Traxxas Rustler 4×4 VXL Review

Over the last couple of decades, the 2wd Traxxas Rustler has become one of the most iconic bash vehicles in history. The 2wd Rustler was a huge seller when released and today it remains a top seller. For 2018 Traxxas upped their ante with an all new Rustler 4×4. Not only does the latest Rustler sport an aggressive 4wd system, but it also has a burly VXL brushless power system to go along with an entirely new chassis design. How well does the Rustler 4×4 hold up? How fun is it to bash with? It is the ultimate 1/10th scale basher? Read on to find out…

From: Traxxas
Direct Link: Rustler 4×4 VXL

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Tim Mohr

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10
Length: 18.78″
Width: 12.94″
Wheelbase: 11.62″
Weight: 5.12lbs
Motor: Velineon 3500
Speed Controller: VXL-3s brushless
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Traxxas TQi 2.4GHz, 2 channels
Differential: Gear style front and rear
Slipper Clutch: Yes, Revo spec
Driveshafts: Plastic sliders
Overall Drive Ratio: 13.97:1
Shocks: Oil filled, plastic bodies & caps
Servo Saver: In steering rack
Screws: Metric, hex
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Traxxas Talon EXT 2.8″
Battery: Not included
Part Number: #67076-4
Warranty: 30 days on electronics (does not include motor), on chassis and driveline “The chassis and driveline are only covered against manufacturer’s defects in materials, workmanship or assembly when they are new (before being used).”

Bashing Specs:

Front wheel travel: 2.4″
Rear wheel travel: 2.6″
Wheelie on demand: Yes on 3S
Backflip off ramps: Heck yes
Stability Control: Yes, Traxxas TSM
Sound Module: No
Self-Righting: Standard
FPV: No
Top Speed (measured by BSRC on 2S LiPo): 28 mph
Runtime (measured by BSRC on 2S 5800 LiPo): 1947mAh used after a 5 minute run
Street Price: $399

Primary Competition: Some of the competitors to the Rustler 4×4 are the Tekno ET410, the ECX Circuit 4wd, the Thunder Tiger Sparrowhawk XXT, etc.

What’s Needed To Complete: You don’t need a whole lot to get the Rustler 4×4 up and going, just some AA cells for the transmitter, a 2 or 3S LiPo pack for the truck(Here is traxxas Rustler Battery from Ovonic), and a battery charger.

Build Quality: Straight outta the box we could not find a fault with the build quality of the truck. The bolts were tight but not stripped, the shocks were well filled, the pinion/spur mesh was spot-on, etc.

Test Drivers: Robbie Ole’ School, the new and improved Iron Mikeee, T-Money, Hawaiian Chris, 3D Bill, and yours truly.

Test Venues: We tested the Rustler 4×4 at a number of local parks, our local 8th scale off-road track, plus the demo area at the 2018 edition of the Rocky Mountain Hobby Expo.

Set-up Notes: Bone stock bro. No, we didn’t change any settings, we tested the beast bone stock. Power was supplied by Traxxas 2 and 3S LiPo packs, while a Traxxas iD Live took care of all the charging duties.

Turning: Not bad! The crew at Traxxas set the Rustler loose on the world with decent spring/piston/oil settings, along with well-though weight distribution, so the truck turns well. There are times on looser surfaces when the front will push going into a corner, but most of the time it goes where you point it to go. Turn-in at corner entry was well planted and it tended to stay that way through the apex. At corner exit, depending on just how much power you let loose, the truck can either stick quite well, or point the front tires at the sky. In the latter case, when you punch it hard out of corners there isn’t any steering (because the front tires are in the air!), but with a bit of practice you can dial in just how much gas you can give the truck before those front wheels aim skyward.

Jumping: While sprung and damped a bit on the light side for huge jumps, typically the Rustler 4×4 would land well from “normal” amounts of airtime (from less than a few feet). The truck’s 4wd system did a great job of correcting pitch while up in the air, it took just a stab of brake to bring the nose down, or a blip of gas to bring the nose up whenever needed. Ruts on jump faces would sometimes kick the truck at odd angles, but on smooth faces the truck was easy to launch nice and flat.

Bumps/Whoops: Oh ya, the Rustler just loves to gobble up rough sections of dirt, gravel, etc. While the damping is just a bit on the soft side for 50 mph+ whoop-de-do passes, the general geometry of the truck seemed to love going into the ugly stuff WFO.

On-Road: While not designed for pavement use, the Rustler 4×4 is loads of fun to drive on-road. On occasion it will traction roll when catching an edge, but mostly it was WFO and good times for the Rustler on-road. Its shocks easily handle any road joints or pot holes, and its brushless power system always had enough rip on tap to keep things interesting. Speed runs were tons of fun, as were long wheelies.

Grass: We found that our Rustler 4×4 VXL did a great job in grass. The stock tires do a solid job, but what really makes it a beast is its 4wd system and brushless power system. When you combine all the factors, the Rustler 4×4 is a straight up animal (for a 1/10 scale) in grass. Shorter grass is simply ignored, while taller grass tends to get chewed up and spit out the back at high speed.

Tires: As an “all around” tire, the stock Talons work fine. They last a long time and provide their best grip in loamy soil, grass, and in light mud. While not particularly scale looking, they look tough and do exactly what they are supposed to.

Power: If you are a first time driver, the Rustler is going to feel quite fast, and that is on just 2S. Pop in 3, and it feels about twice as fast. For experienced hobbyists the power is almost perfect. The low end hit is strong enough to get off the line hard, the mid-range absolutely shrieks by, then it just seems to keep pulling forever up top. Yes, there is serious power on tap, enough to do extreme stunts, catch insane amounts of airtime, or to throw massive amounts of roost.

Radio: Pretty standard stuff here, the Rustler ships with a Traxxas TQi which worked fine for us during our test period. Some people really dig the stock ergonomics, but most of test crew rated the radio as average for feel. We had no issues with glitching or range.

Broken Parts: We kinda feel like the Rustler 4×4 VXL is a tail of two cities. The shocks had issues ranging from popped caps to pulled rod ends. So while the stock shocks work fine during normal/backyard use, they tend to pop early when going big. After we repaired the shocks, we then took the torture up a few levels. When landing really hard, the front of the body does pop out once in a while, but the rest of the truck is basically a beast. We found it really hard to break, and had to send-it stupid style to finally rip off an entire front arm. So while the shocks might not be up for extreme duty, the rest of the truck seems to be highly capable.

Misc Notes:

We are big fans of the way the body attaches on the Rustler. Much like the X-Maxx, the Rustler 4×4 comes with a single body latch at the rear to keep the body held on tight. It is easy to use and there are ZERO body clips to lose on the Rustler 4×4!!!

We also liked the new battery tray/battery strap set-up. It is also like newer Traxxas designs and worked without issue for us. Now, we nearly always prefer Velcro straps for bashing as they allow us to mount up nearly any pack instantly, but the Traxxas battery tray (and strap) worked well enough for us.

The stock servo isn’t bad! It had decent speed and enough torque to turn the tires full-crank while sitting on carpet, much better than the average servo you will in a RTR.

We used the Rustler 4×4’s self-righting feature, and while it didn’t seem to work as well as on some of the other trucks from Traxxas, it did save us numerous long walks of shame.

Best Mod: Pro-Line shocks ASAP! The Pro-Line upgrade shocks not only work better, but are also much better suited for extreme bashing.

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Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash: B We had the Rustler 4×4 up and running in no time flat. Radio batteries are supplied, you just need to charge a LiPo pack up for the truck, then hit the backyard for some trigger time.

Workability: B Hex hardware and a nice open layout made wrenching on the truck quite easy.

Car Show Rating: B While there are not a lot of scale realistic parts on the truck, it does have a classic backyard basher look. The wheel/tire combo looked on-point, and the body’s graphics were sharp and well done.

Bash-A-Bility: B Except for the old school shocks, we found the Rustler 4×4 to be quite tank like.

Fun Factor: A Big air? No problem. Giant roost? All good. Wanna try and jump over that tree over there? Go for it, the Rustler 4×4 has the performance to have serious fun.

Handling: B For a vehicle straight up aimed at bashing, we thought the Rustler 4×4 handled quite well. It had good steering and was super easy to control while airborne.

Value: B A $399 price point for the latest in bash technology is a great dealio in our opinion. The truck works great and comes with a number of the latest features for bashing.

Parts Availability: B The Rustler 4×4 is still quite new to the market, yet we were able to easily find parts on-line, with even a few being already available at our local hobby shops.

BigSquid Rating: B+ The Traxxas Rustler 4×4 is a great bash truck. It isn’t too crazy fast on 2S, but when upping the cell count to 3S it becomes a legit over-powered beast. We had hours upon hours of fun with the Rustler 4×4, and we are confident you will too.

Losi 22S ST Brushless RTR Stadium Truck Review

Announced by Losi just over a month ago was the 22S ST RTR stadium truck. The 22S ST is based off the championship winning 22 series of buggies and trucks, but has been re-designed a bit to make it more bash worthy. With an inspirational heritage of great handling and Losi’s reputation for durability, the 22S ST has all the making of a great bash truck. After weeks of abuse by our Bash Crew, how many parts did we break? Does it handle as well as a full race rig? Is it worth your hard earned cash? Read on to find out the scoop…

From: Losi
Direct Link: 22S ST Stadium Truck
Unboxing Pictures: BSRC Unboxes The 22S ST

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Tim Mohr

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 2wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Scale: 1/10
Length: 17.4″
Width: 12.9″
Wheelbase: 11.4″
Motor: Dynamite 540 brushless, 3300kV
Speed Controller: Dynamite Fuze 60 amp ESC, 3S capable
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Spektrum DX2E
Differential: Gear style
Slipper Clutch: Dual pad
Driveshafts: Metal, CVD style
Shocks: Oil filled, plastic
Servo Saver: In steering rack
Screws: Hex hardware
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 pitch
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Losi off-road
Battery: Not included
Part Number: #LOS03017
Warranty: “Horizon Hobby warranties the product to be free of defects at the date of purchase.”

Bashing Specs:

Front wheel travel: 2.2″
Rear wheel travel: 2.4″
Wheelie on demand: With enough traction, yes
Backflip off ramps: Yes
Stability Control: Yes, Spektrum AVC
Sound Module: No
Self-Righting: No
FPV: No
Top Speed (measured by BSRC on 3S LiPo): 43 mph
Runtime (measured by BSRC on 3S LiPo Battery 5000mAh): 890mAh used after a 5 minute run
Street Price: $299

What’s Needed To Complete: To get the Losi up and running you’ll need a 2 or 3S LiPo pack for the truck (with an EC3 connector) Find battery for Losi 22S at Ampow. and a battery charger. The truck comes completely assembled, and there are four AA cells supplied for the transmitter.

Build Quality: Out of the box we could find no fault with the assembly quality of the Losi. All the bolts were tight, nothing was stripped, the gear mesh was good, and the shocks felt properly filled.

Test Drivers: Hawaiian Chris, Robbie G., Iron-Man-Mike, T-$$$, and yours truly.

Test Venues: Minnie Ha Ha Park in Fenton Missouri, St Louis Dirtburners off-road track, and a city park in Arnold, Missouri.

Set-up Notes: We ran the Losi bone stock and made no changes to the suspension or gearing. For power, we used a Dynamite 3S 5000mAh LiPo pack, with a Dynamite Passport Ultra Force Duo handling the charging duties.

Turning: Like most Losi vehicles, the 22S ST has a lot of steering. Generally on most surfaces, the front tires turn right in at the corner entry, with excellent turning through the mid-corner and apex. The abundance of steering was well received by our more experienced test drivers, allowing them to really curve out their corners with aggression.

Jumping: For a 2wd stadium truck we felt that the Losi jumped extremely well. The truck did a great job of launching straight off a jump face, and could even be landed at slight angles without traction rolling. With the 22S ST being 2wd, it didn’t respond as quickly in the air to trigger inputs as a 4wd would, but for a 2wd rig, inputs translated well to changing the pitch of the truck. Taller landings could easily bottom the stock suspension, but for the majority of jumping that we did, it soaked up the landings just fine.

Bumps/Whoops: The large stadium truck sized tires and well set suspension allowed the Losi to really haul through the rough stuff. At one of our local parks, we found a long section of braking bumps that were created by full sized trucks. The Losi had no problem pounding them WFO. AVC also helps through the rough to make minor corrections when really pushing the envelope.

On-Road: The Losi was not designed to be driven on-road, but we had a blast while doing so. We found that it rarely traction rolled and its long travel suspension easily soaked up all the potholes we could find.

Grass: If grass is mostly your venue, you should look at 4wd. If a 2wd stadium truck is a must, the Losi does an excellent job. The stock tires absolutely love grass, while the truck’s brushless power system provides relentless power.

Tires: The stock tires are best used on softer surfaces like mud, or loamy dirt, and they absolutely love grass. They work “OK” on pavement and on hard packed dirt like a track, but looser/softer surfaces is where they really provide traction.

Power: The Losi comes with more power than a noobie can use, heck, it comes with more power than even most experienced drivers can put down on 3S. The speedo is programmed super soft right off the bottom to help make it drive-able on higher cell counts, then it rockets through the mid-range. Up top the power on 3S is plenty insane, with more than enough power to make huge jumps, high speed wheelies, etc.

Radio: A Spektrum DX2E comes standard, a radio that worked without issue for us. With the 22S ST being a 2wd, we using the radio’s electronic stability function (AVC) all the time and it really helped.

Broken Parts: Early on our test truck broke both of the rear body mounts, then one of the CVDs kept popping out. Otherwise, we put in a bunch of packs on the truck where we didn’t break anything. During this period we were just getting in some normal backyard bashing, the type we would expect a typical owner to put the truck through. After we got in all our drive time, we went big and ended up breaking the chassis right in front of the rear shock tower.

Misc Notes:

The Losi comes with a bottom mount battery tray and we are on the fence about it. On one side it does make it easier to change out of a battery. On the other, it limits the size of pack you can use. Oh and, be sure and always pack a quarter on you (that’s what we used to open the battery door).

Does the 22S ST handle as well as a full-race 22? No, but it wasn’t as far off as we anticipated. In fact, given some new tires and some minor suspension adjustments, we think you could absolutely race it at the local level.

While the rear motor design does help rear traction on slick surfaces, we would much rather have seen the truck arrive with a mid-motor configuration. Why’s that? For two reasons. First off, handling could perhaps be even better using a mid-motor set-up. More importantly, a rear motor configuration is less than optimal for bashing. You long time hobbyists have probably landed right on the motor during severe rear landings, and you’ve probably ruined a few motors that way. As it stands with the 22S ST, the motor basically serves double duty as a rear bumper, not something we like to see on bash oriented trucks. With that said, our motor held up fine, but then we steered away from hucking big jumps to pavement with the Losi.

Tattu 1800mah 4S 75C Review and Testing

I was recently sent one of the new Tattu 4S 1800mah 75C batteries to do a bit of testing. I've been flying it for a week or so and I have spent some time gathering data. Here is what I've found so far. 

To give a bit of background, I am a multirotor pilot, and am primarily interested in miniquads.That being said the testing I've done applies universally. These high C rated batteries are useful beyond the bounds of multirotors into the world of 3D flying, and high-performance aircraft.

For this test I've done some stress testing (and unintentional abuse!) and general data collection with this battery, and for comparison purposes a Dinogy 1800mah 65C as well. I did a current draw test on both batteries at 25A to measure voltage drop. For now, I have skipped the internal resistance test as my current tester seems to be giving unreliable results. I will post an update as soon as I get some reliable results. Finally, I recorded a flight with an onboard current and voltage sensor in the OSD to demonstrate voltage drop in real-world flight conditions.

Physical Characteristics

As with the GensAce 2200mah I reviewed last week, my first impressions of this battery are very positive. GensAce/Tattu seem to use the same build techniques in both their lower discharge and higher discharge batteries. It has the same aluminum support that covers the battery and adds additional protection to the top and bottom of the battery. After a bit more research I have found that this actually provides compression during high discharge and according to research can significantly extend the life of the battery. Again, where the high current lines enter the battery casing they are re-enforced with additional heat shrink. The balance leads also come out the opposite side of the casing rather than the same side as the high current lines. In addition this battery has a plastic cover that extends over the balance lead cables, preventing stress on the cables when plugging and unplugging the balance cable. I will point out that on some chargers this can prevent the balance leads from fitting properly. Unlike the 2200mah, this battery came with XT60 connectors, which means no soldering for me. Battery dimensions actually exactly the same as the 2200mah 3S, and are accurate to the product description on the sellers website. The wight is just over 200g and the physical size is 105mm x 35mm x 25mm. Because of the aluminum plates, the size is very consistent.

Load Testing

I wired the battery up to a 25A load to test voltage drop. At the top of the battery the voltage dropped mostly linearly at a rate of 0.037V per A. That leads to a projected drop of 1.9V at a 50A load.

The flight video shows a voltage drop of about 1.5V at 65A which is actually a good deal higher than the projected ratings. Granted this sag was at the top of the battery, and this was the batteries first flight, however it leads me to believe that the performance of these batteries increases as the amp draw increases. It appears to be a factor of the carbon nano-polymer used to increase the C rating. 

Also it is worth noting that on this first flight test, I got a bit caught up in flying and pushed it a bit harder than I was planning. The battery came down screaming hot and a tad unbalanced at 0.10V maxium variance between cells. However after a few hours of cool down the battery was back to withing a 0.03V maximum variance. After a slow charge the battery was perfectly balanced. After several additional flights there seem to be no ill results from the abuse on the initial discharge. I am very impressed with the handling of the abuse!

Tattu 1800mah 75C Load Testing (5 min 14 sec)

Comparison Load Test
For comparison the Dinogy battery performed slightly worse with a 0.043V per A drop.

Conclusions

My initial impressions of these batteries both in build quality and performance are very positive. Because of the very high C rating, it is hard to get an accurate picture of whether or not this battery can fullfill a 75C (135A) current load, but given very few people have a setup that can draw that type of constant load, that's not something we can easily gauge. Since I haven't found a reliable method for testing internal resistance (other than the load tests above) It's hard to get an objective measurement of true C rating. I will post an update as soon as I can test these on a more reliable tester. I can say up to 65A loads this battery performs excellently. I was also very impressed with how well it recovered from first time abuse.

The battery provides both solid performance and the extras in the build such as the reinforced cables and aluminum compression plates add up to a very nice battery. However that battery does come at a premium price compared to other similarly rated batteries. For those interested, the battery is available here: https://www.ampow.com/tattu-75c-1800mah-4s1p-xt60-lipo-battery.html

GensAce 2200mah 25C LiPo Review and Testing

Since the GensAce 2200mah 3S 25C batteries were on a significant sale recently, I picked up two to do a bit of testing. I spent a couple of days gathering data, and here are the results. 

To give a bit of background, I am a multirotor pilot, and am primarily interested in miniquads. That being said the testing I've done applies universally, and the 2200mah size battery is very adaptable to general use in mini quads, 450 class multirotors, small helicopters, and airplanes, RC crawlers etc. 



For this test, I've done some stress testing and general data collection with this battery, and for comparison purposes a Turnigy 2200mah 35C as well. I began by testing the internal resistance of the battery. I also did a current draw test on both batteries at 25A to measure the voltage drop. Finally Irecorded a flight with an onboard current and voltage sensor in the OSD to demonstrate voltage drop in real-world flight conditions.

Physical Characteristics

My first impressions of this battery are very positive. The battery is very solid and well built. There is a very thin aluminum support that surrounds the battery and adds additional protection to the top, back, and bottom of the battery. This protective layer doesn't extend down the sides however. Where the high current lines enter the battery casing they are re-enforced with additional heat shrink. The balance leads come out the opposite side of the casing rather than the same side as the high current lines. This battery did come with 4mm bullet connectors, which I had to cut and resolder to my standard XT60. The battery weighs in at 190g with the factory connector and 187g after being modified with the XT60.
 
Internal Resistance
As a first test I measured the IR of the battery in several conditions. I tested at both full voltage, storage voltage, and full discharge after a flight. I used this tool to estimate the C rating and constant average amp draw for the battery. It is worth noting that the post flight battery was quite warm, and that does effect IR quite a bit.

Scenario (GensAce) ........ IR(mOhm) ........ Amps(avg) ........ C(avg)
Full Charge (75F) ................... 3.3 .................... 63 ...................... 29
Storage Charge (75F) ............ 3.2 .................... 64 ...................... 29
Nominal Charge (95F)........... 2.8 .................... 69 ...................... 31

As you can see all of the average C ratings were well above the listed 25C rating from the factory.

For comparision here is the data for the Turnigy 2200mah 35C battery.

Scenario (Turnigy) ........ IR(mOhm) ........Amps(avg) ........ C(avg)
Full Charge (75F) ................... 3.5..................... 61 .................... 28
Full Charge (95F) ................... 2.2 ....................71 ..................... 35
Storage Charge (75F) .......... 3.4 ................... 62 ..................... 28

Load Testing

I wired the battery up to a 25A load to test voltage drop. At the top of the battery the voltage dropped mostly linearly at a rate of 0.03V per A. That leads to a projected drop of 1.5V at a 50A load.

The flight video shows a voltage drop of about 1.7A at 50A which is very close given the drop in efficiency as the current increases. The battery was cool to the touch after 25A (1C) tests, and only slightly warm after flight testing. Load handling appears to be consistent with the projections based on IR measurement. Flight times are around 5 minutes on my Cobra 2204 2300kv motors pushing 5x4.5 bullnose props with punchouts drawing 50+ amps and average flying drawing 15-20A.

GensAce 2200mah 25C Flight Test (6 min 5 sec)

For comparison, the Turnigy battery performed basically the same with a 0.0325V per A drop.

Conclusions

These batteries are very well made and seem to be well rated, meeting or exceeding the factory 25C specification. Time will tell if that C rating drifts after regular use and abuse, but from initial flight tests, I am optimistic. The weight and size are better than many other 2200mah batteries as well, which works out well for miniquads. Overall I am impressed with the quality and performance of the battery and am looking forward to some long-term results. For those interested, the battery is available here: https://www.ampow.com/gens-ace-25c-2200mah-3s1p-deans-lipo-battery.html