Traxxas Slash VXL 2.4ghz

The Traxxas Slash 4X4 has come to define Hobby grade RCs lately. It single handedly created a new class: Short-Course Truck Racing. With it's scale appearance and proven chassis, how does look and run? Well, let's find out!

[The Brand]

As always, i start reviewing hobby grade RCs by looking at the brand. Why? Because these "toys" are made to be broken and having a large company means parts support. In the case of Traxxas, you cannot find any better! Traxxas has it's parts in darn near every hobby store and there are tons of aftermarket companies pumping out parts as well.

[Included in the box]

Opening the box (which is huge by the way!) you will find the standard RC fair; The Slash itself, the radio set, battery and chager, some sticker and a novel or reading material (guides and such)

[The Radio]

With the VXL edition, Traxxas included the 2.4 ghz radio set that they just started releasing with all of thier higher end kits. This is a pretty big deal for Traxxas which has somewhat fallen behind in including a great radio set with it's RTR (Ready-to-Run) vehicles. The radio feels great in the hand and the wheel does not have a lot of spring (thats good) and turns smoothly in the hand.

[Battery and Charger]

These are both the standard battery and charger sets that come with every Traxxas vehicle. The battery will give you about 15min. run times, which is not too shabby. The charger however, is a joke. It will take upwards of 9 hours to charge that little battery! Just some advice, go out and buy a better charger. For $30 you can get a charger to have that battery going in twenty minutes.

[The Slash]

Looking at the truck in my shop I'll go front to back and basically tell you what I'm seeing.

The front end seems pretty simple and easy to get into. The tires seem a little hard but 4X4 power can pretty much get you over anything. The suspension is fully adjustable and feels great. However I do not like the stock springs; they are progressive rate and they just dont seem to absorb shock well.

The differentials seem fully sealed and safe. in fact, all of the gearing seems pretty straight forward. That makes this a good vehicle for beginners.

Also of note are the electronics; everything is completely water-proof! Not water ressistant, water-PROOF. The brushless set-up is insanely fast and the power that it delivers is just crazy; not something that will need any work in the near future!

Let's take it out to the track and see what happens!

I'll try it out on my favorite three terrains; Dirt track, street and heavy off-road.

-------------------------------------------------------

TEST TIME!!!!

[Dirt Track]

This is the home of the Traxxas Slash. With some work on the suspension, this truck can navigate a track well. It runs smooth and all of the handling is controllable and easy. There are two things I want to note here: The Traxxas Slash has a high center of gravity. Taking turns at speed will often result in a rollover. While a real RC racer might look at that and dismiss the truck, you dont need to. All that weight up high just means you dont want to be holding down the throttle in sharp turns. It's not a fatal flaw, you just need to adjust your driving.

The second flaw is the body; It's huge! Why does that matter? When the truck goes up a ramp, air goes underneath it. That large body acts as a parachute when the truck is falling. Essentially this can sow the truck down and make it a little hard to handle in the air.

[Street]

I didnt spend much time on the road. Why you ask? Well, this is a vehicle designed to look exactly like a real short-course truck and those things never touch asphalt! Without the resistance of jumps and other obstacles, the truck just never uses any of that heavy suspension. As a result, you have a very fast truck with a ton of body roll (is leans heavily to sides when you turn). This is the only place to use to included second pinion gear though, on dirt would overheat the motor.

[Heavy Off-Road]

This is where the Traxxas 4X4 really surprised me. I know that 4X4 power can get you pretty much over anything, but this thing not only servived in the mud, but conquered it! All of that suspension travel allows for the taking of huge bumps, the 4X4 drivetrain keeps power to the ground at all times and that motor has plenty of torque. My only improvement would be some better tires for traction. in fact when I did some research, I found that Traxxas uses the exact same chassis set-up for thier 4X4 mountain truck, the Stampede.

[Summary]

All together I love my Traxxas 4x4 Slash and I’ll be holding on to it for a while. The stock battery is mediocre, the charger is a joke and there are a few handling quirks, but all in all I love this truck. It’s just fun to drive! Once you spend some time tuning the suspension, learning to handle turns at speed and get used to the parachutte body, the Slash 4X4 is an amazing truck and cements it’s place in RC history!