Ingen28

when i bought both of my TM's over a year ago i paid about 250 each

HpiDrifter420

i got mine about 2/3 months ago for 150 at my lhs

Fiegs

My lhs has an eb mods 18tm and the new .21 tm, both of them $279.99
Can't decide, but I think im leaning toward the 18. Is the new .21 considered a small block? I remember reading somewhere it is just under the limit on small blocks.

baggedgp

TRaxxas has the 3.3 with PS listed at 130+ 5 for shipping on there replacement program

http://www.traxxas.com/products/nitr...popularoptions

KILL--ROY

ALL SMALLBLOCKS SUCK, 3.3 OR OS18 THEY ALL SUCK[:'(]

Ingen28

Well this should help the OS18's out.....$139 and in stock

http://www.rcboca.com/product.php?prodcode=OSMG11931

easyrabbit

Now that is tempting...

erocks

os tm because it's better from the 3.3!
or the tz it very very fast.with trinity pipe it will fly to you!

Hairballusmaximus

I currently have a Revo with the 18 TM and a buddy has a Revo 3.3. Power wise seem close. The 18 TM however has been discontinued and you may want to consider the OS 21 TM instead. The OS 18 TM includes the spring mount header.

snoking16

for $279 you can buy a RB 523 and have some money left over. and the 523 will rape both a OS .21 TM and the modded .18tm.

Just a thought.

IanRose

trx motors are one of the best motors ever. The fact that they are pickky to tune make them easy to tune becase.... you can tell when it runns right, becase it runns fast, constant, and... it uses a small amount of fuel. Plus, you can get them brand new (but not in box) on ebay or trade in your old traxas motor, bolth for about $120

snoking16

dude...have you ever even tried to tune a different motor? having to tune it almost everytime you run is a pain in the but. i havnt even touched my needles on my RB 523 and it still flys like a bat outa HELL!!

easyrabbit

Ok throwin my 2 cents of inexperience here. I am new to the hobby but have broken in a few trucks now. The Revo was no easier or harder than any other one. It holds its tune just about as much as any other engine. I really dont notice difference besides power etc... The engine is fine, better than fine. I have beat the hell out of my Revo and the engine keeps on going. It was one of the trucks I learned nitro on actually, that and the X-Cellerator. I have noticed in my short time that there are many factors to holding a tune for instance. Unless you live in like SoCal where the weather hardly changes or what ever; temps are going to change, humidity all that stuff affect a tune. Even slight changes. Didnt u guys read the manuals? It says it right in the beginning of almost every one.

I will give you a list of engines I have broken in and bashed and they are ALL still in fine shape (and it is a pretty big list). From Losi to Associated to Traxxas to xray, there aint a whole lot of difference in the tune or holding the tune or breaking in or any of that as far as I can tell. Changes in temp like a warm afternoon in to a cold evening screws up the tune totaly happen to them all... SLIGHT differences at the most.

My Revo will break now that I said that but I dont care I stand by what I said. There are some good points here but some of the stuff said is just crazy. All these companies have been around for a while now selling thousands if not millions of cars and trucks. I hardly think they would still be in business if their stuff sucked. The 3.3 engine has been rockin for me enough so that I had not even considered changing to something else if it broke unless I was going to a big block.

Ok, Flame On :P

TheRealDeal

Nice post easyrabbit,,,my thought's exactaly,

I have 2 revo's and just did a break-in on a X-cellerator for the kid accross the street,,,I've been playin with nitro now for at least 25 years,cars,planes,boats,heli's,you name it,I had to have it! at one time or another and I am a big fan of the TRX15,one of my all time favorite motors ( they beg for the dremil,and love it!!)

The 3.3 is no different from any other motor I've owned (CMB,Nova,Picco,OS,Ofna,the list go's on and on) there all the same and all have there own tuning issue's that need to learned to be happy with them,,,and you won't see me pulling the 3.3 out of my revo either(well not yet,It does have an appointment the dremil !!)

infernalstone

I haven't had a 3.3, but I did have the 2.5r. And that thing wouldn't hold a tune for a race day. Whatever it was set at in the morning during practice was drastically different than what it would need to be during the afternoon. I don't know personally, but the people I raced with that had a 3.3 didn't have as bad a problem, but it was still waay too picky. But my os .18tm needed to be fiddled with about once a month as far as weather conditions in Tennessee.

snoking16

you are comparing RTR engines. not high end engines. RTR engines are not nearly as good as some of the others you can buy. if you think a TRX holds a tune like a sirio, RB, or Novarossi then your crazy. you guys have just never had the pleasure of running a high end engine.

easyrabbit

This is true for me by the way. I have only used RTR's. But my experience with each has not been very different from the other.

Guys who use the 3.3 to race, I mean the serious guys... they send them off to get worked on, polished or what ever. Not sure what exactly is done but it is expensive.

snoking16

The ST-1 .28 in my truggy is an RTR and it holds a tune so well. i have driven it about 5 times and havnt had to touch the needles. the TRX engines use a composite material carb so the temp change can effect the tune of the motor. metal carbs and metal sleaved carbs dont expand and shrink as much so they hold a better tune.

Clymer122693

I'm a serious racer and thats not true. Driving is 80% of racing the truck is 20%. You could throw a completely modded revo with a o.s. 21tm on the track and put a stock revo with a 2.5 and still have your ass whooped if the stock revo driver is better.

easyrabbit

I totally agree with you. If you can’t drive you can have the fastest car in the world and it won’t matter. I'm just saying that the guys I have talked to at the track an at the HS who are really serious and in to racing and have a revo 3.3 and still have the 3.3 engine in it, that is like one of the things they think is a must or something they really want to do. Actually it is the same thing with a group of street racers I talk to as well with different trucks. They all want to send their engines in to have them modded or what ever or alreay have.

When you have a bunch of guys who ARE good and CAN drive and are all about the same level, then that extra speed or handling or what ever on the car comes in handy. That is that 20%.

I talk about the track and all but I go for fun and have never entered a race. However it is not much different than racing any cars. We are not talking about quality of driving, that adds another dimension to what we are talking about here dude To say that pro drivers dont mod out or polish (or what ever the hell it is they do) to their cars is just not true. You may not but many do.

So yea last time I was at the track my 11 year old friend and his Mini LST2 putted around the track with a bunch of 1/10 buggies and what not and he was ahead of them almost all the time because he just out drove them, did not hit stuff, did not crash etc... You are 100% correct, no doubt.

HighClassBasher

I like the Trx 3.3s better than i like my old .18tms.... Dont get me wrong I thought the 18tm was a great engine... but for me the 3.3 is just as good and has more power. The 3.3 has also been just as reliable and holds a tune better too[8D]

easyrabbit

So funny. This debate could go on forever with some saying the 3.3 is cr@p and the others defending it as a good engine... Soon we wont care about any of it since we will all be driving 1/8 scale and big blocks...

sunco1

well i tihnk you need a new friend if he isnt convinced on the 18tm

easyrabbit

I dont want any friends up here... you are all insane lol

Ingen28

Yes this debate could go on for ever, and it prob will!!! but on the other hand the TRX engines are a stock OEM engine for traxxas trucks. Not that i am saying that they are bad engines but they are made for consistant decent performance. As with any RTR engine on the market, or any real car engine...the story is the same. They build them for decent power with good relibality for the average user. When you step in to the world of performance engines like Novarossi, Ninja, OS's...and all the others that speclize in that pertictular field you will get an engine that is tweeked and fitted a little bit better. Again i am not saying their is anything wrong with the 3.3, i love the one in my Revo, but if it were to blow or even loose compression then i would befinatly upgrade to somthing else like the RB523 . or even the OS21TM if the price comes down. If my 18TM runs better than my 3.3 then the 16% increase in desplacemnt shoud be about the perfect increase in torque and HP that i would desire. The 523 is really too much power for what i want, but if it is the same price as the 21TM then i would get it anyways. Just becouse you have all that power dosent mean you HAVE to use it right, but when you need it, it is there!