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ECX Torment

Racing The Horizon ECX Torment Short Course Truck

By: Tim Mohr

During the 2011 iHobby Expo the BigSquid guys got in a rather heated debate, we knew the ECX Torment was a good basher, but could it actually win a race? Cubby was rather vehement that it was impossible, even at the local level, while I was sure that indeed it could.

Once we got home from the show Cubby and I had a long discussion. I was going to race the Torment at a local club race, but Cubby would only allow mods costing under $5 each to be done to the truck. Cubby theorized that given enough cash the Torment could win the IFMAR worlds, so to keep it realistic only cheap mods were allowed. Fair enough, the challenge was on. Click through to see what went down.. READ MORE

Cubby

What do you guys do with the models you review? do you sell them, keep them, givve them away? If you give them away then sign me up! I would always be interested in a new rc! Really love the site and keep on bashin’ !

Gray M.

Cubby- Hey thanks for the props Gray.

We don’t “sell” used test vehicles as much as we “trade” them. For example, you trade me a new bottle of Dom 98′, I trade you a beat down stadium truck. You trade me a Rotolog, I trade you a taco’ed out nitro monster truck. Sounds fair to me. :)

But seriously…. some former test machines we keep to review new product with (like batteries, motors, etc), all the others we Give Away To Our Readers. We aren’t like some members of the press that sell old test gear (sic), we choose to take the high road and give the stuff away. Sometimes we just hand test gear to people at the track, sometimes we have contests. Which reminds me, we have a LOT of contests coming down the pike, keep your eye on our front page to find out how to win! I hear our next contest involves giving away a new charger, expect full info in a few days.


Hey, I was just noticing your ihobby posts and wanted to tell you that I would buy that uber-cool bigsquid bowling shirt that you are wearing in the pic. Not the actual shirt, that’s gross. I would never wear another man’s shirt unless it was an emergency, but a shirt of the same design.

Kind Regards,
Tom N.

Cubby- Hola Tom, good hearing from you as always. You are probably talking about our 2010 shirts that we wore again on Sat-Sun this year at iHobby. We’ve gotten a lot of positive comments about them over the last year, and thanks for your props. Unfortunately those aren’t for sale, but… we do have brand new uber t-shirts that have been selling faster than Red Bull at an ADD convention, just click on the “BSRC Shop” link above.


Can u tell me what manufacturers have SC motors and motor combos.

Matt N.

Cubby- All of them. You’re welcome.

But seriously…. all the major manufactures have “short course” specific systems available. What makes these systems more suitable for short course than just a normal 10th scale buggy or stadium truck system? The biggest difference is typically the motor. Short course trucks are heavier, have more rotating mass, and have big bodies that push around a lot more air, so larger motors are quite beneficial.

As far as what’s good… we have recently reviewed three 2wd SC specific systems, two from Novak and one from Viper. All were 8.5 systems, all were sensored, all put out smooth controllable power and ran quite well, so I can first hand recommend those to you. If you are looking for “crazy” power I’d recommend looking into the Castle 1410 or 1415 systems, or one of the Kershaw systems. The Castle systems are “relatively” tame on 2S, but yield crazy power on higher cell counts. We’ve also tested the Kershaws and they are another system that will destroy drive-line parts on higher cell counts (if you are willing to give up drive-abilty for shear power).


I was left baffled after reading your electrix torment review. You see i once owned an electrix ruckus and it was a piece of s*&t. I could twist the chassis with my hands flexing it several inches and on top of that i could not mount a small enough pinion to keep the motor from overheating. The electrix trucks are crap and i will never own another one. You have lost all credibility in my eyes for recommending them.

Jim A.

Cubby- Hey what’s up Jim? Thanks for the email…

Ok, a typical “racer type” would grab the chassis on an Electrix/ECX and declare it totally unusable. A basher type would pick up the same chassis and exclaim it was perfect!

In bashing a chassis with a fair amount of “give” is less likely to break… READ MORE

THE ECX Torment 2.4 Ghz RTR Review

ECX Torment

BigSquidRC is a site aimed right at the bashers of the world. In the bashing realm being tough and affordable are of the utmost importance. ECX (formerly known as Electrix) is a brand targeted at the beginner and the basher market. Their latest offering, the Torment, is a 2wd short course truck that should be a perfect fit for many of our readers here on BigSquid. How does it measure up? Is it worth your cash or only your middle finger? Read on…
READ MORE

The ECX Smash, 1/18 scale monster truck, is making an appearance at the Horizon Hobby booth. There isn’t any new info that hadn’t already been released last week, but it’s nice to have this thing in hand and get a good look at it. One nice tidbit is that since it’s based on the now discontinued Losi Mini-T, many of the hop-ups and replacement parts are compatible with it.

Check out the ECX website for more info.

ECX is hyping their new line of hop-ups for the super durable and basher friendly ECX vehicles. For the Ruckus monster truck and Boost buggy you’ll find metal gear sets, drive shaft rings, wheelie bars, aluminum shocks and more. All of these products are available now or will be very soon at very reasonable prices. Keep an eye on the ECX website for more info.

As promised, here are the unboxing pics for our new ECX Torment! I’m really digging the look of this thing, and the new 2.4GHz radio is a huge plus! Stop by on Sunday and you may be lucky enough to win one from us at iHobby 2011!

Check out the ECX website for more info!

Technically we have SIX of the ECX Torment SC! You can’t even buy it in stores yet! To be completely honest, we have so many we are GIVING TWO AWAY on Sunday! We’re going to be giving some other stuff away Saturday as well! Stop by and see our demo, and you may win a truck! It’s all happening at iHobby 2011!

Stay tuned for an official unboxing of what will become our review truck, and check out the ECX website while you’re waiting!

 

It would seem that our predictions were right! ECX have just released a new 2wd 1/18 scale monster truck called the “Smash“. It’s packed with cool features, including Dynamite SpeedTread tires and electronics, steel driveshafts and a cool truck body available in two colors.

Blue ECX Smash in action 
 

ECX are definitely living up to their reputation for making affordable hobby-grade RC’s, as this little truck will only set you back $79.99! The chassis appears to be Mini-T based, so hopups should be readily available, as should spare parts. We think it will make an ideal holiday gift for all ages!

Check out the ECX Website for more pictures and details!

ECX monster truck

Rumor has it that Electrix RC ECX will be announcing a new vehicle in the next few hours that will be shown at the iHobby Expo next week. All signs, hints and teaser pics seem to say 2WD Monster Truck!

We don’t have the official press yet, but when it’s available we will post it up. You can also check out the ECX site for other info on their vehicles.

electrix circuit to short course

Picked up a Electrix RC Circuit stadium truck, and recently decided you would like to have a short course truck instead? Well it looks like Dynamite will be able to make it easy for you to do so. They will soon have a Circuit Stadium Truck to Short Course conversion available soon to help you with your indecisiveness.

We don’t have the official press info on it yet, but when it’s available we will post it up. You can also check out Electrix RC for other info on their ST and SC vehicles.

We SO called this MONTHS ago! No one was saying anything about a new Electrix RC vehicle, but we told you that a Torment Short Course Truck was coming! Man, I love it when we look like Nostradamus! The Torment is indeed a 2WD 1/10 scale short course truck that looks to be pretty close to the rest of the Electrix offerings, but there is a twist. For example, the Torment now ships with a DX2E 2.4GHz Spektrum radio and SR200 receiver! No more AWFUL long AM antenna and the less-than-stellar Electrix radio. The truck is powered by a 20T Dynamite motor, has ball bearings all around, and that super cool nylon composite plastic for all the parts.

This thing could be a real basher! It’s too bad we didn’t get a press release on this beast, or we could have told you “we told you so” even sooner. Maybe Electrix mistyped our e-mail address or something. Hmm… Be sure to check out Electrix RC for all the info.

Electrix BoostCubby recently posted his review on the Electrix Boost. And now he wants to give it away to a lucky reader! So here are the rules: The 100th comment on this post to our facebook page is the winner! It’s that simple. The comment has to be attached to THIS post on FB. (nested replies do not count, must be a lead comment). If you have won a vehicle from us in the last 12 months, please do NOT enter. We are trying to spread the wealth here. Open to US Residents only this time. (Sorry over-sea-ers)
Hopefully the 100th comment is creative. :) Good luck! Now what are you waiting for? Get over to our Facebook Page and leave a comment!!!

UPDATE: We have a winner!! Congrats to Chris Dennis with the comment “The BSRC crew rules!” Thanks Chris!!!
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest! Hope that was a fun one.. we always try to be different around here… and that one sure was exciting!! LOL. Watch for another contest coming in the near future!

electrix logo
So we have been hearing a some buzz in the industry about the Electrix brand will may soon be releasing a short course truck! Around the water cooler we have been hearing the name Electrix Torment tossed around.. I think that’s a pretty good name. We have had some poorly named vehicles lately from other companies.. glad to see the Electrix guys are willing to do some work in the name department. But it gets better, we have heard this vehicle may ship with a 2.4ghz radio using Spectrum technology!! So a SC vehicle, on 2.4 in the Electrix price range?! That we like a LOT! We have heard a very much rumored $150-$160 target also. That would really be great.

If we hear any other chatter, we will let you know. Remember you read it here first!