We Drive the ARRMA OUTCAST [REVIEW]

Arrma‘s new Nero-platform trucks are getting a lot of attention, but they aren’t the only new rigs the brand has been working on. The Outcast is a 6S-rated ride like the Nero, Big Rock, and Fazon, but this “stunt truck” is built more like a traditional 1/8 scale buggy or truggy. New features include a great-looking 60s-style truck body, aggressive monster truck tires, tall side guards and a center support for the body. Long truggy-style arms on a short (relatively speaking) buggy-length chassis make wheelies and backflips easy, with very aggressive handling when all four wheels are on the ground. Let’s get the details out of the way so we can get this beast dirty!

VEHICLE SPECS

Item no.: AR106021

Scale: 1/8

Price: $500

Length: 21.26in. (540mm)

Width: 18.15 in. (461mm)

Wheelbase: 12.91 in. (328mm)

Height: 9.06 in. (230mm)

Weight, as tested: 12lbs, 6oz (5,615g)

Chassis

Type: 3mm plate

Material: black anodized aluminum

Suspension

Type (F/R): Pivot ball/lower H-arm w/ adjustable upper link

Shock positions, towers (F/R): 3/3

Shock positions, arms (F/R): 1/1

Camber link positions, towers (F/R): 1/4

Camber link positions, hubs (F/R): 1/4

Shocks

Bodies: Threaded red anodized aluminum, 16mm bore

Shafts: 3.5mm steel w/ chrome coating

Volume compensation: Bladder

Drivetrain

Type: Shaft-driven 4WD

Differentials (F/C/R): Sealed bevel gear

Driveshafts (F/R): Steel universal

Bearings: Rubber sealed ball

Body, Wheels & Tires

Body: 60s style truck

Wheels: 5 Spoke

Tires & inserts: dBoots Backflip knobby with foam insert

Test Gear (Not included)

Battery: Duratrax 11.1V 5400mAh SC XT90 Connector x 2

Charger: Duratrax Onyx 245

Old School Body
The Outcast’s body has an aggressively shaped 60s look. A molded flat bumper on the front of the chassis ties in well with the front end while a molded roll bar gives the body some protection. Small holes in the top of the roll bar are designed to accept lighter flints (not included) to create a sparking effect if you flip the truck on pavement or rocks. The body clips feature rubber leashes with pull-tabs that make them easier to remove and attaches them to the body so you’ll never have to worry about losing body clips.

The small holes on top of the roll bar are there for the insertion of lighter flints that will make a shower of sparks fly from under the body as it skids across the pavement.

 

Buggy-Sized Plate Chassis
An anodized 3mm aluminum plate chassis gives the Outcast a strong base. Arrma borrowed it from the Typhon 1/8-scale buggy, which gives it a short wheelbase compared to Arrma’s other 1/8-scale monster trucks. This, along with the truck’s large diameter tires, makes the Outcast highly responsive to throttle and brake inputs for impressive stunting capability. Molded braces support the front and rear suspensions, and incorporate a clip to help keep the wiring tidy. Tall side and front guards along with the body are used to keep dirt and debris out of the chassis, and a molded stand that is connected to the center diff mounts adds support to the body shell. Arrma wisely installed a wheelie bar on the Outcast, which tucks in neatly under the full-width wing.

A wheelie bar is included and it will get a workout thanks to the short wheelbase and explosive power that comes with the Outcast.

 

Aggressive Off-road Tires
The Outcast wears moto-style dBoots Back-Flip tires that add to the truck’s aggressive look and are sure to move a lot of soil. Support for the soft rubber comes by way of foam inserts. The tires come glued to semi dish wheels that have an attractive star pattern and they come with aggressive ribbing in the rear for added support.

The dBoots Back-Flip tires feature an aggressive MX-style tread that is sure to get grip on all surfaces.

 

6S Brushless Power
The Outcast’s 2050Kv brushless power system is able to handle up to six cells of LiPo power, but you can also run it on 3S or 4S power if you want something that’s a little more manageable. The 150-amp speed control is waterproof and features include a 6-volt BEC, over-voltage and overheat protection, two-stage LiPo cutoff and a cooling fan. A pair of chunky XT90 connectors are ready for dual-battery hookups and make sure no juice is wasted. Prefer to run a single battery? You’ll find a jumper plug right in the box, as well as a pair of loose XT90 connectors so you can install them on your battery packs if they don’t have them already.

The BLX185 150 amp speed control cool and 2050Kv motor are ready for 6S power. 

 

Steel-Gear, 3-Diff Drivetrain
In the drivetrain department, Arrma sticks with proven 1/8 scale tech. The front, center and rear differential use the same four-gear internals, with gaskets and o-rings holding silicone fluid inside the cases. Dogbones transfer power between the diffs and to the rear wheels, but CV-style shafts do the spinning up front for chatter-free power delivery at all steering angles. A nicely finished, machined aluminum motor mount ties the center diff and motor together, and looks good with its red-anodized finish.

Beefy drivetrain parts including a machined aluminum motor mount are used throughout, and red anodizing up the style factor. 

 

Truggy Suspension
The Outcast is outfitted with a pivot ball front suspension which allows for camber, castor and front width adjustment. Openings in the wheels allow access to the pivot balls without having to remove the tires. In the rear, you get a standard H-arm with adjustable upper link, and damping all around is controlled by aluminum threaded-body shocks with nutted pistons, dual O-ring seals and rubber boots to protect the shafts. Only one mounting position for the shocks is available on the suspension arms but the 5mm thick aluminum shock towers have multiple holes for fine suspension tuning.

A pivot ball front suspension is used up front while a lower H-arm with adjustable upper link takes care of the rear end. All four corners get large 16mm bore threaded body shocks to dampen the ride.

 

Tactic 3-channel Radio
The Outcast is controlled by a Tatic TTX300 3-channel 2.4GHz radio and it’s powered by four AA batteries. Adjustments that you can make with it are throttle and steering trim, throttle and steering reversing, and dual rate. The third channel is operated by pressing one of the two buttons on the front of the radio.

Behind The Wheel
I brought the Outcast out to my driveway for its first run and I grabbed a handful of throttle expecting to see a wheelie, but I wasn’t expecting the standing back flip that it did instead. With a combination of 6S LiPo power, lots of traction, and a short wheelbase, the Outcast will easily leap off the ground if you hammer the trigger. Finesse is required for smoother launches, but it didn’t take me long to get used to the explosive power and ride wheelies down the driveway. Making high speed runs took a lot of real estate; you have to slowly roll on the throttle and that uses a lot of room before you reach the truck’s top speed. No matter how careful you are with the throttle, wheelies are going to happen and they are pretty stable thanks to the two wheel wheelie bar mounted behind the truck. With everything working properly, I took the Outcast over to my favorite bash spot. On the dirt, the tires were able to slide a little more and that softened the blow off the line and made the truck more easily controllable. I was still able to get a wheelie off the line but no back flips this time thanks to the loose dirt that I was driving in. I recommend that you don’t stand behind the Outcast when you mash the throttle because the dBoots Back-Flip tires do a good job of throwing all kinds of debris when they are digging into the ground. The high-grip tires and short wheelbase made tight turning an excercise in throttle control. The front end gets light no matter how easy you go on the throttle, so the Outcast has a lot of understeer. You can get the truck to turn sharply, but that requires you to be completely off power. Clip the throttle to get weight on the front tires, and you’ll have no problem pointing the Outcast in the right direction. Just like the steering, jumping took a little time to get used to. The front end wants to come up when leaving a jump, but bringing it down with the brakes is easy. However, the brakes are very powerful and if you aren’t careful the truck will end up landing on its nose. I found that letting off the throttle just before you hit the jump was the best way to launch. After a while behind the wheel and getting used to the truck’s power and handling, it was time to perform some flips. Flip tricks are all about tire inertia and torque, and it takes a lot of throttle and braking power to deliver the rapid wheel acceleration and deceleration to rotate the truck in the air. Thankfully, the Outcast delivers both in spades. The short wheelbase helps too, and allows the Outcast to rotate more rapidly when flipping. If you’ve got the altitude, double backflips are just a matter of staying in the throttle, and a fistful of brake will front-flip the truck with ease.

 

Plus
Unique old-school styling
Tire-shredding 6S power
Performs wheelies and flip tricks with ease

Minus
Lighter flints not included for sparking light bar feature

 

Final Word
The Outcast doesn’t drive like anything that I have been behind the wheel of before. With its truggy-width suspension and buggy-length wheelbase, it is definitely an exciting, white-knuckle ride–especially on 6S power. If you’re new to high-power RC, you’ll find the Outcast is much easier to control with a 4S or even 3S batery aboard, and it’s also easier on the truck. But rest assured, the Outcast is tough. During my time behind the wheel the truck took some serious hits and managed to keep going without a single broken part (or a caved-in body–the roof support built into the chassis is a nice touch). That’s something that you really want with a stunt truck like the Outcast. I have had a blast testing this truck and I am looking forward to more stuntastic action with it in the future.

Sources
Arrma arrma-rc.com
Duratrax duratrax.com