JUCD VPR

Never been into RC boats, but I have some awesome RC Trucks that I love to run. Was thinking about an RC boat but I wanted it FAST!

So I found out about the "Traxxas Spartan" and watched some videos on 6S lipos, WOW thats my kinda toy!

Those who own one, what do you think about it? It looks sweet from the video's I have seen. Any tips or things I should get specifically. Thinking about buying a used one off craigslist, whats a good price used for it?

I also see there are two models, which is better and why. Should I avoid any specific one, I heard some had overheating issues? Any help is appreciate. Thanks

Diesel6401

My Feedback: (1)

IMHO... stay away from that boat complelty!

1) you don't need 6s to go "fast"
2) the hull is plastic
3) the reason for the over-heating is the 6s claim. The first generation had a pure junk motor, the second generation has a much MUCHbetter motor, problem is the 6s is destroying the motor

* there are better (much better) boats for less money then the Spartan. Iuse to like traxxas, but seeing how the built this boat, and they way they responded to people on there forums who had issues with this boat. They lost a lot of cool points with me. They understand the car game, but haven't the slightest clue on how to make a decent boat. The Impulse 31 is a much better mono and built by a true rc boat racer with year of experience. Is it as fast out of the box as a spartan on 6s no it's not, is it a better boat that with a few tweeks can run circle around a spartan yes it is! Ibuilt a 32" pursuit mono for less then a stock new spartan and it'll out run, out turn and out handle a 6s spartan and it runs 4s. Like Isaid you don't need 6s to be fast, don't let the traxxas hype suck you in. JMHO and welcome to boating. Boats are a whole different animal then cars, do research on things, because what works well in cars typically will be destroyed in a boat.

hobby_man

My Feedback: (8)

The Spartan is a 5s boat. I run mine on 6s and 5s, its stock and it will go 48 (6s) on my GPS. The problem is the 6s voltage 24 volts x the motor KV 1800 , this puts the rpm at 39960. over what it should be by about 5000 rpm.
hence the boat will heat up on 6s. You have to manage the throttle on 6s. The flex cable will auger the grease out of the liner every run so you have to grease it after every run.

Compaired to my Aquacraft UL-1 hydro that is 4s and goes 40 out of the box. I got a metal prop for it, taught myself how to sharped it and I have it on gps from 65-68 mph, running 4s.
I grease it once and run it 10x. Hydro's are designed to turn RIGHT by the way.

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Tag along with D on this one!
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...suit-Mono-kits.
built by a racer for racers [:-]

hobby_man

My Feedback: (8)

who is D???

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Diesel6401

JUCD VPR

Maybe a stupid question but..Are the electronics in that boat waterproof?

Hmm I like the video of it running but it does not seem as fast as the Spartan on 6s. However I see it rides on the water and corners better than the Spartan video's i've seen so far..

I do hear what you all are saying about how the Spartan isn;t as good of a made boat being plastic etc, but I see them on e-bay going for $250 bucks with upgraded motors, The boat you linked will cost me around $450ish ...so is it worth it if I can snag a Spartan at say a $250 price tag off ebay or CL? of course that's a used one, which is ok with me as long as it runs/looks good. I really like the "Look" of the Spartan Boat. It's just "Cool" looking, plus I love going fast. If I bought the Spartan i'd upgrade the motor eventually. Hmm tough decisions here.....not sure what to do..

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

LOL!
the boat listed from OSE needs no upgrades to go fast
The Pursuit is much better build, and again built by a real racer, not people who don't race but put togther a plastic boat behind a computer screen that has continual problems
the Pursuit will run race after race with no issues at all... unlike the spartan
I have owned a spartan, and that is the biggest waste of money IMO
nothing about it says quality.. it was only built to fill a hole, but now many have a bigger hole in their wallets!

Diesel6401

My Feedback: (1)

Are you willing to deal with the continous issues and numerous failed parts just to run a boat "fast" on 6s? That's what the Spartan is. Here's the truth of the matter, the boat ISNOTdesigned to run on 6s. Ignore the sticker on the box. How do I know that? Very easily the motor is 1800kv, any and all experienced boaters will tell you your target unloaded RPMis upper 20K to lower 30K for single motor sport boating. To get this number you take the motor kv x the voltage. Your esitimated rpm's on that Spartan is 1800 x 22.2 = 39,960. As you can see that number is OVERKILL. Overkill works in cars just fine, not a big deal because of gearing. In a direct drive boat this is HUGE for the reasons of increased rpm means increased amp spikes. The purpose of running higher voltage is to DECREASEthe amp spike not to INCREASE them. Traxxas got it backwords. 6s motors should be around the 1300kv-1500kv range. Need more proof, read and search the forums (and not at traxxas forums becasuse they delete negative threads) but at OSE and Rcgroups and see the number of reported failures even on the new setup. Check youtube for spartans catching on fire left and right. Traxxas took a beautiful castle motor and is having people destroy it on 6s. Throwing more voltage at a poor setup is a good way to see fire works. You wanna go fast and wonder when your boats gonna blow , or you want to build a reliable boat with no worries? You choice! If you want to get the Spartan that is fine, but run it on 4s and 5s. That would give you good speed AND most importantly increase reliability! Just stay away from 6s. A uncontrolable and boat subject to spontaneous combustion is not that fun (or safe)... JMHO

I'll take my 4s2p Pursuit against a 6s spartan any day of the week ANDOWNITINARACE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az0zIeJiZJA

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Wow, bro!
Looks like your 4s2p beats out the plastic rtr on 6s!!
5 stars buddy!

hobby_man

My Feedback: (8)

GET WHAT YOU WANT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fPDg...Q_l5lLf076JjV7

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

junkjunk junk no idea if the new castle stuff is better  im going to start replacing the crap in mine as the esc and rx are burned up  i think a 180a turnigy , a 3/16 flex and maybe say 5s parellel lipos and a 2000 kv motor will be my next choice. i will also be relocating the stinger offset to right a tad .  but imho stay away from it  its really a money pit

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

oh and by the way i signed up on traxxas and started countering all of the positive spartan runners and told my stories about my magical smoke letting out on their so called 6s setup how the collett wouldnt hold the flex cable how the flex cable will break after you do get the collett to hold etc etc they banned me   said i was bashing and boohooing   oh and i emailed traxxas before i started posting on forums about the problems i was having  still have yet to have 1 respond to my problems about getting things "under warrenty" so traxxas lost my $$  i will never buy another traxxas part or rc .

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Like you so many have gone through this on there forums....
Sad to hear it happened to you! Let us know if we can be of any help here on RCU or OSE

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

not a big deal srt  ive come to grasps with it  but it sad to see others getting dicked by traxxas because of their  bs box advertising and whenever i see traxxas spartan question i will tell ppl that want to know to stay away of it  if i can keep 1 person from wasting their cash for a product like this then im hurting traxxas it isnt much i understand but its still a sale taken from them and replacement parts they would have sold because their product is junk. and you will always see me chime in on it.

cheers peeps JUST SAY NO to traxxas spartan

JUCD VPR

Wow so after reading all your replies i'm going to pass on the Traxxas Spartan. Thanks for the great replies guys! I appreciate the honesty and help.

phmaximus

Does that mean the only problem with it is the 6s thing???

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

no.. multiple issues

Snowride

I can't speak for the newer model but the initial was junk. luckily I got mine around christmas time over a year ago and things were frozen up here till spring. Lots of people ran theirs in the mean time and had tons of issues with esc and motor. I was a newbie and several experienced people told me what motor and esc to buy. I sold the brand new components before it hit the water and replaced them with high quality stuff for basically the same price as the new stuff which has been running great ever since. All in all it is not a bad boat at all except the motor and esc need to be upgraded. If you run it stock, good luck.

phmaximus

ok I understand u have had a bad run, But was that the only one u owned?
does it happen to every spartan??

I get a bit worried when people start bagging a product after only owning one, Its just there are heaps of experts out there giving it great reviews???

Allso whats wrong with ABS plastic???? its one of the most durable plastics????
I cant understand why U dont like it??? motor bikes use it for flearing, cars use it for bumpers/crash zones, plumbers pipe, computer keyboards, airsoft guns, Power tools, computer tablets, LEGO, out door radios, iphone covers, ipod, joysticks, tide on toys etc etc....

So if not ABS what??? wood? fiberglass?

Wonders why insurance companies wont use fiberglass or wood replacement bumpers... or how come 99.9% of real cars dont use fiberglass for front bumpers

IMO dont belive everything on forums, according to forums the HPI E10 is crap, ive got one that can easly out drift the average Sprint 2, and i haveent had anything brake on it in nearly 4 years...

Like I say to anyone, the first thing to do with new R/C's pull them down & rebuild it with love, but then again ive seen people completly ruin simple things like glueing on tyres or setting gearmesh....

hope we can debat this and reach a outcome, personally i know nothing about the spartan, im just trying to wein out the BS

Snowride

Well if you would have been following the Spartan on several forums including Traxxas since they were released, you would see it is by far not only mine. In fact, because I changed things out, mine was about the only one which was running well without issues. The hull is OK and quite durable however they do tend to separate between the deck and hull which can be repaired with glue. When they tear, it cannot be repaired like fibreglass so you need to buy a new hull. To buy a new hull is more expensive or around the same price as a good Fiberglass hull which is rather easily repaired or reinforced for that matter. No one says you need to believe us. Buy one and find out for yourself. Don't bother with the Traxxas forum as they tend to ban you for life and erase anything bad that is said about the Spartan. Even all the initial and very true issues were not allowed to be posted.

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

1) UH, you cannot compare autos to boats like that... and what are full size boats made of??? [:-]

2) well anything bad about this boat is deleted on the traxxas forums... and many members have been band or warned for posting the truth! not good for the first time boaters

3) well that's fine, but this sunk spartan is a RTR and was made to just plug in your lipos and hit the lakes...

this boat was all marketing hype... it was a disaster in the begining, and for many has put a bad taste in their mouths about traxxas.. specially how they reacted and treated their very own customers who bought this sunk boat and said the issues the boat was having was user error...
even the name in the start was wrong.. traxxas lost money even before they released it to the public, they had to rename the thing
plus the addvertised speed claims was the hardest thing to attain on the first run of boats.. most all of them burned up trying to hit those speeds

JUCD VPR

It's all good guys. Didn;t mean to start a big ol debate/argument. I asked because I wanted honest owners opinions and i got some from a few of you who agree it's not the best of quality. I think the Spartan boat look so sweet but after searching around I've seen a ton of burnt up spartans, they are all over youtube. I'm definitely not spending $400+ on a Boat that can burn up like that and then not get the customer support they deserve. I have other RC's that could use that money and i'd enjoy them more.

Traxxas does make some good products NO DOUBT, I have a BL E-Revo and a Traxxas Summit. Both are AWESOME trucks. Anyway maybe one day they will fix there errors and make a better Spartan boat, if they do i'll keep an eye out. I want a boat that runs 6S and blasts over 50mph with ease, if I can;t get that then boating isn;t for me. I just like to go fast lol! From the video of the other boat, the looks just don;t do it for me and it is not fast enough, nor do i want to buy it and upgrade the motor. It;s still cool but not what i'm looking for right now so i'm going to stay out of boating for a while and put the money into my RC Monster Trucks or my Heli's.

Thanks again guys!

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

well from that comment I know your not talking about Diesel6401's boat on 4s!
"I'll take my 4s2p Pursuit against a 6s spartan any day of the week AND OWN IT IN A RACE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az0zIeJiZJA "

on 4s it will tear into the spartan while running 6s..
buy the Pursuit with a 1600kv motor and run it on 6s and be way in the 50's and stable as ever
anyone on race day who is a racer whould choose the Pursuit over the plastic spartan..

I've owned a spartan and the quality and even just the looks alone while setting next to any other boat I own, the spartan looses every time..
some of my Monos that I owned when I had a spartan..
I now have a DF33 to add to my collection, that is now my P-Mono / P-Spec racer!!
oh and the blue boat to the spartan's left is a real Titan, and the one to it's right is my 6s racer (DF39 splash)

phmaximus

Thats so %$#@ about Traxxas removing people from the forums...... That needs to get out there, people need to know

We could argue what they should be made off, i posted those things just so people could get a idea of how strong ABS is and come of the common uses

Some real boats are made from iron & steel, but that does not mean a small r/c boat should.

All i ask is, whats wrong with using ABS for the hull and what possible advantage could fiberglass offer???
ive hears that u cant repair ABS, well thats not true, infact very far from the truth, Motor bike guys have been repairing it ever since they started using it.there are ABS puttys, glues, primers, etc There are alot of custom one off models out there made of ABS so wouldent that prove its a very workable material?

thats really bad about the spartan, have traxxas been replacing them under warrenty????