Fantom FR1 17.5 Type M-Spec Brushless Motor review

Fantom is a brand that has been around for a long time, and I was a massive fan of their brushed stock motors. So after I heard rumors from some friends that they were back on the scene with a new brushless motor I was keen to take a closer look.

It is a competition spec motor so it meets all BRCA, ROAR, IFMAR and EFRA specifications. The stator plates are made from premium Kawasaki Japanese steel and they have premium grade Neodymium magnets and 99.9% copper high temperature wire. The 12.5mm high torque rotor is balanced to get an optimum amount of efficiency as it spins in the high RPM bearings that are mounted in CNC machined billet T6 Aluminium end plates.

As you would expect with a motor with these specifications, it is priced at the high end of the market, so can it compete with the other premium brands available? Let's take a closer look.

Opening the box

The packaging is simple and it's strange to not have something that is not sealed. Inside the box you will find the motor and a very long (180mm) sensor cable, so not ideal for any TC cars other than an XV01. 

The motor is well ventilated

When you hold the motor you can see that it looks to be very well made and it feels very solid and well put together. 

Solid a a little heavy

The motor weighs 164g which for reference is just 3g heavier than the Muchmore Fleta ZX motor I have at hand. 

The rear!

The timing end bell is adjusted in the same manner as other motors with you loosening 3 screws. Before I tuned the endbell I connected it to the Brushless motor analyser and see what figures it spits out. 

Theoretically up to 60 degrees on the can.

The factory timing was 24 degrees, the sensors were 23, 24, 22 meaning that they were very well aligned.  I then decided to measure the KV output with the factory settings.

Kit timing settings are good and will ensure a cool run

As you can the results are pretty encouraging. It is drawing 1.2A and the KV is 2418. This is fine to keep the motor cool and also if you are going to run boost on your esc. As I race blinky 17.5 I am going to tune the motor to 5-6amps as seems to be the magic mark for me to push the motor whilst still (just) keeping the temperature ok on my track. 

Just under 6amps ready to race

It took a few attempts to get to 6 amps but in the end I got there. This gives me much more KV / RPM. It is interesting though that the readings at 6 amps are not as high as those of the Fleta ZX that I normally run. Before you think that this shows that the MM is better, it is important to remember that Motor Analyser is not a dynamo so it does not factor in actual performance under load. 

Almost full tilt!

I checked the timing to get the number. It was now at 53 degrees (Remember all motors are different so this setting might not be right for your motor). All was good but I had noticed that the sensors timing values had a much larger range than before.. It is not the end of the world but it is not ideal. I took the motor apart and noticed that the sensor board is quite large so not being even with screwing in the screws can potentially make the sensors out of line. I re-assembled the motor and the sensors were much closer (again only 1 out on each sensor).

With the motor 'Tuned' I popped it into the car and took it for a spin.

Track Test

With the first nudge of the throttle I noticed that the car had quite a lot of punch. The Fleta Pro that I use is great at delivering a low level kick, but the TRF419 felt even more brighter as it launched along the straight. I was conscious that it might just be the 'new motor' placebo effect making me think it was quicker.

It didn't take long to break that illusion though, after a few warm up laps it was time to pop in the hot laps. I came out of the chicane onto the straight and put the throttle to the floor. The torque was so great that the rear end of the car actually slid around trying to find grip as the 4 wheels started to slip. This took me a little by surprise, so I tried it again at the next lap once the tyres were back up to temperature. This time it was less noticable but it was still there. I did a few more laps and pulled over and took the temperature. 

The motor was still cool at 74degrees, so I thought I would give the car a lower FDR whilst prepping the tyres a bit more thoroughly than the first test. 

I popped in my fully charged Turnigy 7500 and took the car out and placed it on the line. The tyres were prepped and the track was empty so I thought I would do a 5 minute qualifying simulation. The time was set on my Sanwa and I pushed the throttle forward and watched on as the car launched away. The grip was superb and the lower FDR ensured I was even quicker on the straight than before, infact the car was actually still maxing out a little early on the straight. The  acceleration was superb and this was reflected in my lap times after the test. I had beaten my previous best lap time. Now I do want to say that I had prepped the car better for this test as well, but the motor was lively and it felt very responsive at all parts of the throttle input.

Overall

First impressions with the Fantom have been really good. The motor is quick and it seems to have more torque than what I am used to. Despite this grunt it does still feel controllable at low speeds, and after a 5 minute run with a low FDR it was still quite cool so there may be more gearing options available.

I am keen to try it out for a few more races at different events to see if Fantom becomes my choice of motor again like back in the brushed era.

Check out Fantom's website for the range of motors http://www.fantomracing.com/