Test Run with Acuvance MerV-ERA
Acuvance MerV-ERA
January 22, 2025
Have you ever had one of those days where you were going to do something real quick, then get on with your day? Yeah, me too!
I finally got my hands on the new Acuvance MerV-ERA motor. I know everyone has been curious, as have I. They have been boasting a 70g weight saving with this 380 sized motor over the standard 540 equivalent. All while maintaining the performance of the 540 sized motors. They have also included a Tri-Blade fan system to keep things cool.
I chose the 13.5T since I am going to replace my 13.5T Fledge with Fan for testing.
Ok, so let’s get the big question out of the way, claimed is a 70g savings over the standard (540) motors. Is that with or without the adapter plate? In my testing, I found WITH the adapter place and screws a 80.2g saving over my Fledge with Fan. 79.3g saving over the Agile.
When I was installing the motor, I found there are many different ways to mount the adapter plate. It was pretty straight forward, but took more trial and error than I thought it would. Maybe I was just anxious to test it, but I felt I couldn’t get this installed fast enough.
Of course Acuvance provides motor lead bullets with their motor, so I got to soldering. I had clocked the motor the same as my Fledge, so I figured I’d just swap the bullets and I’d be on the track. NOPE!
Since the motor can is smaller in diameter, it moved the terminals about .25” closer to the middle of the motor, or .25” further from my ESC. Time to rewire my electronics.
At least it was mounted and so I gave my spur gear a spin. I was surprised to find the MerV-ERA felt very torquey. Noticeably more “Snap” than my Fledge. I didn’t expect that.
Since I didn’t have anyone that I normally drive with to test against, this is really just my seat of the pants observations from a first drive.
The power delivery is smooth as is to be expected from Acuvance. I had been experimenting with the revlimiter for a month prior to this, so I kept it as is. As I did with all my previous settings for a true comparison. With my revlimiter set to 70k RPM, my Fledge was consistently peaking at 72-73k RPM. The new MerV-ERA was barely cresting 60k RPM. Not even reaching the 70k RPM my revlimiter is set at. I will need more time with this, but I am curious if that is maxed out on RPM for this motor. It’s fine for my style of driving, but is definitely something that needs to be explored deeper.
The biggest takeaway for me was the weight savings is definitely noticeable. The lack of weight for the pendulum effect was really evident. At the same time, the chassis felt slightly more nimble. The rear tires didn’t feel as if they were “digging in” as they normally do, but without someone familiar to test with, I can only assume wether or not it is getting out of the corners faster. I would say it feels as if I have lost some speed over all. Not sure on this without doing more testing.
The Fledge is the coolest. Actually, one thing I have found with running the Fledge with Fan is no matter what I throw at it, it has no issues maintaining it’s cool. Recently it has been running at a consistent 97 deg. F. The MerV-ERA with the same settings, same gearing, same chassis, same track, same conditions, and same driver, was running at 140-148 deg. F. The max recommended is 70 deg. C. Which is 158 deg. F, so I was in the upper limits of the safe zone.
For my initial thoughts, I feel the Acuvance MerV-ERA is another alternative motor choice. Of course weight and what we do with it is another tuning tool. There are always benefits to being able to place weight where you want it, vs. just being locked into where it is at. Just as it can be advantageous to run less weight if your tune calls for it. The 60k RPM isn’t a deal breaker for me, but I do feel the need to look into this. I am looking forward to getting more seat time with the MerV-ERA. It is definitely not a bad choice. This is all early stages without any type of tuning. Just a simple swap for a direct comparison. Who knows, it can turn out to be the next best thing. We shall see.
SEE YOU ON THE TRACK!