I bought my girlfriends son a RTR Traxxas Slash with ID for Christmas. It only runs a short period of time, then takes about 8 hours to recharge.

Should I just get more batteries and a different charger? If so... can you suggest some affordable solutions that would work with the truck?

Thanks!

I would recommend a larger capacity LiPo battery and a better charger. I've had this charger (http://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html) for 3 years and is much quicker than the charger that comes with the Slash. A decent budget battery with a Traxxas connector already installed can be found at promatchracing.com. --> http://www.promatchracing.com/prodde...prod=2S520050C

LiPo batteries do need a little more attention, but well worth it, and the Traxxas speed control will need to be set into LiPo mode to prevent running the LiPo battery down too far and ruining it.

Thanks. So that would be plug and play? Use the same motor, speed control, etc?

What Slash is it, the brushed motor one or the velinion? If brushed do not exceed 25c on the battery. The MAH determines how long the battery will last. As said before, get a decent charger. Look at these, Value Hobby 7600mah 25c, $37.84, they should last 20 minutes easily.

The above (I emphasized with bold and underline) is bad information. You may not need more than a 25C battery for playing around but I run 70C batteries in a brushed Slash for racing on a carpet oval (meaning high traction) and have no problems with either motor or ESC. If I limited myself to 25C I'd probably get beat a lot.

Proper slipper setting, gear mesh, and periodic motor cleaning are far more important than the C rating of your battery.

What experience does your girlfriend's son have with RC's and in particular rechargeable batteries? Lipo batteries are a good upgrade to a RC vehicle. They provide longer run time and more power. The things to remember are they require a special charger and can be [B]VERY[B] dangerous if not handled properly. Since you are asking this question my guess would be that your new to the RC hobby. My advice would be stick with the stock NiMH battery that comes with it. Purchase a second battery and a better charger. If your unsure of what to purchase go to your local hobby shop or contact Traxxas technical support.

I was going by the info traxxas provided. If it is the stock brushed esc, then 25c is the max. I bet your not using the stock esc, XL5? And how would you feel if the car caught on fire using something quicker? This is for bashing, not racing ovals, the hardest thing on equipment. The motor will last a lot longer on 25c. If they wanted to go faster I would recommend 3s.

He has zero experience, but drives surprisingly well. I raced truck and buggy back in the day before LiPo and brushless came along. My last rides were a B3 and a T3. I'll handle the charging duties, LiPo or NiMH.

With your experience Lipo is definitely the way to go and the Slash is a good truck to start with.

This is a basher, it just seems incredibly slow to me compared to my old B3 and T3.

It's the ready to run 2wd Slash, I guess the bottom of the line other than having the "ID" feature, whatever the hell that is.

I have no problem buying a different motor, ESC, batteries, and charger for him... if that is necessary to get more speed out of the truck. He has a huge, open area to play in. Having "too much" would also teach him throttle control... which we all know is very important if he winds up liking RC enough to want to race. Right now the truck is slow enough that the throttle is pretty much an on/off switch. Gonna build some jumps for him so he can learn to level the landings, maybe a triple too.

If he really gets into it, I will buy him something different to race at the track after researching the popular classes around here. And, of course... I will buy myself something to race as well. I miss RC! He drives just about as well as I do... but in my defense I'm old, rusty, and my reflexes aren't what they were back in the day!

I do like the chassis, it seems like a cool basher so far, and would probably be pretty fun on a track as well. It body rolls and squats and stuff like a real truck. Considering what it is it handles really easily too, I could probably turn decent times with it like it is. I always struggled with TOO MUCH go when I ran mod motors lol. Buggy was like threading a needle!

If it can handle a 3S battery, you could really wake it up. There is a huge difference between 2s and 3s, night and day.

If you had gotten the Velinion edition, you could add 3s to it and have more power than you could ever need. Welcome back to the money-eatin sport. In the back yard my Slash was a blast and hard to beat because it really hooked up. You can run it in stock spec at a lot of places.

Find a local club to race at. Im sure there are a couple in your area. All the suggestions are great except the 25c rate.
The Slash was made to be fun. We have a blast with them. We even run a 1000 lap team race with brushed Slash's. The truck is durable, and everybody has parts for them. Great choice!!

That's exactly what I am using. My club runs a spec class: Stock everything is all the is allowed except for the Traxxas aluminum shock caps and RPM rear bumper mount. We are not even allowed to lower the car with shock limiters.