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

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

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

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!

Some of the highlights of the Cobra Be RTR are – waterproof speed controller, 2.4 GHz radio gear, metal gear servo, big bore shocks, aluminum shock towers, 7075 aluminum chassis, and 1850kv brushless motor. Part number for the new buggy is #600006 and you can get more information over on the Serpent Website.

Check out THIS LINK for more Serpent news right here on BigSquidRC.

The new Jeep Wrangler Wraith will not only make a great rock racer, but it also offers incredibly detailed scale realism and is certain to be a hit with the scale/trail driving crowd. Some of the important features include – full tube chassis, straight axles with lockers, heavy duty interchangeable face beadlock wheels, licensed BFG tires, off-center pumpkin axles, and Wild Boar driveshafts. A 20 turn brushed motor, Castle crawling speed controller, and 2.4 GHz radio gear round out the package.

The Axial Jeep Wrangler Wraith has a part number of #AX90031 and is priced at $399. For more information on all the fine products that Axial offers just click on THIS LINK. For more Axial news right here on BigSquidRC Click Here.

Some of the features on the RC10B4.2 Race Spec include- digital metal gear steering servo, 3300kv brushless motor, 2.4 GHz radio system, and water resistant speed control and receiver box. The part number for B4.2 RS is #9042 and the street price is $249. Hit up THIS LINK for more details and information.

Spin the wheel and take a chance on a BigSquidRC TGIF Mystery Link.

The new part number is #7039 and the street price is $260. Hit up THIS LINK to view more specifications over on the Team Associated website.

We have a lot more Associated news right HERE on BigSquidRC.

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.

The Rival Mini Monster comes with a 2.4 Ghz radio system, four oil filled shocks, 370 brushed motor, and 6 cell Ni-MH battery pack. It’s an RTR, so it is ready to drive right out of the box, and its part number is #20111. June is the expected release date, and you can get more information at THIS LINK on the Associated website.

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

* 18th scale 4wd
* 2.4 GHz radio system
* Brushed 370 sized motor
* 6 cell Ni-MH battery and charger

Part number for the Apex Mini is #20119, street pricing should be around $140, and it should hit dealer shelves in early May. Hit up THIS LINK for more information on the Apex Mini Touring Car.

TGIF my friends, how about a Mystery Link?