Hello all,

After a great night at the casino, I have some cash to splurge on a new electric offroader.

I have always been a nitro onroad person, but am keen to try electric offroad out. Any suggestions for a car? I have been looking at the Traxxas Rustler VXL, is there anything else around that price range that would be good? I will be ordering from Tower (due to international shipping, I live in Australia).

The cheaper the better, as always.

Thanks!

VXL stampede is cool too, but the rustler will handle better since it isn't a monster truck. Make sure you have some money left for a good charger and good batteries!

i think the rustler would be a good choice, and i have a completely unbiased opinion because i havent owned a traxxas in almost 20 years.

i would also consider the e-revo, slash, mini e-revo and mini slash.

the little brushless mini e-revo has caught my eye here lately. it has so many great attributes like 4wd, those super cool inboard mounted shocks, great suspension travel, 30mph right out of the box with the capability to go 50mph with just another battery and factory harness. i hear that velineon system is killer.

ive been checking out videos on utube of the mini e revo and it looks so awesome. it seems to handle better than other minis due to it being a monster truck and thereby being a lot bigger than minis like the rc18 and mini-t.

i agree with brainanator your gonna want a good charger and batts and the rusty vxl is a good choice for higher speeds

I would prefer to stay away from the minis, a bit too small:P

Regarding the batterys, I have a few 6cell Ni-Mhs around. I know they suck compared to lipos but I'm sure will be fine while I learn to drive the thing and gives me some time to save up for some nice 3S packs and charger.

Question - what type of plug does the VXL have for batteries?

My nimhs have tamiya connectors, will I need to convert them to something else? If so, how does this process work? Solder the new plugs on and thats it?

Most new traxxas will have the high power traxxas plugs. Just buy some female ones and solder them on the battery. Then when you move to different batteries just reuse the connectors and toss the nicads.

The firestorm flux is the same basic price and truck category so it's an option

What batteries do you have? (brand) The vxl is going to be a dissapointment with bad cells.

6 cell nimhs will be a big disappointment.............then you will have the impression that electric is bad, which is not true...............Lipos are so inexpensive now you should look into them, check out hobby city. Run it on 3s and you will see how it can "kick" a nitro.

for a battery connector goto ebay type in "tamiya to traxxas" buy a connector.
I got one about a week ago for my XL5 esc for around $5 shipped and it works great. Seeing the connectors alone are going to cost $2-$3 + shipping anyways this takes all the work out of it and you don't have to bother modifying your battery so you can still use it for other purposes.

but you dont' get any of the advantages of running those $2-3 connectors,

as for a truck i'd go hip e firestrom flux over the rustler VXL way better setup IMO

the lug

That's kind of like buying shoes to keep the dirt out, but filling the shoes with dirt before you put them on.

i think he's too lazy to on the good connectors, but has yet to figure out that the good ones are on there for a reason, not just to be a PITA and is too cheap to spend the extra $ and get quatlity connecors... but yes dirt in the shoes for sure i've gotten tams hot from a 2400 nicad running a 19t fireball undergeared

the lug

Those connectors are produced mainly for "charging" a traxxas connector battery. They are not meant in any way to use in a brushless setup where the motor can draw 50-80 amps, they will melt.

Thanks for all the replies guys!

My 6cells are 3600mah intellect packs. I know that they will suck arse compared to 3S lipos, but I figured they would be good 'in-the-mean-time' packs while I get use to the car and can save for lipos/charger.

Unfortunately those will suck even compared to a 2S lipo....just saying.

Don't worry about what has been said. Your packs will work fine. Sure they won't be as powerful and just keep in mind that it's the batteries not the truck when it only goes 20mph.

it'll go a bit more than 20 like 25 maybe a little higher, ib's are good cells yes the 3600ness of them will hurt but you could be running a tower $8.99 1500 nicad specail

the lug

Thanks for the clarification but giving an accurate speed was not the point of the post. Everyone keeps saying that nimh suck and don't use them... My point was they are fine as long as you understand that the lack of performance would be due to the batteries not the vehicle, esc or motor....

The Intellect's will work just fine and they give you more than enough power untill you get used to the car.
Dont forget to turn off the LVC or the car will be realy slow.
(If you go for the rustler make sure to get a spare set of these: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJK52&P=Z as they will brake of you smash into something)