Castle Creations Copperhead 10 "Limited Edition" Sensored Combo w/1412 (3200Kv) (SCT Edition)

Picked this up for my Slash 4x4 build I was doing and I all can say is Castle strikes again! I'm running 18/54 gearing and this thing never gets hot, the ESC setup and calibration is a breeze and even better with the castle link, albeit with fewer options than the mamba. Makes my Slash a bash monster and I highly recommend!

Killer motor for the Axial Ryft. Doesn’t suck excessive amps despite the high Kv so I figure it’s obviously up to the task.
Unfortunately I cant actually confirm the amps used as the ESC has scaled down logging capabilities and doesn’t record this value.

I purchased two of these ESC/3800 kv motor sets, one for my sons Slash 4x4 that originally came with the Titan motor, and one for my Rustler that I originally purchased so that he wouldn't be running his car by himself. This was going to be his birthday present. He also has the telemetry sensors and can monitor speed through the Traxxas app. His Titan motor wore out the brushes before I could give this to him for his birthday so I purchased a cheap Injora brushed 550 motor from Amazon that turned out to be better than the Titan was, and just as fast. That combo went 28 MPH with the 4” Pro-Line Trencher monster truck tires and Traxxas 2s lipo verified by the app. We are using the stock 54 tooth spur gear and 13 tooth pinion for all tests here.

Right out of the box I noticed that low speed control was smoother and engine acceleration and punch was very noticeably improved. Top speed went to 37 MPH from 28 MPH verified by the app which is an apples to apples comparison, even if the traxxas telemetry is off a little bit. This confirms this is faster than brushed by a lot. The fun factor went way up and now his Slash was able to lift the front tires upon heavy acceleration. My son was very excited, but wait, there is more. We have these new SMC Graphene Extreme 120C 3S batteries to try that I also purchased because he saved up from his chores. The stock Traxxas batteries are 2S 25C/50C. The SMC Graphene are a new type of very light weight lipo battery and they are smaller than the Traxxas 2S batteries, which is amazing.

So we charge up the 3S Extreme battery, pop it in, and OMFG, this thing is so fast now it cannot be controlled. Instead of lifting the front wheels it now flips over instantly, unless you ease into it. We could not get it to go at full speed with these tires because it would just pop wheelies as soon as I gave it full throttle. The best speed run I could get was when I got it up to 48 MPH and as soon as I eased into full throttle, it popped a wheelie at 48 MPH, (nuts!). This is a Slash 4x4 with Monster truck tires on it that previously could not keep up with my 2WD Rustler and now it leaves my Rustler in the dust.

For now we had to reinstall the stock Slash tires (much smaller) to lower the center of gravity and lower the suspension so that it doesn't flip over so easily. That effectively made it slower (same as going with smaller pinion) and now it does 39 MPH, but at least we can control it now. I installed the optional speed pinion that came with my Rustler into my 2wd Rustler and an 86 tooth spur gear (stock is 90) and Injora motor thinking maybe I could keep up with with my sons Slash now and its not even close (mad). Thats OK though because old dad (me) is going to install that other Castle motor combo into his Rustler (son doesn’t know this yet) and surprise him. I will only run 2S though to keep it fair, lol. I also purchased a 19 tooth 32 pitch pinion for my sons Slash so if the velineon motor can go 60+ with that pinion and stock tires then this Castle motor should be able to do that and maybe more.

Things I like so far: Motor is smoother than brushed and has better low speed control than brushed. ESC stays cool and comes with a fan. Motor stays very cool (most we have got so far is 107 degrees with fan) and feels like qaulity. Motor can has ribs that act like heat sink, effectively increasing surface area and therefore cooling ability. This combo has exceeded my hope to satisfy power and speed so far. Even though this ESC has tons of programming options I was able to just solder on the Traxxas connector and go without having to connect a computer to it. Motor AND ESC have a speed sensor eliminating any possibility of cogging and making low speed control butter smooth. Motor is rebuildable in like the Velineon is.

Things I don't like: The on/off switch feels flimsy and is difficult to secure. I made my own switch holder out of ABS plastic and shoe glue, lol.

If I can I’ll update this review with my Rustler impressions. We also have the Bluetooth B-link to try but haven’t done so yet.

Unbelievable how awesome this set up is I have run it on 2s to 4s and does not get to hot and is super powerful and smooooth ! Castle should have done this a long time ago I have bought 3 systems sofar !!