Better brushless esc CONTROL - budget program card For Racerstar / Surpass / GoolRC

This review and advice article covers the use of the surpass hobby/racerstar/goolrc brushless ESC programming card which can be used on most in not all power systems from these suppliers. It is a simple <$10 device that allows you to easily change the parameter of the ESC.

One of the easiest ways to upgrade your brushed RC car is to change the brushed motor and ESC with a brushless ESC and motor as I did here with the Surpass Hobby 3650/ 60a ESC combo (click here to see full review). If you are lucky like me the drive train (gears, differentials, driveshafts) are designed to take brushless power but even if you don't there is a way to tame you power and still get the benefits of fast acceleration, higher top speed and better battery life. This came as a surprise to me as I thought the $40 combo I bought surely wouldn't have this functionality.

There are several cards that can be used to program these ESCs but the one I recommend is the Racerstar LED Program Card that works with all of the ESCs and motors branded as surpass hobby, goolrc, racerstar and probably more. For the record I accidentally bought the surpass LED program card for brushed crawlers and after initially thinking I couldn't use it it turns out I can, more below.

Here is the racerstar program card you want that works for Racerstar, GoolRC and Surpass Hobby ESCs

This is the Surpass hobby program card I accidentally bought that is designed for brushed crawler ESCs. It still works like the racerstar unit but needs the racerstar cheat sheet

In order to use the program card disconnect the plug that connects the ESC to the receiver, plug it into the program card instead, plug in your lipo and turn the switch on. The arrow buttons allow you to highlight the parameter and settings you wish to adjust and the "programme" button allows you to set that adjustment. Reset changes all settings back to default. Easy!!

Closeup of the Racerstar program card adjustable parameters

There are 5 set of parameters that can be adjusted using the programming card and Ill run through those now:

1. Low Voltage Cutoff. If you are running Lithium Polymer Batteries (Lipo) then you will want to set this to 3.1v. This the minimum I'd want to run it at. What this means is when you lipo battery gets down to an average of 3.1v per cell, the esc will go into limp mode to protect the battery. Going lower will damage your lipo battery if you rely on the low voltage cutoff. 3.1v was the default setting on my setup
2. Start mode.  Soft, medium or strong reflect the 'punch' you will get off the line - technically the peak current the ESC will allow to pass through to the motor. Strong will pull more current, stress your drivetrain more but you will have some pretty violent acceleration. Soft will ease this acceleration but put a lot less stress on you battery and drivetrain. Adjusting this to soft will really protect you car if it was not designed for brushless power. Medium is fairly self explanatory and was the default setting on my setup.
3. Max. brake force. This is the peak braking power your ESC can provide. Increase for more breaking strength on a grippy surface or decrease when you loose traction/control on a slippery surface. 50% was the default setting on my combo
4. Max reverse force. This is the maximum reverse power available. 100% is means that if you use maxium reverse on you transmitter, you car will go as fast backwards as it is able to go forwards! I turn this down to 25% because you only need as much power to get yourself out or away from an obstacle. 50% was the default setting on my combo
5. Neutral range. This is the 'dead zone' before the ESC registers a command. Another way the think of this is how far you have to squeeze the trigger before the car starts moving. I like to tune this to the transmitter for control. Most 2.4ghz transmitters are reasonable accurate so you can turn this down to 6% if you wish. 9% was the default setting on my combo. Note: although it is in the same line, the 'working state' field says that the program card is working and is not a parameter of Neutral range.

Low voltage cutoff, maximum reverse force and neutral range will likely never need to be adjusted again once set as there are clear 'best' settings here.

​Maximum brake force could be change if you switch the same car between high and low grip surfaces e.g. gravel vs tarmac or carpet where the high grip surfaces allow you to have more braking power available without losing traction. But the most important setting available I believe is starting power (also called punch). If you have a car with and older or weaker drivetrain designed for brushless motors the you well definitely want to set this to soft. You will probably find acceleration is still much stronger than the brushed setup it replaced plus you get the benefit of top end speed and efficiency. Conversely if you have a tough, reliable drivetrain the the 'strong' setting will be your best chance of wheelies and impressing kids in the neighbourhood :D

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I mentioned earlier that I bought the wrong card. It turns out the car I got is electrically identical to the correct racerstar card mentioned above, they just have a different sticker and parameters on the front. However, when I use the racerstar picture with my surpass card the setting work as expected. Phew!

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