kbreese

I was about to pull the trigger on a Traxxas stampede until I came acorss this post by member zephar123:

Curious to hear more feedback about this. I am running out of time to get an RC car for xmas!

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

For a first time r/c, Traxxas has plenty to offer, and even so for the more experienced crowd. I got my first hobby quality r/c car for Christmas in 1985, and I just bought myself a Stampede a few months ago--I know the difference between junk and not junk. The Stampede is by no means a top shelf racing truck, but nobody ever said it was supposed to be. It's a great fun machine. Frankly, I don't know where the advice posted above came from, so I will reserve judgement on it's utility, but if you are looking to get your son(or daughter) involved in r/c and aren't trying to push them into competitive racing from the get-go, the Stampede is a great starting point.

kbreese

Yeah I have read up alot on the Traxxus Stampede & Rustler online....mutiple forums and reviews of the cars on different sites too. And EVERYTHING I have read has been overall positive, with one of the main praises being it's DURABILITY. The new ones are also known to be quite fast too. So when I read what this guy wrote I was kinda blown away. He seemed like a veteran who would know what he was talking about. But this guy made it seem like its a cheap POS that will be trashed after a year of use....which again is the oposite of all I have read.

Its actually for my girlfriend who is 27 years old. She has always though RC cars were really cool. I am 34 years old and used to be into RC cars in the mid to late 80's but have been totally out of the scene since than. I will probably get a car too so we can have fun with them in our backyard (which is big) and going to the park etc. I doubt we will ever get into serious racing or anything. More just for fun.

PS - I think the Traxxus verhicle are much better looking than the Losi's. Particularly the wheels. Is it just me or are those Losi wheels butt-ugly. All it is, is a dish. Why do they not use nice looking wheels? The traxxus wheels on the other hand are really cool looking. Also,I think the bodies look great too! I see alot of pics of aftermarket bodies people put on this truck and think the stocker looks better.

Bombers_410

the traxxas stampede and rustler are VERY durable and are good 1st timer rc's, the team losi, and team associated trucks are excellent racers. Either way you will be happy with one of these name brands, but if she is wanting to do some racing then the stampede and rustler are out of the question. The losi's and associated's are durable too and are plenty fun, just not as durable as the traxxas's

kbreese

Why is the Stampede or Rustler out of the question for racing? I thought another one of the great things about them was the vast aftermarket to make them as capable as you want down the road.

125cchyperman

Traxxas vehicles are not bad for a begginer but there by no means race vehicles (besides the Revo) and a rustler will not stay with a Team losi. The rustler may be faster then the team losi or team associated in staright line speed. But I havent seen the Team Losi rtr brushless race a rustler in stright line speed so I could be wrong about them being faster in stright line speed. But I am 1005 sure about how they dont handle like a Team losi or Team associated does. As for the stampede it was never meant to be raced and would be very very difficult to make a stampede compete with other MT's in a real race. Now I'm not saying that it's impossible but pretty near impossible to have a stampede stay with a Revo or something of the like.

Yes traxxas does have a lot of after market, and the rustler can be turned into a race vehicle but it takes a lot more modifications to do so then a Team losi or team associated would need. I believe there is someone who use to race a nitro rustler so he would know best about what it would take to change it over.

As for the Team Losi I love my both of my Losi's, My first vehicke was a Traxxas but I have added a xxx-nt and a xxx-t and there just great. Very fast and very good at handling, and will take some abuse. But there all great vehicles and for a begginer will do quite well, for what you have intended to use them for. And as long as she likes RC's then I think she will like any of those such as a rustler, stampede, a Team Losi or a Team associated. Good luck and have fun

kbreese

Now I am certainly no expert but I am quite surprised to hear that based on what I have read and seen so far. For a Moster truck I was amazed at how well it handled. Here is a review of the brand new Stampeded:

http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/revie...e_review2.html

Check out the video's, especially the first one. He takes it to near full speed and cranks the wheel and the thing never even tips over. The handling looked amazing to me for an MT. As far as speed I see people putting big brushless motors in these things and getting them up to 45-50mph so I am still baffled why they can't be competitve in a race. Seems like it handles awesome, can be made very fast and is supposed to be very durable. Seems like a perfect recipe for a good race vehicle to me...

Also, I have to say again, it's an Awesome looking truck IMO and much better looking than any of the Losi's I have seen...the wheels in particular. I know I have said it before, but it's a consideration to me that no one seems to care much about.

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

kbreese,

FWIW, I hate dish wheels, too. They are ugly, no way around it. However, for serious racing, they do serve a purpose. That's why the Losi truck has them and the Traxxas doesn't.

kbreese

Sounds like the Traxxas is more well rounded and best overall vehicle for the casual RC guy and the Losi's take the cake when it comes to hardcore racing.

Yeah those wheels are horrible. Even besides the wheels I think the traxxus vehicles look better, especially the new ones...personally i think they are great looking.

happywing

You have it figured out. Losi and Associated vehicles are for racing. There is much less consideration for how they look. How they get around the track is what's important. The Traxxas vehicles (Ped and Rustler) are durable fun-machines. They have a ton of aftermarket parts that look great. What they can do on a track is not a consideration.

kbreese

Well, i still somehwat disagree. I will agree that its not a dedicated track machine like maybe the Losi's are but I still think it has plenty of peotential to be one. The aftermarket seems endless. At least it starts out nice looking and durable

rcxboy

Look,even somebody with a stock evader will still kick ass against a rusty. Pretty much all the aftermarket support for a rusty is aluminium and that sort of thing... Not really useful in racing. you could get a carbon chassis, but that's just weight saving, not handling. You go buy one, and take it to the track. You won't do too good imo up against everything else. Once you sink money in it, you'll wish you got something else.

There are "race rustys" but it is pretty damn uncommon and they are pretty expensive too.

kbreese

Whats a rusty? Oh you must mean a Rustler. Hmm, I heard the Evader's are crap, i don't know about that....

As far as sinking money into it and wishing I got somethign else....it seems there are thousands of Rustler and stampede fans that sink lots of money into the cars and have no regrets whatsoever. I've spent countless hours researching and it seems they are the most higkly praised RC cars out there.

dustin7837

My Feedback: (1)

IMO, traxxas provides entry level products.Cept maybe the revo can be considered non-entry level. Not that they are bad, they just arent as high of quality or as well engineered as some other companies products.
The good thing about entry level products is that they are generally affordable and have tons of aftermarket support and parts availability. On the downside, they often have big weaknesses, and everyone has the same unit.

kbreese

Where is the big weakness though? Just seems to be really inconsistent info out there. Most of what I read is all praise on the new Stampede, but a few of you hear make it out to be something you'd be at toys r us. I have seen video's of both and they seem pretty bad-ass to me. And almnost everyone praises the durability of them. I don't know what to make of it....

Dokioto

The Traxxas stampede is a great beginner vehicle. I have had experiences with it and it is very durable and cheap. There are better thing out there but this is a a good, cheap way to get into the hobby. I wouldn't call it a racing vehicle though; more of a basher... Just my $0.02

ehroof

i own 4 traxxas rtr products and i am happy with all of them, the parts are readily available from any local hobby store, they are very durable. i have the rustler electric, nitro rustler 2.5, Jato 2.5r and a tmaxx. all run great and can take a beating, i have owned them for a while, the electric for about 5+ years, maybe more.

One thing i have noticed is that people are very opinionated here, even if they dont own the product in question. Not aiming this anyone just in general.

kbreese

Isn't the Jato a race vehicle? I saw a video with one going over 65mph. The thing was popping wheelies at will at speed, up and down. It was really powerful. It was an upper model, I think it said 3.5 or something. But it was certainly no beginner type vehicle,it was a rocket.

As far as the Stampede, yeah I know their out of box purpose is to be a great "basher" - I just didn't see why it couldn't be turned into a race vehicle with all the mods available.

ford f150

i own two and i hate both.

kbreese

Is that sarcasm? If not, can you elaborate? What don't you like about them. What other vehicles do you or have you owned?

46u

My Feedback: (3)

If Traxxas were interested in hard core RC people they would make kits again. Yes they are manly geared towards new comers and is just what Traxxas told me when I emailed them why they do not make kits. The only thing Traxxas makes I would consider is the Revo only if it came in a kit with out the radio system and an engine.

125cchyperman

Ok I think this is where your getting a little confused here. Straight line speed means nothing if they cant turn. The jato 3.3 is a good drag racer and is also good for popping wheelies, but put a Jato 3.3 in stock form on a track with a XXX-NT with a good .12 and and the Jato 3.3 and they both have good drivers behind them the Jato 3.3 would get waxed. The Jato just doesnt handle as good as a xxx-nt or a rc10gt does. Straight line speed means nothing if you cant turn.

Example take a top fuel funny car with 8thousand some horsepower. Great for straight line speed but not the best at turning. Now put it on a track with a Formula 1 car. The dragster will obviously be more dominant in the straight aways but in the corners the f1 car will easily take the dragster. Now add 50 laps and the dragster will get 4 laps in to the f1's 50 laps. This is the same concept that you will have with the Jato and the stampede. goos stright line speed but not real good at turning and handling.

Yes you can modd the stampede till your blue in the face, but you will not stay with a revo that is half as modded on a track with a good driver behind it. What you r are reading is correct, there great basher's are fast in there stright line speed and are durable, but there not racers. There recieve high praises with the 3 catergories but the last one ebign the racer they just do not recieve high praises when talking about them being racers.

About the only way I see us swaying the way you think about the way you think of the stampede and the rusty as racers in go to a track and watch them race. Watch the MT's and the ST's, and see how many stampede's are in the MT class and see how many rustler's are in ST class. More then likely you will not see any MT'and will see very few if any Rusty's in the race. The rusty may be a good truck but when compared to a xxx-nt or a rc10gt in a race they just dont compare that good against them.

I think that this is where your are getting confused at, you rare reading that thay are great basher's that there very durable and are very good in straight line speed, but you are converting that over and are thinking that because they are great in those aspect's that they are great in racing to which just isnt true.

kbreese

So each serves their purpose very well than. Still don't understand why people put down the Traxxus,when again its serves its purpose very well. I bet traxxas outsells Losi and other 4 to 1. I also see Traxxus threads and posts like 10 to 1 vs others. There's a reason for that. No need to bash a product b/c its popular...each of these cars are built with a purpose, if it serves its purpose well than praise it for that, don't make it out to be a POS b/c it doesn't fit a purpose it was never intended to fulfill.

125cchyperman

You are right in saying that traxxas serves it's purpose as a basher. But there not racers and that what we are all trying to say.

Traxxas prolly does outsell other manufacturer's but I wouldnt say 4 to 1 thought. Traxxas (besides the revo) was meant as a begginer level vehicle and they play that roll quite well. But the reason why you see more traxxas threads is also because they are meant towards the novice people and most of the others such as Team Losi and Team associated are more for the experienced RCers that know what they are doing and can take care of the problems that they have with there rc's. Novices tend to ask more but thats alright, as thats how you learn and become more experienced. I think thats why there are more threads about traxxas.

I dont think anybody here was bashing Traxxas or any of there Vehicles and if they did I'm sure they didnt intend it to come out that way. You said something about them being raced and we all tried to say that they are not race vehicles (besides the revo) but I dont think that you believed or still dont believe us. I for one have a T-maxx and love it. It's very durable and can take a beating especially with the RPM A-Arms on it, but by no means is it a racer

But we where all trying to say if you want to race and be a competitive racer then the stampede or the rusty is not the way to go. Some thing such as a Team Losi, Team Associated, or the Revo would be better suited towards racing. None of use said that they where bad bashers and that goes along with what you have read in other forums or where ever you have picked up that other info. They are great bashers with great speed, and have good durability, but there not racers. I think that you thought that because of the striaght line speed that they would make good racers but that doesnt translate over into the racing world.

kbreese

125CC, i think you missed my original posting, thats the person I am mainly referring too. Here are some of his quotes:

"DOnt go with a rustler, sounds like you want to go quality so heres what i would get if I were you. {links a tem losi] thats an uptodate truck, it wont break easy"

"THe traxxas is slow and the electronics in it is POOR POOR quality"

"spennd 150 bucks more and get something that will last untill next year"

"BUT please stay away from traxxas."

This was a response toa guy looking to buy a first RC car for his young daughter. I think she was like 9 years old or something...