Mini summit review

[twisted]

i didnt even knwo there was a traxxas section here on rcc... ooops..

any way heres a couple of pics of my summit and a small review.

i have had the truck for about a week now and iam pleasantly surprised. i thought it was pretty much going to be a merv with larger tires and really not capable of "trail cruising and mild crawling"..... is it ? to a point yes.its a great go anywhere type of truck. not amazingly good at any one task but does them all pretty well. can the truck be made to work better , of course but out of the box it performs well enough to make me happy and im a type of person that usually tares into a rtr and changes it up to my preference after a couple of runs if not one.

how does it do you ask ? (rating system 5 stars extremely well,1 star sucks)

general bashing and jumping:4 stars
with its plush suspension and long travel rockers it jumps rather well. iam using just the stock 1200 pack and the power that it supplies is probably rite around perfect for this truck. with a lipo it will probably be to much to drive but im sure it would be fun....the truck turns well but when there is to much grip and coupled with its high cg it sometimes results with the mini summit on its lid. im sure this would be intensified with a lipo.

trail running: 2 3/4 stars
here is where i thought the truck was going to start showing its limitations. with the truck coming stock with bl i thought it wouldn't do to well at very low speeds. unlike a brushed motor the stock vxl motor lacks the low speed torque and being non sensord,low speed drivabilty.with that said as long as the terrain isnt to gnarly and you got it going a decent speed the truck does well,better then i thought it would. driving at very low speeds you will have to goose the throttle to get over objects but that extra wheels speed does help in other situations... the tires are soft and have good traction and the suspension is tuned well for conforming to most rough terrain. i would of like to seen a thicker diff fluid used as you "diff out" to easily with the supplied 30k.im sure the thicker fluid will help getting over some obstacles but you will loose some high speed handling.

rock crawling : 1 1/4
ok this truck isnt a crawler or designed to be one but it doesnt mean it wont hit the rocks the truck from the factory just isnt set up for crawling. the diffs need to be locked or use a very heavy diff oil and the tires need to be softer or even just a better tire in general. the suspension would prolly work ok but its not a solid axle truck. its not balanced correctly and the power plant isnt crawler friendly. i can see it being a type of rock racer though ......hmmmmm

durabilty : 4 3/4 stars
this would of been a 5 star rating but i have an ongoing situation that alot of other people are having. the esc likes to lock up the motor for a split 2nd.its not a cogging issue as the truck will be going fine and suddenly lurch to a stop.you have to get off the throttle completely to get it to move again.. i havent had time to really dig into what this is but i do have some guesses. when i find out more i will post my findings here.
so far no broken parts and everything is still fairly tight. (my merve got sloppy in the links and pillow balls fast) the shocks show a very slight amount of oil leakage.nothing to really call a problem. with the exo cage the body has held up great.

over all i would highly recommend this truck to anyone that wants a vehicle that will go almost anywhere and do alot of things other "specific" vehicle can not do.

onto the pics:

 

[twisted]

yes this is an updte even though it was posted at the same time/day as the above post. just realized the other day that this section was here.

update 11/26/10

ok so i have a bunch of packs ran through the truck.for now they have been just the stock 1200 mah packs. nothing has been done to the truck, still 100% box stock.

the good:
truck is still together and running with no broken parts.even the body isnt cracked and this truck has taken some bad tumbles.
truck is fun, most fun ive had with an rc in awhile.
there is no slop ....yet.(i say yet as i have a merv and it got sloppy fast)

the bad:
rear shocks have just about leaked all their oil out.
the "sudden stopping" problem still exists wit the esc/motor.

here are some pics i took of it , two while driving and the other with some traxxas 4x4 bfg's on it to see what it would look like.

this pic is at a local park where i run alot of my rc's. this area is a recently cleared out portion of the park. theres alot of hills ,tree trunks and rocks. this particular place was a tight squeeze, just a bit narrower then the truck itself. i got it wedged in there once and heard the slipper slip.a couple of more times the truck would diff out if the line wasnt hit correctly. even though this spot would have been cake for alot of trucks out there, driving the summit here was fun because you had to work at it.

this pic is nothing special, just a single rock but what you can notice here is how the tire isnt conforming to the rock. softer tires will prolly help with climbing but take away from high speed running.

here is the pic with the bfg's. i dont like the look and these tires are hader then the stocks so i didnt run them.they are also a tad larger the the summit tires. im thinking maybe some 1.9's ? i have a set of losi strike tires ill throw on for a look to.

things to come :

tranny gear flip and lipo. i heard flipping the gears will slow it down alot but im thinking if i do that and use a lipo i might find a happy medium of speed and more low speed drivability.

i have some ofna diff lock fluid. im not gonna fill the diffs but instead add just a little to limit the diff action.see if that helps at all.

refill the rear shocks...

 

[simoniz]

Keep the reviews coming bud!

 

[twisted]

here ya go !

so took the rear diff out to put some thicker fluid in and i was surprised by the lack of fluid in it from the factory. it was like a coating and not even close to half filled. you can see by the pics the gears arent even covered and i didnt wipe them down.

the 2nd pics are of rear shocks and the fluid that leaked out. this is after about 10 or so packs.

i have since put a bit of ofna diff lock fluid in the rear diff. i didnt put alot in as i wanted to get a limited slip type of action out of it. it has less diff action then stock but not as much as i would of liked. i havent driven it yet so ill get back to ya on that.

**update**

well i tried the thicker oil in the rear and it helped and i got over some things i didnt before but i didnt go heavy enough. now to take it back apart again .

so after taking it apart again....i added more ofna diff lock and got it were i had even more limited diff action. (im adjusting the amount of fluid i put in the diff to get the rite feel), it feels good in my hands but have yet to try it. i havent done the front yet as i want to get the rear figured out 1st.

keep in mind i want a trail truck/rock racer sort of thing. so i need to keep it user friendly in every area i can.

 

[SoCo Crawlgirl]

if you haven't drilled holes in the tires, these things are fun to run through a deep puddle ours floated :ror:

 

[twisted]

if you haven't drilled holes in the tires, these things are fun to run through a deep puddle ours floated :ror:

i hate when the foams get wet...

 

[twisted]

well i got to get out in the snow wit the summit today and it went rather well. we have about 2 inches of fresh snow. with the thicker diff oil i changed to it made it through with no problems, i even manage to get over some snow covered rocks.

some action shots:

 

[slow1]

I just sent traxxas an email about the locking up issue so we will see what they have to say I register all my traxxas products due to issues like this they sent me the axle's for my 4x4 slash without hesitation so I am interested to see their response to this issue.
By the way try the lipo woooohooo its alot of fun"thumbsup"

GREAT Review by the way"thumbsup"

 

[twisted]

I just sent traxxas an email about the locking up issue so we will see what they have to say I register all my traxxas products due to issues like this they sent me the axle's for my 4x4 slash without hesitation so I am interested to see their response to this issue.
By the way try the lipo woooohooo its alot of fun"thumbsup"

GREAT Review by the way"thumbsup"

i sue a lipo in my merv and i think it will be to much for the summit but im sure it would be fun.

 

[slow1]

Traxxas thinks its the speed control but it only has a 30 day free replacement after that its 45 but im 2 days from 30 woohoo still have to ship it errrr will keep everyone informed on how it turns out.

 

[twisted]

yesterday alot of the 3 feet of snow we had melted. today it got cold again and what snow we had left the cold wind formed a crust over the surface and man was it fun with the summit on there. with the thicker diff fluid i was able to climb hills of snow that we had from shoveling . i was surprised, it wsnt soft snow but really hard nad well packed. i also tried it out on the rocks and wow, im telling you it made a big difference. no, its not a crawler by any means but its more capable for trails and what not then it was before.

 

[Duramarks]

Im thinking of getting a mini summit.. I think I would rather have it geared lower so I could do a little rock and hill climbing and take it in the mud.

what do you guys think of it? and do you think I could gear it down enough for some rocks?

 

[slow1]

I have not re geared mine or my sons truck but we have alot of fun bashing the mini summit we had to send the speed control from his back to traxxas also due to it locking up the truck was still drivable but it is kindof annoing I would agree gearing it down would make it more drivable but wheres the fun in that:lmao:

I would say go for it get one and have fun with it"thumbsup"

 

[sneakymaxx]

its nice that they are making them smaller and more affordable, but it would be nice if it had all the bells and whistles the 1/10th summit does

 

[Duramarks]

yeah that would be awsome with a 2 speed

 

[wm23n1]

I just ordered one of these from Tower hobbies. How well does it hold up in water? I have a creek behind my house and plan on using it for a creek crawler/submarine. I had an axial last summer and tried to waterproof it but it quickly became obvious is wasn't meant for water. So using thicker oil in the diffs makes it more Posi-traction? Both wheels turning instead of one. is there a locker to lock front and rear diffs like the axial came with even though it doesn't have straight axles?

 

[Burned Up]

great review

i have been thinkn of buying a mini...your review is alot of help and seems like a mini would be something i like to run..next to my JOKER...have been thinking hard in as what to buy after another summit or 2...it is a great platform for all around fun...i modifid my merv to some extent and really like its changes...the mini would be better out of tthe box for ready to go play action....thanx for the great review

 

[Duramarks]

anybody start to do any cool modifications to the mini yet?

 

[twisted]

i havent done much to my truck as of late. since the snow has came i havent used it till tonight and i broke a drive pin in the rear drive shaft. i had the esc problem and i switched the stock one out to the one in my merv and the "stopping" problem is gone. now just waiting to get my replacement back from traxxas.

 

[lonleycreeper]

Just wondering what are the wheelbase and width outside of the tire to outside. And how easy or hard would it be to streach yhe wheelbase