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As the title says, are there any downsides to buying shorty LiPo packs? I'm pretty new to LiPo batteries and have them figured out well enough, but I'm having a hard time understanding something. If a battery pack can be made to do the same job in a smaller package, why wouldn't everyone buy and use them? If it's a lot easier to fit a smaller battery into a model, which would give you the option to move it around (or at least fore and aft) to alter the handling significantly, then why are 'regular' packs so common and shorties somewhat rare? They are obviously shorter, but are they taller/thicker? What am I missing?

I'm going to start replacing the NiCd/NiMh packs I have (and electronics where necessary) with some decent LiPo sport packs. So assuming costs are not much higher, why wouldn't I buy shorty packs for their versatility?

I guess for all their advantages, it's possible for a car to be too light. What I've been reading about modern pan cars is that, with the lighter chassis and electrics nowadays, they actually can be more prone to flip over than when battery packs were heavier and helped to keep them planted. A lighter car that catches airflow under the body is more likely to go airborne than a heavier car, all else being equal.

The main benefit for shortys is placement. You have more options with a smaller pack. So in a traditional rear motor buggy you can shift the weight around as a tuning option. In some mid motor cars there is only enough room for a shorty.

With a shorty you have enough room to mount all the electronics down the centerline.

It's not about weight at all since most of us add weight nowadays.

just saying this when I compared my graphite racer to a b5 racer. They still weight less even with the full battery. If this is going in a gold pan, the lessened weight will probably be a good thing.

seriously, my car was like a pig compared to theirs.

The only performance difference beside the weight is mah/run-time/amperage. Lipo mah is directly linked to size/weight, the smaller the battery the lower the mah, the lower the amps it will produce per c rating.

I think shortys are great for 1/10 scale.

I've tried them in 1/8 e-buggies (2 shorties in parallel) and did not provide as much current as similar setup with full stick packs. They also got alot warmer during running.

As other have stated the run time is not as long, but most mains are only 8 minutes anyway. My shorty LiPos are 3800mah which last about 30+ minutes in a 1/10 buggy.

Owned a Xcelorin for about 2 years with proper maintenance and it started to puff. I was told this was normal for that battery. I finally destroyed it by leaving it plugged for over a week .

Today I have 2 96mm packs, 1 Reedy and 1 Venom both 60C 3800mah. No complaints about either of them.

A While back my Venom LiPo(regular size) had a problem with the internal connection which I think could have been caused by a hard hit my RC-10 took after I crashed. I called Venom and they replaced it within a week under warranty. Great customer service!

Either way you will need to modify the battery location in a gold tub to fit normal or shorty LiPo pack.

Personally I prefer the short packs.

I hope my rambling has helped a little.

It has!

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Full size lipos have more capacity, which means when you race you use up less of the battery than with a shorty. When running from fully charged the voltage of the pack will slowly drop as it is used until it reaches the cutoff. With a shorty you might use 1/3 of the capacity in a race while a full size pack will only use 1/4 the capacity. What this means, and especially if you are running with a motor limit, is that at the end of the race the full size pack will have a slightly higher voltage than a shorty, so with a full size pack the motor will be running faster at the end of the race. The extra weight is not a problem as cars can usually make the minimum weight with a full size pack and you have to add weight if you are using a shorty.

For modified racing the small voltage difference isn't a problem as you can change motor and timing to compensate. But with low turn modified motors the extra current available from the full size packs is just as useful for that little extra performance in competition.

No downside in 10th scale. Easier to move the weight around.

I've swapped over to shorty packs for all my 1/10th cars, except my crawler. I love the way my Goldie handles with the shorty, car just feels nimble.

Cool. Thanks again, guys.

can someone please recommend a lipo shorty for a brushless 60a 4300kv hornet/brat/SS?
thanks

I'm biased, but Venom packs are really good

JK Racing wrote:I'm biased, but Venom packs are really good

And they have great customer service.