Turbulent – Team Orion Vortex Race Spec ESC

Settings
Mounting the Race Spec ESC is not an issue. The plugs for the optional fan and the sensor cable are located underneath the soldertaps, The wires for the switch and receiver are located here too. This makes wiring the Orion speedo an easy task. We wanted to run the Race Spec in our Xray T2 ‘009 review car which offers everything but a lot of space to mount the electronics. Thankfully the wires of the controller are of a reasonable length so you do not have to store away miles of unused wire.

Initial set-up of the Race Spec ESC is done by using the large on/off switch. It is equipped with a set-up button and a small LED to indicate the mode the speedo is in. The set-up procedure is clearly stated in the manual and should be known from other ESC’s. Basically you have to adjust the speedo to the throttle, neutral and brake settings of your transmitter and this is confirmed by pressing the set-up button each time. That’s it, no space-age thing going on here. Same applies to the five different software profiles of the speedo. Turn on the speedo, keep the set-up button pressed. By turning of the LED after a couple of seconds the speedo states that it is in programming mode now. By pressing the set-up button you can flick through the five software profiles. The LED confirms by blinking according to the chosen profile. Done! And speaking of the software profiles: the speedo offers five different settings from ‘mild’ to ‘powerful’ plus specific touring car and off-road set-ups. Unfortunately the manual does not state how they affect the individual values i.e. of the brakes etc. so you have to find out on the track which profile suits you and your car/the track conditions best.

Further adjusting of the software profiles can be done by using the optional ‘ICS USB adapter’ that should be available soon. It allows for adjustments of the drag brake, the brake frequency, the drive frequency and the low-voltage protection of the battery. More information on this as soon as we receive the adapter.

Track test
To test the Orion Vortex Race Spec speedo we put it into our Xray T2 ‘009 review car together with an Orion Vortex 6.5T motor and an Orion 3800 Race Spec LiPo battery. The gearing recommended by Team Orion for their 6.5T motor is 1:7.5 so we geared the ‘009 18/84. For the first run we set the speedo to the ‘mild’ software setting to get a feeling for the new car and the track. Although set to ‘mild’ the Race Spec ESC had good of punch out of the corner and was very controllable. Starting of from a standstill the motor showed no tendency for cogging, the car behaved like being powered by a conventional brushed motor and was therefore very precise to manoeuvre. The brake of the Vortex Race Spec is very strong and therefore we reduced the EPA setting on our Sanwa M11 to 75 percent. The brake setting seems to be the same in every of the five software programs except for the ‘Off-Road’ program which offers a strong automatic brake setting. This was not usable for our touring car needs but we will try this setting in an upcoming review of a 2WD buggy.

Flicking through the mild to powerful programs we noticed a steady increase in power and acceleration as expected. The most power (and possibly a touch more top speed) was given with the Touring Car program. This was also reflected by the increased motor and speedo temps after our eight minute runs. We did not burn our fingers when we touched both components, they where far away from being ‘hot’, but the raised temperature was noticeable. Nevertheless it is an advise to use the optional fan and heatsink when the ambient temperature raises. We now await the arrival of the optional ICS USB adapter to read and modify the different settings as we plan to use the speedo on a 1/12 scale car as well as in a 1/10 scale buggy in the near future. So far we are very pleased with the results and we look forward to more track time with the Team Orion Race Spec ESC in the very near future!

Specifications
Team Orion Vortex BL Race Spec
Item number: ORI65006
Type: forward/brake function
Supports: brushless motors
Motor limit: 4.5T (2.5T with optional heatsink/fan)
Motor type: star wind only
Voltage input: 4 to 6 NiMH cells or 2 LiPo cells
Maximum current: 3120A peak / 780A constant
BEC: 6V/2A
Parameters: 5 (further adjustable via ICS USB adapter)
Size: 43x42x32 mm (with cooling fan)
Weight: 31 gr (w/o wires)
Parts included in Set: Speedo, manual
Price: around 270 Euros

Optional parts: ORI65022 Vortex Race Cooling set (heatsink and fan)
Available sets: ORI65007 Vortex Race with Cooling Set (Limit 2.5T)
ORI66015 Vortex Race Combo Touring (With Vortex Race Motor 4.5)
ORI66016 Vortex Race Combo Buggy (With Vortex Race Motor 6.5)
ORI66017 Vortex Race Combo Buggy (With Vortex Race Motor 7.5)
ORI66018 Vortex Race Stock 10.5 (With Vortex Stock 10.5)
ORI66019 Vortex Race Stock 13.5 (With Vortex Stock 13.5)

Review by Sebastian Suerstedt