Not long ago, Team Losi introduced their new Desert Truck. Thunder Tech racing has a CORR (championship off road racing) Pro-2 race truck coming out. Now Traxxas has decided to step into the desert style race truck game. Introducing the Slash. The Slash was made to resemble the full scale Traxxas Pro-2 race truck.
The new Slash wasn't just made to resemble the real thing, but the suspension was also tuned to perform to scale. Some more noticeable things is the sealed radio box, large bumpers, nerf bars, and tires. Some more features include an adjustable battery hold down, new offroad tires, digital waterproof servo, XL-5 speed control, new body mounts to protect the body, and a brushless ready transmission.
Heres a list of features:
- 12t 550 modified motor
- Adjustable battery hold down that works with 7 cell hump packs
- Electronics screwed to chassis
- Traxxas high current connectors
- All metal gear transmission
- REVO spec slipper clutch
- Motor mount with integrated cooling channels
- Digital high torque water proof servo
- Full ball bearings
- Adjustable steel turnbuckles
- Hex hardware
- Long wheel base chassis
- 3.5 inches of ground clearance
- Nerf bars
- New body mounts to protect body
- Scale front and rear bumpers
To me it looks as if it is a mix between a Stampede and Rustler, because it uses an extended Rustler type chassis and it uses chassis braces, which the Rustler dosen't have. Also, with as much ground clearance as a Stampede, expect the Slash to get over the roughest terrain.
I contacted Traxxas about the Slash and they have set a release date of late May, with a price of about $200-$250. This thing is the buzz on the forums. It is expected to sell well, and people have already been talking about buying them and going brushless. Maybe a new racing class has emerged!
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I like this class
I'm a big fan of full-scale off-road racing, rally, CORR, what have you. I already have my money down on a ThunderTech Pro 2 and I can't wait to get it and build it when I get back home. To see another company investing into this class gets me really excited. I know there is another company that is also developing a full fender off-roader too but I can't remember who it is right now.
The thing I like about this class is the attempt at scale looks and styling that comes with it. I enjoy building scale models and r/c, so the two of them together is an exciting proposition to me. The only thing I see wrong with the Traxxas Pro 2 is that it has independent rear suspension where the Thundertech stays true to the solid axle, trailing arm style of real Pro 2s. The Thundertech also has a mid-mounted motor instead of the traditional r/c rear-mounting. But the Traxxas is still a beautiful looking truck, I love the body shell and bumpers.
Tamiya also had (maybe still has) a Pro 4 style truck on the market based on the TA01 4WD chassis. They had a racing series for it similar to their touring car series back in the day. So this isn't a new class, but it's nice to see somebody else taking the torch and running with it.
The Losi Desert Truck offering doesn't really fit into the full fender style of the Pro 2 type that Traxxas and ThunderTech are developing. So I wouldn't really count them as a contender in this class.
I agree, a rear solid axle
I agree, a rear solid axle would be nice. But I don't foresee Traxxas doing a solid axle anything anytime soon. This truck is more to par with the Thunder Tech Pro 2 than the Losi truck for sure. It will be interesting to see how the average consumer takes in this new class.
Travis Sewilo
Zero RC Staff
It could bring a lot of new people in.
slash vs thundertech
Slash
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