Traxxas Slash – Race Tested

RC Car Action - RC Cars & Trucks | Traxxas Slash – Race Tested

[nggallery id=82]Thursday, December 24, 2009 10:39:50 AM by Kevin Hetmanski

A production version of the Traxxas Slash 4×4 came into the office and I ripped right into the box. I put the batterie on charge and checked out the truck. This was my first time with the truck and I was more impressed after seeing it in person. The body looks great and I love the new tires and wheels. I think I might have to get a set for my scale rig. While looking the truck over I was glad to see that the engineers at Traxxas have given us multiple mounting positions for the camber links and shocks. That’s great to have when you are at the track but also helps out when playing around the house. You can’t have a short course truck and not run through the mud and water and thanks to the waterproof gear in the chassis you don’t have to worry about electronic failures. I really like the chassis on this truck. The bottom is so smooth and that will keep it from hanging up on obstacles and the steering servo has plenty of protection underneath.

After the battery pack was charged I put AA batteries in the radio, plugged in the truck, and terrorized the office. The truck was a dream to drive on the carpet and had lots of steering and grip. I made a few high speed passes down the hallway and the smile grew on my face as it picked up speed and came within an inch of smashing the copy machine. The brakes are impressive it takes no effort to lock up all four tires. After a few dirty looks I decided to pack up the truck and take it to the local indoor off-road track to get some laps in with other short course trucks.

While prepping the truck I decided to mess with the new 2.4GHz radio and see how the programming worked. I’m used to having radios with a display and buttons to navigate through the menus. This radio uses a series of red and green blinks to tell you what menu you are in and it took me a little while to get used to. By mistake I screwed up the steering throw and didn’t have time to fix it before heading over to the track so I was somewhat limited steering wise. Since I was going to basically play on the track I let it stay that way.

For my first few laps on the track I left the truck totally stock to see how it would do the very loose dirt surface and as expected the stock tires had to go. I eventually switched over to a set of JConcepts Goose Bumps and the truck felt a million times better in the traction department but could have used a little more. I also increased toe out up front and added a little negative camber to improve steering a little as the night went on. As I ran laps I became more familiar with the layout and the handling of the Slash 4×4 and began to put down more consistent laps. I noticed that the Slash 4×4 had more of a push in the corners than the 2wd trucks that I was running with and I was able to tone that down a bit with certain brake and throttle inputs. I loved the truck on the larger jumps. It was like driving my 1/8-scale vehicles where you could tap the brake to bring the nose down and nail the throttle to pull the front up. The truck was a missile down the short straight it was much faster than the other trucks and I had to quickly jam on the brakes at the end to keep the truck from sliding off the track. It did roll in a few corners and I think a different tire and foam combo along with maybe a lower ride height would have solved that but I ran out of time and didn’t get to try those adjustments out. Maybe next time.

I am looking forward to more wheel time with my Slash 4×4. I’m a hardcore nitro guy but think I just fell in love with an electric truck. I am looking forward to making tweaks to the suspension, maybe installing a faster steering servo, and painting up a custom body for it. I can’t wait to see what the aftermarket guys are going to do for this one.

 
Saturday, December 26, 2009 3:07:16 PM by Anonymous

The Slash 4×4 looked great on the track. I wanted one before, but after seeing it go ad trying it out myself, I really need one.

 
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 4:05:02 PM by Eric

I wish they sold a kit!!! I already have all the equipment I will ever need. Please Traxxas sell me a kit!!!!

 
Thursday, December 31, 2009 3:15:09 PM by Anonymous

Eric,
You can buy the platnum edition. It comes with option aluminum parts, but no electronics. So if you have all that, and about the same amount of cash, get the platnum edition.

 
Friday, January 01, 2010 2:43:41 PM by Anonymous

as far as the Platinum Edition electronics goes it’s just missing the radio, it has the brushless set-up. It comes with a clear body and a number of option parts
 
 
Monday, April 26, 2010 5:06:57 PM by Anonymous

i have upgraded my 2wd slash with a few aluminum parts and a velineon brushless system it is still no match for a 4×4 i want one!

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