Blaster 75
Newbie
I haven't seen a direct comparison between these two, so I thought I'd put a few of my thoughts here. Both cars are excellent platforms, the best rally cars you can get from what I've seen. I have an XV-01 Pro that has received a ton of hop-ups and tuning, and a XXX-Rally that has been disassembled and rebuilt carefully, shimming as necessary, so both cars have been built to a similar standard, and both use high-quality servos and sensored brushless systems. Each has some areas that need improvement; each has some great features.
Handling- The out-of-the-box setup on the MST was awful. The springs are very soft, the shocks are lightly damped, and the rear had positive camber, all of which made the car snap oversteer in the middle of the corner. I'm still experimenting with setup, but have much heavier blue Tamiya springs on the front with 900 wt., and red Tamiya springs on the rear with 650 oil. In contrast, the Tamiya was great with stock settings, has responded predictably to tuning, and transitions better. Both could use more steering angle for low speed work. The XV-01 is easier for me to drive fast on any surface.
Rough Surface- This is where the MST shines. Although it doesn't jump as well as the XV, which I may be able to tune out, it's longer suspension travel and higher ride height mean that the MST stays on course better over rough or broken pavement, bricks and the like. The XV is no slouch, but required longer shock shafts to maximize ride height, which is still lower than the XXX, and travel.
Durability- Nothing unusual to report here. The XV-01 requires aluminum suspension mounts. The MST needs aluminum front uprights, which cost $50. I've broken ball cups on each. Both are nice quality cars.
Protection- XV-01 all the way. Inner fenders, electronics box, battery box, little foam seals on the ball cups, compared to little foam seals on the MST.
Misc.- The MST is much noisier than the XV. It requires disassembly to adjust gear mesh, but has a very nice clamp/cam motor mount. It has ball diffs, which some people hate. Hop ups are expensive, and only from MST. Parts availability is tough- Blackstar Hobbies and RC Mart have been my best bet. Available only as a RTR, which meant that I had to disassemble and reassemble instead of just build it right the first time, and dispose of the electronics. Cramped electronics layout, even with a Tekin Rs Pro. Does not come with turnbuckles. Comes with CV axles front and rear, and has nice hardware and excellent, attractive plastics. Came with great tires and a painted and decaled Tamiya body. Both diffs were very loose and the mesh was loose as well. Mine came with a pit towel, too.
My XV-01 was a Pro kit, which came with a bunch of sweet hop ups, like CV axles, TRF shocks, and blue balls. It still came with crappy Phillips head hardware- inexcusable for a kit this nice. Even though the Pro didn't include a body, I feel that it was a better value than the standard kit. It took plenty of shimming to get the slop out. Rally Block tires are only good in dirt. Standard kit doesn't include turnbuckles or CVs. The suspension mounts should be replaced with aluminum while building the kit. Requires a small speed control- that Traxxas VXL 3s you have laying around won't fit, and neither will a Sidewinder. This chassis deserves a sensored motor, anyway. The XV is a heavy car, much heavier than the XXX.
Really, both are good cars. You can build a damn nice XXX for quite a bit less than an XV-01, and have just as much fun with either. At this point, I prefer the XV- it just feels better to me, and it's more fun to drive hard. The XXX needs more tuning to drive well, but may end up being the superior car once I have it dialed in. The parts availability does bug me- it means that I have to keep spares around or wait a long time to repair. If it's half decent tomorrow, I'll post some pics of the cars together for some visual comparisons.
Handling- The out-of-the-box setup on the MST was awful. The springs are very soft, the shocks are lightly damped, and the rear had positive camber, all of which made the car snap oversteer in the middle of the corner. I'm still experimenting with setup, but have much heavier blue Tamiya springs on the front with 900 wt., and red Tamiya springs on the rear with 650 oil. In contrast, the Tamiya was great with stock settings, has responded predictably to tuning, and transitions better. Both could use more steering angle for low speed work. The XV-01 is easier for me to drive fast on any surface.
Rough Surface- This is where the MST shines. Although it doesn't jump as well as the XV, which I may be able to tune out, it's longer suspension travel and higher ride height mean that the MST stays on course better over rough or broken pavement, bricks and the like. The XV is no slouch, but required longer shock shafts to maximize ride height, which is still lower than the XXX, and travel.
Durability- Nothing unusual to report here. The XV-01 requires aluminum suspension mounts. The MST needs aluminum front uprights, which cost $50. I've broken ball cups on each. Both are nice quality cars.
Protection- XV-01 all the way. Inner fenders, electronics box, battery box, little foam seals on the ball cups, compared to little foam seals on the MST.
Misc.- The MST is much noisier than the XV. It requires disassembly to adjust gear mesh, but has a very nice clamp/cam motor mount. It has ball diffs, which some people hate. Hop ups are expensive, and only from MST. Parts availability is tough- Blackstar Hobbies and RC Mart have been my best bet. Available only as a RTR, which meant that I had to disassemble and reassemble instead of just build it right the first time, and dispose of the electronics. Cramped electronics layout, even with a Tekin Rs Pro. Does not come with turnbuckles. Comes with CV axles front and rear, and has nice hardware and excellent, attractive plastics. Came with great tires and a painted and decaled Tamiya body. Both diffs were very loose and the mesh was loose as well. Mine came with a pit towel, too.
My XV-01 was a Pro kit, which came with a bunch of sweet hop ups, like CV axles, TRF shocks, and blue balls. It still came with crappy Phillips head hardware- inexcusable for a kit this nice. Even though the Pro didn't include a body, I feel that it was a better value than the standard kit. It took plenty of shimming to get the slop out. Rally Block tires are only good in dirt. Standard kit doesn't include turnbuckles or CVs. The suspension mounts should be replaced with aluminum while building the kit. Requires a small speed control- that Traxxas VXL 3s you have laying around won't fit, and neither will a Sidewinder. This chassis deserves a sensored motor, anyway. The XV is a heavy car, much heavier than the XXX.
Really, both are good cars. You can build a damn nice XXX for quite a bit less than an XV-01, and have just as much fun with either. At this point, I prefer the XV- it just feels better to me, and it's more fun to drive hard. The XXX needs more tuning to drive well, but may end up being the superior car once I have it dialed in. The parts availability does bug me- it means that I have to keep spares around or wait a long time to repair. If it's half decent tomorrow, I'll post some pics of the cars together for some visual comparisons.
