Core RC 4000mAh LiPo Review

This Core RC LiPo is quite simply a great way to get a LiPo into an old Tamiya chassis, which has the classic rounded battery holder for the old NiCads and NiMh battery packs. This LiPo from Core RC exactly replicates the shape of those packs and fits great in both my M03 minis and TA03RS battery slots.

It’s got great energy density at 4000mAh, and a decent C rating of 30C constant and 60C peak, which should be plenty for your slightly retro stick pack cars.

It replaces a NiMh pack of a similar energy density, but which only has a C rating of 10C. So this new CoreRC LiPo is capable of delivering triple the power without any sweat, and peaks at 6x the power output of the old (but still quite modern) NiMh pack.

What does C rating mean?

C rating is a way of describing the potential power output of a battery. It allows you to work out if the current output of the battery from the batteries capacity rating. Put simply: 1C is the batteries capacity, so for example this CoreRC battery has a capacity of 4000mAh, which makes 1C of that battery 4 Amps. 10C would be 40 Amps. 30C is 120A and 60C is 240A.

As a point of contrast my Absima 4100mAh NiMh is rated at 10C so can deliver 41 Amps. That’s the only number on the battery so presumably it can go for short bursts higher but it’s still relatively limiting.

Now, I believe that high capacity NiMh packs are perfectly fine for cars that are running their stock 540 silver can brushed motors and offer a perfectly acceptable driving experience in that kind of car and any performance gain from a LiPo is fairly mild. However once you start getting into lower turn motors and brushless setups then LiPo’s are a must. The potential power draw from those systems exceeds what most NiMh batteries are capable of delivering. This can cause unstable running as the voltage drops and current ends up being insufficient.

I run this in my Tamiya TA03RS Porsche 911 GT1, which runs a Hobbywing 10BL120 ESC and 10.5T 3200kv motor. It goes way faster with the LiPo; to the point where I think I might need to gear it down to make the speed more sensible for my running space.

It also gets run in my vintage Mardave Cobra buggy, with a 15T motor and Hobbywing 1060 ESC. The car runs really nicely with the LiPo in there and gets a very respectable run time.

I’m also going to properly test it in my M03 Mini, which runs a Hobbywing 1060 ESC and a Tamiya Torque Tuned Motor and see if it gets a bit quicker… although more wheel spin in that car might make for very short lived tyres!

These batteries are in stock at lots of hobby shops and the main online retailers. I picked mine up from my most local one, which was a treat to go to after 20 years of being away from the hobby.

Addlestone Model Centre is my local. It’s a small outlet run by a bunch of enthusiastic hobbyists. Their website doesn’t have everything they stock on it, but most of the main stuff is listed. 

https://addlestonemodels.co.uk/