bf wrote:
(I doubt the battery
pack can supply 38 amps )

I don't.

I used be heavily into competitive radio control car racing. We tried
to set the car up to completely drain a 2000 mAH Sub-C NiCd pack in 4
minutes + 1 lap (about 3-4 seconds). We used bus bars from cell to
cell, and ultra flexible 12 ga. wire, as the wires were only a few
inches long.

We tested packs @ 30-35 amp discharge rates using devices like this:
http://www.rctech.net/reviews/review_turbo35gfx_futureal.shtml

If the cells were matched well enough the pack would "dump", and totally
die in the space of seconds. G