The rc world is still dominated by electric power and that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. That fact means that nearly every hobbyist is going to need a good battery pack for his truck. Today we’ll be putting the hammer down on the latest Lipo battery from ProTek, a Supreme Power 2S 7.4v 100C 5600 mah pack. Does it have good power? Does it live when you jump it off the roof? Is it right for the basher crowd? Let’s find out…

From: ProTek
Direct Link: 7.4v 100C 5600 mah Hard Case Lipo

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

Battery Type: Lithium Polymer
Stated Capacity: 5600 mah
Cell Configuration: 2S2P
Voltage- 7.4v (8.4 volt max, 6 volt min)
Discharge- 100C constant (560 amps)
Weight (measured by BSRC with Traxxas connector)- 315 grams
Dimensions (measured by BSRC)- 47 x 25 x 138 mm
Balance Plug Type- None
Stock Connector- Two 5mm bullets and one 2mm bullet
Stock Wiring- None
Max Charge Rate- 2C/11.2 amps
Street Price: $99

What’s In The Box: You get the battery, stickers, two 5mm bullets and one 2mm bullet. The pack does not come with any wiring or balance plug.

Build Quality: Decent build quality, hard case seemed relatively thick and the bullet connectors were of a good quality.

Test Platforms: We used a Pro-Line Pro-2 tuned Traxxas Slash and a bone stock ECX Torment SCT. The Pro-Line truck used a Castle speedo and 5700kv brushless motor, a Hitec servo, and was controlled by a Futaba 4PK Super-R radio system.

Test Drivers: The usual suspects- Brian, Tim, Iron Mike, and myself.

Test Venues: DirtBurners rc track in St Louis Missouri, a state park, and various backyards and streets.

Driving Impressions: We got a lot of driving time in with the ProTek and it always proved to be an impressively quick pack. We went back-to-back with other “high end” packs of a similar capacity and “C” rating and the ProTek never failed to impress. The ProTek always seemed to have as much power, if not more, than every pack we compared it to.

While driving the ProTek in our ECX Torment it certainly made the stock brushed motor seem like it was the quickest it has ever been. In our Pro-Line Pro2 it supplied more than enough current to keep its brushless system pulling hard. The ProTek had intense punch off the bottom and seemed to keep on pulling forever on long stretches where you could leave it pinned. Overall the ProTek was arguably the fastest pack (of its class) that we’ve ever driven.

Downsides: The biggest downside was the lack of wiring and balance plug. Racer types can simply solder the included bullets on to the wires coming out of their speedo, but most basher types will want to add wire to the pack. That takes up more time to solder up and costs more money.

General Notes:

The ProTek had a perfect form factor and easily fit in normal sized battery trays.

The 5mm bullets are nice to have, they can handle a lot of juice for those crazy high current applications.

The first graph above shows the 1C discharge of the Protek, the next is how it performed under heavier loads, and the last shows how the ProTek stacks up against an Orion and a Gens Ace at 30 amps.

About The Graphs:

We used a West Mountain CBA discharger to performed a 1C/5.6 amp discharge to test capacity. Next we did a 30 amp discharge, then a 6C/32.4 amp discharge, and finally a 60 amp continuous discharge to see how well the ProTek held its voltage under a continuous load. The higher a battery can hold its voltage, the faster your car/truck will be. Ambient temp for all bench tests was 69 F, the pack was always charged on a Hyperion 720iNet3 at 2C/11.2 amps and voltage cut-off was always set at 3.0 volts per cell during discharges. We tested the ProTek wired with 10 gauge Castle wire and a Traxxas connector.

Discharge Notes:

ProTek lists 5600 mAh as its capacity, we measured 5695 which is 101.7% of stated. Being slightly high and less than 2% off of stated capacity is very impressive. Kudos to the ProTek crew on not over or under stating the capacity.

Overall the ProTek 100C 5600 was an impressive performer on the bench. It did not put out the highest voltage that we’ve ever tested, but it was right up there with the elite performers. Performance at 6C was quite strong and it was even more impressive under a 60 amp load. The ProTek put out some of the highest numbers we’ve seen for the first half of the discharge on a 60 amp load.

Measured Temps:

1C – 78 F
30 amps – 90 F
6C/32.4 amps – 91 F
60 amps – 99 F

Measured Capacities:

1C – 5695 mah
30 amps – 5578 mah
6C/32.4 amps – 5623 mah
60 amps – 5540 mah

Measured Run Times:

1C – 60:47
30 amps – 11:12
6C/32.4 amps – 10:05
60 amps – 5:34

Summary:

Time to Bash: D The ProTek doesn’t come with wire or a balance port. It takes longer to get the ProTek ready for the road than many of its competitors.

Car Show Rating: B The black hard case features a silver diamond design. The BigSquid Bash Crew liked the look- clean and modern.

Bash-A-Bility: A We experienced no issues at all with the ProTek pack. We submerged it in water, hit it at 60 amps continuous, it suffered numerous high G impacts in vehicles getting hucked to pavement, and it came through without suffering any damage.

Power: B On track it felt exceptionally strong, on the bench it put out solid numbers at the upper end of any comparable pack we’ve tested.

Value: B The ProTek comes in at a $99 price point and packs some serious power. The Protek outperforms some packs costing more than it does, but there are a few less expensive packs that are right in its league.

BigSquid Rating: B- If the ProTek would have simply came with wire its overall “grade” would have been much better. While racers might prefer to use their own wiring, bashers want everything they need right in the box for a typical install. Otherwise the ProTek 5600 was a rock solid pack that will impress you with its performance. There are a lot of slow packs out there and a lot of packs that are middle of the road for power, but the ProTek runs with the elite packs, it’s fast.

When I heard there was a new truck in the office based on the basher of the year truck, I jumped on it!
At first look, the Thunder Tiger ST4 G3 looks tough. It uses a popular style body in the industry right now. The laid back cab and embellished front fenders makes it look like it is moving while standing still. Knobby tires and a truggy wing add a hint of the race-ability. So does the ST4 G3 live up to our expectations? Keep reading to find out..

From: Thunder Tiger
Direct Link: Thunder Tiger ST4 G3

Review By: Wrench (aka Bill)

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR/ARTR
Length: 588mm (23.14″)
Width: 400mm (15.75″)
Height: 196mm (7.71″)
Wheelbase: 360mm~365mm (13.75″-14.37″)
FR/RR Track: 335mm~345mm/340mm (13.2″-14.37″)
Weight: 3800g w/o Battery(8.37lbs.)
Ground Clearance: 48mm (1.88″)
Price: $479
Needed to run
AA Batteries x6 for transmitter
2x 2S Lipo with deans plugs or 4S Lipo.

Under the body you will see the familiar chassis of the MT4 G3. The 2000 KV motor with 80A Brushless ESC is powerful enough to pull the front wheels off the ground until the center diff brings them back to Earth. While testing, the tires offered a lot of grip on grass and blacktop, but lacked on the track would get a little loose. In the air, the truck can be controlled and corrected at will. It was easy to put the nose of the vehicle at any angle you wanted making landings a breeze. Taking corners with the supplied 8kg full metal steering servo was never an issue. There is more power in this truck than most people would know what to do with. At the track we were dishing out the pain, mostly on other vehicles we were running over at high speeds.. check out the one shot of the soon to be dead short course…

BUILD QUALITY: While testing, I did run into a few problems. On the first run, the rear shock caps came off on some rather small bumps. I was able to fix this problem with some sleeves I made out of ¾” conduit. Then I found the rear dog bones were slightly to short and would pop out of place under power. A quick adjustment of the camber links fixed the problem, and kept them securely in the truck.

Primary Competition: Traxxas Brushless E-Revo, HPI Trophy Truggy Flux.

TEST VENUES: Open fields, parking lots, Leisure Hours Raceway (indoor track), and a Local dirt oval.

SET UP: The truck was tested stock and with some slight mods to fix the issues I talked about previously.

TURNING: The ST4 G3 turns great. The steering servo has plenty of power to turn the wheels lock to lock. Under power there was a slight push on the track, but this is something that could be fixed with proper track tires. With high speed turns, you will find the usual push, but the truck did not roll over. It was great the way it’s low center of gravity and wide stance kept it planted to the ground.

JUMPING: The Thunder Tiger handles the big air great. I did have the usual chassis slap you find with all truggies. The four oversized oil-filled shock absorbers with 16mm Diameter Pistons did a great job absorbing the force of the impacts, and the wing helped keep it level in the air.

ON-Road- This is a track truck, but being bashers, we had to run on some blacktop. The tires gave out a lot of noise while turning. There was some slight body roll, but you have to expect that from a truck. We were still able to keep the tires planted and had a blast hitting the street ramps.

GRASS: The ST4 G3 is a blast in short grass. The brushless power and 4WD just eat it up! With a center diff, it will not hold a wheelie long, but it will pull the front wheels off the ground when you grab the trigger at any time.

POWER: I tested the ST4 G3 with a Track Power 4s 6800mah 70c battery. The BLC-80C ESC and Ripper IBL40 2000kv have more than enough power to shred the tires off of a lesser truck. If it wasn’t for the center diff, the truck would be on it’s lid with a full trigger pull. The top end did feel a little soft, like it ran out of gear. This could be attributed to it being more of a track truck. The power it puts down on the low end will pull you out of a corner fast.

RADIO: The COUGAR P3 2.4GHz transmitter is standard equipment with most Thunder Tiger vehicles. It is a good RTR 2.4 radio. All the end points and trims are set with dials. The trigger and wheel are in their traditional positions and it also has a fold over antenna. It takes 6 AA batteries, which is a little different than most of the 4 or 8 we usually see.

Broken Parts Although nothing really broke, the problems with the shock caps did require leaving our test spot to go back to the shop to fix. The dog bone problem was fixable in the field. We beat this one up good. At the track we were jumping front double and LEAVING the track slamming the pavement, bleachers and or garbage cans, and this was done more than a few times… on purpose.

Best mod under $5 Home made shock cap collars.

Best mod over $5 For racers it would have to be a good set of tires. The supplied tires are great for bashing, but lack traction on the track.

Summary:

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

Time To Bash: C You’ll need to supply a LiPo, but Charging batteries and installing AA batteries are all you have to do.

Workability: B The work I had to do was easy to get to and took little effort or time to do.

Car Show Rating: B The body style and racy look are always a head turner.

Bash-A-Bility: C Once the shock and dog bone problem were fixed, the truck took a hell of a beating, but we did have to make some small mods to get it there. So long term, it’s a good basher, but out of the box, you may need to do a little work to get there.

Fun Factor: B It’s always fun when a truck can handle the big air with ease!

Handling: C Bashing handling is great, but on the track the tires hurt the handling.

Value: B A 1/8th scale truck that you can beat on and take to the track for some fun with this much power is a good value for sure!

Parts Availability: C Parts are readily available on-line but it might be a while before most local hobby shops build up any stock.

BigSquid Rating: B- The biggest thing that brought this ratting down was the out of the box issues. It is a truck that can take a great beating and come back for more! Everyone should have a electric 1/8th scale truck that can handle some big batteries, and to have one you can bash and fly at a track is a big plus!

Wow, did K-Roc choke or what Saturday night in Salt Lake City? The guy went into Salt Lake with a huge/unsurmountable points lead and left only 5 points up over Team Geico Hondas Eli Tomac. Some would argue that ET also choked- getting off to a second place start in the main only to fade and lose valuable points, but I’d say Eli put in a smart ride. ET got so far behind earlier in the championship by “going for it” and crashing. Saturday night he kept it on two wheels ensuring that he’s within striking distance for the title this weekend in Vegas.

The “big boy class” got cinched up early by the Leap’n Leprechaun- Ryan Villopoto. Davi and The Dunge put on an epic chase, but RV2 clearly had them covered, not just Saturday night, but all season long. Here’s to hoping someone can step up and make things more interesting in the nationals.

How about on to some rc chit chat? Naw… ok, well sorta. Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Truck Series sponsored by Speed Energy and Traxxas went off huge Saturday night in the iconic El Lay Coliseum. I gotta say I was impressed. The track, which was said to be one lined and hard to pass on, was pretty dern cool, complete with an actual full size cross-over/do-or-die section, followed by a mammoth uphill triple (that nobody ended up hucking). The track also had a sand section, a large stretch of pavement, and metal ramps. That was a seriously rad track, kudos to the guys that thought it up.

To make it even cooler, they also had Super Buggy and BigFoot monster truck racing on the same track. Are you serious? Monster trucks hucking the cross-over? Oh HECK YA.

On the downside- the stands were mostly empty, which came as a bit of surprise for an off-road event in SoCal. But… if the SST series grows anything like TORC has, expect a lot more fans there next year. HERE is the link to the SST schedule, they are coming to such places at Soldier Field in Chicago, the Edward Jones Dome in the STL, Qualcomm in San Diego, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington TX, and the Georgia Dome in Hotlanta. The BSRC Bash Crew will be at the Chi-Town and STL rounds, hopefully we’ll see you there.

Ok, so I really gotta crowbar some real rc talk in here.

When I first got into the industry side of the rc scene I was very lucky to pick up the ear of a couple legends in biz. These two gentlemen work/ed for different companies, and were two of the key players for shaping the industry through the 80′s and 90′s. I got their attention because I was quite specialized on the development of “new aged” products, products that the icons knew would change the industry, but because of their backgrounds were having a hard time wrapping their heads around the tech. Anyways… I was lucky, I brought them up to speed on the new tech, and they taught me the industry ropes, caught me up to speed on the real history behind the history of the industry, and they helped lead me down the right roads.

I talk to both of these gentlemen roughly once a month, mainly phone calls where we just bench race about what’s up in the industry. A couple weeks ago one of my “mentors” called me because he wanted to converse about one of our reviews. My mentor wanted to know what the “real” scoop was behind the vehicle we reviewed. He told me that the dinosaur media and numerous on-line reviews said one thing about the vehicle in question, but we said something different, we were much more negative. First he wanted to know what the car in question was “really” like, and secondly, he wanted to know how we didn’t lose an advertiser over it.

Now obviously my mentor knows me better than to think I would just make up negative stuff up for a review. He knows all the reviews I write up are dead serious (unlike THE Cub Report or ASK Cubby), but I guess maybe he felt I had let some old axes to grind change my assessment of the vehicle. I assured him that the review was not a reflection of any bad feelings towards the company, it was simply the result of me/us putting in a lot more time into our reviews.

A couple of years ago we sat around a big table and decided that BSRC is all about “news and reviews”, and that we had to step our game up on the reviews. In our opinion, nobody out there was doing even a remotely good job on reviews, so we decided it was up to us to go above and beyond, to put in the stupid hours, and to do them right. Our goal was to make sure we reported all the “typical issues” a consumer might run across after purchasing a product, and to attempt to relay a feeling of what it was actually like to own the product. If we can’t do that then we aren’t really doing our job.

So after literally spending weeks at over a half dozen different venues, the review I wrote up was an accurate report on what it was like to live with, wrench on, and drive that vehicle for a month. In the review in question, I forgot to mention several things, good and bad, and perhaps made a big deal out of things some people don’t even care about (like packaging and body clips), but in the end it was a true reflection of what we thought of the vehicle.

My mentor already knew all about the politics behind product reviews, hell, he was there before all that started, and he knows what’s up with them today. I guess he was astonished that we’ve reported issues with a bunch of different advertisers products, yet they are still advertisers. Back in the latter part of his day, one negative sentence could have easily been the trigger for a company to stop cutting those ad checks. Yes, we have lost advertisers before after negative product reviews, but everyone knows we aren’t pulling any punches, and that a good review simply can not be bought here. A good review here actually means something, where as it means absolutely freak’n nothing at so many other places.

To wrap it up, the call with my “mentor” lasted over 3 hours and ended with him being amazed that honest reviews can still happen. After thinking about our call for a while now, I’m saddened he was amazed by that fact, honest reviews should be the norm, not the exception…

That’s it for this week, support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.

YOUR Cub Reporter

You’ve spent a lot of money on your transmitter, spending a little more to make sure it’s protected is a good idea.

The crew over at A Main Hobbies have a new universal transmitter hard case for your uber radio. You buy the case then select the proper insert that is specifically cut out for your model of transmitter. Is the ProTek radio case tough? Does it hold up? More importantly, is it worth your hard earned cash? Lets find out…

From: ProTek R/C
Direct Link: ProTek Radio Case

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Street Price: $49 for the case, $15 for the insert

What Is It?: It’s a hard case with soft foam insert used to store and protect your transmitter. Inserts are available for dozens of different transmitters.

What’s In The Box: A hard transmitter case and keys. The foam insert comes separately and is cut for the individual model that you select.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim and Iron Mike

Test Venues: Leisure Hours in Joliet IL, DirtBurners in St Louis MO, several bash spots.

Review Platform: We selected the ProTek part #PTK-8165 for Futaba 4PK series radios for the insert. Roughly half of the BigSquidRC Bash Crew use a Futaba 4PK series transmitter on their personal gear so it was an easy choice.

Installation: It takes about a minute to remove the pre-cut area for the transmitter and put the insert into the hard case. We experienced no issues getting the case set-up.

Durability: Remember that old Samsonite commercial where the gorilla throws the luggage around? Ok, us old farts remember it, for you younger guys a quick search on YouTube will hook you up. Anyways, we threw the ProTek case around like it owed us money. We dropped the case from a height of 5 feet three times and tossed it at a cement wall twice. The ProTek case came away a bit tweaked, but nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t bend back

Also… shorter drivers often stand on top of their transmitter cases while on the drivers stand, this gives them a few extra inches of height for a better view of the track. We put Iron Mike on top of the ProTek case to see how it would hold up. Iron Mike is no lightweight, he weighs in at 240+ lbs, and he felt the ProTek case was sturdy enough for him to stand on. And no, he didn’t cave it with his massive girth.

Misc Notes:

The handle, while quite usable, felt a bit on the cheap side.

The ProTek case is lockable, but the locks are easy defeated.

The radios we used for the review, all Futaba 4PK series units, are fairly wide, requiring a deep case. The ProTek was plenty deep to handle the Futaba.

ROAR legal Lipo batteries slide right in some of the pre-cut holes in the insert.

There are plenty of extra pre-cut spaces in the insert for other gear like servos, receivers, etc.

Summary:

Time to Bash: A It takes all of 2 minutes to pop out the pre-cut foam pieces and get the case ready for action.

Car Show Rating: B The BSRC Bash Crew liked the looks of the ProTek case.

Bash-A-Bility: B We were quite rough with the ProTek case but only managed to tweak it.

Value: C The ProTek case comes in at the same price point as the Futaba brand case. The Futaba feels a bit better constructed, while the ProTek is set-up to simply pop in a new insert if you change radios.

BigSquid Rating: B ProTek has a good radio case here. It takes a good beating, looks good, and is easy to change over to another model if needed.

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.

We reviewed the TrakPower 10.5 MS Series system a few weeks and found out it was indeed a high quality product. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the 8.5 turn version. Is it a lot faster than the 10.5? Is it the best sensored system money can buy? Hit the “read more” button and lets find out…

From: TrakPower
Direct Link: MS Series 8.5 System

Reviewed by: Cubby
Pics by: Cubby

Part #: TKPC6025
Street Price: $260

Speedo Specs:

Waterproof: No
Motor Limit: 2.5 turn (on 2S)
Input Voltage: 3S Lipo max
Rated current: 100 amps cont.
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
BEC: 6 volts, 3 amps
Motor Connectors: Direct solder
Battery Connector: None
Reverse: Yes, programmable
Sensored- Yes
Weight: 55 grams
Dimensions: 24 x 33 x 36mm
Wiring: 12 AWG
Blinky mode: Yes
Programming: Manual
Fan- No

Motor Specs:

Size: 540
Sensored: Yes
Turn: 8.5
Max Voltage: 3S Lipo
Shaft Diameter: 3.175mm
Dimensions: 35.9mm x 52.4mm
Weight: 175 grams
Top Speed (measured by BSRC): 38 mph

What’s In The Box: Speedo, motor, double sided tape, wires, sensor wire, sensor clip (clamp), and instructions.

Direct competitors: 8.5 sensored systems from Viper, Novak, LRP, and Tekin.

Build Quality: Both speedo and motor felt, and looked, of very high quality.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Jason and Iron Mike

Test Venues: RC Outlaws in Collinsville IL, Leisure Hours in Joliet Illinois, baseball diamond, cul-de-sac, and a grassy backyard

Set-up Notes: We installed the TrakPower 8.5 system in an Associated B4 buggy. A Futaba 3PKS was used for signal, a Hitec servo was used for the steering duties, and we used a Pro-Match 2S 5000 mah Lipo for power. Our B4 was geared stock spur (81) and a 25 tooth Robinson pinion. We changed two speedo settings- we cranked in 20 degrees of timing and added reverse.

Ease of Use: The instructions were brief yet informative and easy to understand. Programming is done manually on the Trakpower, and both calibration and setting changes were quite easy. The Trakpower is set-up for the racing crowd so it requires the end user to solder up all the wires. This takes some time, but is the way to go if you are looking for a perfect install.

Drivability/Feel/Powerband: Just like the 10.5 TrakPower system we reviewed a few weeks ago, the 8.5 system had an impressively smooth powerband. From a dead stop the Trakpower 8.5 took off without a hitch every time, then pulled smoothly through the rpm range. There was no massive low end hit like some non-sensored systems, it was the type of smooth power where the more trigger you gave it, the more power you got, with nothing unexpected in between. If you are looking for an exceptionally smooth and easy to drive brushless system, the TrakPower is it.

Thermalling: We did manage to thermal out the speedo one time. The ambient temp was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and we were driving the low slung B4 in relatively tall grass. After we dropped two teeth and backed off the timing we could no longer thermal the speedo out.

Cogging: Even when attempting to get it to cog, we experienced none.

Power: With the TrakPower 8.5 system in a light, low rotating mass B4 buggy, and with relatively tall gearing (with a bit of timing kicked in), the system had impressive power. For instance, when driving for the radar gun to get a top speed reading our buggy could wheelie on demand at pretty much any speed. For an 8.5 sensored system that is some serious power. At the baseball diamond our TrakPower 8.5 buggy had more power than our buggy could put down on the loose dirt. On a hard packed track the TrakPower allowed our buggy to easily make every jump on the track. No, the 8.5 TrakPower doesn’t put out the huge wattage figures of some non-sensored systems on high cell counts, but for a sensored system, it put out more than enough power to do all sorts of fun stuff with.

Brakes: The brakes were just as smooth as the powerband. If you gave the TrakPower a little trigger you got a little bit of brakes, if you gave it a lot, you got a lot of brakes. Very predictable, yet more than strong enough to get the job done.

Fit: One thing I forgot to complain about in the TrakPower 10.5 review was the length of the sensor wire. In both our 10.5 install (in a Pro-Line Pro 2) and with the 8.5 system (installed in an Associated B4) the sensor wire was barely long enough. Yes, it was long enough to work, but not so long as to allow us to mount the speedo in any position we wanted to. The motor wires were plenty long for any application, but with a short sensor wire it makes the longer motor wires moot.

As far as the actual speedo and motor were concerned, they mounted up without issue. The speedo has a relatively small footprint and the motor is a standard 540.

Summary:

Time To Bash: C The TrakPower is easy to program but soldering up all the connections can take some time.

Car Show Rating: B The BSRC Bash Crew liked the “murdered out” black look of the Trakpower system. Black is all the rage now days and the Trakpower system looks good when mounted in a car.

Bash-A-Bility: B We experienced no day ending issues, but it did thermal out on us while driving in grass. When we geared it properly we experienced no issues.

Fun Factor: B The TrakPower 8.5 system shows what “mod” power is all. It isn’t slow and sedate like a 17.5 or mild brushed set-up, it’s legit fast and capable of pulling wheelies at nearly any speed. It has the type of power that one yank of the trigger can put a smile on your face.

Drivability: A Our testers have spent hours talking about just how impressively smooth the TrakPower system is. To date we have to say it is the smoothest, most drivable that we’ve ever tested. The combination of the speedo programming and the way the motor puts out its power results in a HOF smooth powerband.

Power: B For a sensored system the TrakPower 8.5 puts out impressive power. No, it’s not in the same league as some of the non-sensored systems on the market, but the TrakPower 8.5 has good yank that is easily controlled.

Value: B When we tested the TrakPower 10.5 system a few weeks ago it had decent power, but not the type that was really impressive. The 8.5 had more power on tap, enough to do wheelies on command at pretty much any speed, and that’s the point where you get a really good taste of what brushless power is all about. Combine the impressive power with perhaps the smoothest power delivery that money can buy, the $260 price point becomes a good value.

BigSquid Rating: B The TrakPower MS Series 8.5 system had good power with exceptionally smooth power delivery. Is it the best high-end sensored system on the market? I think only a shootout can answer that question for sure, but we were extremely impressed by the TrakPower 8.5 and recommend it to you.

I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that the Vaterra Twin Hammers Rock Racer is the biggest vehicle release of 2013. Its scale looks got a lot of peoples attention, while its unique chassis layout got others to look its way. So what exactly is the Twin Hammers? It’s labeled as a “1.9 Rock Racer”, but with its cantilever suspension and two speed transmission it just might be a versatile bash machine. Lets cut to the chase and find out what the Twin Hammers is really all about…

From: Vaterra RC
Direct Link: Twin Hammers Rock Racer
Unboxing Pictures: Unboxing the Twin Hammers

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale/Size: 10th scale/1.9 crawler
Speeds: Shift on the fly 2 speed
Length: 18 in.
Width: 5.9 in.
Wheelbase: 11.6 in.
Motor: Dynamite 15 Turn Brushed
Speed Controller: Dynamite Tazer 12T
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Spektrum DX3E 2.4 GHz
Differential: Gear diff front, locked center and rear
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: CVD’s
Gear Ratio: Low: 4.05:1 High: 2.27:1
Shocks: Metal bodies and caps, oil-filled
Servo Saver: None
Screws: Hex
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48p
Bearings: Full set
Tires: Vaterra “Race Claws” with foam inserts
Battery: Dynamite 2S 7.4v 2000 mah Lipo
Part Number: VTR03000
Warranty on truck: “… will be free from defects in materials and workmanship at the date of purchase.”
Battery Warranty: 1 year
Street Price: $400

Primary Competition: The Axial Wraith and Axial Exo seem to come closest, there aren’t many hybrid 1.9 rock racers on the market for a direct comparison

What’s Needed To Complete: Nothing, everything you need comes in the box.

Build Quality: Giving the Twin Hammers a quick once over yielded two discoveries related to the assembly quality. First off, one of the front shocks was lacking in oil, and second, one of the rear tires was crooked and extremely out of balance. Otherwise, everything else looked well assembled and ready to jam.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim, “Iron” Mike, Jason and Sam “The Noob”

Test Venues: Dirtburners in St Louis Missouri (a muddy off-road track at the time), Cliff Cave Park in St Louis Missouri, St Joe State Park in Park Hills Missouri, a high school running track, a skate park, a backyard and a cul-de-sac

Set-up Notes: Our Twin Hammers was tested bone stock with the exception of ditching the stock EC3 connectors in favor of Traxxas. Also, we didn’t use the included wall charger, we used a Hyperion 720iNet3 instead.

Turning: At speed the Twin Hammers has a lot of steering, so much that it easily traction rolls on pavement, grass, and on higher bite dirt surfaces. You learn quickly to take it easy on the wheel to keep it from flipping. Those high bite/large sidewall tires combined with a prodigious amount of chassis roll yields a very tippy machine at speed. At lower speeds, like while trail driving on low bite surfaces in low gear, the steering is just about right. When working your way up a tricky trail you might want to turn a few inches to miss a rock or root and the Twin Hammers easily goes where you point it. If you are using the Twin Hammers in its element it steers very well, if you try turning at high speeds or on high bite you are just asking for trouble. If you get into some serious crawling action the stock servo just isn’t up to the task. It’s too weak and has too much play it in for serious crawling.

Jumping: We tried a bunch of different jumps with the Twin Hammers and it always jumped much better than we ever expected, and worlds better than a full blown crawler. We hit small wood ramps, jumps at the track, jumps made from sand, a 2 foot tall wood stunt ramp, and various ramps at the skate park, all the while the Twin Hammers was a pleasure to jump. It would typically maintain a slightly “front end high” attitude while in the air, while stabbing the brakes would instantly flatten things out. Maybe its low top speed kept it from getting into trouble in the air, but the Twin Hammers was a much better jumper than anticipated.

Landings were a bit on the brutal side. The suspension doesn’t allow enough “up travel” for the chassis to bottom out on the ground, this results in a lot of bounce while rebounding from the landing of a jump.

Bumps/Whoops: The Twin Hammers has a lot of suspension travel to soak up all kinds of nastiness. Generally it soaked up gnarly bumps quite well.

On-Road: You really don’t want to take the Twin Hammers on-road, at least not in stock condition. All the attributes that makes the Twin Hammers work so well in incredibly gnarly off-road conditions work against it when driven on pavement. The Twin Hammers has a very low top speed (for a bash machine or any on-roader for that matter) and traction rolls at the hint of turning on pavement. Yes, mods can be done to turn the Twin Hammers into a better on-roader, but bone stock you won’t have much fun with it on pavement.

Grass: The Twin Hammers gets around well in a straight line due to its 4wd and ground clearance. However, its low top speed and tendency to traction roll hurt it as an overall grass machine.

Off-Road: Here is where we get to the nitty grittty of the Twin Hammers. The Twin Hammers can’t do hardcore crawling like a dedicated 2.2 machine can, but it can run circles around crawlers when not in big rocks. Because of its smaller tires and front diff the Twin Hammers simply can’t climb like a 2.2, but it has a lot better handling (and more top speed) in open areas. The Twin Hammers can’t keep up with something like an EXO on open ground like a park or a track, but it can handle hardcore trail driving and crawling better. At the end of the day, the Twin Hammers is a hardcore off-road machine intended for natural trails and smaller rock crawling. Yes, you can use the Twin Hammers anywhere and everywhere, but unless you are driving where its high ground clearance and locked diffs (center and rear) really come into play, then you really aren’t seeing what the Twin Hammers can do.

Tires: Nice scale look featuring medium density foam inserts, the stock tires offer loads of traction on most any surface.

Power: A 15 turn brushed motor isn’t a lot of pure wattage, nor is the truck geared for massive speed. To boil it down, the Twin Hammers is definitely not going to blow anyone away with pure power. Top speed is around 16 mph and it doesn’t really get there in a hurry. But, there is an upside to the soft power. Soft power is easy for noobs to drive, and when in the really tightest of spots it can come in quite handy. For example, while out on a trail drive we came across a log that had fallen across an inlet to the Mississippi River. The log was probably 20 feet long and was about 6 feet above the water. Yes, of course we were going to drive across the log, but falling off of it ment losing the Twin Hammers to the mighty Mississippi forever. I can assure you the soft manageable power was the only type of power we wanted while driving across the log (see the second pic in gallery #2).

Radio: The stock radio is the Spektrum DX3E. Ergonomics were quite nice, the grip had soft inserts for comfort, the wheel had a foam donut on it, and the trigger was properly designed (even for guys with fat fingers). The grip to wheel relationship was also comfortable. Also of note, we got better range out of the DX3E than expected, we don’t know if something has changed or it was simply our imagination. We also seemed to notice an increase in range on the two previous Vaterra’s we have reviewed.

Broken Parts: We broke two parts on our Twin Hammers, the front top deck and the spur gear. The first part, the top deck, broke when landing from a relatively small ramp to grass. No doubt the fact that the Twin Hammers chassis can not bottom out put extra forces on the top deck causing it to break. We’ve jumped dozens of different rc’s off the same ramp without issue, but the top deck on the Vaterra gave way and the truck got no higher than 4 feet off the ground. The spur blew out after a mandatory huck off the roof of a pavilion.

Misc Notes:

The tires are vented on the carcass not in the rim. This is the first time I can remember seeing this from the factory.

The green anodized parts looked trick on the Vaterra.

Yes, the cage is screwed down and takes a while to get off for any repairs or maintenance. The quickest way is by removing 12 screws.

Old school collars are used to adjust the pre-load on the shocks. At the $400 price point I would expect threaded bodies.

That spare tire you see hanging off the back, yes, it’s the real deal not a fake.

The front a-arms have some webbing but are solid, good luck breaking one of those.

Do you break a lot of front shock towers? You won’t on the Twin Hammers, it simply doesn’t have one.

We measured runtime at 9 minutes. This was done on a small course in a backyard, half on pavement, half in the grass, and all the driving was done in “high” gear. 9 minutes comes across as a bit short in this day and age, and is no doubt due to the small’ish battery pack.

The highest ambient temp we ran the Twin Hammers was 70 degrees Fahrenheit and we experienced exceptionally cool motor and speedo temps. The highest temp we measured on the motor was 105 degrees.

We really liked the fact the stock speedo was waterproof, but in serious off-roading or crawling it drove us nuts. Most of the time the speedo would take multiple stabs to get forward or reverse to kick in.

Shifting between the 2 speeds on the fly is a LOT of fun, more fun than I remember from the old E-Maxx days.

The Twin Hammers comes with Vaterra branded wrenches and a extremely nice owners manual. Nice touches.

The stock servo while waterproof, centered horribly and lacked power for crawling or serious trail driving.

The stock battery is stated to be 2000 mah, when tested on a 1C discharge it only put out 1710 mah.

Best Mod Under $5: Heavier stock oil front and rear. We went to AE 60 in the front and AE 40 in the rear. This helps keep the truck flatter in the corners, helps it absorb jumps better, while not really losing any performance in crawling situations.

Best Mod Over $5: The stock servo centers very poorly, has a lot of play in it, and doesn’t have enough power for serious crawling. Putting in a Hitec HS-5646 waterproof servo will solve those issues.

Summary:

Time To Bash: B Everything you need comes right in the box. We didn’t need to make any adjustments before driving (albeit we drove it with one shock low on oil) and the included wall charger should take slightly over 1 hour to charge the Lipo.

Workability: C It takes 12 screws (ok, it can be done in 10, but it is simply easier to do the extra 2 screws) to get the cage off the Twin Hammers to work on anything. Once the cage is off the buggy is quite easy to work on.

Car Show Rating: B The entire BigSquidRC crew really liked the scale, yet aggressive, looks of the Twin Hammers.

Bash-A-Bility: C The Twin Hammers broke its front top deck on a relatively small jump, then we blew out the spur gear landing from a roof jump.

Fun Factor: B Despite its low top speed we had a great time with the Twin Hammers. How so? It was just a nice combination of crawling prowess mixed with more speed.

Handling: C Now this is a tough one. In extremely gnarly off-road conditions like crawling or climbing natural terrain, the Twin Hammers did quite well. But… on general “bash” surfaces like a baseball field, grass, hard packed dirt, or pavement, the Twin Hammers was out of its element.

Value: B Two of the closest competitors to the Twin Hammers, the Wraith and Exo RTR’s clock in at $400 and $350. The Twin Hammers is right in their ballpark in price point and bash-a-bility.

Parts Availability: C After checking 3 local hobby shops neither of the parts we broke were in stock, however, they were at both Horizon and on AMainHobbies.com.

BigSquid Rating: B- Raining outside? No problem, grab the Twin Hammers. Going to the beach? No problem, grab the Twin Hammers. Wanna do some rock crawling? No problem, grab the Twin Hammers. Going to hit the local park for some hill-climbing? No problem, grab the Twin Hammers. The Twin Hammers is a decent hardcore off-road machine, that is also quite unique and great fun to trail drive with.

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.

You don’t see a lot of sensored 10.5 brushless systems being used by hardcore bashers. Why? Because they typically don’t have the yank needed for the bashing crowd. Today we’ll be taking an in depth look at the latest sensored system from TrakPower, their MS Series 10.5, to see if it is bash worthy or if it should be left for track use only. Let’s jump right in shall we?

From: TrakPower
Direct Link: MS Series Brushless Racing System

Reviewed by: Cubby
Pics by: Cubby

Part Number: TKPC6035
Street Price: $260

Speedo Specs:

Waterproof: No
Motor Limit: 2.5 turn (on 2S)
Input Voltage: 3S Lipo max
Rated current: 100 amps cont.
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
BEC: 6 volts, 3 amps
Motor Connectors: Direct solder
Battery Connector: None
Reverse: Yes, programmable
Sensored- Yes
Weight: 55 grams
Dimensions: 24 x 33 x 36mm
Wiring: 12 AWG
Blinky mode: Yes
Programming: Manual
Fan- No

Motor Specs:

Size: 540
Sensored: Yes
Turn: 10.5
Max Voltage: 3S Lipo
Shaft Diameter: 3.175mm
Dimensions: 35.9mm x 52.4mm
Weight: 175 grams
Top Speed (measured by BSRC): 34 mph

What’s In The Box: Speedo, motor, double sided tape, wires, sensor wire, sensor clip (clamp), and instructions.

Direct competitors: 10.5 sensored systems from Viper, Novak, LRP, and Tekin.

Build Quality: Very nice from top to bottom.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, and Iron Mike

Test Venues: Leisure Hours in Joliet Illinois, local city park, cul-de-sac, and a grassy backyard

Set-up Notes: We used the 10.5 TrakPower system in our Pro-Line Pro-2 short course truck. A Futaba 4PK Super R was used for control, and a Hitec servo was enlisted to point the front wheels. Also of note, we only used 3S Lipo power during testing. We used a 20 tooth Robinson pinion on the stock Pro-Line spur gear. All speedo settings were left stock except for the addition of reverse.

Ease of Use: The TrakPower is intended for the racing crowd so it requires some soldering to get up and going. If you are a hobbyist and don’t know how to solder, don’t use that as an excuse to skip the TrakPower, you need to learn how to solder if you plan on staying in the hobby. On the programming side of things the TrakPower uses a pretty standard calibration and programming set-up. The instructions are well written and make calibration and programming changes a breeze. Yes, setting changes could be easier if done via a programming card or a laptop, but lugging those around can be a hassle. As is, programming the TrakPower manually works just fine.

Drivability/Feel/Powerband: This category is where the TrakPower really shines. From a dead stop it is smooth as butter on a hot summers day. There is simply no hint of a lurch or lugging from a dead stop, it just takes off smoothly. From there, there is no “hit” through the rest of the powerband. The power simply builds smoothly through the entire rpm range. We only drove the TrakPower on 3S, which typically makes any powerband hit even harder, and the TrakPower remained exceptionally smooth. The incredibly smooth powerband made the TrakPower exceptionally easy to drive, especially compared to non-sensored units that can hit like a freight train on higher cell counts. To boil it down, the TrakPower is perhaps the smoothest driving brushless system we’ve ever driven, bar none.

Thermalling: We didn’t have any issues with thermalling and our motor temps stayed quite low despite being run on 3S. But… I must note that conservative gearing and low ambient temps certainly helped keep the motor temps low. The TrakPower 10.5 system was never run in an ambient over 50 degrees Fahrenheit and we never saw a motor temp over 115 degrees. Of course you can expect much higher motor temps in warmer ambient conditions (and/or with higher gearing).

Cogging: We experienced no cogging whatsoever with the TrakPower system.

Power: The TrakPower 10.5 on 3S had plenty of power for big roost, wheelies, and making every jump on the track. However, it is a sensored 10.5 system, meaning it simply does not have the “insane” power that some of the other high cell count non-sensored systems have. Yes, the TrakPower has more than enough power to have a great time, but no, it doesn’t have the insane/undrivable power of some of the non-sensored systems on the market.

Brakes: On a loose dirt surface the brakes on our TrakPower Pro-Line truck were nearly perfect right out of the box. Of note was their progression, they were quite soft at small trigger input and progressively got much stronger. Other brushless systems seem to offer too little or way too much brake with no progression in between, but the TrakPower was not like that. Rolling on the brakes on a slick surface brought our 2wd SCT to a very controllable stop. On high bite surfaces the TrakPower had lots of braking power on tap, bringing our truck to a halt on a dime if needed.

Fit: The TrakPower speedo has a small footprint and doesn’t have a heatsink or fan on top, thus making it relatively small. The TrakPower left tons of extra room in our Pro-Line SCT, and it should be an easy install in most any vehicle. The motor was a standard 540, meaning it should bolt right up in any “normal” 10th scale vehicle.

Summary:

Time To Bash: C Programming is very easy but you’ll need to solder up all the battery and motor wires.

Car Show Rating: B The speedo sports the popular murdered out/wrap look while the motor is black with an anodized blue ring. Overall a good looking system.

Bash-A-Bility:A We subjected the TrakPower system to high g-forces by hucking our truck off of huge skate park ramps and landing on concrete. We also drove it with the speedo flopping around inside the truck (the double sided tape had let go). Finally, we only drove the system on 3S, its maximum rated cell-count. After giving it our all we’ve had absolutely no issues with the TrakPower system.

Fun Factor:B While the TrakPower system didn’t have the insane power of a non-sensored system, it did do something we’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing before- a very drivable 3S powerband. There was plenty of power instantly on tap, and more importantly, we could actually control it. That was quite fun in our eyes.

Drivability:A As mentioned above, the TrakPower MS Series brushless system just might be the smoothest, most drivable brushless system on the market. Absolutely top notch.

Power:C Compared to a stock brushed system the TrakPower will blow your mind with power. Compared to another 10.5 it is right on point. But… compared to some of the non-sensored/high cell count systems on the market the TP 10.5 isn’t in the same league for pure power.

Value:C The TrakPower comes in right at, or below, the price point of other popular 10.5 racing systems. Compared to some of the more powerful non-sensored systems, the TrakPower is typically more expensive, but the non-sensored systems don’t have the buttery smooth powerband.

BigSquid Rating:B The TrakPower MS Series 10.5 boils down to this- are you looking for blow-your-tires-off-the-rim power, or are you looking for solid power with fantastic control? If you are looking for tire shredding power the TrakPower system is not for you. If you are looking for an exceptionally easy to drive system with plenty of smile producing power, then the TrakPower is definitely worth your cash.

The RC world was very surprised when ECX announced they were going to have two 8th scale buggies added to their lineup! It just wasn’t something we expected from the brand. We were very excited to get our hands on both Revenge versions. This review is of the electric version. Did it live up to our expectations? Was it a good representation of the ECX brand? Keep reading to find out..

Review By: Adam the intern  

Specs:
Type: 4WD electric buggy
Scale: 1/8
Length: 19.1 in (485mm)
Width: 12.1 (309mm)
Wheelbase: 12.7 in (323mm)
Weight: 6.7 lb (3039 g)
Chassis: 3mm plate 6061-T6 aluminum
Suspension: Independent
Drivetrain: 4WD
Tire Type: All-terrain
Motor or Engine: 550 4-pole non-sensored brushless
Radio: Spektrum DX2E
Wheel Size: 3.21 in (81.5mm)
Kit/RTR: RTR
Shock Type: 12mm aluminum oil-filled.

Primary Competition: Other RTR 1/8th scale buggies.

 What’s Needed To Complete: Your choice of a battery and charger, out of the box the car can handle up to 3s but in order to get the full power of the esc on 4s you will have to upgrade the motor.   

Test Drivers: Brian, Wrench, and Adam.

Test Venues: Leisure Hours Raceway, parking lots, and a couple of parks.

Set-up Notes:  The buggy came completely ready to go and had no problems out of the box. We installed a 3s Dynamite Speedpack Lipo and everything went smooth.

Turning: The steering on the buggy is a little bit too slow so at the track it defiantly takes some getting used to when you first start to drive the car. We checked to see if there was anything that was too tight in the steering and everything was smooth. Although it was slow the servo took some punishment and didn’t have any problems.

Jumping: The buggy did great at the track and handled jumps well. It ended up being slightly nose heavy but when we slid the battery towards the back more it evened out the weight and it stayed nice and level in the air. We took the car off some bigger jumps in an effort to test its limits and it survived a few 30ft. jumps and is still in perfect drivable condition.

Bumps/Whoops: There were no problems gliding over anything that got in its way on and off the track. Even got the chance to hit some parking lot speed bumps which was a lot of fun.

Off-Road: The Revenge handled off-road surfaces very nicely, for an 1/8th scale buggy the suspension had plenty of travel and took everything that we threw at it. The car had enough power to clear a two lane street without a ramp and continued to impress on and off the track.

Tires: The buggy has Speedtreads Watch Dog tires which surprised me especially in the snow and on ice! They were able to perform like off-road tires when needed and still got the buggy around the track with very good traction.

Power: Honestly when I saw that the buggy ran on 3s I wasn’t sure if it was going to have enough power to push around a heavy 1/8th scale platform. I was very surprised when I pulled the trigger and it had no problem breaking the tires loose! The Dynamite Fuze 2500Kv Sensorless Brushless Motor has plenty of power to handle the buggy.

Radio: The Spektrum DX2E transmitter performed great. I liked how soft the trigger was, a lot of these new RTRs from other companies have super stiff controls on their remotes and it just makes it feel cheap! ECX made a good choice to put a quality Spektrum radio in the Revenge.

Broken Parts: For this section I only encountered one break! The shocks. We broke a front shock and a rear shock. The end of the shock shaft broke off inside the tie rod end leaving no threads to put on a new one. Both shocks broke the same exact way so it could be that the shock shafts themselves are a little brittle. Other than that nothing broke and this thing got put through some serious punishment!

Misc Notes: The car is fully water-proof which is very nice because its not always nice out and its never a good day when you cant run your car because of the weather!

Best Mod Under $5: Some better shock shafts would really fix the only weak spot I was able to find on the buggy.

Best Mod Over $5: The only thing that would need to be changed is the steering servo its just too slow to use on a track.

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

Time To Bash:  C  Everything was included but the battery and charger.

Workability: C The Revenge has a very nice easy to work on platform. Everything went smooth when changing out the shocks and nothing stripped or was hard to get to. 

Car Show Rating: B This buggy looks awesome! The paint scheme and white lettering on the sidewalls of the tires really makes it stand out!

Bash-A-Bility: C The only problem was the shock shafts. If that were fixed, this car would take everything you throw at it.

Fun Factor: B The fact that its waterproof really adds to the fun that you can have with the Revenge. Being able to run in all weather conditions is very important when your a basher.

Handling: C The steering isn’t bad when your bashing in the backyard but when it’s out on the track it needs to be sped up, or you are going to miss some turns.

Value: B The price isn’t bad for the quality of the car its very durable and a lot of fun to bash or race on the track. 

Big Squid Rating: C+ This car defiantly puts up with some abuse and with some minor mods could be a very bullet proof basher!