Paves initial review... my .02 cents... get out your change.

[pavmentsurfer]

Finally got out with the rally today in my hotel parking lot. Car is COMPLETELY stock including the battery (and charger for that matter). This is my first experience with a bone stock, out of the box RTR setup as a new user would find it. Overall, im impressed with everything but the charger. With the technology out there today, traxxas can surely do better without adding significant cost to the RTR package. The wall charger is junk and will be the first area of frustration and disappointment for a new person in the hobby. A simple 1 or 2 hour quick charger with no buttons or settings would be adequate. Something that allows you to get out and run for more than 15 minutes ever 8 hours. That is my ONLY rant. I personally think the factory 3000mah NIMH battery is decent for an RTR. Its just the charger thats junk.

Now that the rant is over, on to the good stuff.
First, I have to say, this is my 2nd experience with the TQI radio and im just so impressed with it. I have big hands and its comfortable for me. Its also SO light to carry. Any smaller kid will appreciate the weight along with a set of 4 LiPo AA's (disposables). Controls are easy to use, nothing is overly complicated for someone who just wants to open the box and run without any setup. I tried to approach this thing as if I was new and really think about how each component would feel to a new user. The radio is certainly a huge winner.

The car is really well finished. I didnt find anything that looked out of place or poorly built/assembled. I didnt adjust or check ANYTHING before i ran the car. Not even the slipper. I just charged the battery, installed it an ran. Im only through my first pack but there were no issues. Once the battery was plugged back in, fully charged, the ESC came on with a red light and no issues. Servo was nearly dead centre and took only a tiny bit of adjustment to get it straight. The throttle and brakes were both calibrated properly and worked excellent.

From the very first second I squeezed the trigger and spun the wheel I knew this was a car I was going to like. Last night, when I opened the box I was concerned about how the tires, with their taller, very square kknobs, would perform on pavement. I was worried they would either grip too well and make the car hard to slide, or they would wear extremely fast. Neither are the case. The car will stick if your easy on the throttle and steering inputs, or it will slide if you get a little more aggressive. Once a slide is initiated, I find this vehicle to be very stable and easy to control. Unlike the 1/16 rally that seems to diff out very quickly and easily ends up backwards with just slightly too much throttle or steering, the 1/10 rally can be flicked into a slide and held sideways with both the throttle and steering until you want to exit the slide, which requires only a slight decrease in throttle and steering input. As I said earlier, very predictable.

When I first got my hands on the car I was initially concerned about how soft the suspension was set and how extreme the body roll appeared to be. While I still feel a set of sway bars would be very beneficial here, I was again, impressed by how the car handled on the very sticky pavement I was running it on. The pavement here is coated in a stick rubber sealant. It couldnt offer more grip than it does now. If the car was every going to exhibit excessive body roll or even traction rolling it would be here, and it doesnt. it sets up onto its outside wheels, with what appears to be nearly perfect front to rear weight bias, and slides. I didnt even notice the inside front wheel leaving the ground during the hardest drifts, which i very much expected.

In terms of power, the VXL system appears to do a fine job in this car with the stock gearing and stock battery. Its very evident the car can handle far more power than it has. Its also clear the VXL system is begging for more amps than the stock 7 cell can provide. I would think using a good 2S lipo with stock gearing will likely prove to be the max the VXL system can handle before heat becomes an issue. And, at the end of the day, you have to take into consideration the thousands of people who will be running this car with no background knowledge of brushless systems, gearing, heat etc... in its basic RTR setup, the rally is more than fast enough and stays well out of the temperature danger zone. So this is good. Anyone who wants more from the car likely (though not always) will have more understanding of all the finer electric RC details.

Many have said they dont like the look of the stock rally body. I, for one, love it. I think its aggressive, clean and uncluttered, its got a nice shape and broad shoulders. It looks tough. I love the wing but really wish it was made of plastic in stead of lexan. I fear it will be easily destroyed in one good crash. Time will tell. The lexan used for the body appears to be the standard, thin stock traxxas uses for most of their 1/10 vehicles. its not overly tough, but doesnt seem to crack as much as it wears through very quickly. Its very flexible but I doubt it will last long, particularly if the car is run, and crashed, on pavement often.

After only 15 minutes of running I certainly dont have every aspect of this car figured out. I need more time and my own equipment to really get a complete feel for the car and all its attributes. However, from a new user perspective, I feel this car is a huge winner. Other than the disappointing charger, I cant think of anything a new traxxas customer would find unsatisfactory.

[Stephan81]

Thanks for write up Pave, enjoyed it. Looking forward to running today. I'm with you as well with the looks on the body. I love the look of it and paint job etc... Nice and vibrant. A body worth reinforcing for sure IMO.

When I pulled it out of the box that's one of the first thing I noticed was the suspension set-up, here I was reaching for a set of Ten-T's or Power Strokes lol, and told my self give them a chance, run it as is and tweak from there etc...

[DiggerPede]

Good writeup as always pave. As for the charger totally understand that. I have a shoe box full of those. I can only see your review getting better and better. I kept mine stock for about a day, that was to get it on the road. 5 minutes with the nimh and then a 2S pack for another 30. Once I got the new system in i've only run 3S. Stock gearing didnt stay on long either. I have a bad habit of making things my own. Guess why the only truck that stayed stock the longest was my Digger. Since then not hardly.

Did you have a crowd of people while driving or get any funny looks from the hotel staff? Or did you pull a sneaky and go out the side door while no one was looking??

[jcjhl69]

Great write up Pave makes me want one even more. And rickwoo if you would have read the entire review he said new to the hobby or beginner would be frustrated with the charger. Again thanks Pave.

[Redsawacs]

Hey rickwoo - I believe Pav is doing a review of the car from his "roadtrip hotel room" and since I'm sure he doesnt travel with his garage, I would place my bet that he has decided to focus his review from the "New guy to the RC world perspective" - as TRAXXAS has decided to focus 70% of their market at the "New guy to the RC world perspective" !

His comments regarding the charger are SPOT ON regarding the new kid, i think, would LOVE to run his RC car longer than 15 minutes a day - maybe 30 minutes if he gets up early enough.

I personally agree at they could provide a stock charger than would cut the charge time in half and not raise the price - THE PUBLIC DESERVES IT!!!!

HERES TO PUSHING AN IDEA TO REALITY!!! Traxxas, pony up on this one.....I almost forgot - "Pretty Please"!

[pavmentsurfer]

^^
Exactly, I have the BEST charge setup. But these things are sold to people who have ZERO experience in RC. Since I have non of my own equipment with me here I figured why not try and do a test/review as if I were a complete newb to the hobby. Try and look at it as if this was my first RC project. What would I be impressed with and what would bother me. The only thing that I could find not to like was that wall charger. An onyx 100 costs like $20 or something new... probably costs $5 to make. Im sure the traxxas wall charger costs $.05 to make. But if you had to raise the price of this vehicle (or any traxxas RTR for that matter) by $5 for the sake of adding a decent charger, im sure no one would complain and new users would be much more satisfied. Thats all im sayin.

Thanks for the nice comments, its my pleasure guys. Im a writer... I test things. I was bored. Hehe. This is what happens.

[Cameron]

At least it comes with a charger, i paid $600+ for a Summit and it didnt even come with the wall charger.
And i looked everywhere for it too, till i saw on the box the "required" items and the charger was on there.

Great Review dude

I cant wait for mine.

[BL-Bob]

Great review Pave!

Rickwoo: He's looking at it from a newbs perspective. Edit okay I see your side of it.

Digger: I would take the clown car out the side door and hope nobody id's me. Now if it was an adult rc hopped up and breathing fire then maybe I would let people catch me driving it.

Dumpy rtr chargers and poor run times make Traxxas's other charges and lipos look and perform awesome in comparison. They know what they're doing. More money, more money.

[KTMDirtFace]

I do wish traxxas offered ARTR's, as I never use the stock battery or radio.

They did for awhile on the slash I think?

[Jakey]

... Thanks for the nice comments, its my pleasure guys. Im a writer... I test things. I was bored. Hehe. This is what happens.

And you did a GREAT job!

[tachikoma1373]

As someone who got his first Traxxas (a slash) 3 - 4 months ago, and had almost nothing in the way of RC equipment at the time. I would absolutely agree that the charger you get is really REALLY annoying. Traxxas could easily absorb the price of a faster basic charger and I think it would make the vast majority of new users much happier with them and probably keep a few more people, not many maybe but enough, from leaving the early stages of the hobby in frustration - especially younger kids (and their parents) who have little patience and aren't happy with what I shall now name "the joy to wait ratio".

[pavmentsurfer]

Rickwoo... we seem to have a difference of opinion here. You can go ahead and look at this hobby from only your own perspective, ignoring the thousands of new users who buy Traxxas products as their first ever RC's and, in the process, fund the development and future financial stability of the company we experienced users love to buy products from. Or, you can read what I wrote for what it is. Im not saying I WANT a better charger for ME. And, no, id prefer NOT to spend an extra $15 or $20 everytime I buy a traxxas RTR so that I can get a better charger because, like most here, I dont need one. BUT... I have a bigger picture perspective on the situation that is easily lost when a person gets so engulfed with themselves and their own point of view they loose sight of whats going on around them. Im willing to spend a bit more on an RTR kit, of which I will sell much of the stock electronics, so that in the future, Traxxas is still around to make more kits for me to buy.

Right now a stock battery is worth about $15 shipped. You pretty much always just throw in the crappy charger for free so its someone elses tool box filler. BUT... if the charger were actually decent, you may be able to charge $25 for the battery and charger and the number of people interested in buying it would go up exponentially because it would provide real value. This means youd have an easier time re-couping at least half of the extra you had to spend in the first place which would mean the nice charger traxxas included for the new buyers only cost you an extra $10... would I prefer to save $10. Yes, would I rather know all new traxxas buyers are completely satisfied and ready to come back for more... even more so. This is what I do for a living rick. I take myself out of my own head and look at things objectively. Its not always easy... but its important.

Now, lets get on to something more interesting. My crappy video editing skills combined with Iphone quality video and no camera operate has brought you this... enjoy.

[DiggerPede]

Digger: I would take the clown car out the side door and hope nobody id's me. Now if it was an adult rc hopped up and breathing fire then maybe I would let people catch me driving it.

I'm not scared to admit my fun to RC's! Funny looks from many, who cares all I know is i'm having fun. Which would be my little boy and I having a blast. Gotta love the comments. LOL

Dumpy rtr chargers and poor run times make Traxxas's other charges and lipos look and perform awesome in comparison. They know what they're doing. More money, more money.

This would be the 3rd new out of the box RC that i've purchased. My first was a Grave Digger, Second was the same in 30th Anniversary Edition, and the recent one I just purchased was the 1/10 Rally 4WD. I mostly enjoy spending money on rollers, tearing them down, & hopping them up. So basically I am a kit builder. My other 8 cars were built from rollers. I take pride in my builds and will keep doing them.

[pavmentsurfer]

I ordered room service when I got in last night. The guy who delivered it saw my rally and stayed for 15 minutes talking about RC's. He wasent into it himself but found my Rally so cool he just had to know all about it. This is a 5 star, upscale hotel... but im not the least bit ashamed to walk through the lobby with my rally. Heck, I was going to drive it right back into the elevator. But there was an older... high class (ahem) lady getting out of her benz at the front door so I thought I better not. I do think I saw her smile just a bit. Who knows. Maybe it was gas.

[Hunchback187]

The only vehicle we have at the current moment that is ARTR is the Slash Platinum 4x4 Edition 6804.

[cmdrcdy]

as for everyone who doesnt like the charger there might be a possible solution. On the entry level RCs that traxxas offers like the slash, they could include a semi decent charger like the Onyx 100 (i think someone mentioned) but then on your higher scale RC's like the Revo they could not include a charger since most people buying the higher end RCs already have lots of equipment. or make buying a charger with it an option at checkout for a couple extra $$ or upgrading it for a couple $$ for people new to the lifestyle.

[DocSnake]

Seems the thing is some people like what Traxxas is doing, and some want more options. But Traxxas really is a RTR RC company and likely to stay that way because it's easier for the new guy to get into the hobby, and that's what Traxxas wants. They want to make it easy for the guy off the street to buy a RTR and just go have fun. I'm one of those guys who did exactly that when first starting out.

I personally would love to see true kits offered for numerous reasons. But the fewer boxes for that new guy to pick from, the less overwhelming its going to be, the more likely he'll be to buy it.

Awesome review Pave! The rally just isn't up my alley, but always love seeing the creativity everyone comes up with on new vehicles

[Nitronaught]

As an avid RC enthusiast, owning 4 RC's not all Traxxas. I've seen my share of other RTR's out there... Can't say any of them came with a charger, RTR or ARTR....

So basically, you like the Rally car, but would want to pay another $50.00 in the bundle to have a decent charger? Some of us don't want that. Some already have chargers..... I think it's something to get you started. Let you decide what type of charger you want...

And yes, it's ALL based on opinion...... You can please most the people most the time, you can't please all the people all the time...

[Petertje60]

The price of the Rally is the same as the price of the Slash (on the Traxxas site). Development costs for the Rally are for getting 9 changed parts compared to the Slash. Considering that, I seriously doubt that Traxxas would make no profit anymore if they had put a better charger in the package. The amount of chargers that Traxxas buys (99.999% certain they don't make them in house) will probably keep the price low, which would also work for a better charger.

Nothing bad with the Rally, nor with Traxxas, but things can always be improved.

Very nice writeup!

[pavmentsurfer]

I absolutely don't think a $50 price increase would be worthwhile. How about $10, or $15? That's value to the kid who saves his pennies for a truck or car he can only run for 15 minutes a day. As stated numerous times. I'm not arguing this based on my own wants or needs. I encourage you to try what I tried. Put it all back in the box, reset your thinking and pretend your a new buyer, kid on Christmas, person who spend a considerable amount of time saving for your expensive new toy. Then open the box and tell me what you think. I guarantee you will love the car and hate the charger.
I started my review with the rant about the charger because I wanted to end with how great the car is. I wanted to leave the reader with a positive feeling. If someone chooses to get fed up and stop reading after only one paragraph about a minor thing like the charger... I guess they missed the point.

[Stephan81]

When I got my first hobby grade truck from Traxxas about 3+ years ago. I loved it, first thing came to mind after using it was the run time really sucked and OMG I have to wait another 8hrs to use it? Went out and spent more money again! Does that bother me now? Not at all, since then I have like 3 chargers and few handfuls of Lipos. As a "NEW" buyer and new to the hobby where you don't already have your personal LHS in your basement with enough parts to build RTR's with your " spares ", it's kind of a bummer if your expecting faster charge times and more than 10minutes of playing. Garunteed a lot of traxxas's business comes from these people new to the hobby.

[kwitty]

Always fun to discuss opinions and interesting.
I think the reason for the included charger is purely for advertising and uniqueness to offer a truly RTR product out of the box. I see no value in this charger and would agree that it is likely to be the only area of disappointment to running the car if you have your child, grand child or any more anxious adult wanting to get in several runs in an afternoon. I guess it gives plenty of time for the ESC and motor to cool down

I have no idea what the cost of production is for that 'wall charger' but I do see the next model up the EZ Peak retailing by vendors for about $30 and wonder what the true cost to include something like that would be, surely it would be far from $50 with the quantity and Traxxas marketing? I do think a charger needs to be included for those first time buyers, NO most of us don't need it but if you were at the hobby shot with your child about to lay down something over $400 dollars and the next sentence from the employee was 'you're gonna need a charger in order to run that car' and he adds that they start around $50 but the one he recommends is closer to $100 Traxxas is likely to lose that sale IMO. At that point it is no longer an impulse sale or an easy Web Order sale as more has to be researched and purchased and then you have compatibility and warranty issues if the wrong charging process is done on the first battery run, yikes a bad start for the newbie and then Traxxas warranty has to tell the customer 'user error', bad publicity.

I would like to see Traxxas offer the battery and charger separate, I personally would gladly donate my battery and charger back to them for a credit toward other goods if possible or even a foundation established for the less fortunate kids out there. Just throwing it away doesn't settle well with me. In a way it is a shame to waste the time and material on those wall chargers as we know they will be the very first thing to be discarded and have no value to anyone else.

Just my thoughts and I respect those of Pave and rick woo and all others

Pave, if I hadn't already bought my Rally your review surely would have convinced me to do so! Now I just need to put it back together and run it LOL Heck it is sooooo fun to take apart and see what makes it go and go faster!

[pavmentsurfer]

Wanna solder up my Novak system for me so I can go faster. hehe. Im really pumped for the battery to finish charging so I can go out and run it again. It started at 11AM... getting PRETTY anxious.

[Jakey]

Wanna solder up my Novak system for me so I can go faster. hehe.

Yes, but I'm not to sure you would get it back.

[tachikoma1373]

.......You can please most the people most the time, you can't please all the people all the time...

Good point well made. Much like "You're entitled to your opinion. Even if it is wrong!"

[pavmentsurfer]

^^... dont we all feel that way though. "Your Opinion" is more accurately called "A statement of what i believe to be FACT". Were all right about some things... and were all wrong about others I suspect.

[kwitty]

Yes, but I'm not to sure you would get it back.

I'd like to try that out, don't tell him it is already broken in LOL

I'm still closer to you than he is right now!

[ksb51rl]

Please take note:
The sad TROLL in this thread has been removed. I term him that because this is not his first appearance on the Traxxas forum, but at least his bad behavior makes him easy to spot.
For those who care about this Community, you can help the marshals and other mods keep it running smoothly by reporting a member who makes 10, 15, 30 posts per day, almost all of which are negative or insulting. This type of pitiful behavior does not belong on the Traxxas forum, nor in decent society in general. Give us a hand: if you see something, say something.
/soapbox
-ksb51rl

[TraxxasSummitCrawler]

Amazing review, you summed up everything I wanted to know about the rally! Thanks bud!

[rag6]

Just erased my 1000 word review of your review lol.

I'll start here, Nice Thread!

To simple it up:
1) First traxxas anti flipping off road rtr(have seen a few vids of the car onroad and they mirror your observation, and think they got the tire compound just right for a newb rtr)
2) Good out of the box gearing for temps on 2s (I was worried about the vxl overheating in such a big airflow starved full body heavy car, may have changed my mind to eventually pick up a rtr to run totally stock )
3) Maybe the most newb friendly rtr traxxas has ever released(minus the fun robbing charger)


Cant wait to see what you eventually do with it, but from what I have seen, the car does not need much to make many happier than previous releases... If all I need to spend money on is a lipo and charger to have a durable mild basher, I think I am sold, and I'm not easy to please out of the box. This is one exiting release...

Edit: When is the 1/16 scale version of this chassis coming out?

[pavmentsurfer]

Edit: When is the 1/16 scale version of this chassis coming out?

This actually made me laugh out loud. Hehe. Thanks for the nice words Rag6... get one. I sure dont regret it. I dont think you would either.

[rag6]

I am limiting myself to 2 trucks.... Have my 2wd slash mt and my 4xbasher build right now. I would have to sell the 2wd to almost complete the pede, and then work my donkey off to pick one up.... Hmmm....

[Stephan81]

Please take note:
The sad TROLL in this thread has been removed. I term him that because this is not his first appearance on the Traxxas forum, but at least his bad behavior makes him easy to spot.
For those who care about this Community, you can help the marshals and other mods keep it running smoothly by reporting a member who makes 10, 15, 30 posts per day, almost all of which are negative or insulting. This type of pitiful behavior does not belong on the Traxxas forum, nor in decent society in general. Give us a hand: if you see something, say something.
/soapbox
-ksb51rl

Thank you Was sick of seeing his posts and I was beggining to wonder if he was the only one getting on my nerves. It was clear why he was here, I don't think he had 1 post where there wasn't any negative.

[rag6]

Hate pulling the trigger on the troll flag. Some guys come around after a few "instructional" posts from the veteran members. Not sure who this guy was in the past, but would have reported it if I had more info. Maybe will just send a friendly warning shot to the mods next time. Sorry ksb...

[DiggerPede]

Don't know if yall could tell but he was really on my nerves ever since yesterday. I held back as best I could.

When you start attacking veterans it doesn't end well.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III ~ using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

[DiggerPede]

Thank you Was sick of seeing his posts and I was beggining to wonder if he was the only one getting on my nerves. It was clear why he was here, I don't think he had 1 post where there wasn't any negative.

That was one of the first things I checked after a few trolling posts.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III ~ using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

[pavmentsurfer]

Pretty sure its no secret he was on my nerves... hehe. Ive had a long week and didnt really control my argumentative nature too well. But I had a feeling I knew who this was. Thanks KSB for knowing and doing before the rest of us even say it.

So anyway, put another pack through the car tonight. Man, I LOVE this thing. Its everything I wanted my 1/16 rally to be but even after spending twice what the 1/10 rally costs it still wasent.

Drifting is so controllable. It just holds its line so well but the best part is how it exits a drift. If you over steer it, it gets squirrly and spins but if you get the finesse just right it literally just re-centres itself and drives away. I havent even touched the slipper... NOTHING. Only thing I did was clean off the goose crap I drove through. I have no intentions of over upgrading this car unless it breaks. Im doing the electronics, body and wheels and im going to do my best to leave it at that. if something fails, ill touch it. Otherwise I really want to see if I can leave it alone. Its really good just how it is.

[rag6]

When you start attacking veterans it doesn't end well.

True dat! I got thick skin, and dont get upset unless there is a long standing antibiotic resistant infection to take care of lol...Or if I had a bad day... Sorry to those I have wronged on a bad day. I try to make those up lol...

[El Sob]

I have also been on the fence on regards to buying the new Rally. Your review was so eloquently written. You wrote from the point of view of someone who has never owned a hobby grade RC. I sometimes find myelf forgetting to look from that point of view. I have also limited myself to, two rc's. So I am planning on selling my non Ultimate Slash 4x4 so I can make room / finance the Rally.

[Nitronaught]

Good point well made. Much like "You're entitled to your opinion. Even if it is wrong!"

You may not agree with my opinion, but opinions are neither right or wrong... That's why they are called opinions,,, not facts...


Sheesh!