Just a few years ago not many people knew about Rlaarlo, but that has all changed today. With a wide variety of products ranging from high-speed cars to crawlers, Rlaarlo is attempting to take over the rc world with affordable, high quality rc cars.
A few weeks ago we were shipped Rlaarlo’s XTS-S10 4WD Brushless RTR Rally Car to see what we thought of it. The XTS-S10 is a tenth scaled rally car that has a realistic body, to go along with its potent brushless power system. Is the XTS-S10 easy to drive? Does it hold up to hard bashing? Read on for all the good stuff…
From: Rlaarlo
Direct Link: XTS-S10 4WD Brushless RTR Rally Car
Review By: Cubby
Pictures By: T-Money
Specs-
RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Scale: 1/10
Width (measured by BSRC): 7.75″
Wheelbase (measured by BSRC): 10.20″
Motor: 3,300kV brushless
Speed Controller: Sensored brushless 80 amp
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: 2.4GHz with 6 channels
Differential: 3 gear diffs
Driveshafts: Dogbones
Shocks: Oil filled, aluminum bodies and caps
Screws: Metric hex
Battery: 3S 2,200mah 35C Li-Po
Part Number: #XTS-S10
Top Speed (measured by BSRC on 3S stock LiPo): 34 MPH
Street Price: $329
What’s In The Box: Inside the box you get the car, full sized radio, LiPo battery, charger, owners manual, and some light tools to work on the car with.
Build Quality: The build quality looked good when we cracked open the box. The shocks were well built and not leaking, the diffs worked well, the body looked immaculate, and the radio and ESC were all ready to go.
Test Drivers: Well, we had myself, our resident pro driver T-$$$, Iron Mikeee, plus we had the RC Kid on hand to help out.
Test Venues: We ran the new Rlaarlo at two different parks. Our weather has not been good the last month, so we mostly face cold, wet conditions wherever we ran.
Set-up Notes: Like always, we ran the Rlaarlo bone stock, mostly. We used the included 3S battery pack, but used a tried and true Hitec battery charger on it, plus we attempted to reduce the ride height a bit by reducing pre-load on the shocks.
Turning: Overall, the XTS-S10 turned really well. We felt like it turned best on packed dirt, where it just seemed dialed out of the box. The car always tended to have a lot of steering, but on packed dirt, it just felt perfect. On packed dirt, the Rlaarlo had just the right amount of turn-in at corner entry, then we felt like we could drift it all day after smashing the throttle at the corner apex. It also comes with a gyro to help on slick surfaces, but we only tried it for a little bit as the car felt really good without it. On pavement the car still had a good amount of turn-in at corner entry, but it wasn’t as planted as it felt on dirt. Also of note, we rarely got the car to traction roll, despite it’s relatively high ride height, which was really nice. This allowed us to really drive the car like we stole it, without much fear of having to make a long walk to right the car after a traction roll. Does it corner perfectly? No, but it corners really well, and that’s bone stock. And don’t forget, the XTS-S10 is highly adjustable, so you can dial it in to whatever surface or conditions you are driving on.
Jumping: As the XTS-S10 is a legit rally car, of course we had to send-it a few times on jumps. The 3 differential drivetrain made the Rlaarlo really easy to keep level in the air, and we felt like it tended to jump fairly flat and straight. Now, as it is a rally car, it doesn’t have a bunch of suspension travel like a monster truck would, but for a rally car, it might be the best jumper that we’ve tested.
Bumps/Whoops: Out of the box, the XTS-S10 sits fairly high. The stock suspension is set up that way because it’s a rally car intended for both off, and on-road driving. That extra suspension travel and taller ride height allowed our test car to really blast through the rough sections. At moderate speeds the car would handle bumps exceptionally well for a rally car, and when pushed to the absolute limit, it would hold its own until things got too gnarly. When taken past its limit in the rough, the car would either have the rear end step out, or the front would dig in. Overall, the XTS-S10 rocked in the rough stuff for a rally car.
On-Road: The relatively tall ride height and softness of the suspension for off-road did make it interesting to drive WFO on pavement. While it rarely traction rolled, it did have a fair bit of chassis roll which kept the corner speeds reasonable. Yes, it’s really fun to drive on-road, especially when pounding the gas at a corner apex and just letting the 3S brushless system eat. Drifting is fairly easy on pavement, and even more so, when you dial the gyro in.
Grass: In shorter grass the XTS-S10 had zero problems getting around. In fact, it turned out to be a lot of fun driving in grass. The power system just kept pumping out big power and the stock tires did their best to put it to the ground. If the only area you have to drive is grass, if it’s kept fairly short, you’ll love the XTS-S10.
Tires: Ya, so what about those stock tires? We were big fans actually. They are made from fairly soft rubber and the stock tread worked decently on a wide variety of surfaces. They look good, they performed good, not bad for a RTR.
Power: So about that 3,300kV brushless power system- it worked well for us. It felt like the stock gearing was right in the ballpark, we didn’t feel any cogging or anything weird while driving it. All we seemed to get was constant unrelenting power. If you punch it from a dead stop, all four tires will instantly start throwing roost, and we never felt like we needed more power during our test period. The car tops out at 34 mph on the included battery and it gets there fast.
Radio: Oh yes, thank you Rlaarlo for the full sized transmitter that worked well for us during out testing. We pretty much didn’t even notice it at all, which is a good sign.
Broken Parts: Did I mention just how bad our weather has been? During our test period, the warmest day we had was 50 degrees Fahrenheit, with our coldest test day being 22 degrees. All you long time hobbyists know that cold temps equal broken parts, but that’s not what we saw with the Rlaarlo. Initially we took it really easy as the temps were so cold, but at the end of the review we just drove it like we stole it. The end result? The Rlaarlo held up like a true basher, it just kept on going. We never had to stop and fix something small, or big, it just kept going. We had to take the car to the extreme level to bust it, with a 30 mph slam to a curb finally taking out a front c-hub. If you are worried that the Rlaarlo is just some cheap car that won’t hold up, that’s not what we saw during out testing. Sure, you can break any car if you send it hard enough, but for normal bashing, we had zero issues.
Misc Notes:
The car comes stock with 4mm thick aluminum shock towers. They look beautiful and never bent during out review.
The XTS-S10 comes with a hidden body clip system that worked fine for us. As we kept sending the car. cinching up with the body became a bit harder, but the system always worked.
The car has a lot of bump steer up front. We didn’t notice it much while driving, but you hardcore guys who might race it, probably will.
Front toe-in is easily adjusted via turnbuckles, but the camber, not so much.
That aluminum chassis and motor mount? Oh yes, also very solid and worked perfectly.
How about that big light system? We really liked it. The lights were kinda like a cherry on top as they added realism and bling factor.
Summary: If you are looking for an affordable, hot looking rally car for bashing, the Rlaarlo XTS-S10 worked really well for our bash crew. The car was a pleasure to drive, it had solid power, and it held up, even in cold temperatures. With that said, the Big Squid RC Bash Crew can very highly recommend the XTS-S10 to you.
