Thinking of going to a 1/8 RC for my next RC. Recommendations...
 

The new ERevo 2.0 is obviously on my radar because of my familiarity with Traxxas (and I love the body mount system and typical Traxxas and aftermarket parts availability. However, the Arrma Kraton looks like a great option and a well sorted out machine as well. Other than these two options are there other RTR models I should be looking for? I am open to any marque; but although my mind is very open to ideas I think going to something like a 1/5 scale Losi ELE might be just too big a jump size and spec size.

Thanks in advance for recommendations and ideas. :)

Personally I'd stay away from Traxxas, pretty big money pit (and disappointment) when compared to race grade designs which already include upgrades so you don't get nickle and dimed,

ARRMA recently went bankrupt and parts supply is currently slim, however Horizon has put in a bid to buy their parent company Hobbico so there is potential for ARRMA to stay in business, and if the buyout is successful, I would imagine that it may take a while for Horizon to restore inventory back to normal for the ARRMA brand.

Would you consider building a kit?
If so, then I think the best basher on the planet is the Tekno MT410:
https://www.horizonhobby.com/mt4103-...ck-kit-tkr5603


What's nice about Tekno is that they offer a 50% Lifetime Warranty for any broken/worn parts you mail into them, no questions asked making them the least expensive brand to maintain, plus they are also one of the most durable brands you can get too!

I certainly know a bit about Traxxas now. I have 2 Stampede 4X4 VXLs and a Rustler VXL. I am new to this hobby and my first drive led to a crash which led to having to substantially repair and rebuild my first Stampede. I kind of enjoyed researching the parts and doing the actual repair. This led me to buy a set of used RCs. One of them was a badly abused Rustler that I rebuilt by disassembling it and rebuilding it on a new chassis and repairing and upgrading along the way.

It went from this:
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To this:
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And finally...
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An ESC fan is coming in the mail and I have a set of Traxxas GTR shocks to put in when I get the springs sorted out. Then I may well do a motor/ESC upgrade when I'm done.

Not ready for something this big yet though. Even the giants can get broken!
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I have a Tekno "Big Bone" centre driveshaft coming in the mail as an upgrade to the centre driveshaft for my #1 Stampede. This will give me an idea of how well made their parts are. From the online reviews I have read of the MT410 they sound like a very tough RC. Do they make a "Truggy" sort of like the Arrma Kraton? Something tough but a bit different than the MT 410? I am not going to race... Just bash. Who knows... Maybe the MT 410 is best for me... Hmmm...

I was curious if there was a Losi or another good quality 1/8 RC out there that was a tough basher. The Tekno is an interesting idea though.

Consider the Revo since you have experience with Traxxas and the price and parts availability is good.
I'd stay away from Arrma until the Hobbico situation gets resolved.
Take a look at the redesigned Losi 3Xl LST. A tough truck with good parts availability.It is powerful on 4s and crazy on 6s.
https://www.horizonhobby.com/LOS04015?KPID=LOS04015&CAWELAID=320011980001326203 &CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=37619207031&CATCI=pla-383002058055&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh6y_-sSH2gIVhrbACh2afgmkEAQYAiABEgJmJPD_BwE

I am going to take a good look at that Losi.

Right now there are a fair number of Servos failing on the Traxxas ERevo 2.0 forum. Could be a supply issue or who knows.

If I upgraded the servo on the ERevo then I would be pretty much close to the pricepoint of the Losi. And I guess there in lies the conundrum with RCs. Go for something a bit higher end which needs less or do the upgrade path on a smaller scale to toughen and speed them up? Even though Arrma are well regarded for their toughness you need to plan for a servo mount on a Kraton or Outcast based on my reading. So... No RC is obviously perfect out of the box.

I am going to do some more research on the Losi and see what I think.

Yes Tekno makes the ET48 which is a stretched out chassis of the MT410:
https://www.teknorc.com/shop/tkr5602...kit-pre-order/

Tekno is about as tough as you can get, but yes, there are other quality brands which sell electric truggies, of those that I would consider, I would limit to this list in order of personal preference, and if it's not on the list, then I probably wouldn't consider buying it.

1) Tekno
2) XRay
3) Serpent

Losi is "okay" but they are known for their parts to wear out fairly quick and will ultimately cost you more money to maintain over the long haul. If you want to buy once, then stick one of the 3 brands I listed, if you want to buy twice, then buy pretty much anything else.

No company is going to put really good servos in a rtr unit and some folks will push these new vehicles beyond their limits and quickly find out what breaks first. Unless you are building the vehicle from a kit then servos are one of the upgrades most will do to a rtr.

The weight and heftiness of 1/8 scale RCs was a welcomed surprise to me. That extra poundage smooths out rough terrain so well. I only ever owned lightweight 1/10 RCs since...for a long time. I always wanted an Ofna, Kyosho 1/8 buggy back in the day, and that meant having to go nitro. I never had the funds to fork out back then. Today's world of LiPo batteries and brushless motors, the aspect of running electric 1/8 scale platforms is just plain awesome.

If my wife told me I had to pick one RC to keep, and I had to get rid of the rest, it would be my 1/8 buggy staying with me.

Since you like building up a beaten down RC so much, I think you really need to begin your 1/8 search with the kits that are available to you.

Well... This mildly abused Arrma Outcast is going to be my first 1/8 scale RC. I am still looking at the Kraton, BE6S, and EREVO for a future purchase this summer. In the meantime I am snagging this and looking at throwing some GKA Custom RC parts at it to address a couple of things (servo and chassis mounts). Also, the front bumper is already bent so perhaps a TBone or RPM front bumper to shore that up.

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Well... This mildly abused Arrma Outcast is going to be my first 1/8 scale RC. I am still looking at the Kraton, BE6S, and EREVO for a future purchase this summer. In the meantime I am snagging this and looking at throwing some GKA Custom RC parts at it to address a couple of things.

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im not even getting involved, but my advice would be take any advice from this thread with about 100x grains of salt