Time to Retire my E-Revo - Recommend Replacement?

[sundevil67]

It’s time to replace my primary basher, a 1/10 E-Revo Brushless Edition, and I’m looking for some tips. I’ve been leaning towards the XMaxx, and I wanted to start a discussion that includes all of the Traxxas haters who I always see trashing these cars & most of their products for all of the plastic they use. I bought the E-Revo in 2012 after 20 years away from the hobby because of wide aftermarket support and a reputation for durability. With a lot less time for maintenance & adjustments than I had when I was a teenager, the ideal truck would have plenty of ground clearance so I could run it pretty much anywhere, and spend more time driving than wrenching.

What’s the beef about the plastic anyway? Is it the kind of plastic they use, or just that it’s not aluminum, or some fancy carbon-composite of some kind? If I had to pick one thing about the E-Revo that I absolutely hate is how difficult it is to clean. On top of how you practically have to do a complete teardown just to reach all of the little nooks & crannies that collect dirt, the plastic they use (RPM A-Arms too) doesn’t just wipe clean. It just sort of shreds & develops a rough texture that never really gets clean..It looks pretty bad & will collect bits of whatever cloth is used for cleaning. See what I mean in the attached pics.

Admittedly I do recall looking down my nose at friends’ Tamiya vehicles and their lame plastic chassis/shocks that seemed amateurish compared to my shiny Kyosho Gold shocks & graphite chassis that came with my Ultima Pro 

What are some of the other reasons to avoid Traxxas/XMaxx? I want a truck that’s like the E-Revo in terms of performance, but with better ‘fit & finish’. The wheel slop + drivetrain setup has always been pretty inefficient, and while it has so much power that the performance didn’t ever seem too badly impacted, I think it caused me to have to replace more gears, drive hubs, and other driveline components more often than I should have had to. Some of that stuff made from aluminum or some tougher material might have worked better over the long run. I also need something that’s easier to work on & clean. I don’t want to have to take apart the entire truck to replace a few small pieces…especially when Traxxas can’t be bothered to include a step-by-step assembly manual! Sorry I rambled on for so long…

Pics attached

[TRX-1-3]

Find an old TRX-1 and polish it up.

[Coelacanth]

What’s the beef about the plastic anyway? Is it the kind of plastic they use, or just that it’s not aluminum, or some fancy carbon-composite of some kind?

Where to start...plastic, especially ABS plastic, doesn't age well. It gets brittle, cracks, mounting posts strip or crack, it melts or deforms with not that much heat (it can't be rejuvenated by boiling in water like nylon can), it melts with a lot of cleaning products that otherwise work well on nylon/carbon/graphite/aluminum/steel, it looks terrible when stress fractures appear, it get damaged with little effort if the temperature gets cold...

About the only upside to ABS plastic is that it's cheap to mass-produce in molds and keep manufacturing costs down. That's why you see it used everywhere instead of higher-quality materials, these days. Plastic is craptastic.

[jkelm24]

Find an old TRX-1 and polish it up.

+1.

[Basher67]

The ridiculous hatred of traxxas rc's has nothing to do with plastic. Some have taken offense to the way they have chosen to run their company in the past. Others are not fond of RTR machines since alot of us came from an era of building and maintaining our rc cars. The bottom line is if your just looking to buy it and bash it, traxxas is hard to beat. They are fast, usually low maintenance and tuff as a tank. Arrma has come out with a couple high powered bashing machines that might be worth checking out. They seem to be building a good reputation. I'm curious, if the E-Revo was so great for you, why cast it aside? Why not upgrade the Revo?

[TRX-1-3]

Not advocating for or "defending" any opinion or manufacturer.....but, there isn't any "ABS" plastic on that REVO. It might not be virgin white glass impregnated nylon but it's definitely not Tamiya classic ABS that melts on contact with motor cleaner.

You gotta operate the equipment within the parameters for which it was designed.

[jwscab]

if you are able to rebuild the e-revo, that's probably your cheapest option. The parts should be pretty much readily available and inexpensive.

if you are looking for a new vehicle for the sake of a new vehicle, probably another traxxas or as mentioned I think Aarma does have some new things out.

its actually a really good question, I don't think it has a definitive answer because it really depends on the end user. I mean, for example, the e-revo served you well. why not get another one? I'm not up on the latest models, my crap is all still from the 90's except for re-releases.....

[DennisM]

If You´re into that kind of bashing, then there´s only the TRX Revo or the HPI Savage
Just for the fun of it, Buy a 3,3 revo Platinum and convert it to electrical - It´ll give You a Revo which handles a bit different than the E-revo.
I converted and bashed a std. 2,5 Revo and it brought me a lots of fun.
If Bashing is getting boring, buy a 1/8 competition Truggy/truck or Buggy and team up with 2-3 fellow enthusiast, make a temperary track and give it a shot.
Soon You´ll be investing in extra land and a couple of excavators - Then permanent track with hotdog stand and cheap beers - Then divorce and more RC cars

[sundevil67]

The Arma trucks have also been recommended to me by my LHS.While I agree with the anti-plastic sentiment for the most part, as well as the aforementioned theories on ‘Traxxas haters’, it seems like there’s something different about modern plastics used on these cars...It seems harder to keep clean because of the different way it wears out, so instead of a few scratches, it gets all shredded and just makes lightly worn parts appear ready for the trash despite actually having plenty of life left.

As far as the ‘why get rid of the E-Revo at all’....fair question & worth answering just for myself since I'll need to justify plunking down some big deneros no matter which one I choose.

1. I want something bigger, with more ground clearance for rougher terrain. I had a Losi MTXL for a brief period, and loved the idea of a truck that massive. Unfortunately it was impossible to start, and Losi got cheap everywhere it counted (too much plastic where it definitely did not belong).

2. There’s just not enough free time to devote to R/C these days & I have far too many unfinished projects, and less $ to go around so if I want something new (this is the only ‘modern’ R/C I’ve had since getting back into it), I have to consolidate a bit…

3. It’s definitely not as durable as it used to be. I’m sure that’s partially just due to my own laziness...and it’s time to acknowledge that & get something a little easier to work on! From what I’ve seen, the XMaxx is a lot more user friendly & can be disassembled in a modular setup that’s much easier to deal with.

4. I’m also dying to check out that self-righting feature & quit having to chase the thing down if it winds up on its lid.

[RC10th]

Maybe if you didn't flip it on the lid you wouldn't have to chase it down so often, sort of like learning to drive without reverse.

Once you clean it try giving it a light spray and wipe down with WD-40, it helps prevent dirt from sticking to the plastic, keeps it looking new-ish and keeps the plastic pliable (prevents it from drying out and going brittle). A quick hose off with the air compressor should clean it up pretty well.

The Revo is a great vehicle even though it is overly complex. Being wide and relatively low makes it very stable and controllable, my concern with the Xmaxx is that it will be quite tippy and always on the "edge"


I personally would stick with the Revo.

[jwscab]

well, first things first, they are pretty much all plastic. whether it's nylon or abs or pc, or a blend of them or something else. nothing wrong with the plastic provided it's designed correctly.

the parts you are looking at that are getting 'fuzzy' or hard to clean are nylon blends. it's a very tough plastic but due to it's characteristics, it doesn't like to cut cleanly, so grinding it up on rocks and dirt simply kind of smears the small bits so it looks fuzzy. nylon is sometimes difficult to get a crisp edge when machining due to this property, really sharp cutting tools keep the swarf from fraying up. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the way it looks. As mentioned, using some kind of wd40 or other kind of cleaner/liquid will help keep the dirt from sticking.

[TRX-1-3]

Like spraying the areas where brake dust collects on 1:1 race cars with PAM and /or non-stick cooking spray.

Not the frictional surfaces of the brakes themselves though, obviously.

[sundevil67]

Great tips .. I know I heard that one about the WD-40/cooking spray but totally forgot about it. I'm not worried about how it looks; more just about the dirt getting into places that need to move freely & the level of difficulty in getting it out of there. I'm almost done with the cleanup, but it has really been slow going. I knew as soon as I mentioned my fascination with the self-righting tech that someone would chime in & say I should drive better & avoid flipping it. It doesn't happen often...and anyone that says they never flip their E-Revo is lying or is driving like an old lady. A big reason I am back into R/C is because I'm semi handicapped & the amount of walking I can handle in a given day is very limited...so it'd be nice. I will give the E-Revo 2 & the Arma line up a closer look, but I'm leaning towards going bigger...like maybe even 1/5. I do feel like I have to give Kyosho a look - that Foxx looks interesting. Any opinions on this one? Sure is different....

https://rc.kyosho.com/en/topic/fo-xx-20/34255.html

[Basher67]

I was in my lhs today and got to see the new 1/5 8s Arrma Kraton. If you're looking for the biggest baddest fastest bashing machine, you might want to check these out before buying an xmaxx. It was built like a tank and very impressive looking. I believe the chassis is maybe 4mm thick aluminum. It looks insane. If there is an xmaxx killer, this might be it.

[sundevil67]

Very interesting...that Kraton ... checking out some comparison videos now...definitely seems aimed at the same audience. There's some conflicting opinions on durability but this one's definitely worth a closer look. I may even shop around for a used one too & it could come down to the best option for the money at the right time. Thanks!