Access

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnKjVfPH1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GORwUVrZsWI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDgsZQce3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA8TnezIfx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luBKYVfQJ30

I know these vids are pretty 'raw' but this is what you can really do with the truck. I feel like most of the promotional videos with the music in the background are either staged in a semi-prepared area or something that was done with a lot of retries, heavy editing, etc. This is a personal view of how the truck runs, I was literally holding the camera in one hand, generally at or around face level, and the controller in the other.

I'm pretty pleased with this truck. It excels in the natural, outdoor, non-prepared environment. The only big problem I have with it is that weeds, underbrush, branches, etc. can get stuck in the drivetrain, forcing me to stop and free it. For this reason you're better off if it's run on relatively barren landscape than one with lots of brush.

People always ask top speed and the speed is nothing to write home about. Running off 6-cell NIMH GP3300's, it doesn't go any faster than between 15-20mph on a flat surface. Runtime is good, I could easily get 20+ minutes of sustained use with the GP3300's. Low gear is useful, topping out no faster than around 5mph but with tons of torque at any speed. The high gear is useful for relatively flat terrain.

On the crawler thing, cleary this is a 'trail' or 'off-road' truck. I definately wouldn't want to enter it into any crawling competitions. The transmission 'slop' is such that the truck can roll forward or back more than 3 inches on its own. At creeping speeds it lacks the fine control of the goat or a similar electric crawler setup. Maybe it's just the bare-bones radio, no expo or anything like that. It's not that it can't handle rocks or rocky terrain. It does that decently. It just doesn't have the precision required for a competition. Even if all these things were fixed, new drive system, new radio, etc. the articulation is still somewhat limited compared to a general crawler setup.

Handling is really good for a truck of this type. Most of the time I run the diffs unlocked, b'cos locking them really hurts the turning radius. The body is extremely rugged and not showing any signs of wear. The waterproofing really helps b'cos to clean it you can just use a spraybottle or something similar.

IloveMYxt2

How is that a 'crawler' Traxxas?

Sorry not a fan of Traxxas, at all.

redfisher1974

Good info......I get annoyed at every body asking top speed etc. like they think its should go 40 mph.....thats not whats it is made for....I think it looks good and for a all around trail truck or whatever you want to call it,It seems to be pretty good.

Access

Yeah 'all-terrain' or 'extreme terrain' truck. Crawler implies slow speed, driving this over terrain can sometimes require a different attitude than a crawler. Sometimes if you just back up a bit and then power it at full, the momentum and the weight will help to clear the obstacle.

I'm not a fan of individual brands, each truck is a unique vehicle in its own right. The only thing the brand matters for is customer service, parts availability (sometimes), etc.

A lot of the press around this vehicle does label it as a 'rock crawler' though. For instance I recently saw the Tower Hobbies (paper) catalog for February, top half of the cover "Traxxas Summit Ready to Drive NEW Rock Crawler" etc. Maybe just b'cos, crawlers are what are selling now? Not sure really.

Oh another thing I forgot to mention, someone needs to do a little more work on the RTRs at the factory. The two steering servos were fighting each other out of the box. One of the wheel nuts was not fully tightened. IMO every truck that comes out of that factory should be inspected to ensure it really is 'ready to drive' right out of the box. If I was a newbie who didn't know any better, I would've burnt the servos up in the first 10 minutes or so.

redfisher1974

How hot does that huge motor get?

Ziggmiester

Hmmm...I guess is a shining example of jack of all trades, expert of none. A little disappointing that it didn't really rock crawl that well considering as previously mentioned, it is being advertised and even sometimes reviewed that way.

Kinda annoying though with underbrush and stuff getting caught up in the drive line... limits the area in which the MT can go "off-road" I guess ATV/dirt bike trails would be a fairly entertaining place to drive it. You usually have some nice jumps, some obstacles there, but not so much on things that can get caught up in the drive line. There might even be a couple nearby places to "rock crawl" without giving it anything too tough to climb.

Looks like a good vehicle to get into the hobby, get a wiff of everything you might be able to do with an MT...rock crawl, top speed, bash..and give you an option of moving on to another truck( or mod this one possibly) that specializes in whatever area you choose to pursue.

-Ziggy

Chris_RC

On video 1, that is the fastest crawler ive ever seen!!!! They have some crawling clubs in socal Access, go try and see how it compares with the Axial and soon to come losi crawler.

sheograth

Looks good, seems to fit well in it niche of extreme terrain basher.

Access

I ran my AX10 (the kit, no the RTR) in a few competitions over the summer. The modern competitions don't reward speed at all, the only time that speed is used is to break a point tie. Tight precision handling is much more important. Maybe it could do okay if it was modded heavily (most setups are) but it just doesn't feel like you'd be operating it on the same level as a crawler designed for the sole purpose of competition rock crawling.

black mamba

Looks cool! Hard to believe that there's a "Revo" under that body.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Alpha Male

My Feedback: (11)

I like it, but I think it would be better with shorter arms and wheels/tires with more of a scale appearance. That seems more appropriate for a trail/rock vehicle with the slower speed and waterproof electronics, IMO.

Lilredmachine

Aye, but then the crawling ability would suck even more.

04DarkShadowGT

http://www.traxxas.com/products/elec...summit5610.htm

So exactly where on that page does traxxas call the summit a crawler? Oh thats right they dont

redfisher1974

I hate to say it but on the cover of the new Tower hobbies catalogue it has a picture of the summit and it says and I qoute "NEW ROCK CRAWLER" Oh and im not bashing it...I want one...

04DarkShadowGT

Again where did Traxxas say it was a crawler... Tower is not traxxas

redfisher1974

Calm down......your right.....but tower should know better.

Druss

While Traxxas does not explicately state that the summit is a rock crawler i think this picture on their site leads you in that direction.

Access

Except that there's a difference between a vehicle that can 'handle' or traverse rocky terrain in general and one that would excel in a crawling competition. The crawling competitions are somewhat artificial in how the operate. If they had goal markers and a judge holding a clipboard in that pic it might be deceptive, but as it is, it just shows a summit on some rocky terrain. I see nothing in the pic that would make one assume there is a crawling competition taking place.

stevehof

I'm pretty sure that the Summit with its 15 inch wheelbase would have to compete in 'Super Class' and there's not many local comps around that regularly have a super class. And, I believe most Super's are 4WD and 4WS. So, this is NOT any sort of competition rig. It is a fun boondocks basher for sure...

Access

A rear-steering mod might be possible though, there are rear toe adjustment bars that basically hold the wheels in place if I remember right...

Druss

I don't personally have any opinion on what Traxxas was or was not trying to say. All I'm saying is that there's a picture of it doing some rock crawling, whether it's a competition or not is moot.

Access

If you're traversing rocks for the sake of getting from point A to point B, or just for its own sake, it does a decent or acceptable job. I would say calling it a '... crawler' is wrong though b'cos of the relative speed and techniques used. If you use proper technique (which is not crawling technique at all), it can handle rocks just like it handles other terrain.

Look at it this way, if you had a field of rocks and you had to race from a point on one end to the other, you could take any path you wanted, without limitations on reverse, this might beat the pants off a rock crawler. If time is a non-factor, the same might be true. In a competition you have the artificial concept of having to follow a preset course, often with inches or less margin of error. You have the artificial concept of reverse costing points, etc. In this way, the competition becomes the 'game', and a competition vehicle is designed to score points, to emphasize precision over speed, to control without reversing (dig), and they make other tradeoffs which in essence rules out certain techniques only the summit (or another vehicle like it) could use. Like 'barreling over' an obstacle with sheer momentum or jumping clear over a crevasse rather than traversing it.

FairTax4me

Breathing a little hard in that third vid aren't ya?

Looks like a fun truck though. I think a rear steer setup would do well for that thing. Turning radius looks kind of non-existant in the vids.

stampedinIT

it seems to be an ultimate vehicle in all terrain. (and i dont mean ultimate in each). just a great all around truck. cant wait to start seeing them hopped up with bigger motors and stuff. i would love to own one. don't really see why people dont like traxxas. i strayed a little once but i end up right back with em.

redfisher1974

Man you analyze everything to death...