Hands-on with Carisma's ARC-1 ESC [Video]

The Carisma Scale Adventure Lynx ORVCarisma Scale Adventure Lynx ORV has been a fun scale rig to take on outdoor explorations. No matter the terrain, this tough truck can seemingly handle it all. That said, the braking performance has proven itself to be tricky when in the hands of an inexperienced driver.

The stock "crawler mode" provides an excellent hold while descending a rocky path, but on smoother trail surfaces, the deceleration can be a bit excessive. To help counter this, I  picked up Carisma's recently released ARC-1 ESC, developed especially for the Carisma Scale Adventure SCA-1E platform.

Featuring four driving modes, as well as adjustments for battery type and endpoint calibration, Carisma's homegrown offering provides expanded capability over the Hobbywing ESC that had come with the Lynx.

After a few brief trail excursions with the ARC-1 installed, I'm quite pleased with the results. The out-of-the-box driving mode provides a forgiving braking experience on flat surfaces but still allows for grip on downhill descents. At $35.99, this is a budget-friendly upgrade option for those looking to get added performance out of their SCA-1E.