1/16 E-Revo VXL Brushless willie question
 

I want to get one of theys but from the youtube videos it looks like they have to much power with 2 lipos and does a alot of willies and flipping. I want something that handles decent? I know the 4 x 4 1/10 slash handles great because i have driven one.

I am looking to sell mine actually. So let me run through how mine is setup...

I have the center diff so it's not locked 4X4 anymore. I bought the aluminum tie rod. I have new hubs. Dirt Hawg tires. Two servos. 2 NiMH for series or parallel and 2s and 3s lipo for parallel.

Okay so before I start I own the big E Revo Brushless. That thing is a monster and will eat anything in it's path and then some. No really..if you crashed it into a tree the earth would move. :p

The reason for buying the mini revo was I wanted a taste of the big revo in a small form factor. I drove a friends 1/16th slash and it was fun..I figured the mini revo would destroy it. Well it does. My upgraded mini revo will keep up with the 4x4 slash brushless, the tellutride and the stampede brushless on our track. It will NOT keep up with the daddy revo though. You end up pushing it to hard and spin out. We are talking close to 40mph though.

So let me walk you through the upgrades and why I bought them. 4X4 is useless..if you are racing the trucks you want a center diff. It wanted to roll over a lot with normal 4X4. With the center diff you could make the front pull the car and avoid spinning out. Tie rods were because the camber and toe have to be adjusted on these. It's not like the big revo where you can get away with things. Having the camber and toe off will change the entire from a uncontrollable mess to winning against other cars.

You will want 3s..it is intense but you will want it. Just respect the unit and it'll be fine. Everyone always complains about 3s but I've yet to break anything on my big revo or small one and they are 6 months old with many hours of use.

Anyways the reason I am selling it...the reason why you shouldn't get one. I have NO doubt the truck has potential...it does. The issue is the investment. Right now I have close to $550 invested into mine. I could have had another big revo for just 100 more. Even after throwing all that money into the car I am still not happy with it. I CAN take corners wide open on 2s which is about 35mph but you have to be so so careful as to not turn much. I used the remote from my big revo to limit the steering and it was much better but then you need a remote with bluetooth and that adds to the cost as well.

So the issue is you will be sitting at 600-700 and it will STILL not be as good as the big daddy. The body is simply to narrow for high speed racing. I never had any issues with wheelies or any of that. I imagine you would on pavement but I don't race on that.

It's hard to suggest..if you can find one someone has already started upgrading for a decent price I say try. I really want to love the mini revo..I really do but I can't sink more money into the thing. Oh yeah..I got two servos because the gears in the first one kept breaking. They are very weak so you'll want a metal gear or two servos. I got two for stress reasons.

It's a love hate relationship. When the car shines it's amazing, when the wind blows the wrong way it's not.

I want to add in some perspective..while I am not happy with my mini revo overall there is no way I'd ever get the slash or stampede. The mini revo is a much more fun platform and nothing breaks on it. Everyone else has replaced gears and shocks and crashes take out hubs and that..the little revo keeps chugging along like its brand new. I literally haven't replaced anything apart from said parts since day 1.

On the other hand, I love my mini revo's, and recomend them highly. Yes they can become a money pit if you let them, but so can litteraly ANYTHING. On mine, I have rpm arms, metal servo saver, and a wheely bar. Thats really all you need to start. If you feel you have to invest another $200 to make it drive the way you like, you bought the wrong vehichle. The mini revo will outhandle any other mini monster truck, but it wont handle like a buggy, thats just a fact. Its also not the most durable mini. The savage xs will take way more punishment than a merv, but it weighs twice as much and handles like crap.

Run it on two cells, and keep it within 4-5 feet of the ground, and its very durable in stock form. Add rpm arm, and it will almost never break. On the other hand, run it on 3 cells, or take it to your local skate park or bmx track, and you will probably come to hate it....

As for wheelies, you get them on demand, but they are not uncontrollable unless you simply are unable to control your fingers.... pull tge trigger all the way and it will wheely, don't, and it wont....

Your post makes no sense..if I have to invest $200 I bought the wrong vehicle but investing $50 is okay? Right. You invest money into the cars to make them better period. You can't cut it off at "X" amount just because you feel like it. The point is that you can invest whatever you want into the mini revo and it's only acceptable. No matter how anyone wants to spin things it CANNOT corner at more than 35-40 MPH because it spins out..because it has no weight. Tight corners you are looking at about 20MPH with the big revo controller limiting steering.

Today I tried to give the little guy a shot again in the snow. I drove the mini on 2s and it just doesn't have the ground clearance to go through already plowed areas. There is ZERO chance it can go in deep snow. Literally just stops. It just stops. I took out the big revo and it's hilarious...there is something funny about watching that beast on 3s go through snow shooting it everywhere. I was done with the mini revo in about 5 min TBH.

The mini feels like a toy...the big one feels like a monster from heck.

Well yea, the 1/10 revo handles better, and will tackle rougher terrain than the mini..... ...

The point of the mini revo is not that its super awesome. Its that its super awesome FOR A MINI. Compared to any brushless 1/10 in existence, its total crap. You cant take a really fast truck, shrink it down to half size, but keep the same speed, and expect it to handle as well, thats common sense.

If the choice is between the mini revo and a 1/10, get the 1/10, no question.

The ONLY reason to get a mini is if you need the small form factor. The price difference between a mini revo vxl and a stampede 4x4 vxl is just over $100.... You would be dumb to get the merv if you have space for the stampede....

Thats why I buy minis. I took my merv camping last summer. I coukd fit it easily. A 4x4 stampede wouldnt have fit in the space i had. I can carry two mervs and controllers out to my jeep easily, a couple 1/10 monster trucks woukd take two trips, and leave no room in the back for the kids stuff.

A mini fits me better. I don't have room in my house for two stampede 4x4's, but two mervs fit anywhere.....

For a mini, the merv is awesome. It is super fast, and handles great (for a mini) and with big joe II's and long travel rockers, will handle terrain most other minis could only dream of. Is it a match for a 1/10 revo? No. But it isnt meant to be. Its meant for sonething completely different. Just like 1/24 trucks are meant for something completly different than a 1/18 truck. I talked to someone who was lamenting buying a 1/24 ecx torment when the 1/18 torment was only $20 more. I dont know what he was expecting. .. 1/24 is made for driving where even 1/18 is to big... they are each awesome in their element, but try to have any fun with a 1/18 in a 10x15 room and you will think its terrible, a 1/24 in the same room though, can be awesome fun...

Yeah I know old thread but come on this guy isn't taking scale into account at all. It is unreasonable to expect any more than 50% from a car half the size. The MERV can't do corning at 35-40 mph but the full sized e-revo can't do it at 70-80mph either. Scale is relative and you must consider it when buying.