RadShapeRC might just have what you are looking for. The RadShapeRC Box Trailer is an actual kit that you have to put together. It comes with laser cut panels that mount to a precision machined aluminuim chassis. Dual mounted axles are used for greater strength and shielded bearings keep things rolling smoothly. The kit doesn’t come with wheels but is perfect for bolting up the 1.9′s of your choice. The part number is #RRCCT03 while the street price is £99 (about $150 US). RadShapeRC doesn’t have a distributor here in the US (yet), but you can get more information on their Official Website.

Looking for more scale rc news? Check out THIS LINK.

* Spektrum DX2E 2.4GHz transmitter with batteries
* Dynamite 6-cell 7.2V 1800mAh Ni-MH battery
* Dynamite 2A Ni-MH AC peak charger
* 540 brushed motor
* Realistic low-profile tires and 59mm wheels with brake details
* Waterproof electronics
* Dynamite power system with Li-Po ready ESC
* Versatile V100-S chassis
* Officially licensed 2012 Nissan GT-R body
* Shaft-driven 4WD
* Sealed differentials
* Low CG, double wishbone suspension
* Universal body mounts
* Realistic exhaust, mirror and headlight details
* Part #VTR03004

Street price on the Vaterra Nissan GTR is $279 and they should be hitting hobby shop shelves in early May. Cruise on over to the official Vaterra RC Website for more information.

Hit THIS link for more Vaterra news right here on BigSquidRC.

Take a look at the video below to see the Vaterra 2012 Nissan GTR in action.

* Versatile V100-S chassis
* Officially licensed 1969 Camaro RS body
* Shaft-driven 4WD
* Sealed differentials
* Low CG, double wishbone suspension
* Universal body mounts
* Realistic bumper, mirror and headlight details
* Realistic low profile tires and 59mm wheels with brake details
* Brushed 540 motor
* Waterproof electronics
* Dynamite power system with Li-Po ready ESC
* Spektrum DX2E 2.4GHz transmitter with batteries
* Dynamite 6-cell 7.2V 1800mAh Ni-MH battery
* Dynamite 2A Ni-MH AC peak charger
* Height- 4.41 in (112mm)
* Length- 14.85 in (371mm)
* Width- 7.76 in (194mm)
* Wheelbase- 10.25 in (256mm)
* Part #VTR03006

Street price on the 1969 Camaro is $279 and they should be hitting hobby shops in early April. Cruise on over to the official Vaterra RC Website for more information.

Check out THIS link for more Vaterra news right here on BigSquidRC.

Take a look at the video below to see the Vaterra 1969 Camaro in action.

Looks like the folks from Dynamite are keeping us bashers in mind with the new Dynamite Fuze 70A Brushless Waterproof ESC. It’s designed to fit more 1/10th scale vehicles, is Lipo (up to 3s) and NiMH compatable, and is programmable via the Dynamite Fuze programming card. Part number is DYN4850 on the ESC and DYN3745 on the programming card.
Street price is about $90.

We have plenty more Dynamite news here on BigSquidRC, take a look HERE.

TrakPower has introduced the new MS Series Racing Brushless System. These new brushless combos are designed for 1/10th scale off-road and on-road action. They feature ROAR- and IFMAR-legal motors, and come in six turn options. You can get a 6.5 turn all the way up to a 21.5 turn. The ESC features an all aluminum case to help eliminate the heat, so no need for a fan which we dig!

More info is available on the Trakpower website if you need more details.

Here is the video from TrakPower that also happens to be the 500th video posted to the Hobbico YouTube page! Congrats to Hobbico on hitting the big 500!

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

The Thunder Tiger TS2e certainly is an interesting vehicle. From the outside it looks like a run of the mill touring car, but when looking under the hood you find it’s a belt driven rear wheel drive only car. Needless to say there are millions of rwd cars on the full scale road, but they are extremely rare in the rc touring car world. Does this rwd basher hold up under abuse? Is it as fun to drive as a rwd full scale car? Let’s find out…

From: Thunder Tiger
Direct Link: TS2e RTR Touring Car

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 2wd
Shaft or Belt: Belt
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: No
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 16.5″
Width: 7.5″
Height: 5″
Wheelbase: 10.2″
Motor: 540 brushed
Speed Controller: Ace Veloci RS
Radio: Cougar GP2 2.4 GHz
Differential: Rear
Slipper Clutch: None
Driveshafts: Bones
Shocks: 2 Oil shocks in rear
Servo Saver: Yes
Screws: Philips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 p
Bearings: Some, also uses metal bushings
Tires: Unbranded street tread with inserts
Battery: Not included
Part Number: 6580-F283 (for orange)
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/ 2S Lipo): 17 mph
Warranty: To be free of defects at time of purchase
Street Price: $150

Primary Competition: There aren’t a lot of rear wheel drive only touring cars out there, but it would be competition for basically any on-road specific bash vehicle.

What’s Needed To Complete: Six AA sized batteries for transmitter, a 6 cell Ni-MH the for car, and a battery charger.

Build Quality: Belt tension was a bit tight on arrival. Pinion/spur mesh was quite loose. Right height was a bit off. Everything else looked good to go and well assembled.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, and Tim

Test Venues: City park, various parking lots, a backyard, and a local cul-de-sac.

Set-up Notes: We used Venom AA batteries in the transmitter and a Dynamite SpeedPack 2S Lipo to power the car.

Turning: The TS2e pushed when on-power but found traction and held a good line when off-power. To get it to turn you might let off the gas. Quick 180 pivots are easily accomplished by a quick stab of the brake. Because of it being rwd only, you can’t get on the throttle nearly as quickly as a normal 4wd after the apex. You can break the rear end loose by smashing on the throttle just after the apex of the corner, but because of the limited brushed power the rear won’t stay out there for long.

Jumping: Hey, this is a touring car, how well do you really expect it to jump? For the record it does not jump well. For having very little weight up front it jumped extremely nose heavy and it was nearly impossible to make corrections in the air. Of course you can jump the TT, but I don’t recommend it.

Bumps/Whoops: Yes, we attempted to drive the TS2e outdoors on various dirt surfaces, and no, you don’t want to. For a touring car the front suspension is quite limited, making for some seriously rough driving in whoops/bumps. With no sort of damping on the front of the car, much of the time the front wheels were bouncing in the air, making the TT next to impossible to drive on a ball diamond.

On-Road: Overall, the TS2e tracks and drives well enough. A light touch is needed on the throttle until the tires get warmed up, even with the anemic stock power. When taking the TT out in an empty parking lot, it doesn’t take long to get used to its handling characteristics, soon you are pulling off all the fun on-road maneuvers that touring cars are known for.

Grass: Sorry, this is a true on-roader, it simply does not have the ground clearance for any type of grass running (yes, we tried).

Tires: The Thunder Tiger street treads provided decent grip after being scrubbed in. These aren’t race tires, but for bashing purposes they work well.

Power: There is not much power on tap with the TS2e. Not much torque, not much spank from a dead stop, the mid-range is super soft, and top-end power falls off quickly. Top speed was only 17 mph and it took some time to get there. If you are a first time noob the soft power makes it easy to learn how to drive, however, if you are an experienced driver you will quickly grow tired of how slow the car is and want to upgrade.

Radio: This is the same unit that came with the TS4e we recently tested, and it performed in exactly the same manner. We did not measure range, but the Cougar gave us more than we ever used while testing. It uses 6 AA batteries, which made it feel a tiny bit bottom heavy compared to radio’s only using 4, but that didn’t bother any of our testers. The foam on the wheel felt fine while the trigger size and throw also felt good. The grip had a notch on the front (that rests on top of the middle finger) that was a bit hard edged for our taste. Overall, solid radio that worked fine for us.

Broken Parts: The TS2e didn’t break until we started jumping it. On it’s maiden voyage off the ramp (about 18″ tall) we broke a front steering block when landing.

Misc Notes:

The front suspension is said to be “F1 type”. Well, it might very roughly look like F1 front suspension, but it isn’t set up anything like F1. It is the worlds simplest set-up, springs at the hubs, with no type of damping. Did this make the car drive horribly? No, it was still quite drive-able, but a more modern/standard shock set-up with have been much preferred.

With the type of suspension it uses, the front a-arms have no way of moving up and down. And… the front body mounts are directly bolted to the a-arms.

On a driving note, the TS2e pulls a great J-turn.

A stock brushed Slash eats the TS2e alive in a drag race.

Motor temps were exceptionally low with stock gearing. To get a bit more yank we added some teeth to the pinion and motor temps shot up quickly, so high in fact that we overheated the stock motor and were forced to install a new one. If you are looking for more speed, don’t over gear the stock motor, bolt in a new power system.

Best Mod Under $5: Cut that stock connector off ASAP and solder up a quality unit.

Best Mod Over $5: Easy answer on this one, an upgrade for the power system. Even a low-end brushless system will be much faster than the stock set-up.

Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash – C - We spent a couple extra minutes setting the rear ride height and adjusting pinion/spur mesh while waiting for the battery to charge, otherwise it was quick and easy to get running.

Workability – B - Anything you might need to work on is right out in the open and easily accessible.

Car Show Rating – C - While the BSRC Bash Crew liked the look of the TS2e body, which featured some well done graphics, there was no bling to up the cool factor.

Bash-A-Bility – B - We slammed the TS2e around pretty hard and it didn’t break until we hit a ramp with it.

Fun Factor – C - On the upside- the rear wheel drive gives it a unique and more “realistic” feel for a touring car. It was a blast to kick the rear end out when coming out of corners. On the downside- the power system is one of the softest we’ve tested.

Handling – C - There aren’t many cars of its type to directly compare it to, but it drove well enough. It does not have a ton of over-steer, an attribute that would have made it hard for a noob to drive, in fact it is exceptionally easy to drive. However, its front suspension holds the car back, reducing its overall performance.

Value – C - The TS2e certainly comes with a reasonable enough price point, $150. For that cash you are getting a 2.4 GHz radio set-up, but a slow brushed system and old school front suspension.

Parts Availability – C - You won’t find replacement parts for the Thunder Tiger at every hobby shop, thankfully, they are readily available on-line.

BigSquid Rating – C+ - If you are big fan of rear wheel drive, you are a first time noob looking for an exceptionally easy to drive car, or you are looking to save a few bucks, the Thunder Tiger TS2e is a viable option. However, if you have the extra cash I’d recommend its big brother, the TS4e, it simply handles better and has more power out of the box.

Intro: Many a bash-mobile sees nothing but pavement in its entire lifetime, yet every day you see people buying off-road trucks instead of a purpose built road machine. Thunder Tiger has introduced a new 4wd RTR brushless touring car to the market called the TS4e. We’ve been driving, drifting, crashing, and jumping the TS4e for weeks now. How does it drive? Is it worth the cash? Can it take a hit? Read on to find out…

From: Thunder Tiger
Direct Link: TS4e RTR

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: No
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 420mm
Width: 190mm
Wheelbase: 260mm
Motor: Ripper IBL 36mm 3300 kv brushless, 8 cell Ni-MH max
Speed Controller: Ace RC Brushless BLC-30C 2S max
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Cougar GP2 2.4 GHz
Differential: Front and rear
Slipper Clutch: No
Driveshafts: Dog bones
Shocks: Plastic body, oil filled
Screws: Philips
Ball bearings: Yes
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 pitch
Tires: Unbranded street tread with inserts
Servo saver: In steering rack
Battery: N/A
Part Number: 6582-F284
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/ 2S Lipo): 22 mph
Warranty: To be free of defects at time of purchase
Street Price: $240

Primary Competition: Associated TC4 RTR

What’s Needed To Complete: Six AA sized batteries for transmitter, 6 cell Ni-MH for car, and a battery charger.

Build Quality: Ride height was set too low in the front of the car out of the box. Belts were adjusted overly tight, as was the pinion/spur mesh. We found excessive play in front upper arms. Everything else was good to go.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim and Iron Mike

Test Venues: City park, CostCo parking lot, and a local cul-de-sac.

Set-up Notes: We used Venom AA batteries in the transmitter and a Dynamite SpeedPack 2S Lipo in the car. We adjusted the belt tension, pinion/spur mesh, and ride height before driving.

Turning: The Thunder Tiger pushes when on power, but the moment you let off the gas weight transfers to the front and the TS4e plants and steers nicely. We found the Thunder Tiger consistent and easy to drive in all types of corners, from sweepers to tight 180′s. Can the Thunder Tiger keep up with a high end Associated TC6 in the corners? Probably not, but it is certainly predictable, fun, and easy to drive.

Jumping/Off-road: Jumping? Ya, you are gonna want to skip doing much of that with a touring car. Endo’s are imminent, and the limited rotating mass and rpm of the TS4e can’t bring the nose up. For off-roading we drove the TS4e on some light gravel in a parking lot and it did quite well. We didn’t have any issues with the rocks jamming up the drive-train, and the car actually drove/drifted really well on the small rocks.

On-Road: This is a touring car, so it should have been dialed on-road right? Actually yes, it drove very well on pavement. It’s predictable, it rarely got rattled by road joints, and was generally a pleasure to drive. The TS4e has good mechanical grip lending to good corner speed and it accelerates to top speed in nothing flat. If you and your friends are into playing the driving game of “tag” on pavement, your truck driving buddies will have an extremely hard time catching the TS4e. The Thunder Tiger touring car is much more nimble on-road than any stadium or short course truck.

Grass: Yes, we attempted to drive the TS4e in short grass, and no, you don’t want to. LOL This is a touring car after all, there just isn’t enough ground clearance for driving in the green stuff.

Tires: Stock tires are molded in a fairly soft compound and come with soft foam inserts lending to good mechanical grip for an RTR. No complaints from us on the tires at all for bashing purposes.

Power: One squirt of the throttle and you can immediately tell the Thunder Tiger has brushless power, it goes from a dead stop to its top speed in nothing flat. However, the TS4e is geared quite conservatively topping out at only 22 mph. During testing we got long runtimes, no hint of cogging, and very tame motor temps, which are all upsides to using low gearing. Gearing low was certainly the smart way to go on a vehicle aimed at newer drivers, but the “wow” factor of most brushless systems is not there in the TS4e. Luckily, that “wow” factor is only a pinion change away, but expect to lose some run-time and experience hotter motor temps should you gear up.

Radio: We didn’t measure range, but the Cougar gave us more than we ever used while testing. It uses 6 AA batteries, which made it feel a tiny bit bottom heavy compared to radio’s only using 4, but that didn’t bother any of our testers. The foam on the wheel felt fine while the trigger size and throw also felt good. The grip had a notch on the front (that rests on top of the middle finger) that was a bit hard edged for our taste. Overall, solid radio that worked fine for us.

Broken Parts: The rear wing, which is only attached via small very small screws and no nuts, came off super early in testing. This is easily and cheaply fixed by simply putting in two larger bolts with nuts on them. We didn’t “break” anything during normal testing, so we started to up the ante. On our second jump off a roof we ended up breaking three of the four body mounts. We also had a shock start leaking on us, but that was after some pretty insane jumping and bashing action.

Misc Notes:

The stock steering servo had plenty of power and was fast enough to get the job done.

The stock speedo worked fine, was reasonably smooth, and we experienced no cogging at all with it.

During testing our area experienced some rain. While the TS4e isn’t said to be waterproof we had no problems with running on lightly damp pavement.

The guys around the office were fans of the stock body. It’s a got a racy look with nice lines.

For a touring car the TS4e had a lot of suspension travel. This is good for soaking up bumps and for general bashing. Extra long travel also makes the TS4e a good candidate for being converted over to a rally car should you get the urge.

We are not big fans of belt drive around the office but the belts on the Thunder Tiger worked fine.

Best Mod Under $5: A new pinion with more teeth. Out of the box the TS4e is geared very conservatively, a bigger pinion will unleash some of the beast.

Best Mod Over $5: Solid overall car, but if I were going to dump some cash into it I’d try adapting over TC3/TC4 body mounts for durability purposes. After that I’d spend some cash on a good 2S Lipo to power the car with.

Summary:

Time To Bash – 8/10 - We had to do some minor changes before driving (adjusting pinion/spur mesh, setting front ride height), otherwise just pop in some batteries and you are on track.

Workability – 8.5/10 - The TS4e is laid out where everything is easily accessible, we would like to have seen hex hardware though.

Car Show Rating – 8.5/10 - The Thunder Tiger comes with a nice looking shell and graphics, well liked around the office.

Bash-A-Bility – 8/10 - Under normal bashing the TS4e held up well, under extreme abuse we managed to break a few parts.

Fun Factor – 8/10 - Easy to drive with nice yank, yes, the TS4e is fun to drive.

Handling – 8/10 - The TS4e does well in the corners and over road joints, no traction rolling either. A good handling machine for bashing conditions.

Value – 8/10 - With a sticker price of only $240 you get brushless, 2.4 GHz, and a car that can take some hits.

Parts Availability – 8/10 - You won’t find replacement parts on local hobby shop shelves like you would with a Traxxas, but parts are readily available should you need them.

BigSquid Rating – 8.1/10 - Tentacles. The Thunder Tiger TS4e isn’t a high end racer but it is a solid, bash worthy, touring car. The TS4e would make a nice first car for someone just getting into the hobby, just as it would for the experienced hobbyist looking for some on-road bashing fun.

Intro: Monster trucks and 8th scale buggies used to be the Kings of the Hill at your local bash spot, but in the last couple of years 4wd short course trucks have made a run at the top. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the Team Durango DESC410R V2, a 4wd short course truck made for elite racing to see if it is as good at bashing as it is at winning trophies. How does it stack up? Let’s find out…

From: Team Durango
Direct Link: DESC410R V2 Kit
Unboxing Pictures: BigSquidRC Unboxing The Durango

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: Kit
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: N/A
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 550 mm
Width: 285 mm
Wheelbase: 329-336 mm
Motor: N/A
Speed Controller: N/A
Low Voltage Cut-off: N/A
Radio: N/A
Differential: 3 fluid filled gear diffs
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: CVD
Gear Ratio: 2.47:1
Shocks: Big bore, metal bodies, plastic caps
Screws: Hex
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 and Mod 1 spurs included
Tires: N/A
Battery: Not included, saddle pack
Part Number: TD102013
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/ 2S Lipo & Mod 1 19t pinion): 30 mph
Street Price: $380

Primary Competition: Losi Ten SCTE, Traxxas Slash 4×4, Associated SC10 4×4

What’s Needed To Complete: Radio system, motor, speedo, battery, battery charger, servo, pinion, tires, shock oil, diff oil, and lexan paint.

Build Quality: One of the nerf bars was cold molded and missing about half of its shape. Some of the CVD’s went together perfectly, others were quite rough to build. Most parts looked great and went together well.

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

Test Venues: RC Outlaws in Collinsville Illinois, a city park, and a CostCo parking lot

Set-up Notes: Because the DESC410R V2 is a kit it requires multiple items to get going. We used a Castle Mamba Max speedo, Castle 1415 brushless motor, Futaba BLS 452 servo, TrakPower 2S 5400 mah saddle pack Lipo, Duratrax Posse SC tires, and a Futaba PK Super-R with R614FS receiver to control the whole thing.

Turning: The 410R V2 exhibits oversteer with stock settings. Of course this can be tuned out, but it can be quite a handful to drive when first built. On track you want lots of steering and side-bite for maximum corner speed, but for bashing this can make the truck hard to drive. We went to heavier front end settings to help eliminate this, but would have liked to have seen the truck come stock with sway bars. Sway bars would also have made the truck easier to corner with.

Jumping: The 410R V2 might be the best jumping 4wd SCT on the market. Plush suspension, 4wd, good chassis geometry, a center diff, and a super high flow body all help make the truck a great jumper. We found ourselves plowing blown out jumps at odd angles just to see if we could make a successful flight and the Durango always seemed amazingly easy to land properly. Take off is top notch, mid flight is exceptionally easy to control, and landings are soaked up quite well, the 410R V2 is a great jumper for a short course truck.

Bumps/Whoops: The shocks on the Durango are nice units, easily adjustable and they love soaking up the nasty. There is very little stiction and the shocks provide supple action throughout the entire stroke. Add in the generally geometry of the chassis and the 410R V2 can blow through some seriously nasty section at warp speeds.

On-Road: The Durango liked to traction roll on pavement. The 410R V2 doesn’t come with sway bars and it has a ton of side-bite, thus causing it to flip when cornering hard on pavement. It’s soft suspension sure does soak up road-joints though.

Grass: The 410R V2 can get around in grass, it’s 4wd and decent sized SC tires allow it do so. However, the old high CG Traxxas Slash 4×4 is far superior to it in grass. The older Traxxas doesn’t use a center diff and has more ground clearance allowing it to scoot around better in grass than the Durango.

Tires: The 410R V2 doesn’t come with tires, so we bolted up some Duratrax Posse SC’s. These are tires we’ve had good luck on high bite dirt surfaces and they held up fine during our testing of the Durango.

Power: The 410R V2 doesn’t come with a power system, so we installed a Castle brushless system that put plenty of insane power to the wheels.

Radio: The 410R V2 doesn’t come with a radio system, we used the Futaba Super-R with R614FS receiver and it performed flawlessly.

Broken Parts: When we jumped about 3 feet high in the air and landed on all four wheels the rear tower snapped. The plastic rear tower may have been previously stressed from a few hucks off a nearby roof, but there are other trucks in the class that we’ve done much worse things to that didn’t suffer any breakage.

Misc Notes:

We are not a big fan of the way the center diff is mounted. The center diff is mounted in such a way as to be removed each time you switch out a battery pack. There is nothing wrong with the idea, the problem is the little wires they use to hold the top of the diff mount in. The wire likes to get cock-eyed and can be a real PITA to install and remove.

The stock body has a lot of areas that can be removed to help the truck jump better in windy conditions. There is very little “parachute effect” on the Durango and it was a pleasure to jump. The stock Durango body just might be the best on the market for handling/jumping.

There is a perfect motor mount out there, you can find it on the Losi Ten SCTE. The motor mount on the Durango is a PITA to use.

I am a big fan of the stock Durango servo saver. It works like all servo savers should, props on this one.

For some reason the 410R V2 comes with wheel hexes that are larger than the industry standard forcing you to only use Durango wheels. This is less than optimal.

The Durango design crew obviously went to great lengths to come up with innovative and original deigns on the 410R V2. It is not a cookie cutter truck, they took a few risks on it, kudos to Durango for having some balls during the design process.

The stock body clips are horrible. We “accidentally lost” ours and used Traxxas clips instead.

While the Durango went together ok, you have to open multiple bags to do certain steps, and the manual was not as detailed as some of the best out there.

The stock rod ends don’t fit very tightly. Not having any binding is good, having rod ends pop off at the worst time is not. We would rather have seen captured ends.

Best Mod Under $5: Read up on chassis tuning. This is totally free, and while the Durango drives very well out of the box, it has incredible amounts of tuning options at your disposal. If you read up enough you should be able to make the DESC410 handle any which way you want it to on any surface.

Best Mod Over $5: There are zillions of hop-ups available for the entire Durango line-up, thus allowing you to totally trick out your rig. Because we ended up breaking a rear shock tower, my “best mod over $5″ is going to be an Exotek carbon fiber rear tower. It’s part #1253, cost around $45, and is 4mm thick. Hopefully you’ll never bust one of those.

Summary:

Time To Bash – 7/10 - Compared to all the RTR’s out there it takes a long time to get the 410R on the track. You’ll be looking at a solid 3 or 4 evenings of work to get the Durango built and track ready. Compared to other kits, the Durango was average in build time.

Workability – 7/10 - The center diff is fast to get out, otherwise, the unique layout can make wrenching a bit more challenging than other trucks.

Car Show Rating – 9/10 - Everyone had love for the stock wheels and body. Sharp looking truck, perhaps the best looking in its class.

Bash-A-Bility – 7/10 - Our test sample broke earlier than expected, but it did live through several leaps off a roof.

Fun Factor – 8/10 - We had a blast with the Durango, it inspires confidence and is crazy fast.

Handling – 8.5/10 - Over-steer brings the rating down, while it’s epic jumping ability brings the score up.

Value – 8/10 - A fully outfitted 410R V2 isn’t cheap, but it’s capable of some serious warp speed once built.

Parts Availability – 8/10 - More and more dealers are stocking Durango parts and they have good availability on-line.

BigSquid Rating – 7.8/10 - Tentacles. The Durango DESC410R V2 is no doubt an animal on the track, however, the attributes that make is so good there hold it back while bashing. If your primary concern is yarding people on the track I’d highly recommend the Durango. If you are looking for a pure bash machine there are better options out there than the 410R V2.

We shot a little video during one of the testing days, check it out in action:

When the Kyosho NeXXt buggy was first announced certain staffers of ours couldn’t wait to get their hands on the unique “moon buggy” looking vehicle, even though it was aimed directly at entry level enthusiasts. How does the NeXXt drive? How does it hold up to abuse? Does it turn heads at the track, and most importantly, is it worth buying? Read on my friends and let’s find out…

From: Kyosho
Direct Link: NeXXt ReadySet
Unboxing Pictures: BigSquidRC Unboxing the NeXXt

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR Factory Assembled with Electronics
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 2wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: No
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 395 mm
Width: 245 mm
Wheelbase: 270 mm
Motor: Brushed, 22 turn
Speed Controller: Kyosho KA-18
Low Voltage Cut-off: No
Radio: 2.4 GHz Kyosho Syncro KT-200
Differential: Gear diff
Slipper Clutch: None
Driveshafts: Metal bones
Gear Ratio: 9.2:1
Shocks: Plastic body friction type
Screws: Phillips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 Pitch
Tires: Unmarked brand with soft foam inserts and moon tread
Battery: Not included
Part Number: #30834T1B
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/ 2S Lipo): 20 mph
Street Price: $140

Primary Competition: Ummmm…. the NeXXt is quite a unique vehicle. It’s competition would be extreme entry level 10th scale electric buggies.

What’s Needed To Complete: You’ll need 4 AA batteries for the transmitter, a 6 cell Ni-Mh battery for the buggy, and a battery charger.

Build Quality: We found strange noises while rolling the buggy, lots of slop here and there, and one of the rear wheels has been reluctant to come off.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim, Sam the Noob, and Iron Mike

Test Venues: RC Outlaws in Collinsville Illinois, Dirtburners in St Louis Missouri, PetCo parking lot and a city park.

Set-up Notes: We used Venom AA batteries in the transmitter, we used a MaxAmps 2S 4200 mah Lipo to power the truck, and a Dynamite PassPort Ultralite charger was used to power up the battery.

Turning: The NeXXt exhibits some under-steer on most surfaces, thus making it easy to drive for noobs (that have a tendency to over correct). However, it has virtually no side-bite, meaning it can not carry much corner speed and literally drifts through most corners (on dirt and on pavement). The NeXXt is easy to drive in the corners, just don’t expect it to get turned in a hurry.

Jumping: Taking off from a jump face is quite interesting with the NeXXt, but not nearly as interesting as its landings. Those friction shocks combined with massive bump steer and radical camber change during the suspension stroke results in some mighty strange jump launches. When landing, once the NeXXt hits the ground (and blasts through its suspension travel) get ready for a crazy ride while it bounces around trying to regain its composure.

Bumps/Whoops: Low ground clearance combined with small diameter (and no traction) tires plus friction shocks equals an old school wild ride through the rough stuff. When you point the NeXXt into a rough area and pin the gas you really have no idea which direction it’s going to come out. This is the worst vehicle I’ve driven in the rough since sometime in the 80′s. If you like crashing or getting high centered in the rough, the NeXXt is totally dialed.

On-Road: The lack of any front or rear side-bite on the NeXXt results in no traction rolls, and I mean ever. On-road the NeXXt has a bit of under-steer making it fairly easy to drive, well, except for when you want to drive it in a straight line when the NeXXt refuses to center properly resulting in constant course corrections.

Grass: You do not want to drive the NeXXt in grass. The combination of the small diameter tires (that have about as much traction as slicks) and low ride height result in a buggy that gets high centered even in very short grass.

Tires: Wow, there is a lot than can be said about the stock moon buggy tires. On pavement they drive a bit like paddle tires do, meaning they are very bumpy and jostle the buggy around unnecessarily. On dirt they offer little to no traction, about like slicks. On every surface they offer virtually no side-bite. The only redeeming value of the stock tires is their unique look.

Power: We measured top speed at 20 mph (on a 2S Lipo) which is right in the ballpark for what newer drivers can control. The power was typical sealed brushed motor- soft on the bottom with a gradual ramp up in power through the mid-range then ended with a short winded top end. Overall- an easy to drive power-plant with enough grunt to have fun.

Radio: The included 2.4 GHz Kyosho radio system worked fine for us. Adjustments were simple to make, the stock foam/trigger/grip felt fine, and it never lacked range for us. Balance was good, and the radio was exceptionally light in hand.

Broken Parts: Our tranny gave way before we got to any serious destructive testing. So… at the end of our testing nothing is broken other than a tranny where power goes in but doesn’t come back out.

Misc Notes:

The stock speedo was quite notchy and loved to go into nuclear reverse instead of brake (typically at the worst possible time).

I’ve driven some vehicles that didn’t like to center very well when trying to drive straight, but the NeXXt was the worst of all time. You didn’t have to hit anything to knock its center off, it simply would change on every pass while blasting up and down the street. Poor centering is a PITA to experienced users, and makes the buggy much harder to drive than it needs to be for noobs.

The NeXXt comes with some cool looking bead lock wheels.

The NeXXt uses a plastic “push on” pinion gear. In this day and age? Yes, seriously.

You can remove one of the front shocks on the NeXXt and its ride height does not change. Yes, the NeXXt is very over-sprung, which is quite the combo with the friction shocks.

We did manage to find one place where the stock tires and friction shocks were a blast to drive- on a prepped baseball diamond. The lack of overall side bite combined with zero rebound or compression damping was actually quite fun on that surface.

The body is made out of hard plastic, not polycarbonate. Our body did not break and held up ok, although the NeXXt never made it to the true torture portion of our testing.

There is more slop in the rear end of the NeXXt than I’ve ever seen on a hobby grade vehicle. Combine all that slop with the paddle type tires and friction shocks and the rear ends skips around like mad, even on glass smooth surfaces.

The NeXXt turned more heads at the track than anything else we’ve ever driven (for better or for the worse).

We liked the quick access battery door on the bottom of the NeXXt. It worked fine for us and allowed fast battery changes. However, it does limit the size of packs you can use in the buggy.

The Kyosho is a PITA while wrenching, and it doesn’t really matter what you are attempting to work on. It takes 6 screws to remove the body, two of which are hidden under one of the top body panels. Then, once you get the body off the driver figure has to be removed requiring two more screws. Also, we nearly had to break the gear cover to remove it.

The NeXXt doesn’t come with a slipper clutch, this is bad news for the lifespan of the drive-train.

Our ambient temps were not very hot (usually around 50-70 F) and our motor temps were always quite low. The hottest motor temp we encountered was just under 100 F.

Best Mod Under $5: For less than $5 I would work on shimming all the play out of the rear end and ditch the stock battery connector.

Best Mod Over $5: There are lots of mods I would recommend over $5. Replacement of the stock speedo, stock servo, stock servo saver, and adding oil shocks are just a few of them.

Summary:

Time To Bash – 9/10 - It’s quick and easy to pop in 4 AA’s and a 6 cell to get the NeXXt on the track.

Workability – 5/10 - It takes 6 screws to remove the body, plus 2 more to remove the driver. The gear cover is very hard to remove and we still haven’t been able to remove one of the rear wheels.

Car Show Rating – 7/10 - The NeXXt just might be the most “love it or hate it” machine we’ve ever tested. Those that liked how it looked Really liked it, those that disliked how it looked simply hated it.

Bash-A-Bility – 6/10 - Our tranny went out fairly early in testing, in fact it went out well before our true torture testing even began.

Fun Factor – 6/10 - There were a few of our testers that had a great fun with the bouncy old school feel of the NeXXt, but most were not happy when having to drive it.

Handling – 7/10 - The NeXXt is not the worst driving vehicle we’ve ever tested, but it was pretty darn close.

Value – 6/10 - The NeXXt sells for $140. An ECX Boost sells for $100 and not only boasts more modern technology, but also vastly outperforms the NeXXt in every way.

Parts Availability – 6/10 - Out of the 4 local hobby shops near us that I checked, none stocked parts for the EZ series Kyosho, and only 1 of them was even willing to try and order them for me.

BigSquid Rating – 6.5/10 - Tentacles. The Kyosho NeXXt is a dreadful buggy. But… there are reasons to buy one. If you are into a buggy that drives like something out of the early 80′s, the NeXXt is for you. If you are into the “moon buggy” looks, the NeXXt is for you. Otherwise, steer clear of this one folks.

If the Thunder Tiger TS2e we recently mentioned wasn’t your thing, then maybe the 4WD version is what you are looking for! The new Thunder Tiger TS4e is a RTR, Brushless powered 4WD touring car that is ready for some serious action.

Specs:
• Cougar GP2 2.4GHz radio system
• All electronics are included and installed
• Dual belt, four-wheel drivetrain
• Powerful 3300kV brushless motor and ESC
• Independent double wishbone suspension with 4 adjustable oil-filled shocks
• Factory-printed touring car body in 4 color schemes
• Length: 16.5 in (420 mm)
• Width: 7.5 in (190 mm)
• Height: 5 in (125 mm)
• Weight: 3 lb (1400 g)
• Wheelbase: 10.2 in (260 mm)

All that for a street price if about $240 should make the Thunder Tiger TS4e a popular choice when it hits stores soon.

Hit up the official Thunder Tiger Website for more information.

Need more Thunder Tiger news from Big Squid RC? Click HERE.