New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

All,

I just bought a new Traxxas Stampede XL-5 truck for my kids, because my RC10 is a bit too fast for them to safely control, and I liked the ability of the truck to cover rougher terrain than my buggy does. I also like the "training" mode for the XL-5 ESC. The problem is that this thing is slower than dirt even in standard mode. I mean it is horribly slow. I was curious if anyone else has noticed problems with this, and what, if anything, I can do to improve it. I'm using the same battery packs from my rc10. They are 6-cell 3000mah NiMH batteries. They're not matched cells but my rc10 literally screams with those suckers in it. I realize i'd get slightly better performance with a 7 or 8-cell battery pack but i would think with a 12-Turn motor that it wouldn't be incredibly slower than my rc10. TIA!!!

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Ive seen stock XL-5 Pedes go and they are by no means dirt slow so im guessing something is wrong with yours. Take a video maybe so we could see how slow it is actually going.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Ya my stock Pede did 28mph. There not slow but then one thing the 12 turn is a 550 motor. Does it do over 20+mph?

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

I'll try and get you an update; however, I'd say that at best its 50% slower than my rc10.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

What motor is in your rc10?

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

/ gearing?

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Hey RC10, where abouts do you hang out with your Stampede? Maybe you can take it to the Hobbytown on Cooper/I-20 and see if they can help out? Ask for Jeremy, he's the r/c car guy.

You probably do have a dud, or maybe your Tamiya connectors are not hooking up correctly inside? Battery connections are usually the main reason why most motors don't get the juice they need.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

I'd definitely say it doesn't go over 20mph. As for the gearing, its the stock gearing that came in it. I haven't tried the optional pinion that it came with. As for my RC10B4, yeah its got a pretty fast motor, and it has all the team factory mods to it so i fully expected it to go faster but i'd say this thing is no faster than a cheap tyco r/c car you might buy at Wal-Mart.

I will take your advice and go that hobby shop, it is actually the place I bought it earlier today. Also, the reverse doesn't seem to work properly at all. I can only get it to work maybe 10% of the time, and sometimes it kicks in when I'm telling it to go forward. I did read the manual and it says that if the vehicle comes to a stop without engaging the brake that you have to make it go forward quickly and engage the brake to get it to go into reverse but, thats not the problem. It still seems to not work at all in reverse. I'm definitely thinking its a dud. Hopefully they'll swap it out without any problems tomorrow. I don't know if Jeremy is the guy i dealt with but I'll definitely ask for him tomorrow.

Thanks for all the quick replies.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

My girlfriends sons new stampede is pretty slow also.My pede when it was new did wheelies very easy and moved pretty quick.His is sluggish and barely wheelies.This is with the same type of batteries.Orion 3700mah.Ill change his around or just get a 7 cell.But now mine will easily do over 50+ so im still happy with mine

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

I can't even get it to do a wheelie... :(

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Jeremy is the guy with glasses, short-ish hair. Ughh, I remember dealing with the Hobbytown before though. For some reason if you have ran your model, you can't return it to them, or that you have to deal with the manufacturer (Traxxas in this case). But there is hope for you, you can tell them that it has not been running correctly from the beginning, and that as you said it's only been less than a day. Show them the problem you're having with the reverse thing, and I'm sure Jeremy or who ever happens to be there might help switch out to another Stampede for ya. I go there a little too often, so they know me pretty well there. Maybe if I drop by when you're there, they might understand that you're not BSing them. ;)

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

wow that really must be a dud, I could get my old 20-turn stinger pede do wheelies with crap epic 3000 batts...

what kinda of motor is in the rc10? how many turn?

Possibly is the radio not properly set up, I am not failure with the new ESC, but I wonder if the ESC is not sensing the full range of the tx, looks like it has some kind of EZ-set button, I would look into reseting you ESC...

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Well, this morning, I did try resetting the speed control, and now reverse seems to be working as expected (although I don't particularly like the fact that it won't let me switch to reverse straight away if it didn't sense the brake). The truck also seems to move a bit faster, so I'm thinking that is the majority of the problem. I had to go to work so I couldn't play with it too much, but at least I'm not quite as disappointed as I originally was. I've got some deans connectors, and I'm going to install those and see if it makes any difference. Do you guys have any recommendations on batteries that seem to work well with this truck?

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Well, the Hobbytown carries the best batteries for the buck, the IB 4200s 6-cell stick pack. I have 2 of those, and will get more soon. Best runtime and performance for $45. ;) You will see a drastic improvement in your RC10 as well! Use Deans connectors on them too of course. ;)

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

An 8 cell battery will work wonders, mine can wheelie all the way down the road with ease and it's fast.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

mine was pretty fast when i first got it. then after a few days for some reason it slowed down a lot. i changed to another stock motor and same thing.

i sent the esc back and apparently it was fried even though i did not abuse it. i think it was stuck on 50% beginner mode. now with the new esc it will do wheelies for a few feet. if i were you i would send the esc back.

p.s. my team losi mini baja is faster than my stampede. i thought the stampede would be faster but nope.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Well, I took it back to the LHS, and they helped me fix it up. We ended up calling Traxxas from there and we were able to reprogram the ESC and get it running properly. I agree that it was stuck in "Training" mode even though it said it was in standard mode. Now I'm happy with it. I also upgraded all the connectors to Deans ultra connectors. Thanks for the advice / help to everyone.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Stampedes are flippin fast stock with those titan 12 turn motors....
Upgrade your speed control to a XL-10 and get a new 10 turn motor.

RE: New Traxxas Stampede is Disappointing
 

Hate to break it to ya, but a 10t 540 motor would burn up in a Stampede in 2 minutes, considering you can't gear it lower than 12/90 and it's heavier than most buggies and cars that can run that motor, and the bigger tires.... :D A 13t is about as fast of a motor I would use.