whee-sconsin basher

@icekreme, nice rigs! My wife would love the bug body. Not too worried about wheelies really. Moreso sick of no traction from stock rubber

whee-sconsin basher

Curious, how are those tires holding out? Seem to recall Tamiya rubber not lasting very long, unless you ran the Grasshopper tires at least.

suburban_hooligan

the little spikes on the tread are about half gone. but iv done more than half of my running on super hard packed dirt, concrete, and asphalt. i also skid it around quite a bit.
i think the V pattern part of the tread will hold up better than the spikes. i have no complaints about how they're wearing.

whee-sconsin basher

Gotcha. I will say, the stock rubber on my truck is still very useable, even after having driven it on pavement as much as I have, but the traction SUCKS. I can't keep it under control anywhere except in the grass.

icekreme1002

Thanks mate. The whole idea of the bug was to help get my fiance into RC. Didn't really work but I was pretty happy with the look in the end. We have a lot of fun with them.

Only time we have had serious breaks was hitting each other head on at full speed but that was still only a turnbuckle and lost c-hub pin. Tough trucks!! :-)

whee-sconsin basher

Yeah, tried that once with my Micro RS4s, she was like "Ooh, fun!" for about a day. Oh well. I've let her drive my truck, and she has fun, but it's short-lived. Wuteva, more fun for me

dbdynsty25

I'm sure this isn't really a thread where I'll get an unbiased opinion, but how is the Flux XS for a step above a beginner? I've been driving RC cars forever, but never more than beginner cars and just recently started getting into it with my young son. Bought a simple Exceed car just to mess around with, take it apart, put it back together, etc. 100 bucks well spent as it taught me a little bit about how these things are built these days. Well, took it off a ramp sideways the other day and did something to the steering servo. So anyway, long story short, I'm now looking for my second hobby grade car/truck.

I don't really care about top end speed, but I'd like to have it quick and w/ lots of torque for offroad desert driving (living in Southern California) and have a good amount of ground clearance for running in grass occasionally (landing jumps specifically). There is a local track that I could run on, but that would only be occasionally. Needs to be really well built (again, only my second real RC so I'm only a step over a beginner at best).

Outside of brushed vs. brushless (I still don't really know the difference outside of cost and that BL is faster) I really don't know what I'm looking for. I would prefer 4x4 because of the desert/grass driving. The budget would be around $350 or less (which makes the XS at the very top). The few buggies/trucks I've narrowed it down to...in my two days of research are this Flux XS, the Traxxas E-Revo & the Losi Mini 8IGHT. All three are pretty different...different styles, engine types, batteries, etc.

So I guess I am just wondering if the XS is worth the extra money over the other two. I likely would never go UP in skill level or price as I just don't have the time to develop those skills, nor the pocketbook given my other hobbies, so this would essentially be it for me (unless I destroy it). Any thoughts? Sorry for the long first post, but I've enjoyed reading about the XS...just curious if you guys think it's the right car for me and my needs. TIA.

whee-sconsin basher

Welcome aboard!

My 2 cents worth, the Flux XS is a durable truck. I've cartwheeled mine more than a carnival ride gone wrong, and the worst thing I've broken is a lower shock eyelet. It's hit curbs, stairs and trees, and just keeps rockin'! That being said, mine is NOT equipped with HPI electronics, which people have complained alot about in this thread. I don't know if they've improved over time, but the esc was a weak point. Everyone says you best run a LiPo with a rating of at LEAST 30c. I'd be curious to hear what others have to say currently on this topic. Drive cups @ the diffs are also not the strogest, but they make stronger ones and you can also heat-treat the stock ones to make them stronger. And buy some decent tires, stockers blow.
My experience with the 1/16 E-Revo(MERV), fun little truck. NOT durable in O.E. form. Takes a good chunk of $$ to make it worthy. Many people have said the same on the Traxxas forums, which I was a member of until I got sick of breaking my MERV.
I've got no experience with the Losi, but it looks decent enough. I've had a couple of their trucks (Mini-T, Micro-T) and they were fun, but very limited to where they could run due to their size.
These are just my observations and opinions. Anyone else care to chime in?

dbdynsty25

Thank you so much for the awesome rundown. I guess the moral of the story...in all RC cars, especially the ones I'm looking at...is look to invest in some higher quality components right off the bat.

I've eliminated the Losi from my list, mostly because of the reviews I've seen that state it isn't that great in off-road, gravel environments. That is where I'll do most of my running, hence my desire for a truck.

Thanks again, I appreciate the time.

whee-sconsin basher

You bet! No matter what you buy, have fun!

dbdynsty25

I actually ended up getting the brushed Merv. I couldn't get my hands on the Flux XS locally and they had a demo Merv that I got to drive around for a bit. I had a feeling the BL would be too quick for me and I was right. Even the stock battery on the brushed is unwieldy...threw in some lipos and I was all over the place. Sure part of that is the 1/16 scale...but wow these things are quick. Now I've gotta start upgrading the plastic stuff to aluminum.

thanks again.

whee-sconsin basher

Good deal! If you're happy, that's what really matters. Speed is fun sometimes, but control is fun all the time. Best of luck with the new ride, and don't be afraid to share pix of your whip!

RC-Junky

I love my XS but do break something almost everytime I go out with it.. It's all me tho as I drive it like I feel a savage is ment to be..
Looking for some tires. Would like something with great bite but not any bigger then what is stock, how about some buggy tires? Anyone try this or is that just stupid..lol

larkup25

Well i installed new skyrc 120a sc esc and skyrc toro 4 pole 3900kv and.... still no wheelies, ***! in fact it doesn't feel much different from the previous setup wondering if it isn't even a 4 pole. at a bit of a loss as what to do now, tired of spending money and time on it but on the other hand i just want it to wheelie. gearing is 24t-60t i wonder if 56t will make any difference? Battery is turnigy 2s 40c-40c, could this battery be not really 40c?
edit - just remembered i had a 3s so tried with that and still no wheelie

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Check your slipper, and all your drive cups for tightness. No way that it shouldn't wheelie. I had a completely stock XS (other than Pro-Line Badlands for tires) and I couldn't keep it from wheely-ing. Is it just spinning the tires? The stock tires are junk and do not get traction. You could have a lot of power, but without traction, you won't go anywhere.

larkup25

it spins very little, I wouldn't even say that it really is, you can hear that it tries to. (on concrete/bitumen). I checked slipper last time box was out but maybe I need to try again. It still seems to have that lag at first punch for a fraction of a second and maybe that is the slipper, maybe will just tighten it all the way up. The only other thing is to try a different battery, was looking at a gensace with exactly the same specs but at twice the price I'm not really keen on that idea.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

If the slipper nut is original, it may be stripped. Mine stripped, and wouldn't stay tight. If your battery is a cheapo, it may not be a true 40c. I was using a Duratrax onyx 25c lipo and it would backflip. Gens Ace are good lipos.

larkup25

That's what I'm thinking, battery.

blblysaker

Is there any way to reduce the speed so my 2yr old son can drive it?

ProStreetCamaro

This thread appears to be dead. Anybody else get the new version with the raptor body? I got mine the other day. It has a hobbywing setup in it now. I am betting the hobbywing eliminates the esc problems.

ProStreetCamaro

Well after 6 runs I have no forward or reverse. Steering works but it acts like it is not getting any signal for forward or reverse. Just does nothing. No warning beeps or lights or anything from the esc.

tooth-less

I would try to recalibrate the ESC.

ProStreetCamaro

Just got off the phone with hobbico. Very nice guy I talked to. It ended up being the esc plug into the receiver wasnt making good contact. I had checked that last night by pressing down but he had me switch them and suddenly everything worked but with the wrong controls so we switched them back and everything is working fine. Must have just not been making good contact even though the plug was all the way in the receiver. Anyway it is back to normal now.

ProStreetCamaro

Just an FYI for anybody thinking about a new savage xs with the raptor body. It now uses a hobbywing EZRUN-SC10 esc.

86fiveoh

Hey prostreet, I just got a savage xs Raptor too. It's been great so far, about 5 3s packs through it, bashings around and ripping up and down my street with no issues. I'm impressed so far.