Oh dear. I've gone and done it now.
I went to my local hobby shop and pre-ordered this TRX the moment it was announced, mainly because I wanted to see how it stood up to the gold standard (in my opinion) the SCX10II. I'm putting together a video review that will better describe my thoughts, but succinctly, the TRX is a good first entry from the fastest name in radio control. And that's exactly the problem. It's too fast, it's got too many gimmicky features and no aftermarket support (yet).
I like my trucks simple and easy to work on, and I don't feel like this is ever going to be that. With four servos, a two speed transmission, portal axles, lockable diffs, there's just too much here that is going to fail over time. Sigh. Sometimes there's too many things.
There's definitely innovation - I like the concept of portals - but Traxxas wasn't first here. Gmade did it years ago with the R1 and MadMoose nailed it with their Volvo axles. They're cool, and I've always been a fan. BUT, I have a theory as to why Traxxas went with them beyond the lack of torque twist and clearance a portal provides. I think that they couldn't get the gear reduction low enough and needed to further reduce at the axle to get a low speed out of the transmission they designed (to go fast).
Speaking of the trans, I can do without a two speed altogether. Who needs that in a crawler, honestly? A great brushless system will give plenty of wheel speed if needed. And with this, goes the locking/unlocking differentials. Again, interesting, but not really necessary for me in a crawler. Just another thing that will require maintenance and prone to failure.
These are all my first impressions without much drive time, and who knows, I might change my mind about some or all of these once I've had more time with it.
I really like the included body. Nice and thick lexan and tons of plastic add-on details like rollcage, grille, hi-lift jack, gas cans, etc.
Inner fenders! Hooray! Someone finally included them. A great feature.
You can see that I've already added a couple small changes, including Vanquish 1.9 KMC Bully's, Pro-Line Krawler T/A's with CI foams, wipers, and some stripes. There'll be more to come as I goof with it.
Bottom line, I think it's got potential, but it'll be challenging to have it do the things I want it to.
I went to my local hobby shop and pre-ordered this TRX the moment it was announced, mainly because I wanted to see how it stood up to the gold standard (in my opinion) the SCX10II. I'm putting together a video review that will better describe my thoughts, but succinctly, the TRX is a good first entry from the fastest name in radio control. And that's exactly the problem. It's too fast, it's got too many gimmicky features and no aftermarket support (yet).
I like my trucks simple and easy to work on, and I don't feel like this is ever going to be that. With four servos, a two speed transmission, portal axles, lockable diffs, there's just too much here that is going to fail over time. Sigh. Sometimes there's too many things.
There's definitely innovation - I like the concept of portals - but Traxxas wasn't first here. Gmade did it years ago with the R1 and MadMoose nailed it with their Volvo axles. They're cool, and I've always been a fan. BUT, I have a theory as to why Traxxas went with them beyond the lack of torque twist and clearance a portal provides. I think that they couldn't get the gear reduction low enough and needed to further reduce at the axle to get a low speed out of the transmission they designed (to go fast).
Speaking of the trans, I can do without a two speed altogether. Who needs that in a crawler, honestly? A great brushless system will give plenty of wheel speed if needed. And with this, goes the locking/unlocking differentials. Again, interesting, but not really necessary for me in a crawler. Just another thing that will require maintenance and prone to failure.
These are all my first impressions without much drive time, and who knows, I might change my mind about some or all of these once I've had more time with it.
I really like the included body. Nice and thick lexan and tons of plastic add-on details like rollcage, grille, hi-lift jack, gas cans, etc.
Inner fenders! Hooray! Someone finally included them. A great feature.
You can see that I've already added a couple small changes, including Vanquish 1.9 KMC Bully's, Pro-Line Krawler T/A's with CI foams, wipers, and some stripes. There'll be more to come as I goof with it.
Bottom line, I think it's got potential, but it'll be challenging to have it do the things I want it to.
