8th scale buggies are known for being great bash machines. For big brushless power the 835E comes with a 2200kV motor and 120 amp Onyx speed controller. A 2.4 GHz radio system is standard and removes any worries of radio conflicts, while big bore shocks help soak up the nasty stuff. Throw in some grey anodized parts for bling factor and the Duratrax 835E is ready to turn heads and go big at your local bash spot.

The 835E is available in 3 color choices- black, white and yellow. The part number is #DTXD78** and its street price is only $399. Expect the new 835E to hit hobby shop shelves in mid June. For more information on everything Duratrax click THIS LINK for their official website.

The work week is nearly over, thank goodness it’s Friday! Check out a BigSquidRC TGIF Mystery Link.

It is no secret I hate nitro, so I found it quite “interesting” that Brian would drop a nitro car on my desk for review (then he RAN out of my office). The new Duratrax Nissan GT-R has all the makings of a success, it has a big engine, a 2 speed tranny, and ultra hot scale looks. Did we have a good time with it, or did I end up smashing it to bits with a hammer out of frustration? Lets find out…

From: Duratrax
Direct Link: Nissan GT-R
Unboxing Pictures: Unboxing the Duratrax Nissan

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Bones
Electric or Gas: Nitro
Waterproof: No
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 17.32″
Width: 8.46″
Height: 5.31″
Weight: 4.1 lbs
Wheelbase: 10.2″
Clutch: 3 shoe
Transmission: 2 speed
Motor: .18 ST18-S Super Tigre
Radio: Duratrax 2.4 GHz
Differential: Rear only, spool in front
Slipper Clutch: None
Driveshafts: Bones
Shocks: Plastic bodied, oil filled
Servo Saver: In rack
Screws: Phillips
Bearings: Full set
Tires: Duratrax street tread
Battery: None included
Part Number: DTXD51**
Top Speed (measured by BSRC): 34 mph
Warranty: 90 days limited plus Stress-Tech 12 months
Street Price: $299

Primary Competition: Traxxas Nitro 4-Tec, Associated TC3 Nitro

What’s Needed To Complete: 6 cell Ni-MH for roto-start, 4 AA cells for receiver pack, 4 AA cells for transmitter, fuel, glow igniter

Build Quality: The quality of assembly looked good. Nothing was binding, shocks were not leaking, tires were well glued, camber settings were in the ballpark, etc.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, and Iron Mike

Test Venues: CostCo parking lot, city park, and a cul-de-sac

Set-up Notes: We used a Duratrax Onyx 3000 mah Ni-Mh pack for the roto-start, Venom AA’s for the car and transmitter, and O’Donnell 20% nitro fuel.

Turning: The Duratrax had some push at speed, but could turn on a dime with a tap of the brake. Pounding on the gas rewarded the driver with some serious, yet controllable, drifting action. The stock tires had good grip helping the Nissan GT-R maintain good corner speed. Overall, no major complaints and a blast to throw around in the corners.

Jumping: Yes, of course we jumped the Nissan GT-R, it’s a regular part of our testing regimen, regardless of vehicle type. And just like you suspected, it is an on-road car, so it jumps very poorly (but is a LOT of fun to do!). If you plan on doing a lot of jumping skip the Nissan and buy a dedicated off-roader.

Bumps/Whoops: We didn’t drive the Nissan “off-road” as such, but we did drive it on some pretty rough pavement, gravel, and smooth hard packed dirt. The Nissan handled cracks in the pavement well, but you could hear the back of the chassis slapping on bigger hits. Still, the suspension soaked up what it was intended for quite well.

On-Road: This is the forte of the Duratrax Nissan GT-R. If you are looking for an absolutely gnarly nitro on-road machine, it truly fits the bill. It corners well, it has an animal of an engine, and it just flat out hauls ass on a large paved surface. It doesn’t traction roll, and it’s a blast to drift at high speeds. Very fun.

Grass: Yes, we tried the Nissan GT-R in the grass, and no you won’t want to. Its ride height is simply too low, it just can’t move in the grass (at all).

Tires: The tires were a relatively soft compound yielding great traction and that must be appreciated. However, when mated up to a monster of an engine they wear quite quickly. We burnt through all four tires in two quarts of fuel, you’ll want to pick up spares for the long haul. The stock inserts are a bit soft but usable.

Power: I don’t drive much nitro, in fact, very little. However, I don’t have to drive a lot to know the .18 powered Nissan GT-R has good yank. When properly tuned it burns all 4 tires off from a dead stop and keeps burning them off till it hits top speed. It blows through first gear in short order then second gear kicks in like a warp drive. It revs quickly, and has more than enough yank to keep a smile on your face.

Radio: The included radio worked well for us, range was great and we had nothing but glitch free performance. However, its ergo’s weren’t as good as some of the recent RTR radios we’ve tested. The wheel to trigger relationship was good, but the trigger was a bit too large and the wheel was plastic covered, not foam.

Broken Parts: The Nissan GT-R can get going real fast in a real small area, thus we ended up slapping a lot of hard objects with it. The good news is nothing broke during “normal” testing, and we hit a lot of stuff real hard with it. Only when we tagged a curb full speed during the torture part of our testing did we finally manage to break the car. We ended up tearing off the left front wheel, but at that kind of speed I highly doubt many (if any) cars would have walked away unscathed.

Misc Notes:

The Duratrax came in nice packaging with an easy to read manual.

A clear protective coating came over the body to keep it in pristine condition during shipping. Nice.

We weren’t a fan of the tiny body clips.

The Nissan comes with a plastic pipe. It’s relatively quiet for a nitro, quiet enough to run in the cul-de-sac without the neighbors freaking out.

The cut-out in the body for the exhaust exit didn’t line up with the actual pipe. We broke out the body scissors to correct the hole and keep a lot of unwanted exhaust gook out of the chassis area.

There were no holes provided for a glow igniter or the roto-start in the body. We busted out the body reamer and made some for easier access.

The second arm on the throttle/brake servo horn gets in the way of the receiver box lid, we cut ours off.

Our car wouldn’t start with the stock ultra-rich carb settings. We had to go a half turn leaner on the high speed and an eighth turn leaner on the low end for ours to even think about firing up. This still yielded an ultra-rich setting with engine temps around 110 F for break-in.

We ran O’Donnell 20% fuel and it seemed to work great.

Nothing actually “fell off” our car during testing. If you’ve driven much nitro, you’ll know that is actually an accomplishment. However, the rubber coupling on the exhaust header did come loose. Nitro cars really should come stock with a flanged header, this has been a problem since the beginning of time. Btw, when the coupling comes loose it causes the pipe to slide forward and bind up the steering on the Nissan.

The stock windows are a bit cloudy due to the clear sticker over them. We got out a hobby knife and removed this film for crystal clear windows.

Like most nitro engines, the Nissan really leans out when the tank is nearly empty. Resist the urge to keep driving, bring it in and fuel it up to keep temps in check.

Speaking of temps, we had great power at 220 F with our final carb settings. We ended up at about one and a half turns out on both the low and high speed settings (65 ambient, 400 ft above sea level, humidity 40%).

The brakes work ok on the Nissan, but the car could use more. For a car with Warp 9 power it needs brakes to haul it down in a hurry too.

You can drive the Nissan in a relatively small area, but then it’s just an exercise in trying to get slowed down before you slam something hard. The most fun to be had with the Duratrax Nissan GT-R is in a large open parking lot.

Do you remember what a PITA it was to properly set the shift point on a T-Maxx? No worries about that on the Nissan GT-R, the shift point was perfect out of the box.

We had issues with the stock receiver pack set-up. It worked fine for the first few tanks, but then had a short in it causing the car to lose electrical power (read- runaways are pretty gnarly on a car like this). The stock receiver pack consists of putting AA’s in a plastic holder, this is just begging for issues and I highly suggest you install a proper receiver pack before you do much driving with the car.

Our car turned tighter to the right than to the left. We had the travel maxed out but still couldn’t get enough throw for full turning both directions.

Did we mention the Nissan GT-R has a pretty insane power to weight ratio? Ya, it hauls, and more importantly, we had very few engine tuning issues during our testing period.

We experienced some “spider cracking” in the paint job on our review car. Not a lot, but some. Perhaps there was an issue at the factory while applying the paint.

The wing and rear view mirrors on our test machine did not get destroyed during testing, a nice surprise.

Best Mod Under $5: Spare glow plugs. Our stocker burnt up on the 3rd break-in tank, you should always keep a couple spares in your box.

Best Mod Over $5: Ditch the stock receiver pack set-up and switch, buy a real receiver pack to keep from having a dreaded runaway.

Summary:

Time To Bash: C You are looking at roughly an hour to charge up the roto-start pack, then perhaps a couple more hours breaking in the engine. The Duratrax doesn’t take longer to get going than another nitro vehicle, but it will take a few hours before you are up to full tilt.

Workability: B The Nissan is logically laid out and easy to work on, but we wish it came with hex hardware.

Car Show Rating: A The Nissan GT-R is the best looking Duratrax vehicle to ever hit the market, and overall one hot scale machine. The body, wheels and tires all look top notch. It looks so good you have to think long and hard if you really want to scratch it up by driving it.

Bash-A-Bility: B We did end up breaking the Nissan GT-R, but it withstood a lot of abuse with no issues.

Fun Factor: B Big power, 2 speeds, and good handling result is a machine that is a blast to drive.

Handling: B The Duratrax drives well, you can point and shoot it, or drift it all day long.

Value: A The Duratrax is $30 cheaper than the Associated TC3 Nitro and a whopping $160 cheaper than the Traxxas Nitro 4-Tec 3.3, yet performs at least as well. The Duratrax Nissan GT-R is the best value in its class.

Parts Availability: C Out of three local hobby shops none of them stock many Duratrax parts, and none had the parts we needed for repair. However, they were easily found, and in stock, on-line.

BigSquid Rating: B The Duratrax Nissan GT-R provided quite a nitro thrill at a very reasonable price point. If you are looking for the nitro experience, the Nissan GT-R is a solid car.

What does the new kit include? It comes with a total of 19 pieces- hex drivers, nut drivers, screwdrivers and wrenches in multiple sizes. Part number for the new kit is #DTXR0410 and it has a street price of only $18. For more information HERE is the link to the Duratrax website.

Why not check out more Duratrax News right here on BigSquidRC?

Duratrax has released a new video showcasing their new Camaro ZL1 RTR, showing off some of its features and showing it in action. Hit the play button below to see how it rolls.

Want to read more Duratrax news? We have more at This Link right here on BigSquidRC.

In the last 5 years there has been an explosion in the 8th scale buggy tire market. One of the more affordable choices comes from Duratrax, where they have a complete line of reasonably priced tires and pre-mounts. We’ve been bashing and thrashing two sets of Duratrax Equalizer Pre-Mounts (one in C3 (super soft) compound and one in C2 (soft) compound) for a few weeks now. Are they worth your cash to bash with? Come on, let’s find out…

From: Duratrax
Direct Link: Equalizer Pre-Mounts 8th Buggy

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

Part number: #DTXC3644 (C2 white) and # DTXC3645 (C3 white)
Fits- 8th scale buggies on both front and rear.
Street Price: $18 per pair

What’s Needed To Complete Install: Not much. Remove your wheel nuts and pop’em right on.

Build Quality: Glue job looked well done. Tires and rims both looked (and felt) of good quality.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim, Ryan and Iron Mike

Test Venues: Leisure Hours indoor track in Joliet Illinois, St Louis Dirtburners, a backyard, and a cul-de-sac.

Set-up Notes: For testing we threw the Equalizers on a Hot Bodies VE8 buggy. Speedo was a Castle Monster, motor was a Castle 2650, radio system was a Futaba 3PKS, Hitec handled the steering duties, and we used 4S worth of MaxAmps Lipo power to energize the beast.

Performance-

Street: While you might be tempted, resist the urge to run the Equalizers on pavement. They will give some outstanding grip on the street, but they will wear out extremely quickly due to their soft composition and tread design. These tires were designed for dirt, use them there. If you do a lot of street running invest in a set of Duratrax Bandito’s (their 8th scale buggy street treads).

Grass: The Equalizers didn’t offer the traction of AKA Moto’s or Pro-Line Badland’s on grass, but they did quite well on the green stuff. The Equalizers provided decent forward grip and a certain amount of slip when looking for sidebite that kept our buggy from constantly traction when cornering. Overall, very usable in grass.

Dirt: The Equalizers are really intended for use on a prepped dirt surface. On a hard, damp, clay surface like the indoor track at Leisure Hours, they were quite drivable, but didn’t offer the pure mechanical grip of smaller pinned tires. A loamy outdoor track was where the Equalizers really stood out. When the pins could do a bit of penetration, like in the fluff or on a loose/loamy track, the Equalizers felt really dialed offering a lot of traction.

Btw, if you’ve never felt a set of C3 compound Duratrax tires, they feel nearly as soft and sticky as the softest compounds from the big names.

Summary:

Time To Bash: A It literally takes 2 minutes to mount up the Equalizers. This is one of the fastest improvements you can make to your 8th scale buggy.

Car Show Rating: C The Duratrax tires have lettering on the sidewall. Some of the staff really liked the look, while others prefer a more traditional look. The rims were standard white dishes.

Bash-A-Bility: B We experienced no “major” issues with the Equalizer pre-mounts- we didn’t break any rims, nor did we rip/explode any of the tires. However, because they were molded in fairly soft compounds (extremely soft in the case of the C3′s) we experienced relatively fast wear rates. Had they have been molded in a harder/longer wearing compound they would have received an “A”.

Performance: C There are better bashing tires on the market and better track tires. However, the Equalizers weren’t far off the pace in either category.

Value: B The Duratrax pre-mounts cost much less than just the tires from a “premium” brand, yet they still give good performance. That represents a very good value to us.

BigSquid Rating: B- Are the Duratrax Equalizer pre-mounts worth your cash? They are soft on the wallet yet give good traction on grass and in the dirt. We found them to be quality units and a very affordable option when driving on prepped dirt surfaces.

* 35C discharge ratings for more power
* Two packs feature impactand puncture-resistant hard ABS cases
* All other packs have smaller, weight-reducing soft cases
* Consistent power, charge after charge
* True-rated for dependable stated capacity
* Available with Deans® or Traxxas® connectors

The new Onyx packs include-

DTXC1930 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 1300mAh 35C Deans, $29.99
DTXC1964 Onyx LiPo 7.4V 5000mAh 35C Hard Case Deans, 59.99
DTXC1965 Onyx LiPo 7.4V 5000mAh 35C Hard Case Traxxas, 59.99
DTXC1966 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 5000mAh 35C Traxxas, 89.99
DTXC1967 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 5000mAh 35C Deans, 89.99
DTXC1970 Onyx LiPo 7.4V 5700mAh 35C Traxxas, 64.99
DTXC1978 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 6400mAh 35C Deans, 109.99
DTXC1979 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 6400mAh 35C Traxxas, 109.99
DTXC1982 Onyx LiPo 7.4V 8000mAh 35C Deans, 89.99
DTXC1983 Onyx LiPo 7.4V 8000mAh 35C Traxxas, 89.99
DTXC1995 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 8000mAh 35C Deans, 129.99
DTXC1997 Onyx LiPo 11.1V 8000mAh 35C Traxxas, 129.99

These packs are available right now and you can get more information on all of Duratrax’s products over at their Official Website.

It’s been a long, cold week here at the BigSquidRC offices, check out a TGIF Mystery Link to get your weekend off to a great start.

* Three different colors, Red, Orange, and Yellow
* Aluminum chassis
* Four wheel drive
* Duratrax .18 cu in nitro engine
* Super Start hand held starter system
* Dual chamber tuned pipe
* Two speed transmission with adjustable shift point
* Duratrax 2.4GHz FHSS system by Futaba
* Oil-filled shocks
* Three shoe clutch
* Full bearing set
* 2.5oz (75cc) fuel tank
* Metal gear diffs
* Polycarbonate body, painted and trimmed,
* Injection molded wing and mirrors
* Pillow ball front suspension
* Adjustable camber, caster, Ackerman, and droop
* Includes- RTR Camaro ZL1 On-Road Car with .18 Engine with Electric Starter, 2.4GHz Radio, Painted Body, Instruction Manual
* REQUIRES: Glow Fuel: 10-20% car blend nitromethane fuel
* Length: 17.13″ (435mm)
* Width: 7.87″ (200mm)
* Height: 4.72″ (120mm)
* Weight: 4.06lbs (1.84 kg)
* Part #DTXD53**

Expect a street price of $320 with a release date of Mid May. Click on over to the official Duratrax Website for more information.

Looking for more Duratrax news? Check out THIS link right here on BigSquidRC.

The free temp gauge offer runs through the end of April. Hit up the Duratrax Website for more information.

Looking for more Duratrax news? Check out THIS link.

* Duratrax 2.4GHz signal security
* Waterproof
* 1 year Stress-Tech warranty
* Powerful Photon Speed 2 motor supplies impressive acceleration and top end.
* Compatible with 6-7 cell NiCd/NiMH and 2S LiPo batteries.
* Sprint ESC includes battery cut-off circuit (LVC)
* Features oil-filled shocks with metal caps
* Complete set of ball bearings
* 2-channel receiver
* Waterproof receiver box
* Waterproof SX-405WP steering servo
* Length: 16.1 in (409 mm)
* Width: 12.9 in (327 mm)
* Height: 6.6 in (168 mm)
* Ground Clearance: 1.4 in (36 mm)
* Weight: 3.6 lb (1.63 kg)
* Includes: 1500mAH NiMH battery, wall charger & 8 “AA” transmitter batteries
* Requires: Nothing!
* Part # DTXD33**

Look for a street price of $169 for the 2.4 GHz Evader and a February release date. Take a stroll over to the Duratrax Website for more information on all of their products.

Click HERE for more Duratrax news on BigSquidRC.