the full traxxas slash 4x4 review from rcuniverse.com

Review by: Matt LeMay
Specifications At first glance Performance Summary Manufacturer & Distributor Info TraxxasPhone: 972-265-8000 Toll-free: 888-TRAXXAS Email: support@Traxxas.com Website: www.Traxxas.com See the Slash 4X4 test drive video! Broadband 25.3 MB Dialup 14.8 MB watch the Slash 4X4 durability test! Broadband 26.9 MB Dialup 14.7 MB Ready to run Unbelievably tough Heavy duty drivetrain Programable 2.4GHz radio Realistic appearance Fast brushless motor LiPo ready Easy to work on Many hop-ups available Waterproof electronics Plastic shock caps Programming the radio is a little confusing	It's no secret the 2wd Slash has taken off like wild fire and I can understand why; short course truck racing is awesome. If you haven't seen a full size truck race I recommend looking it up on You Tube. It's full of action and chances are you'll see the Traxxas sponsored full scale version of this truck. With an all-new platform, the Slash 4X4 is the only purpose-built 4WD short course truck out there. With features including 2.4GHz radio system, brushless power, and Ready-To-Race package, this truck is sure to start a class of its own. Name: Slash 4x4 RTR Price: $389.97 varies with dealer Length: 22.36" Width: 11.65" Height: 8.42" Weight (w/battery): 5lb & 14oz Motor: Velineon 3500 sensorless brushless motor Drive Train: Shaft-driven 4-wheel drive Included Battery: 8.4V 3000MAH NiMH 7-cell battery pack with wall charger. Battery compartment: 6.54" long x 1.95" wide Radio equipment: (Included) Traxxas TQ 2.4GHz High Output 2-channel programmable radio with Traxxas Link, 5-channel receiver, and digital waterproof steering servo Four AA batteries for radio
First glance You can see from the photographs that the Slash 4X4 is a great looking truck. This particular paint scheme is even more impressive in person. Realistic body lines, bumpers, and licensed BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain T/A tires contribute to it's realism. In addition to the Greg Adler/4 Wheel Parts-edition model I reviewed, Traxxas offers the Slash 4X4 with Mike and Mark Jenkins/Traxxas edition bodies, and a Scott Douglas/Amsoil-edition body. Included in the box are the instruction booklets, product guide, extra decal sheet, shock spacers, body washers, battery foam spacer, 7-cell battery pack, wall charger, 18T pinion for high speeds Flat surfaces), and the required tools to perform routine maintenance. Chassis The plastic tub style chassis is well laid out and has plenty of vertical supports for added strength. The sides are padded by plastic body supports. These side bumpers not only protect the sides of the chassis, but also protect the body from collapse during a side impact. Front and rear bumpers protect your investment while adding to the realism. Left angle Included literature Right angle Left rear angle Rear Right rear angle Left angle Front Right angle Left side Top Right side Left rear angle Rear Right rear angle Left side Front Right side Left angle Top Right angle Right rear angle Rear Left rear angle Left side Front Right side Rear angle Rear Front angle Front bumper Bottom Rear bumper Wheels, tires, and drive train The tires are actually Mud Terrain T/A tires, licensed by BFGoodrich for authenticity. The treads are deep for that extra grip and the sidewall on the inside of the tire is much shorter than on the outside because the rims have a larger inside diameter. This rim design is being seen on many more vehicles these days. The larger inside diameter does two things: It allows clearance for the hub carrier and steering block It also plays a large roll in decreasing excess tire side roll. This style accomplishes all of this while keeping an accurate scale appearance. The drive train is impressive to say the least. The diffs were taken from the Revo and the slipper clutch diameter is slightly smaller than the Revo's but uses the same construction. This should prove very strong in this application. The sealed differentials can be fine-tuned with different oil weights. The front diff comes filled with SAE 30,000W oil and the rear diff is filled with grease. Your driving style as well as the surface you are running on determines which weight oils should be used in both differentials. I personally like the feel of 50,000W oil in the front differential and 30,000 in the rear differential in this truck after having driven it stock. A center diff does not come stock but can be bought separately. The heavy duty Torque-Control slipper clutch uses semi-metallic pads, with finned aluminum pressure plates. The 54 tooth plastic spur gear meshes against a metal pinion gear, and a center ball-bearing is used to keep it operating smoothly. The slipper assembly shaft slides into the rear differential bevel gear on one end and the opposite end slides into the center drive shaft. A splined driver fits nicely into the center drive shaft. The other end of the drive shaft slides over a plastic splined driver which is connected to the front diff bevel gear. A convenient feature on the Slash 4X4 is easy access to the differentials. Just unscrew the cover and the diff pops out. This is very similar to a muscle car's quick change rear end. Sweet! Tire & Rim Telescopic axle BF Goodrich A/T tires Front carrier Easy access diffs Rear carrier Sealed differential Open differential Sealed differential Torque-control slipper clutch Front center drive fitting Telescoping drive shafts Rear assembly center driveshaft & fitting Center drive assembly Suspension & Steering The suspension is completely adjustable using the supplied tools. The included wrench is used to adjust front toe in/out, and front and rear camber. At 4mm thick, the steel turnbuckles are very robust and should be just about bulletproof. The shock towers have multiple shock mounting positions as do the lower H-arms. Changing the shock mounting location will affect body roll as well as ride height. The oil-filled shocks are smooth and fitted with a dual stage spring. Traxxas also supplies plenty of clip-on spacers for tuning. The only thing that concerns me are the plastic shock caps. I've had a bad experience with plastic shock caps popping off in another vehicle, so lets hope these are a better design and stay put. The four telescoping driveshafts include a universal joint at each end to help keep things running smoothly. Although the shafts look like Traxxas' standard units as found on the 2WD Slash, the 4X4 uses new heavy-duty parts developed specifically for 4WD use. The shafts can also be installed on the 2WD Slash, as well as the Rustler and Stampede. All the suspension components look to be very sturdy, and they will no doubt get a rigorous test when my 6yr & 9yr old boys get to drive. The Slash is very easy to disassemble. The entire front and rear of the truck can be removed with a small number of screws. Four screws for the front and four screws for the rear. This is a great feature for both racers and bashers alike. No one wants to spend all day working on their truck and it looks as though Traxxas has considered that in their designing of this truck. The Slash 4X4's steering system features dual bellcranks with an integrated servo-saver. The bellcranks can also be installed in the Slash, rustler, and Bandit models to eliminate the servo-mounted saver used by those models. Front oil filled shock Under side Rear oil filled shock Rear shock tower Rear suspension Universal joints Radio At first glance it was obvious Traxxas included a 2.4GHz radio system. It was until I read the manual that I realized this TQ radio is loaded with several advanced features. Traxxas uses a patent-pending technology called Traxxas link. Once the transmitter is bound to a new receiver it saves that receiver and all of the settings in the transmitter's memory. Every time the transmitter and receiver are turned on it recognizes that receiver and automatically recalls all of its settings. Up to twenty Traxxas Link receivers and their settings can be stored, with no flipping through models to find the right one. The Traxxas TQ 2.4GHz radio has many adjustments and features like built in fail safe which returns the model to neutral in the event of a signal loss. Here is a list of some of the adjustments that can be made with the new Traxxas TQ 2.4GHz radio. Steering expo Throttle expo Steering dual rate Braking % Throttle trim Servo reversing Sub trim End points Model locking Set for electric model Set for nitro model The manual is a necessity while learning how to set the different functions as the radio uses a series of flashes, green or red, to identify the different settings. Once one function is set the radio will remember that setting and the next function will be laid over top of the previous settings. This enables you to make many adjustments to customize each vehicle just the way you want them. The Traxxas Link 2.4GHz receiver is sealed in a water tight box and has 5 channels. Two channel 1 inputs makes it easy to plug double steering servos into this receiver, not that you would need them with the Slash 4X4. It's good to see the option though. The Slash 4X4 uses one digital waterproof steering servo. This servo is of course a Traxxas servo and is protected by a spring loaded servo saver. All the linkages are supported with sealed bearings. Sealed receiver box 2.4GHz transmitter Receiver Steering linkage Water proof steering servo Servo saver ESC, Motor, and Battery Regulating power to the Velineon 3500 sensorless brushless motor is the VXL-3S electronic speed controller. Like the rest of the Slash 4X4's electronics, the speed control is waterproof. The VXL-3S ESC Has many features to help make driving your Slash 4X4 as customizable as possible. Below is a quick summary of some of the features that make this Traxxas ESC so great. TRAXXAS VXL-3S ESC: Three driving modes: 1. Sport (reverse activated) 2. Race (reverse locked out) 3. Training (50% throttle, forward and reverse) Voltage input:4.8 to 11.1V (4 to 9 cells NiMH or 2S to 3S LiPo) Supported Motors:Brushed Brushless Sensorless brushless Continuous current: 200A Peak current: 320A The BEC voltage is 6.0V DC and the VXL-3S also utilizes some important safety features. These include low voltage cut off for LiPo batteries, High voltage cut off protection, and 2 stage thermal shutdown protection. As the above picture illustrates, the VXL-3S includes a port for sensored brushless motors as well as a plug for an external cooling fan. Traxxas explains all the settings in the manual and includes a small cheat card. I recommend carrying the cheat card with you as you run the Slash 4X4 until you memorize all the settings. The most important thing to remember while using LiPo batteries is to make sure the low voltage cut off is activated. If the light on the ESC is red, low voltage is NOT activated. The light must be green. Allowing LiPo batteries to discharge below the recommended voltage will damage the battery. TRAXXAS Velineon 3500 Motor: Type: Sensorless brushless RPM/volt: 3500 (10-turn) Magnet type: Ultra High-Temp Sintered Neodymium Current Ratings: 200A constant 320A peak/burst Max RPM: 50,000 Battery pack: The Slash 4X4 includes a Traxxas 8.4V 3000MAH NiMH 7-cell battery pack. The pack is of the Power Cell line and is in stick configuration. The trucks battery compartment will also accommodate hump packs as well. ESC Electronics layout Brushless motor ESC Motor pinion gear ESC 7-cell NiMH battery 7-cell NiMH stick pack Battery compartment Performance: On & Off road On road: I installed the optional 18 tooth pinion gear to see what kind of speeds I could reach using a Turnigy 5.0Mah 2S LiPo. I don't own a radar gun but I do own a portable GPS unit. I strapped the GPS to the battery harness and took off down the street. Even with the added weight of the GPS unit the Slash 4X4 was moving right along. After making several high speed passes I checked the GPS for the recorded top speed and it was 40.7 mph. Traxxas claims 60+ mph with a 3S LiPo and I can definitely see where that would be possible. I replaced the 18 tooth pinion with the 13 tooth one so I can drive off road again. Off road: Most of my testing took place off road on a rough dirt course. I drove the Slash 4x4 with the stock 7-cell NiMh battery pack first. The truck handled well and the stock pack provided the perfect amount of power for a balanced power to handling ratio. The truck felt stable but pushed some going into the corners. The tires look great, but they weren't giving me as much traction as I would like on the hard packed clay. In this application I believe the truck would handle better and produce better lap times with a different tire. I have little doubt on a softer track they would hook up much better. I was having a great time with the Slash 4x4 trying not to over jump the jumps. The truck is smooth, had a real nice feel, and was plenty fast with the NiMh pack. However, I was ready to take it to the next level. I strapped in a Turnigy 5000mAh 2s Lipo pack and noticed large increase in speed, power, and sound. You could tell the motor was in its prime by the joyous scream it was releasing. Now this is fun! The handling changed with the added power, as to be expected. Turns got a little looser as did the straight away. There was plenty of tire spin while tossing dirt and kicking up dust. Jumps were easy because the truck had a natural tendency to fly level with slight nose fall. If you don't over shoot the jump this works out perfectly. The big jump here doesn't have much of a sloped landing pad which caused the truck to belly flop from big air several times. To quickly remedy this I added some shock spacers to increase ride height. This helped a lot but I liked the truck's performance without them better, so I removed them. The great thing about the Slash 4x4 with Lipos is that you don't have to drive full throttle around the entire track. Giving the trigger about 2/3 squeeze and pegging it in certain spots is much more fun. Having more power than you actually needed teaches throttle control and learning this on a durable truck like the Slash 4X4 is a definite plus. Speaking of durability. I let both my 6yr and 9yr old boys take turns driving the Slash 4x4. As you can imagine the truck took a strong beating. Some of the hits made me cringe, but we flipped it onto its wheels and off it went. This happened repeatedly; and I do mean repeatedly! Hitting things, crash landings, slamming into the side of the jumps, and many more cruelties that just don't seem possible. This truck took a serious smack-down and nothing broke, although we did manage to pop off one of the shock caps. I refilled the shock with oil, screwed the cap back on, and the problem did not reoccur. Given my past experience with this type of cap, I was pleased. I also noticed a crack in the rear of the body, which did not surprise me given the abuse they heaped on the truck. As far as performance and durability goes, the Slash 4x4 really did great. See the Slash 4x4 in action! Watch the Slash 4X4 durability test! Download and Watch in Windows Media Player here! I am very impressed with the Slash 4X4 in all aspects. It's well designed, easy to work on, a great performer, and takes a beating like no other. This truck is loads of fun. I would recommend the Slash 4X4 to every one. Kids, adults, bashers, and racers will all find a reason to love this truck. Traxxas1100 Klein Rd Plano, Texas 75074 Phone: 1-972-265-8000 Toll-free: 1-888-TRAXXAS Email: support@Traxxas.com Website: www.Traxxas.com