Originally Posted by
halo123
Thanks for the replies and for the info, after doing alot of research and reading im leaning more towards an RTR, to get my feet wet. Perhaps sometime down the track i may venture into building a kit.
So with that in mind top contenders are the TRAXXAS cars.
In particular it would be the Slash and the Bandit.
So parts are interchangable between the Slash & Bandit?
Would the VXL be overkill for now? I've seen a few youtube videos where a brushless Slash is flipping over backwards on straight accelleration due to the hugh power.....perhaps its too much for now. Can i always buy a brushless motor down the track and upgrade either of these?
Can other upgrades be done to these two cars aswell?
I must admit i like the water resistant features of these two cars, does that mean its harder to maintain or upgrade? and how would the performance of these two stand up next to each other? im thinking to eventually purchase both, so that i have a buggy, and a truck. which would be even better if they could fairly closely compete with one another.
sorry for so many questions, but this place really seems like a great source of knowledge. I find some shops often have alterior motives behind their advise....
Now these kits come with a radio control, i assume these are good controls, so that means all i really need are the batteries and the charger. for the controller i know it needs AA batteries, but would i definately need to get rechargable? or not really? also with the battery pack is it worth getting LIPO ? or its not really necessary yet?
as far as chargers go, what should i be looking for?
and lastly what power battery will give me a run time of at least 30 mins, preferably longer?
Thanks again for all the info, i really appreciate it.
Martin,
I was in the same boat you were about 4 months ago and have learned a ton from just owning both the cars. Sometimes the hobby shop guys aren't always the greatest help and i've been steered wrong on occasion.
Regarding interchangeable parts:
The shocks are technically different but you can use them on both cars. Stuff like the shoulder screws, motor screws, suspension screws, transmission, shock towers, bulkheads, and the 10turn motor in the bandit xl5 and slash are the same. The screws have a tendancy to back out during normal use and if you don't keep an eye on them after each run you'll end up replacing them occasionally and having to buy one set of screws for both cars is nice IMO.
I couldn't be happier with my slash, the bandit I kinda wish I would have got the VXL (brushless) version out of the box. It really is the better buy.
I upgraded my slash to VXL immediately for 2 reasons. Primarily for engine longevity and runtime (brushless is sealed). I run in the dirt exclusively and the titan motors don't like it when dirt gets inside. I've replaced 3 of the titan motors in my bandit and didn't want to do that with the slash. Even with regular maintenance the titan motor won't last near as long as the brushless setup. The second reason is for speed... it's addicting. As for your wheelie concerns, the brushless setup in my slash (VXL-3s) it does not pull the front end off the ground even with the upgraded tires that I have. Perhaps if I used lipos (lighter batteries) it
may make it do that I'm not sure though. Doubt it. The bandit vlx would probably benefit from a wheelie bar since it's lighter and grippier in the back. Upgrading the slash to brushless is as easy as dropping in the vxl speed control/motor kit and connecting all the wires up. It took me about 20 minutes to do the swap. By the way, love the waterproof feature of both cars.
Batteries, just pick yourself up some decent batteries and a charger. I use the Traxxas EZ-Peak charger and some decent 6cell nimh packs. I have 4 packs and they last about 15-20 min in the bandit and more than 30 min in the slash depending on how hard i run it. All the RTRs that we talked about in this thread have the radio (controller) included.
If I were you, I would get the VXL bandit and the slash. Swap the powertrains if your son is going to be using the bandit because the XL5 setup is a little more forgiving (read: slower) if you crash it into a curb. Not to say he's a bad driver but these things happen on occasion!
-Wes