new to the surface side of the hobby, could use a bit of help on the gearing.

The pro-trans kit comes with a 98T spur gear, and looking at the manual for the pro-trans kit I see pinion options with FDRs ranging from 14.46-9.20. Looking at the Hobbywing motor manuals, with a 13.5T, the recommended starting point for FDR is 7.0:1 - not achievable with the 89T spur. Is the pro transmission meant to be used with low-turn mod motors like the 6.5-8.5 turns?

I mainly want the transmission upgrade for the more robust parts (and I'm a sucker for upgrade bits), but I'm not sure I want to be running a super fast 6.5T motor. I'm not a racer, so I just want a good middle-of-the-road setup for the few times I run it around.

From my understanding, there's not much of a downside to running a higher FDR than recommended in the motor manual beyond limited top speeds, correct? Would it be advisable to run a 10.5T-13.5T with the upgraded transmission, or should I be shooting for an FDR closer to what the manual recommends for 1/10 off-road buggies?

[1911Colt]

I'm looking to order the Cougar Classic and the pro-trans upgrade alongside a Hobbywing BL setup, but as I'm new to the surface side of the hobby, could use a bit of help on the gearing.

The pro-trans kit comes with a 98T spur gear, and looking at the manual for the pro-trans kit I see pinion options with FDRs ranging from 14.46-9.20. Looking at the Hobbywing motor manuals, with a 13.5T, the recommended starting point for FDR is 7.0:1 - not achievable with the 89T spur. Is the pro transmission meant to be used with low-turn mod motors like the 6.5-8.5 turns?

I mainly want the transmission upgrade for the more robust parts (and I'm a sucker for upgrade bits), but I'm not sure I want to be running a super fast 6.5T motor. I'm not a racer, so I just want a good middle-of-the-road setup for the few times I run it around.

From my understanding, there's not much of a downside to running a higher FDR than recommended in the motor manual beyond limited top speeds, correct? Would it be advisable to run a 10.5T-13.5T with the upgraded transmission, or should I be shooting for an FDR closer to what the manual recommends for 1/10 off-road buggies?

Congratulations on an excellent choice of buggy! I love the 2WD Shueys.

You can use the modern Schumacher spur gears on the Pro transmission to get the correct FDR. Unfortunately, the included spur is not really "in range" for brushless. Not sure what Schumacher was thinking with that one. An 89 tooth (U7154) would be my choice, not 98.

I would recommend following the motor manual's suggested FDR. I don't say that because I am a motor guru; I say it because that is what the folks on this very site told me when I asked the same question a few years ago. Whatever FDR you decide upon, you still want to watch the motor temp. The motor will get pretty warm naturally, but it should never feel like it could burn you. It won't last long if it gets that hot.

Between re-re Cougars and Top Cats, I have run from 7.5 to 13.5 brushless. The 7.5 is insane. I run about 50% throttle EPA to tame it. These buggies are wheelie machines anyway, so forget any sort of power-on steering with a motor this powerful. 10.5 is also very, very fast for such a light car, but it works. Remember that the li-po battery is significantly lighter and more powerful than the NiCds the car was intended to have, so there is already a big jump in performance. The 13.5, to me, felt like the perfect match- fast enough, reminiscent of what we ran BITD, and very driveable.

Take this with a grain of salt because I haven't seen anyone else recommend it, but I like to buy a motor on the "too powerful" end of the spectrum and dial it down to what I want using the throttle EPA in the transmitter.

[Ty89m]

Congratulations on an excellent choice of buggy! I love the 2WD Shueys.

You can use the modern Schumacher spur gears on the Pro transmission to get the correct FDR. Unfortunately, the included spur is not really "in range" for brushless. Not sure what Schumacher was thinking with that one. An 89 tooth (U7154) would be my choice, not 98.

I would recommend following the motor manual's suggested FDR. I don't say that because I am a motor guru; I say it because that is what the folks on this very site told me when I asked the same question a few years ago. Whatever FDR you decide upon, you still want to watch the motor temp. The motor will get pretty warm naturally, but it should never feel like it could burn you. It won't last long if it gets that hot.

Between re-re Cougars and Top Cats, I have run from 7.5 to 13.5 brushless. The 7.5 is insane. I run about 50% throttle EPA to tame it. These buggies are wheelie machines anyway, so forget any sort of power-on steering with a motor this powerful. 10.5 is also very, very fast for such a light car, but it works. Remember that the li-po battery is significantly lighter and more powerful than the NiCds the car was intended to have, so there is already a big jump in performance. The 13.5, to me, felt like the perfect match- fast enough, reminiscent of what we ran BITD, and very driveable.

Take this with a grain of salt because I haven't seen anyone else recommend it, but I like to buy a motor on the "too powerful" end of the spectrum and dial it down to what I want using the throttle EPA in the transmitter.

Thanks - I'm going off the deep end with these re-release buggies (ProCat arrived today!), but they're just too cool. I'm a mid-80s baby, so I never had the chance to see these run back in the day, but I'm happy to get a crack at them now.

I had a feeling the 98T spur included in the pro transmission kit was an interesting choice - especially considering they intended these to be used with more powerful brushless systems.

I'd like to shoot for 10.5-13.5 for my intended use case but would like to get a bit closer to the motor-recommended FRDs. I'll certainly take my IR temp gun to ensure I'm not cooking the motor, but I don't anticipate running these all that often, and certainly not hard.

I'll look into grabbing the modern spur gear and see how things go!

Edit to add: Are the long-boss pinions usually necessary on the ProCat/Cougar?

[1911Colt]

Edit to add: Are the long-boss pinions usually necessary on the ProCat/Cougar?

Definitely not necessary, as I don't own a single one.

[Ty89m]

Definitely not necessary, as I don't own a single one.

Thanks! Looks like I may need one for my Yokomo Super DogFighter, but everything else should be good with standard pinions.

I have the Cougar heading my way along with the pro transmission and 89T spur. That should make getting the FDR in the ballpark a lot easier! I also have the CF front shock mount and alloy eccentrics coming for both the ProCat and Cougar. I'd like to find the ball-raced steering linkage and rear shock mounts for the Cougar (as it seems to make wing mounting a bit easier), but can't find one in stock. Are there any other "must-have" upgrades for the ProCat/Cougar?

[RC10th]

For stock motors you'll definitely have to change to a smaller spur if one isn't included.

Take your desired spur gear and divide it by your pinion, then times it by the transmission ratio. I don't know Schumacher's so this is an example from an AE. Say we have a 70 tooth spur, a 24 tooth pinion, and the transmission ratio is 2.40:1.

70 ÷ 24 x 2.40 = 7.0 FDR

This should allow you to work out what size spur gear will get you in the range that you require.


Dynamic ESC timing is amazing if you want to dabble in that world. It allows you to run a mild motor but can also turn it into one that is wild. You get the drivability of the mild motor and better run times, but when you start squeezing the throttle things start getting lively. Unless your racing in a sanctioned blinky stock stock class 10.5T - 8 5T is all you need with a bit of dynamic timing. There really isn't a need for anything in a lower wind.

[Ty89m]

For stock motors you'll definitely have to change to a smaller spur if one isn't included.

Take your desired spur gear and divide it by your pinion, then times it by the transmission ratio. I don't know Schumacher's so this is an example from an AE. Say we have a 70 tooth spur, a 24 tooth pinion, and the transmission ratio is 2.40:1.

70 ÷ 24 x 2.40 = 7.0 FDR

This should allow you to work out what size spur gear will get you in the range that you require.


Dynamic ESC timing is amazing if you want to dabble in that world. It allows you to run a mild motor but can also turn it into one that is wild. You get the drivability of the mild motor and better run times, but when you start squeezing the throttle things start getting lively. Unless your racing in a sanctioned blinky stock stock class 10.5T - 8 5T is all you need with a bit of dynamic timing. There really isn't a need for anything in a lower wind.

It was my calculations that made me realize a 98T spur was going to force me into running a 6.5T (or close) to get to the motor-recommended FDR. These are shelf queens with the occasional run around the property, so I was a bit hesitant to run something that fast. I have an 89T coming with the kit which should enable me to run something a bit milder.

I have a lot to learn when it comes to boost/turbo and timing adjustments on the motor/esc. I understand the concept, but it's not something I've ever messed around with. My HW ESCs are capable of all sorts of fancy stuff, so I best get familiar with the manual ha!

I'll be trying the kit-supplied 21T brushed motor on my Avante, as well as the Yokomo 27T brushed setup in the Super DogFighter, so it'll be interesting to compare BL vs. brushed.

[1911Colt]

The internal ratio of the standard Schumacher 2WD transmission is 2.43. The Pro transmission is 2.07.

[1911Colt]

Copy/pasting from another thread because the search feature is likely to bring folks here.


The motor manual will have a target FDR for your vehicle type (2WD, 4WD, Short course, etc).

Spur gear teeth divided by pinion teeth times transmission ratio gets you your final drive.

For example, my motor manual called for 8:1 for a 2WD buggy. The Top Cat Pro transmission has 2.066 internal ratio. 89 tooth spur / 23 tooth pinion x 2.066 transmission ratio gives FDR of 7.99.

Then just check motor temp after a good run. Excessive heat will shorten the motor life.

[Anthony]

Hello,

To give you my feed back, I use the pro transmission with 83 teeths spur gear and 29 teeths pinion for a 13.5 brushless motor as a starting point.

- The esc is a Hobbywing Xerun X10 JustStock G2 esc (this is a 0 timming - non turbo - speedo)
- The motor is a Core RC 13.5 t with fixed timming
- Final gear ration is around 5.91

I hope this help you.

[Retro rc]

Also the pro trans for both the procat and cougar classic give you a full gearing chart in the instructions so all you need is the recommended gearing for the motor your going to run, also usually in the instructions, and go from there