New LeMans 240S Brushless question

[ahenderl]

Hey guys,
I'm in the process a building a few of my favorite RC cars I couldn't afford as a kid (the Tamiya Hornet was as good as it got for me in the 80's). I'm kind of getting back into RC after about a 8-9 year break and am loving all of the re-releases. I just finished a RC10 Classic with a Jay Halsey paint theme and am moving on to my favorite Kyoshos.

I just started on a Turbo Scorpion and am going to build a Javelin & then a Kyosho Beetle after that...all re-re's. I like the idea of running Kyosho Le Mans 240S brushless motors in at least a couple of these kits, however the specs seem a little odd to me. I was wondering if anyone here has any first-hand experience with either the 15.5 turn or the 19.5 turn motor or if they could shed some light on the specs.

240S 15.5T Brushless http://www.kyoshoamerica.com/LE-MANS-240S-Brushless-Motor-155T_p_24812.html
18,870 RPM @ 7.4V
2550 kv
38A max current
320W max power

240S 19.5T Brushless http://www.kyoshoamerica.com/LE-MANS-240S-Brushless-Motor-195T_p_24811.html
19,092 RPM @ 7.4V
2580 kv
33A max current
280W max power

Kyosho recommends the 19.5T for 2wd and the 15.5T for 4wd applications. I find it a bit odd that the lower turn motor has a lower kv rating. Does this seem right? If so, is there an advantage to the 15.5T motor? Would it be more torquey? These cars will all be used as toys for bashing. I'd like enough motor to be fun but I understand the limited capability of the drivetrains and I also don't intend to do 60 mph speed runs in a buggy with an aluminum rail frame. My guess is cartwheels down the street at crazy speeds would turn the chassis into a paperclip.

I thought about installing the 15.5T motor in the Turbo Scorpion along with the Kyosho 240S esc and seeing how it does. It's capable of 3S, so I could always go that route if 2550 kv is too tame with a 2S battery.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Adam

[Timmahhh]

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation. I have one of their other brushless lemans motors, and it won't even fit in an optima with the wire tabs they put on it. Its kind of weird how little it says kyosho on the package. Either way, the motors and ESC both look very cool. As for performance, I would suspect the 15.5 will be faster, regardless of the specs they have on it. I honestly think someone just didn't enter the information correctly, but I could be wrong.

[orangemazda]

I bought a Le Mans 17.5 on sale for $31 on the Kyosho America website. I intended it to go into my new Javelin but like you said, the motor tabs hit the motor guard. Any recommendations on a brushless motor that will fit the Javelin nicely?

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation. I have one of their other brushless lemans motors, and it won't even fit in an optima with the wire tabs they put on it. Its kind of weird how little it says kyosho on the package. Either way, the motors and ESC both look very cool. As for performance, I would suspect the 15.5 will be faster, regardless of the specs they have on it. I honestly think someone just didn't enter the information correctly, but I could be wrong.

[ahenderl]

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation.

I agree. The numbers just don't make sense to me.

Check these out:

http://rc.kyosho.com/en/catalogsearch/result/?q=le+mans+gold

They are on Kyosho's Japan site. A week or so back they showed to be temporarily unavailable. Now they show to be discontinued. It's too bad. I think a 13.5T motor would be a nice all-around motor for playing with the re-releases...fast enough to be fun but not stupid-fast.

[Timmahhh]

I bought a Le Mans 17.5 on sale for $31 on the Kyosho America website. I intended it to go into my new Javelin but like you said, the motor tabs hit the motor guard. Any recommendations on a brushless motor that will fit the Javelin nicely?

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation. I have one of their other brushless lemans motors, and it won't even fit in an optima with the wire tabs they put on it. Its kind of weird how little it says kyosho on the package. Either way, the motors and ESC both look very cool. As for performance, I would suspect the 15.5 will be faster, regardless of the specs they have on it. I honestly think someone just didn't enter the information correctly, but I could be wrong.

Yep, same one! haha... I was just planning on putting a spacer in front of the motor to make it work.

[XLR8]

I bought a Le Mans 17.5 on sale for $31 on the Kyosho America website. I intended it to go into my new Javelin but like you said, the motor tabs hit the motor guard. Any recommendations on a brushless motor that will fit the Javelin nicely?

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation. I have one of their other brushless lemans motors, and it won't even fit in an optima with the wire tabs they put on it. Its kind of weird how little it says kyosho on the package. Either way, the motors and ESC both look very cool. As for performance, I would suspect the 15.5 will be faster, regardless of the specs they have on it. I honestly think someone just didn't enter the information correctly, but I could be wrong.

Curious! Here are photos published in Kyosho's option catalog for Javelin and they show the brushless 240s motor installed in the car. How are they able to do this if wire lugs interfere with the motor guard? Are the 240s and 17.5 motor cans really that different?

[Timmahhh]

I bought a Le Mans 17.5 on sale for $31 on the Kyosho America website. I intended it to go into my new Javelin but like you said, the motor tabs hit the motor guard. Any recommendations on a brushless motor that will fit the Javelin nicely?

I get the impression that either Kyosho didn't put a lot of thought into the motors, or that they didn't put a lot of thought into the translation. I have one of their other brushless lemans motors, and it won't even fit in an optima with the wire tabs they put on it. Its kind of weird how little it says kyosho on the package. Either way, the motors and ESC both look very cool. As for performance, I would suspect the 15.5 will be faster, regardless of the specs they have on it. I honestly think someone just didn't enter the information correctly, but I could be wrong.

Curious! Here are photos published in Kyosho's option catalog for Javelin and they show the brushless 240s motor installed in the car. How are they able to do this if wire lugs interfere with the motor guard? Are the 240s and 17.5 motor cans really that different?

They have conveniently covered up the installed motor tabs in these pics, but I believe the 17.5 motor has the tabs swept "forward" where the 240s is "backward"

[XLR8]

Wow, you're right. Hmmm....
When I get the Javelin assembled, I think I will snap a pic of the 17.5 not fitting, send to customer support at Kyosho America and see what they say. Who knows, maybe they'll give me a special deal on a replacement motor.
That said, do you think they're really just trying to discourage use of potentially more powerful motors in the vintage rere cars?

[ahenderl]

I went with the LeMans 240S 15.5T.

The tabs were tight but they just barely fit. The tabs on the 240S motors are turned opposite from the regular LeMans brushless motors. They are also an open "U" shape that allows you to route the wire to the motor from either direction. Here's a couple of pics installed. I just finished tonight and haven't ran it yet so I don't know how strong it is...but it sure is pretty.