GOING BIG! CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF RRCI SETTING THE PACE 7 PAGE GADGET SHOW LIVE 2011 DEMO REPORT BASHING... ON MASS. at this year s...

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1 CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF RRCI SETTING THE PACE June BASHING... ON MASS 06> Traxxas Stampede VXL 1/10th 4WD SNAKE EYES Venom Gambler 1/10th 2WD Short Course Truck BEST BOOT FORWARD 9 Tamiya 1/10th 2WD FF03 JAS Honda Civic Touring Car GOING BIG! at this year s... 7 PAGE GADGET SHOW LIVE 2011 DEMO REPORT p01_rrcjun11.indd 1 19/4/11 11:40:28

2 KIT REVIEW WORDS: SPEEDY STEVE IMAGES: SPEEDY STEVE QUICK SPEC Manufacturer Traxxas USA Type 4WD Brushless Monster Truck Price UK RRP Scale 1/10th Power 4WD Electric Length 397 mm without wheelie bar Front Track 340 mm Rear Track 340 mm Centre Ground Clearance 74 mm Weight 1.88 kg Wheelbase 275 mm TRAXXAS STAMPEDE VXL 1/10TH 4WD MONSTER TRUCK BASHING... ON MASS In 1994, Traxxas launched what would become one of the top-selling hobby-level electric stadium trucks ever the Rustler. At the same time was released its high-riding sibling that at the time almost defied classification. In a world of 1/10th racing buggies and big trucks the Stampede was very different and certainly got a lot of attention. Seventeen years on and the Stampede is still regarded across the world as one of the best beginner and out and out bashing monster trucks ever made. Thanks to two incarnations of upgrades, first VXL on the original 2WD and now 4WD and minor re-design the Stampede just got even better! /11

3 KIT REVIEW It looks like the Stampede of old, but it s very, very different! WHAT WOULD I KNOW? The 4x4 monster truck is nothing new to me, and in fact shaped my love of the hobby from my earliest years. Back when I was a young lad, I had a Tamiya Clod Buster and a Kyosho Big Brute. I remember the hours of fun I used to have just messing about with huge jumps in my garden or taking them out to go play in mud and dirt, or attempt to climb some steep slopes around the area I lived in. In later years I ve progressed to 1/8th trucks like the HPI Savage, and although it s great fun, it s not the smallest truck in the world to transport, needs all the paraphernalia of any Nitro model and a lot more room to bash in than you may think. Hey I ve even been granted an inside peek at the No Limits UK Chapter s antics at the 2011 Monster Jam event after joining in at the Birmingham and Cardiff shows. You could say I m as big a fan now as I was when I was a child, and the fact that I probably still have a similar mental age is always a factor! BASHING HAS EVOLVED When the ED rang to ask if I wanted to review the new Stampede 4x4 VXL I jumped at the chance. Traxxas have been bringing out some very well built and designed VXL based cars of late, and I knew this wouldn t be any different. Living in the States for a while myself, the brand is one I ve always followed and over the years I ve owned a few. The last Traxxas I owned was a fully carbon fibre TRX1 that I used to race, and that I bought second-hand many, many, years ago and man did I love it at the time! Doing a little research online in the States, the first batch released there to retail had gone down a storm, with new owners raving about the Stampede 4x4, and even doing some minor modifications to them and racing them as 1/10th electric Truggies! Although there isn t really a following for 1/10th Truggies here, it is definitely something to think about as the 4x4 Stampede owner could then have two cars rolled into one, a fun basher and with minor set-up changes, and a different body a serious racer. For this review though I am concentrating on the Stampede for what it is designed for, a robust and brutally fast, all out fun machine. Getting the box delivered to my work office caused a bit of a stir and everyone was intrigued as to what my latest review was. As my day-to-day job involves working with medical lasers, to my colleagues, this was something very different and they were soon opening the box themselves and having a look. Once unboxed, the first comment was come on charge it up so we can jump the work s van To me that sounded like a great idea at the time, but as I knew there was far more involved in producing a good, in-depth review, I declined the suggestion! Getting home that evening it was time to start stripping the Stampede 4x4 VXL down and see what it s all about. So what do you get in the box? Well nearly everything you could need to get up and running, the only thing you have to go out and buy is 4 x AA batteries for the impressive 2.4 GHz radio. It even comes with a new design of Traxxas 4 Amp fast charger so should only take 45 minutes or so to charge a pack! Once unboxed, the first comment was come on charge it up so we can jump the work s van To me that sounded like a great idea at the time, but as I knew there was far more involved in producing a good, in-depth review, I declined the suggestion! 06/

4 KiT Review TRAxxAS STAmpede vxl 1/10TH 4wd monster TRucK Honey i shrunk the Slash 4x4 that is! Above: It s a tight fit, but everything has its place on the chassis Above: Traxxas Talons work well on most surfaces Right: Big bore and ready to bash 30wt oil as standard Now that s not bad Traxxas as I, and everyone who s ever owned a Traxxas model thought it would include a standard 800 ma slow charger that would take 5-6 hours. At first glance of the chassis it looks like they have put a Slash 4x4 chassis in the wash and shrunk it! It is basically a scaled down version with the same type of layout and features. I remember when the Slash 2WD first came out I was unsure on the way the steering servo stuck through the chassis and was kind of exposed to debris and dirt in use. It lowers the centre of gravity yes, that s granted, and I haven t heard of anyone who races or bashes a Slash that s ever had any problems, but it s always looked a little weird to me! Running? I do, however, love the idea of waterproof electrics, and although I don t intend to run it actually under water, I do want to be able to take it out when it s wet and not worry about frying the servo or ESC. Now if you re a new convert to the brand, and as this is a RTR you would think Above: Well balanced electrics won t upset the handling the owner s manual would probably be as poor as some of the others out there. Wrong, as ever Traxxas cram so much into their manual that you know the truck inside and out after just a couple of cups of coffee reading it. It walks you through in easy to understand steps all the basics of setting up the electrics, geometry, slipper, shocks, gearing and so much more! You won t need to adjust anything out of the box as (in my best Austin Powers voice) it s plug and play baby. If you do have any issues with the electrics or mechanics then normally looking in here first can save the day unless you are 100% sure you ve mullered something really well in a crash. As well as the owner s manual you get a normal paper booklet nicely labeled: what to do if your model breaks now cry isn t the right reply, but it s full of all the parts listings for this truck and also some nice exploded diagrams so you see where everything goes and what its part number it is. Looking through the owner s manual I was amazed at some of the things the ESC can do. Now it s not a sensored racing spec brushless system but knowing the reputation the VXL has gained since its launch, it will do a proper job. There are three modes in the ESC; Sports, Race and Training. The cool thing about training mode is that it just reduces the throttle power to 50% and keeps the steering just as responsive. This means that parents don t have to be put off by what the Stampede VXL 4x4 CAN DO, Training Mode just lets the younger driver get a feel for the thing and understand how to drive it properly, before going to the full flavour running and possibly 3S 60 mph+ antics. I m sure that if you buy for a son or daughter it s very wise to use this setting as then they will only hit things half as fast! /11

5 Kit REViEW above: a few minutes later, and the diff is out! Race Mode is just that, forward and brakes. Default is the normal Sports Mode adding reverse back into in the mix. Of cause the name of the ESC VXL-3S gives away that it s 3S LiPo compatible (not that I think you would ever need any more than 3S, as it s bonkers!) It also comes with low voltage cut off so you won t over discharge your LiPo s whatever the cell count you fit. Something I didn t now until I was reading through the manual (Yes I do read manuals not just jump straight in) was that the VXL-3s can also run sensored motors! Now in this application there s no need really, but if you are into racing say a Slash or a Slash 4x4 it opens up your choice of motor. There is a port on the front which is rubber covered for protection. Another nice touch is if you do run it in the sensored set up, if the sensor wire does come detached or damaged in use, the ESC will automatically switch to sensorless mode and keep you going. It won t be quite as smooth to drive, but if you do use it for racing it s better than having to drop out altogether. Rating, turns and POWER! As this model comes with a 3000 mah 7-cell NiMH fitted as standard, the LiPo cut off isn t active, so make sure you activate this before using LiPo s! It s a simple task and just requires you to hold the single EZ set button on the ESC until the motor emits a tone and the main LED goes green. top tip It s a simple thing to memorise checking if the LiPo low voltage cut out is active: Green for Go, Red for No and will safeguard your LiPo s from over discharging in use! The Brushless VXL motor is a nice 3500 kv rated item and this is fairly close in kv ratings to a 13.5T sensored motor so will have plenty of torque and power in it to have some fun. At 11.1 V (or 3S) it will produce a staggering 38,850 rpm! The steering servo is the 2075 model, and above: Only two internal gears, but sturdy and brushless-proof above: set the slipper loose at first and tune to suit Traxxas s strongest waterproof servo at 125 oz/in of torque and a transit time of 0.17 seconds to 60 again more than just adequate for this truck, Traxxas know their stuff! t-q COnfusing? Getting to the radio, the look of the Traxxas TQ system hasn t changed for years, but what s inside has looking at it you think you have very little to adjust parameter-wise but you would be very wrong. Although they call it a simple two button programming Tx, I can see it confusing a few people (it even got me for a bit and I program lasers!) but it does offer: Trims, Steering sensitivity, End points, Dual rates, Servo reversing and you can even flick between Training Mode and Sports Mode on the Tx! This is really clever and allows you to switch to Training if you re passing the transmitter to someone you don t trust at full speed (me? ED!) and then switch it back and you re in control of everything pure Genius! the Brushless VXL motor is a nice 3500 kv rated item and this is fairly close in kv ratings to a 13.5t sensored motor so will have plenty of torque and power in it to have some fun. 06/

6 Kit review TRaxxaS STampEDE VxL 1/10TH 4WD monster TRuck top tip Although it says waterproof on the electrics, think of it more as Water Resistant. All Traxxas models will take a really good dousing in water, mud, snow etc., but you will need to remember to spray them in WD40 and dry them afterwards. And don t forget that that s after you have cleaned them thoroughly! If you put any Traxxas vehicle away wet VXL or not and caked in mud, things will corrode (even with rubber shielded bearings). Don t be surprised if the next time you gun the throttle you get a genie escape from your ESC! Below: Neat idea traxxas, these guards protect shocks from dirt (and fit the Slash 4x4 too ED!) I always clean, WD40 and dry all my Off Road cars if they get wet (even some of mine! ED) and then thoroughly dry them out somewhere warm before running them again. If you spend 400 on a R/C vehicle give it some TLC and it will reward you with hours of use. Don t, and get ready for an electrical or mechanical failure pretty fast it s common sense! I do remember the ED having some fun with a submerged Summit a while back, but then that was brushed not brushless, and would cope with total immersion much better. Finally, the receiver looks like a 5-channel unit although it s truly 4 as you can plug two steering servos in rather than fitting a splitter (not that two servos fit into the Stampede) but still a cool feature for other vehicles. Included in with the instructions is a nice little set of Allen keys and spanners along with the 17-tooth optional pinion to get you going just that bit faster once you have got used to the power. Stamp mech Let s dig into the mechanics a bit then The Stampede runs a very similar set-up to the Slash 4x4 which has been out a while now in three different guises (Vanilla 4x4, Platinum and Ultimate) and is both an awesome bashing truck, as well as a truck that can hold its own out there on the track. So with a bit of fine-tuning this all bodes well for the Stampede. There is very little in common with its 2WD original, with only the rear wheels and body posts looking to be the same design. As ever Traxxas have added some very nice touches, like the mud guards for both front and rear wishbones. These offer a little more protection to the shocks along with a nice strong front bumper to take even the hardest of impacts. I m not a huge fan of the centre driveshaft going through the chassis into the front diff as this then means there is a hole for dirt to get in underneath, but other than this minor gripe, it shouldn t cause a huge problem. There is quite a bit of play forward to back in this shaft, and I guess this is in case of chassis flex if taking a big hit (not that there should be much in the tub style chassis). I do really like the clear plastic guard that they put over the top of the propshaft. They could have quite easily left it without this, but it s nice to think they are really thinking about the amount of abuse this truck will get (especially from me and the rest of the RRCi crew). Having a slipper is a very smart idea in a truck like this as it will take a lot of the shock out of the driveline on landing big jumps and should protect the diffs from damage. There is a centre diff right: Neatly hidden away in a waterproof box, the 2.4 GHz Rx option for the Slash 4x4 and looking in the parts listing there is also one for the Stampede as well. In bashing and leisure use steer clear as it will improve the turning radius and steering response, but at the expense of possibly damaging the diff gears on a big, power-on landing. If you were to go as mentioned before the Truggy route, and get racing it may be a nice option to use this, but remember to actually land the jumps off the throttle or say bye, bye to your diffs! There is also a heavy-duty slipper option if you intend to really go for it and run 3S on a higher gearing permanently. I would also recommend buying the optional VXL fan to keep the temps down and aid cooling in the warmer months. It is wise to check how tight the slipper is when you first get the truck out of the box and it even shows you how to do this in the owner s manual. We have found here at RRCi that even when well set at the factory, it pays to loosen off the slipper another say 1 4 turn (1 complete turn out from tight is the usual setting) and then fine-tune its action to suit your running surface. protect to Survive The slipper looks to be well built and I wouldn t go over tightening it as you won t gain anything from this other than stripping gears! Now getting to the diffs for fine-tuning or repair is very easy, in total to get the whole front end off only takes five screws and the back just four screws! You don t even have to take the gear cover off to get to the slipper or remove it. Below left: inside the 38,850 rpm capable brushless motor Below right: ez set and sensored or sensorless motor compatible the vxl-3s esc Left: The TQ 2.4 GHz radio can be a little confusing at times /11

7 Below: simple yet effective chassis and driveline design as ever traxxas have added some very nice touches, like the mud guards for both front and rear wishbones. these offer a little more protection to the shocks along with a nice strong front bumper to take even the hardest of impacts. To get to the diffs you don t have to take the complete sub assembly apart or even off the chassis. It takes just eight screws to get to the front by splitting the casing and seven to get to the rear. The diffs themselves look to be well designed and fairly strong, although they only use a two gear planetary style rather than the 4 gears that you get in say a 1/8th RallyX. This is more down to space inside the diff than anything else. Access to adjust the gear mesh is great although there is a cover protecting all the gears it only has one screw that holds it in place. Access to the motor screws is a little tighter but then if I was to change motors I would just take the back end off to fit it then bolt it back on to get the gear mesh spot on. Attached to the back end of the rear diff is a very handy adjustable height wheelie bar, I can see this getting used a lot on high grip surfaces. I think for the most fun and wow factor you need to have it set as high as possible so you get huge grin inducing wheelies. Finally, before going off testing let s have a look at the suspension. Now, even though this is more of a fun R/C car than a racecar, Traxxas made sure you could adjust every part of the suspension and the manual even gives you some tips on what to try on different surfaces. Out of the box the composite shocks are really smooth and unlike some RTR s didn t look like they had leaked at all in transit. They felt extremely smooth and well matched to the springs. A quick look in the manual confirmed my thoughts that it felt like 30wt oil in all the shocks. This should be perfect for general messing about, and off road fun. If you re going to be doing silly jumps (like me) I recommend going up to 50wt. Once I ve had a thrash about on the dirt I will be swapping out the factory 30wt to 50wt all round, as I do plan to try some rather large jumps Left: the diff and casings cut away have a good look inside, as you wont be doing it very often! kit review (giggling like a small child!) and believe me I m sure you will be too if you get your hands on one of these! Let the Van have It! So after having some fun with the jigsaw and drills, I had a ramp 50 cm high and 90 cm long hopefully this should be enough to get me over my works van! But for a start and because I don t want to go into work explaining why there s a Stampede shaped dent in the roof or a hole where the back window used to be I thought I would get some practice jumping onto grass from a big run up first. Having charged the supplied 7-cell NiMH battery I also made an adaptor lead from all my LiPo s to the Traxxas plug, so I could use them too. After doing this I did think why didn t I just put 4 mm bullet connectors on the ESC, but hey ho! It was now time for some real fun. I first took it out on the road outside my house to get a feel for how fast it was going to be and if I felt I needed a bit more to attempt The Big Jump. I am happy to report that it had great pick up and wheelies like a mad thing even with the stock pack fitted. It has a high C of G but that s a monster truck for you! Too quick on the steering and it will grip roll and tumble. Most of the time it will end up back on its wheels and off you go again. If you drive it properly you can do some impressive speed runs or wheelies and even power slide it on the loose by modulating the amount of throttle used. Swapping to 2S LiPo it was punchier to drive, and even with the added initial acceleration I felt it wasn t going to have the top speed to clear the van. Now Traxxas state in the manual that with the optional pinion (a 17- tooth) you can get over 40 mph with LiPo, hmmm maybe that would be perfect or should I go mad and put a 19-tooth pinion on and use a much bigger run up? The manual again is so helpful with a nice gearing chart showing you gearings for NiMH and both types of LiPo cells. I decided that for the main event I would change up to a 3S LiPo and really go for it just don t tell my boss! Long Legs Generally messing about the 2S 5000 mah battery seamed to last quite a long time on the stock gearing, I m guessing in excess of twenty minutes of bashing fun, and so long that my feet had started to hurt from standing in one spot for so long! The Stampede 4x4 VXL performed really well wherever I took it, it just lapped up any mud I threw it at, the tyres are pretty much self-cleaning in their tread-pattern and for messing about and bashing it s a real blast. The whole set up is perfect for a beginner or even an experienced driver that just wants something to thrash about and push to their and its limits... It takes jumping off kerbs repeatedly and running across neighbours gardens in its stride and even drew a little crowd of kids on bikes...all full of the usual R/C questions, how fast is it?, how far can you jump it? and my all-time favourite, I got one of those but mines better! (yeah right! ED) Pre FLIght CheCks So what am I going to do for the big jump, well as I ve already said I think it needs a little stiffer oil in it for the landing, so out went the 30wt oil and in goes some 50wt. I also changed up to the 17-tooth pinion supplied as the optional in the kit and stuck a nicely charged 3S LiPo in the chassis. Finally, I moved the shocks to the inner most hole on the arms so I get the most Left: optional, but recommended the VXL fan, perfect for 3s or summer running! 06/

8 Kit review traxxas stampede VXl 1/10tH 4Wd MOnster truck Below: seven bolts and the back s sub-assembly is off completely! Below: eight more and the front s off too! ground clearance. This should help soak up the landing (as long as I land on my wheels that is!). With all the prep work done it was time for the jump. I drove up to the local rugby club where I could park the van right next to the grass and it had plenty of car park for run up. This meant I could drive down the car park and land on the softer grass. With the help of my good friend James we set the ramp in front of the van but to one side (so I wasn t actually jumping the van at first) for a few practice runs. This was mainly so we could try and judge how fast we needed to go and find out how the Stampede reacted when it got really big air. This is where we started to come up against a few problems. Firstly, the gravel car park was a little rough and I struggled to keep it in a straight line with the 3S power and almost missed the jump a few times! I did get a couple of really big jumps in before we got the camera out, but I noticed that there wasn t a huge amount more of wheel speed or power compared to the earlier running. We looked into the programming of the ESC and it turned out it was in Training Mode so a quick change of program to Race and we were off again. That was much better, keeping it in a straight line got a little harder and even keeping the front end down started to become a problem! Now we had some real wheel speed and James commented: that s rather rapid that is as the Stampede hit the ramp and sailed over the van! It wasn t the best of landings as I kept the throttle nailed too much, but even tail heavy the Stampede survived intact. A little battered at the rear of the shell, but intact! Faster, HigHer and CUrB! With the surface used for my run up being a little rough we moved to another area of the car park that looked a little smoother and moved the ramp next to the van again. technical spec The only downside to this was the inch high, concrete curb I was parked next to. Taking a few more run ups I was still struggling to keep it in a straight line due to the lumps of gavels throwing the Stampede off line. Up the ramp, the Stampede was airborne and about 6 inches above the highest point of the van. I again landed the truck, and this time tapped the brake to keep it more level as it hit the grass. Still nothing broken! Amazing, I went for broke and held the power on all the way, not good, I bobbled off line and was heading straight for the kerb, I dived on the brakes and spun the truck around, and sadly I hit the kerb at rather a rate of knots! This didn t go well for the Stampede and sadly I broke both rear wishbones in the impact. A phone call to the ED later and I found out that the wishbones were readily available as they were the same as the Rustler rears and the Slash 4x4 items bonus! Truck in hand we sadly left the rugby club. I say sad, but truth is we were both laughing like madmen, although I had broken the Stampede it wasn t down to it being weak, more me being a little stupid! This is how R/C should make you feel, like you just had fun! And that s the beauty of trucks like the Stampede, it doesn t matter what you do, or on occasion how many bits you break doing it it s the joy of running it, all out and pushing what s possible. There is talk that the ED has a loop the loop lined up for us to try at the RRCi demo area at Gadget Show Live now I gotta try that with the Stamp! Look out for the pictures in the full show report! So what do I really think of the Stampede 4x4 VXL then? For a start it s really well built and Traxxas strong, although as I found out with a full speed collision into a kerb, impacts like that don t end up helping it to look pretty! It does take a hell of a beating from normal bashing, and I genuinely had fun with it just like the days I spent in my garden with my first ever Monster Trucks so maybe above all that s the best reason of all for anyone, whatever their age, to go out and buy one. rrci required to COMplete 4 x aa batteries for transmitter 2 or 3s lipo (recommended, but not required) likes traxxas quality and durability Waterproof electrics 2.4 ghz as standard tested VXl system 4 amp charger 4Wd grip COntaCt /11