Enzyme80

I am new here and pretty much to RC in general.
Not sure which one to choose yet.
I know we are going to be doing our share of bashing and chances are the only racing I would ever do would be with a few friends so nothing much else. I am already leaning more towards the firestorm but I just wanted to know a few things.
I have read a lot and don't really care to much but the xl-5 says like 35mph out of the box not that speed is a huge issue but would the e-firestorm be able to keep up (straight line). I am talking about stock but I know that I will end up going brushless before too long. Also which one comes with a better radio can't seem to find too much information on either of them. Which one overall is easier to work on? I notice that there is a huge following for the rustler but it has also been out for a while so that may have something to do with it. I have read that the e-firestorm has better handling and everything which is nice but if it is far behind because of top end then I don't think that would be too much fun. Anyways any help would be great.

Has anyone campared the stock versions of these trucks (before the hop ups, going brushless and the what not)?

And yes I know there are a lot of posts about this already... sometimes its just eaiser if there is nothing else going on for the post.

terrain is going to be short grass, dirt, road, woods (with paths)... might go to the track every now and then.

vdubman

I would go with the E-FIRESTORM it would last a longer time but there are alot of hopups for the rustler also. just my opinion i think the rustler is cheap made and not race worthy at all. but if you wanted to race alittle i would get the firestorm so they wont laugh you off the track with the heavy rustler. either way have fun with r-cing

haole

I would recomend you go brushless to start just because you will want to after about a week of owning your new brushed car. Or just read this forum for a week and you will not even want a brushed motor with all the hype of brushless. As vdub said, rustler isnt much of a racer, but its a solid basher, Firestorm is a good basher and is alittle more race worthy, same with the losi speed t. I would maybe get the new firestorm flux.

Either one you will be stoked on since your new to it. but i def recomend brushless

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Go with the E-Firestorm Flux, it has a proven esc and motor that you can fine tune from your computer...

ptgarcia

My Feedback: (36)

I'm getting a E-Firestorm. My brother has a Rustler and after looking at both I prefer the E-Firestorm.

I see people recommending the E-Firestorm Flux but its not even out yet.

Enzyme80

I am trying to stay around the same performance as the rustler xl-5 right now. To me it is more fun if you have cars that are close and running them together then two cars that are not even in the same ballpark. I do like the firestorm flux but since this is my first car i feel that dropping 310 for the car (before batteries and a charger) is a little more then what i want to go.

What about speed wise are they close in speed? Just plain stock I mean cuz of course you can upgrade to get what you want but just bare-bones. And yes I know that "how fast does it go" question angers people but I don't care how fast it goes as long as it will not be blown away. Leaning way towards the HPI now.

mx5rcr96

I have both and the e-firestorm is much better quality. I has all ball bearings in the axles and adjustable turnbuckles and threaded adjustable shocks. The rustler has bushings and non-adjustable links and I've stripped the top caps off of the shocks so many times that I finally epoxied them onto the shock bodies. Out of the box the rustler is probably a little faster since it has a 12 turn motor, but the e-firestorm has the steel transmission to handle brushless or more powerful brushed motors. When I went brushless on the rustler, I had to change the idler gear after two runs and the diff after about ten. I also found the e-firestorm for 10 dollars less than what I paid for the rustler ($179 vs $189). The e-firestorm also has an adjustable wheelbase and toe angle. These aren't all features that you would need on a basher, but it's nice to have the option of not getting laughed at if you end up in a local club race. One thing that a basher does need is the motor skid plate. (protects the motor in the event of a tail first landing) Gues what, the e-firestorm has one, the rustler you have to buy the wheelie bar cage and put it on. I loved my rustler at first, but the e-firestorm won me over. Don't get me wrong, if I have a 40 foot jump to make I'll grab the rustler because HPI parts aren't cheap and Traxxas are, and being so new RPM hasn't made any parts for it yet. There is anold saying. Buy quality once, buy cheap several times. I have more than a whole new rustler to buy parts to make it something that it's not. Adjustsable camber links, wheelie bar cage, diff gears, RPM front bumper in addition to all the repair parts.

mx5rcr96

Forgot to add, the e-firestorm battery tray can fit 7 cell flat packs. That should make up for any speed difference.

Chris_RC

It says that the XL-5 Rustler goesw 35MPH, but only with a $160 battery! Normally it goes about 15-25 with a good 6-7 cell pack.

Enzyme80

Thanks to all that have replied that was a great write up mx5rcr96 and basically what I was hoping for. I am excited to purchase it... guess now i just have to decide if I should get it from my LHS [link=http://www.hobbyfever.com]Hobby Fever[/link] they seem to have decent prices or somewhere else where its like 10-20 bucks cheaper. I think my plan is to go to the LHS and see if they will match it or at least throw in something w/ it. Can't wait to get it now.

Always Dreamin

Well, It's pretty much just the E-firestorm that many people like. The only thing that may not be good on it is the motor/esc and It looks very nice.

It looks like a great truck and I think It will be giving Losi and Traxxas a run for their money.

RCJesse

Hmm[&:] Im thinking about getting rid of my XL-5 pede and getting one of these, but not right now, I'll wait till they come out with cheap replacement parts and also till I see more used ones on ebay

DARKWAV

By getting The Flux you would effectively be saving about $25 or $30 over the cost of getting the brushed E-Firestorm and upgrading to virtually the same brushless setup later. But then you can get the brushed truck now and start having fun instead of waiting for the Flux to become available in a few months. Maybe in that same time period while enjoying your RC you will be able to decide if you want to put more towards a brushless setup…and in that case you may even decide you want an ESC that specs higher that the "Flux Motiv" AKA Castle Sidewinder. In which case the brushed Firestorm will have actually proved to have been a more economical choice. The difference isn't really that huge especially if spread out over time it may be easier for you to do the brushless later anyway.

Except for the ESC, Motor, and Paint Job on the shell (and I have to say I like the paint job on the red Flux the best), there's no other difference. Maybe they will use a different pinion, if so it would be interesting to see what they go with. I'm running the 19t that came with the E-Firestorm in my Sidewinder 5700 brushless setup. I do have an 18t sitting around that I'll try out at some point.

Access

Do we know what the real price is going to be yet? Remember how with the VXL originally tower had it listed something like $380. and as it got closer to launch the price dropped to $320. or somewhere around there?

Always Dreamin

Now It's down to $280!

The advantage with buying a E-firestorm then the motor later would be worth it IMO.

That way, you could even put in a VXL/Mamba/Xcelorin/Flux, whatever you wanted at the time.

04DarkShadowGT

Supposedly it has the sidewinder esc, which just came out. Not sure how that is really proven.

The rustler can also fit 7 cell packs, they are just hump packs so whats the difference?

Since when do 7 cell nimh batteries cost $160? 7 Cell pack and a change of gearing just as traxxas specifies will get you 35.




But with that being said if you want to race I wouldnt get either, but at least if you are going to rip on the rustler know what you are talking about.

The firestorm is a nice truck for sure but its no XXXT when talking about racing, and the XXXT is not much more at $235 on ultimate and comes with a much nicer JR Radio.

Always Dreamin

He's probbibly talking about the Rustler VXL.... (lipo)

Always Dreamin

The E-firestorm got 1st place at our track. It handled great, and I think more of it ever since. It might not be AS good as Losi or Ae, but It's definetely raceable.

Enzyme80

I think I am going to get it sooner rather then wait for the flux to come out. Mostly because I really hate waiting for things even if something better is going to be out. Also this way I can save $140ish right now incase I don't go completely crazy over RC but I am pretty sure I will. About not getting the XXX-T or the RC10T4 (i think that is the comparable model by AE) I am not going to be racing anytime soon, at least not this summer so I would rather get something more for bashing. Yes I do like the radio (or at least the reviews) for the jr xri2 but I figure for now before I really know what I am doing it would not make a huge difference and then I do not get the truck I was looking at.
Anyway does anyone have any recommendations for batteries for the e-firestorm good run time and good speed (by that I mean good stock speed). Also is there another motor I could look at that would help out w/ the speed w/o going brushless just to save some cash for right now. I mean I have a 9-5 job but also have a nice mortgage and 2 car payments that come first... lucky for me no kids just yet!

vdubman

i would go with good packs such as 4200-7 cell duratrax or ib. I would stay away from tenergey there cheap but just dont have the power the others do but if your just back yard bashing i would get some tenergys there good for that at least.

Enzyme80

Would something like [link=http://www.boomboombatteries.com/product_p/ib4200_7c_flat.htm]this battery[/link] work w/ the truck? Just want to make sure that I am getting something of quality. I have read about slow ship times from boom boom but that doesn't matter too much we still have about 6 inches of snow up here and it is still snowing on a regular basis. Also, what charger would I need to get everything working properly? I am thinking of getting like 2 of those and maybe one other pack (6 cell to save cash) so I can have 3 and get around 30ish mins of runtime... Hopefully that works out for me but I dont know

cheech4

yes, and boom boom batteries are great,i bought many packs from them. but i would get the boom boom enerG 4600 7 cells only cause the punch is about the same and the durability is better

Always Dreamin

Yeah, from what I hear IB's shouldn't even be bought anymore. The new Ener-G cells beat them at everything. They are also about the same price.

joseph pagan

go with traxxas hpi is foreign **** with crappy customer support.

04DarkShadowGT