I finally got to take my new Traxxas Rustler Velineon out today and took it to the dunes for its maiden run. With a 4000mah 11.1 Lipo (I went with 4000mah for lighter weight vs a 5000mah but that extra weight MAY be needed to hold this thing down.) I also tried three different paddle setups which I will mention below.
As for the truck........All I can say is holy creeep! :shk (You know what I wanted to say.. :] ) This thing takes off fast as heck and once its moving it seems like the speed control limits power (its still sick fast taking off) a few seconds to be able to let you get rolling with some kind of control then its like the Millennium Falcon! It takes off like it got hit in the butt with a bullet and if there is traction you can forget trying to steer. It reminds me of a car thats fast but with turbo lag (in a good way) and when that turbo kicks in its on its way to time warp! Very impressive vehicle to say the least. I went with a lightweight battery but I have to say I do not think it would be much if any slower with heavier battery and the little extra weight might allow more control as it is on it tiptoes once the motors unleashed. I have two more trucks here that will be setup very similiar very soon.
That said I put together three sets of paddles to see what worked best.
The first set was HPI 2.2 Sand Throwers. I did not know these existed till I saw them on the wall of a hobby shop I happen to see and stop at. Very different looking and easy to glue. These tires hooked very good and had just enough slip to allow hard straight launches and great control and I could make the truck go where I wanted it to with little trouble. High speed power slides with these were easier than the other two tires. They are a little low profile and would occasionally get stuck when I messed up (but all did. Slingshots below were worst for getting stuck. Sand paws got stuck the least due to monster aggressive scoops) But all in all I really liked these and would recommend them
http://www.hpieurope.com/piw.php?partNo=4412&lang=en
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRSK0&P=7
The second set was Prolines new 2.2 Slingshots. These claim less and smaller paddles by design to allow a nitro motor to rev and come into the powerband. They look good but I would not recommend them based on my running today. The truck was uncontrollable with them. They would spin more than the others and one tire always seemed to hook more and make the truck wheely sideways into cartwheels. I was NOT fond of them. I am going to try them on a less powerful truck and see it they work better. Being this trucks power was very high end and these are aimed at the Jato and such I can only imagine they would be just like that on a hot nitro.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLXR7
The third was the famous Sand Paw. Larger tire than the other two and much larger scoops. Easily the best hookup and almost to much. Got stuck the least due to larger size and bigger scoops. Being taller the truck was a little more squirrley than the Sand Throwers but still much better control than the Slingshots. Best roost out the back as well. Hard to say if these were actually faster than the throwers as with both of these once it took off would hit hard and wheelie off into the distance. I do think these had a little edge taking off though. But sometimes to much hookup made you back off the throttle and that can give a big edge to the Sand Throwers which were much more consistant. This may change as I get used to the truck and a feel for the throttle reaction.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDT99&P=7
For the front I have these
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRSK1&P=7
They look a lil better (to me) than the stock fronts but either do good in sand. These tend to throw less sand into the chassis and steer a bit better than stockers (this may be argueable. But I think so.)
That said my run was cut a bit short by a stripped spur.......(Yah I shoulda checked the mesh and motor screws on the RTR...DOH!) so I do not know how long the thing will run on 4000mah. At the time I had gotten at least five minutes on each set of tires and this was running all over and up the big hill at the Silver Lake sand dunes. It was still running very strong and uncontrollable wheelies were still waiting at just over half throttle. I was super lucky as there has been nearly no one there and the sand was being smoothed by a LOT of wind. At times I could not keep the truck straight with the front tires on the ground as it was being blown downwind. When the power would hit and it would wheelie it would REALLY veer off course. But when that wind let up it left me with a nice smooth hill thats usually rutted and rough even to a full size quad. This was the batteries virgin run as well and some lipos "wake up" after a few runs. If this battery has more in it I am gonna need a Genral Lee body for it for the air its gonna get. And a parachute. Bill
As for the truck........All I can say is holy creeep! :shk (You know what I wanted to say.. :] ) This thing takes off fast as heck and once its moving it seems like the speed control limits power (its still sick fast taking off) a few seconds to be able to let you get rolling with some kind of control then its like the Millennium Falcon! It takes off like it got hit in the butt with a bullet and if there is traction you can forget trying to steer. It reminds me of a car thats fast but with turbo lag (in a good way) and when that turbo kicks in its on its way to time warp! Very impressive vehicle to say the least. I went with a lightweight battery but I have to say I do not think it would be much if any slower with heavier battery and the little extra weight might allow more control as it is on it tiptoes once the motors unleashed. I have two more trucks here that will be setup very similiar very soon.
That said I put together three sets of paddles to see what worked best.
The first set was HPI 2.2 Sand Throwers. I did not know these existed till I saw them on the wall of a hobby shop I happen to see and stop at. Very different looking and easy to glue. These tires hooked very good and had just enough slip to allow hard straight launches and great control and I could make the truck go where I wanted it to with little trouble. High speed power slides with these were easier than the other two tires. They are a little low profile and would occasionally get stuck when I messed up (but all did. Slingshots below were worst for getting stuck. Sand paws got stuck the least due to monster aggressive scoops) But all in all I really liked these and would recommend them
http://www.hpieurope.com/piw.php?partNo=4412&lang=en
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRSK0&P=7
The second set was Prolines new 2.2 Slingshots. These claim less and smaller paddles by design to allow a nitro motor to rev and come into the powerband. They look good but I would not recommend them based on my running today. The truck was uncontrollable with them. They would spin more than the others and one tire always seemed to hook more and make the truck wheely sideways into cartwheels. I was NOT fond of them. I am going to try them on a less powerful truck and see it they work better. Being this trucks power was very high end and these are aimed at the Jato and such I can only imagine they would be just like that on a hot nitro.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLXR7
The third was the famous Sand Paw. Larger tire than the other two and much larger scoops. Easily the best hookup and almost to much. Got stuck the least due to larger size and bigger scoops. Being taller the truck was a little more squirrley than the Sand Throwers but still much better control than the Slingshots. Best roost out the back as well. Hard to say if these were actually faster than the throwers as with both of these once it took off would hit hard and wheelie off into the distance. I do think these had a little edge taking off though. But sometimes to much hookup made you back off the throttle and that can give a big edge to the Sand Throwers which were much more consistant. This may change as I get used to the truck and a feel for the throttle reaction.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDT99&P=7
For the front I have these
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRSK1&P=7
They look a lil better (to me) than the stock fronts but either do good in sand. These tend to throw less sand into the chassis and steer a bit better than stockers (this may be argueable. But I think so.)
That said my run was cut a bit short by a stripped spur.......(Yah I shoulda checked the mesh and motor screws on the RTR...DOH!) so I do not know how long the thing will run on 4000mah. At the time I had gotten at least five minutes on each set of tires and this was running all over and up the big hill at the Silver Lake sand dunes. It was still running very strong and uncontrollable wheelies were still waiting at just over half throttle. I was super lucky as there has been nearly no one there and the sand was being smoothed by a LOT of wind. At times I could not keep the truck straight with the front tires on the ground as it was being blown downwind. When the power would hit and it would wheelie it would REALLY veer off course. But when that wind let up it left me with a nice smooth hill thats usually rutted and rough even to a full size quad. This was the batteries virgin run as well and some lipos "wake up" after a few runs. If this battery has more in it I am gonna need a Genral Lee body for it for the air its gonna get. And a parachute. Bill
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ostpic need pics right? :rof
