The_Shark

Just making sure.

nitrosportsandrunner

traxxas is getting lax, and relying on their Name to sell their stuff instead of improving the brand.
At some point, this will catch up with them.
Crazy to hear that so many VXL systems are failing. It is one thing with a $200 redcat's ESC fails but to have the ESC fail on yoru $400 traxxas when a new esc costs $150 is nuts.
I currently have a SC10rs. I will take that over a slash vxl any day. The vxl may have a much higher top end, but the SC10 is just plain tough! Im at 30 packs (15 hours of runtime) and I have only had to replace the rear tires. With a slash, I would have replaced at least 1 wheel hub, the body, the driveshafts, maybe the diff gears, maybe some wheel bearings ect.

stoneenforcer

My Feedback: (23)

it already is available

Large Larry

I don't think it will catch up with them, they have their place in the hobby and I don't see it changing anytime soon. Where did you hear that VXL systems are failing? I've heard of a few problems here and there, but nothing out of the normal, and a lot of the time it's noobs who don't know any better putting their kit though all kinds of hell. I'm not really sure how you can speculate about what parts might have broken if you had a Slash, unless you can look into the alternate timeline where you bought a Slash, if you can do that I have a lot of questions for you. Also you can get a new VXL ESC for around $70, the motor and ESC is around $150 but it can be had cheaper if you shop around, most of the time I see them at or around $130.

TBH I think a few people here are just taking delight in hating for the sake of it, this started out as a thread about bluetooth being added to the Tx (with a sarcastic title) and very quickly turned into people ranting. I'm not a huge fan of Traxxas, but I've had some of their stuff over the years and they've never given me the kind of trouble some people go on about. IMO it's not the best you can buy but it's far from the worst, if their prices were lower I wouldn't have much more to complain about.

phmaximus

Well said.... If only there was a like button....

This is forum is going down hill... The current member line up are more intrested in talking crap about traxxas than actially helping people or appreciating the new guys projects....

Its like somdays days no matter what traxxas can't do anything right. I mean how stupid is this thread? I rember not that long ago everyone was *****ing that the TQi only worked with apple products... So traxxas has fixed that and now the same guys are *****ing about it... I don't get it are u honestly complaining about them fixing a issues u were complaining about 12 months ago? Seriously?

Ive got a lot more to say but it just falls on def ears... U guys need to be more positive and and give some positive feedback to the new members posting there pride and joy...

SyCo_VeNoM

It currently still only works with Apple products. It says coming soon to Android, and we all know how coming soon means in the RC world the Savage Octane was coming soon 2 years ago for example

Do agree on the posting positive things for new people who post on their new RC's to try and wrangle them into the herd

nitrosportsandrunner

I tried to help out people lots....
and I still own traxxas models today...
and I do like them...

I just don't see why a company in the position that traxxas is in, is wasting their huge R&D budget on crap. Really guys, who on here was thinking recently...man, I could really use a radio that had Bluetooth so it could connect to my mobile divice and give me telemetry that way...?
No one. No one wanted that.
What do TRAXXAS OWNERs want? A new chassis would be nice. More durable driveshafts would be great. And how about a stinking rock crawler! (and I don't want to hear crap about the market being flooded already...if redcat can sell a crawler with so many already available then traxxas certainly can as well)

I never...ever... will want a radio that can link (physically or otherwise) to another non-RC device. It would be far more practical to buy a high end radio that has a screen and can simply display the info. These have existed for some time and there are many options out there.

I really do not hate traxxas. I mean their lineup contains 90% good/fun models. Nearly all of their brushless electric models I would like to own. But it just seems that they have a odd sense as to what the RC people want.

You say that they fixed the issue with the TQi only working with apple stuff. Well, again, they created a problem that never should have existed. They should have just released a quality radio that can display the telemetry all by itself!

With the exception of the Funny car and the XO-1, traxxas has failed to release anything of note (at least as far as I am concerned) and even the XO-1 was kind of a let down. It is crazy fast, and is bigger than 1/10 scale. But, while the slash parts do their job, I would have preferred to see a whole new chassis. Why? Cause a new chassis is cool. A new model with 70-80% re-used parts is not as cool.

Traxxas has a huge market share...a huge fan base...and in my mind this puts them in the position to give us something new, something that will wow and impress. Why aren't they working on a 1/8 with a 2 stroke gas? Why haven't they done a 1/5 scale? Why no rock crawler? Why no new 1/10 onroad? So many potential new models that they could give us....and what do we get.... a Dang radio with Bluetooth, that only needs Bluetooth because it doesn't have a Dang screen to display the information.
I am sorry. I know not all will agree. But what traxxas is doing with the R&D money is just a huge let down. They may still produce one of the best lineups of Rc models on the market...but that is not excuse for re-using parts on most of their new models and wowing people with worthless gizmos.

phmaximus

I don't know.. I don't really want to argue,
I just think everyone should try a bit harder to welcome the new guys and there projects.
u have to rember some of these posts are peoples first cars... Sure they might be crap but to these guys they have spent a lot of time getting then to how the want... It really only takes 5min to offer them some positive feedback

I just think we all need to stop talking politics about rc cars and manifactures and start posting cool rc car stuff... Not just how we feel about them.

so far I think nitrosportsandrunner is doing the best job, well apart from this thread. he is one of the only regular members that shares his projects in a positive way... But would it kill the rest of u guys to comment?

I guess I just miss the old days of people posting up cool projects and just things they are proud of.

nitrosportsandrunner

It is true this thread is kinda negative. It is just that I get emails any time traxxas releases something new...I get excited...then open the email and instead of a cool new truck or a sweet rock crawler, I get a useless (to me anyway) gizmo for their radios

It is funny when I think about it....what 2 rc companies get the most flack that I can think off? Traxxas and redcat! The leader and the underdog. To an extent, that is natural. Traxxas gets flack because they are so popular that people (myself included) expect more out of them. And redcat gets flack because they sell models that are not as high grade....but people forget they are not as expensive either. So, it goes both ways.

I just want a rock crawler from traxxas sooo bad. Half the guys that I know that have crawler rigs, and half the crawler rigs I have built all have traxxas electronics in them! Waterproof, brushed or brushless and high torque servos....they have all the good stuff a RTR rock crawler needs as far as electronics are concerned.
They just seem reluctant to give us something fully new. But who knows....they could release something tomorrow and I will have to open mouth and insert foot.

phmaximus

I must agree it would be nice to see a solid axle crawler... Knowing traxxas I dare say the telluride was made to test the market and get feedback.

mind u the telluride and the summit are very capable trail trucks but it's not exactly something u would start taking on the big rock with.

Out of the pair I think a summit could out crawl a SCX10 but that's a unfair comparison as the summits main advantage is its size. But no kidding chuck a AE2 ESC, a 55t motor and some 1.9 ripsaws and the telluride actually does a 1/2 decent job. It has similar flex to a scx10 and has a considerably lower cog. But it's held back by its weight ballance and bumpers with approach angles.
I only say that as a buddy of mine has one with those exact mods... I keep trying to convince home to let me attack it with a dremel but he is not to keen on that... I sware its one of the better inderpendant scalish 1/10 crawler/trail truck out.... It's just a pity it does not have solid axles. As we all know solid axles are better for crawling, but my argument would be... Sure when talking scalish crawlers, solid axles are better than inderpendant suspension but they are not a massive improvement.

hows all the light vehicles currently been designed around the world for military use have inderpendant axles...but that could be for a number of other resons like the bottom bomb proof V shaped hulls and decreased chances of rollovers

For giggles I've been tempted to make a crawler that uses both... Imagine say a traxxas 2wd gearbox with all the suspension parts fitted so it works as it would normally would but slightly jacked up, then attach the whole thing to a MOA chassis via a 4 link setup....

it it would be like a 4 link setup but have higher ground clearance from the ground to the centre part of the diff assembly and u could set the inderpendand part to camber out when compressed.

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

I totally agree with you Maximus. It's hard to not get caught up in the politics and individual wish lists of ours that the manufacturers seem to ignore. But I don't mind that part of it too much as it's engaging when it's kept civil.


The attitude of some posters of late has been rather disturbing. One sea dwelling invertebrate recently posted in about a dozen threads and in at least half of them harshly criticized the products chosen by what seemed to be fairly new users. The fact that they view their opinion as the end all be all makes it worse. Now I've warned against using certain products I've had bad experiences with but if the person already has that product I'm not going to bad mouth it like this person did. Maybe a helpful hint to avoid a problem if it's warranted but this person and others seem rather bent on degrading the product and in turn not making the person who bought it feel very good.


I do miss the good old days of seeing more pictures of people's vehicles and projects. I'm guilty of not posting more of my stuff as well though. Guess it's time to start taking some pics and mix it up instead of relying on answering questions from newer users. Btw I've decided to dust off the. TQi that came with my 1/10 Rally and get the dock and telemetry for it. I've actually never used the thing as I love my 3PM-X FASST that much but I feel like experimenting now and I found I was wrong about it not having subtrim. Still wish it had channel mixing but the project that needs it is still in the planning stages anyway. I just hope the TQi isn't painfully slow compared to the Futaba. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

phmaximus

Hey why not... The TQi is a fun controller and all the telemetry stuff is interesting... Well to me anyway.
If u have any questions I'm happy to help as I've got a lot of experance it's the TQi and using telemetry.

my only issue with the TQi is mine craped out on my in under 24 months. Everything worked as it should but it losi its range I was lucky to get 10m of range in the end. My first thought was to check the antenna. But with the TQi is it's got dual antennas printed on the curcit board so if it was that its extreemly difficult to diagnosis and repair. I've still got it and 3 sets of sensors but only 1 receiver... Who know maby one day I'll get another one. But so far I'm happy with the FS gt3c... It's not as fast, but I'm wet to hit the track and test that theory and see if I can notice a difference.

one goot ot thing is it uses a 13ms frame rate... That's fast for a cheap controller.

nitrosportsandrunner

I forget when I bought my GT3c....at least 6 months ago, probly more.

I love the thing. easy to program, light with a good feel in your hand and it only costs $10 for receivers. You can basically buy the radio and 9 extra rx's for $150 and have 1 radio for 10 rc's. That is crazy for a radio with duel rates, expo, 3ch, lcd screen and a lipo battery.
I dropped my radio off of a table at the race track a few months back. Scared me a lot, I thought for sure it would be damaged as it is not the sturdiest radio feeling radio. But it was fine.
My only complaint, the fact that it has a lipo battery means it can tip over if you don't place it down carefully....since it is basically top heavy.
If I can get 2 years out of this $60 radio, I will be very happy.

pcarluvr

Let's face it, MANY companies have jumped on the Apple "i" thing. Even my electric cigarette says "iTaste" on it and has been a major industry leader for using your devices with other devices. But when you are one of the leaders of the hobby, all your R&D and you put out a dragster, why? SCT's, Rock crawlers, and scalers seem to be the rage even when they released the dragster. The smallest portion of the market has to be drag racing so why did they go that route? Not bashing just curious on input. I wouldn't be surprised if they have something "big" coming and are just a lot better at keeping a secret than the other hype builders?

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

Traxxas sponsors a full size drag racing Funny Car and did so before they had the rc version. It makes sense to have a version of the vehicle you sponsor if you ask me. Plus how can they gauge the market at all without making one. Not all vehicles need to be big sellers, some are just for getting attention or for bragging rights, like the XO1.

pcarluvr

^^^^ Did not realize that they sponsored a drag team! Duh, they sponsor everything, why didn't I think about that!

phmaximus

I don't know if they still are but Traxxas was sponsoring some snowmobiles... I did wonder a while back If they would make a rc one but nothing ever happened

I know I'm not the only one that does not understands Traxxas marketing and development but one thing is for sure... They do know what they are doing and it works for them.

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

RC magazines have a limited audience so you can only advertise in them so much. RC magazines are for someone in the hobby or looking into getting into the hobby. Either way they already know about the hobby. Traxxas is advertising to people outside the hobby and getting them interested in it. Whether that's Funny Cars, Pep Boys or other big retailers. RC is a natural fit for people into full size cars as a way to bond with their kids or drive and work on cars but in a smaller scale and budget. Either way they are bringing people into the hobby.

I was at Englishtown for the NHRA Summernationals and Traxxas had a whole tractor trailer there, just for the rc's. Every vehicle on display, reps, an area you could drive and a stunt area where Traxxas guys were jumping and flipping Slash 4x4's. Totota was setup right next to them and had a real funny car to sit in and get your picture taken but there were more people at the Traxxas area. The Toyota girls were way hotter too! My 12 year old nephew got his picture taken in the funny car and immediately went for the Traxxas area even though he knows what they have and has owned or driven the ones they'll let you test drive. So yeah I think they know what they're doing.

The_Shark

Yay! I'm infamous! yeah, I guess I have been pretty harsh, I just got out of working at a hobby shop, and I guess I vented off some some pent up frustration I had with rude or ignorant customers and not being able to speak my mind. I'm ok now.

And I could never suggest Traxxas to anyone but people who wanted to spend a lot of money, we always had something there that was better, tougher and cheaper, but they knew the Traxxas name and bought them instead. I have seen WAAAY too many Tx and RX fail and too many 3080 sevos die, I would say out of the 10 X-01's I sold, 8 of them had some kind of debilitating problem, pinched or severed antenna wires, DOA Tx's, bad ESC's, tires that are improperly glued (out of the box) the 1/16 stuff had weak servos that would freak and take out all the electronics, and brushed motors that fail every 10 seconds, I thought it was only user error, but everytime I sold someone a different 550 12t motor that was cheaper, they said that it lasted much longer.

Thats not saying that no one else sells defective junk, everybody does! but the blow is a bit sharper when you pay more for less.

Traxxas has inflated prices, there is no denying, you are paying for their advertizing not the product.

phmaximus

That's crazy. I dident know there were hobby shops having issues like that.

i can only go by my experance and I guess the same with yourself. So it's no supprise that u may dislike traxxas considering all the return the shop had.
i can't really comment on the returns but I do wonder what was the cause.

Ive owned a few traxxas radio's and vehicles. And I can say I've has a failure rate that high. Out of 4 controllers and over 10 receivers. I only ever had one issue. And that was a TQi loosing all its range. So for me my experance was only one failure. And to me that's acceptable considering the kids dropped it a million times and it got left in the rain on the back table a few times so no supprise it failed. I didn't t exactly look after it lol.

actially..... I did have a issue with the TQ radio....it's a very common problem too from what I've seen.
green light keeps on flashing with no communication to the receiver
all it is... The wire for the antenna come un clipped from the curcit board.
its a easy fix... Just take it apart and clip it back on, but yes it's something that shouldn't happen. And I guess that's why they revised the antenna on the TQi model.

its a shame u have had bad experiences, because I've had great fun with the traxxas models I've owned... It's just some I out grew and wanted more

The_Shark

Bad few batches I'm sure, but they should do a little more QC for their top of the line stuff.

adrhadthakhu

I really hope other rc companies don't follow this trend of traxxas'.

Leo Franco

blue tooth is additional but not neccessary