Castle 4

[robert@castle]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

No update on the BEC is a huge misstep. It's a shame you couldn't get it. I guess Castle still wants to sell their external BECs...

Does the X series of ESCs run brushed motors? I really can't think of a reason why I'd choose the SV4 over the X.

Yes it does, both will run brushed motors.

The lack of a good BEC isn't spawned from the desire to sell more BECs, it is because of price points. The Sidewinder line is designed to be an entry level product. It is for the guy that buys a brushed Traxxas Slash and wants it to go faster. It is for back yard bashers. It is for people running a single servo from an RTR kit. The Mamba line is always going to be better, and is priced accordingly.

Aux wire, BEC, aluminum case, sensor port; These all add cost that some people are willing to pay extra for, but we need a product at a lower price point for people just getting into the hobby or don't need the extra features.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by robert@castle

Yes it does, both will run brushed motors.

The lack of a good BEC isn't spawned from the desire to sell more BECs, it is because of price points. The Sidewinder line is designed to be an entry level product. It is for the guy that buys a brushed Traxxas Slash and wants it to go faster. It is for back yard bashers. It is for people running a single servo from an RTR kit. The Mamba line is always going to be better, and is priced accordingly.

Aux wire, BEC, aluminum case, sensor port; These all add cost that some people are willing to pay extra for, but we need a product at a lower price point for people just getting into the hobby or don't need the extra features.

I do understand the BEC isn't important to most people. I don't think most people even knew what a BEC was until their Castle ESC and Savox servo combo started browning out. For most people the BEC is irrelevant, but it is important to the people on this site.

I understand everything adds cost, but it's hard to justify this updated and new ESC having a worse BEC than something like the HobbyWing WP 1080 that is only $40.

[robert@castle]

Originally Posted by LSXGMC

Had they upgraded the BEC this would be a huge win for things like the Slash, but I don't see a point to running one of these in a scale truck. The Hobbywing 1080 OWNS this thing in the brushed department, and if we're running brushless it has to be sensored. This will apply to the limited crowd of Revolver runners in my opinion.

This still appears to be a basher's ESC, which is fine I suppose. But I don't get updating it without actually updating much.

A lot of what has changed doesn't really change much for the end user. The biggest change is that it will now run significantly cooler than a SV3 and it has the improved drag brake from 2.02.

Internally for Castle it is an important update because SV3 and MMP were in the same codebase. We rewrote a significant portion of the code for the X series and it was no longer compatible with the older hardware. The Sidewinder 4 moves up to the newer codebase so we will be able to continue to provide support and firmware updates for it in the future.

[LSXGMC]

Originally Posted by robert@castle

A lot of what has changed doesn't really change much for the end user. The biggest change is that it will now run significantly cooler than a SV3 and it has the improved drag brake from 2.02.

Internally for Castle it is an important update because SV3 and MMP were in the same codebase. We rewrote a significant portion of the code for the X series and it was no longer compatible with the older hardware. The Sidewinder 4 moves up to the newer codebase so we will be able to continue to provide support and firmware updates for it in the future.

Thanks for the detail. I can only imagine how much changed behind the scenes and what you explained is what the end user doesn’t see/feel necessarily. Ultimately this is a lateral move for the end user but, like you said, will allow Castle to continue to provide product support. It’s just unfortunate that during the update Castle didn’t address or improve in areas that needed it. It pales in comparison to the update that the MMP received with the Mamba X. That was phenomenal and it set the expectation bar for you guys. That’s likely why this one feels like so much of a letdown.

Either way, we have the Mamba X and the Hobbywing 1080 for all of our scale trucking needs, and they both excel at what they’re intended for!

If you were able to make the brushless motors silent, I’d have 3 more Slate combos myself. I can’t stand the noise that comes from these things!! I know you’ve referenced it before but I hope it’s something that you’re able to fix down the road.