READY TO ROCK – Ripping It Up With The Traxxas X-Maxx 8S

X-Maxx. The name itself signifies something monstrous and otherworldly in the world of RC monster truck bashers. The X-Maxx’s legacy is well known by RC monster truck enthusiasts and its rabid fandom is well deserved. The truck has never failed to take whatever abuse you can throw at it and its performance and longevity are unmatched.

Traxxas has always done a great job of keeping its platforms fresh and relevant and it’s exciting to hear that the X-Maxx has now been updated with a selection of cool new colors. The powerful 8S X-Maxx now sports a few new fresh looks. But before we get into that, let’s get into what makes the X-Maxx so beloved by its owners and if you don’t have one already, why you may want to pick up one for yourself.

The X-Maxx is one powerful beast. In fact, it’s startling for first time drivers to drive, even for seasoned RC enthusiasts. This is probably because of its incredible size and power. This gigantic torquey truck can easily dig through any terrain you run it on. In fact, when we drove it too close, a bunch of dirt and rocks ended up in our faces and stuck in our hair.

RAW POWER
Bashing around the X-Maxx gained us plenty of dirt and grass in our faces and on our clothes. Beware of flying rocks, it’s no joke. This truck seriously puts the monster into the term monster truck. Measuring over two-and-a-half feet long and weighing almost twenty pounds, it makes the already extra-large Traxxas Maxx look cute.

The X-Maxx packs 8S power, which is done by combining two separate 4S battery packs. Its Velineon VXL-8s speed controller is wired so that both batteries can be plugged into it at the same time. We fed the beast off of two Traxxas Power Cell LiPo 4-Cell 6700mAh batteries. The dual-battery set-up provides 30-volts in 8S configuration. All this power flows to a Velineon 1200XL brushless motor that’s equipped with dual cooling fans. The motor is a thing of beauty that launches the twenty-pound X-Maxx easily onto its hind wheels.

DRIVEN

What’s surprising about driving the X-Maxx is that even with incredible amounts of power coursing through its four giant tires, it is remarkably manageable to drive. You’d think 8S power would be impossible to control, and you’re right, in a way it is, but Traxxas has also made it very controllable too; it’s an incredible feat.

Driving the X-Maxx at speed over asphalt, fine sand and through tall grass felt exhilarating yet still predictable. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t respect it however. If you choose to drive it civilly, it will comply. But the instant you go full throttle, get out of the way! The beast comes alive, untamed and ready to shred anything in its path.

Thank goodness for its integrated wheelie bar. If it didn’t have one, the X-Maxx would probably end up on its roof a lot. Which wouldn’t be much of a problem since the truck comes with Traxxas Self-Righting technology that flips itself over when it lands upside-down. Most of us can agree however, that we’d rather spend most of our time driving it on its wheels (and wheelie bar) and not its roof. The truck really likes to launch hard and fast and spend a great deal of the time on its hind wheels.

TOTAL CONTROL

Much of the truck’s controllability can be attributed to its built-in Traxxas Stability Management (TSM) technology. Think of TSM as electronic driver’s aids that you would find in real life cars such as traction control or even a sports car’s launch control. TSM makes the X-Maxx much easier to control on slippery surfaces such as loose dirt, smooth concrete, and even ice and snow.

With TSM on, launching off the line won’t create an instant donut. Instead, TSM senses the vehicle’s direction and makes steering corrections to provide straight full-throttle acceleration without unexpected fishtailing or spinouts. When cornering, TSM intuitively corrects the vehicle’s line for faster exit speeds. The technology applies to breaking too, keeping the vehicle straight until it reaches a complete stop. TSM can be fine-tuned or deactivated by adjusting the multi-function knob on the TQi transmitter or in the Traxxas link app.

Other reasons why the X-Maxx may handle as well as it does are probably thanks to its pliable 8-inch tall tires, long-arm suspension and enormous oil-filled aluminum socks. The truck just soaks up any terrain you throw at it. We took a few passes on a Landwave ramp and as you can imagine, the sight of a large vehicle launching high into the air put on quite the show. Again, thanks to its robust suspension, X-Maxx landed softly like it was no big deal.

THE DRIVETRAIN

Under the skin of the X-Maxx lays engineering meant for not only powerful performance, but longevity and protection too. A composite nylon tub shaped chassis shields critical components such as the transmission and electronics from damage. The transmission itself is also designed to shrug off hard conditions and delivery everything you demand it to. It is fitted with what Traxxas calls a shock-absorbing Cush Drive. Due to its 8S power system, X-Maxx is outfitted with Traxxas’ Cush Drive, which was originally created for their 100 mile-per-hour capable XO-1 Supercar. The result is a transmission that can send great loads of power directly to its Torque-Biasing Center Drive.

The Torque-Biasing Center Drive is made to absorb shocks that may shock the driveline. It also distributes power to all four wheels seamlessly via robust sealed differentials. We could go on and on about the incredible engineering work that Traxxas poured into the X-Maxx, suffice it to say, this thing is a beast.

ADDED OPTIONS

Because lights make everything better, we installed an optional Traxxas LED light kit to the X-Maxx. Built to handle any situation that the X-Maxx would run into, the factory Traxxas light kit is the only one we trust to install. Installation was straightforward and only took us about half-an-hour to complete. The kit is waterproof and has a truly factory look and feel. No surprises were encountered during the installation process.

The kit produces an intense-white light up front and is capable of both high and low beams. In the rear, you’ll find bright red brake lights that work when brakes are applied in both forward and reverse directions. Reversing will turn on white reverse lights; going forward will automatically turn them off. The electronics and wiring are easy to set up thanks to Traxxas’ clear instructions and simple bolt-on installation. If you equip your TQi transmitter with a Traxxas Link Bluetooth module, you can turn the lights on and off with the Traxxas Link App or even further customize its lighting modes to your specifications. We have to admit that we really dig the light kit.

We also installed Traxxas’ new Sledgehammer tires to our X-Maxx. At 8.4” tall, the Sledgehammer’s greater diameter gives X-Maxx a more powerful stance with even higher ground clearance. The tires come pre-mounted to 6-spoke X-Maxx wheels with an ultra-tough 8s-rated glue bead for worry-free running.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The X-Maxx has been on the market a few years now but it is still the king of kings when it comes to monster trucks. The X-Maxx is that it’s one of the biggest, most powerful, most durable, most ingeniously engineered trucks that we’ve had the pleasure of driving. If that’s not what you want in a monster truck, you probably don’t want a monster truck after all.

Now available in your choice of five colors including the colorful Rock N Roll color scheme that you see here, the X-Maxx is always looking up to date and fresh. To top it off, Traxxas continually comes out with upgrade parts to further push X-Maxx’s limits. If you’re still on the fence about getting one, trust us do it already. It’ll being you plenty of smiles for years to come; it has for us.

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Text and Images by Jerry Tsai and Leigh Guarnieri
Source: Traxxas traxxas.com