Edit: After just 6 packs the motor grenaded its front bearing. Not a huge deal, and covered under warranty. BUT, it's backordered until February. Updating my review score to reflect this, as a hobby grade RC is useless without parts support. Edit 2: My replacement motor just shipped. Only took two months, hopefully they will stay in stock. Updating score to reflect painless warranty expirence. So, I've been out of the RC game for a few years, but with the pandemic and everything else going on, I thought it would be fun to take some christmas gift cards and put them toward a fun 'grown-up' toy. My prior experience has been with 1/10 scale Buggies, Short Course Trucks, and Stadium trucks, so I was certainly familiar with the expected running costs and work required to maintain one of these things, but I was hoping to find a vehicle where I could spend more time driving than wrenching. After browsing Amazon’s store, I came across ARRMA RC, a name I had not thought about for a very long time. When I was last active in the RC hobby, ARRMA was a brand-new, basically unknown off-brand that offered unique ‘twin-plate’ chassis vehicles featuring a bottom loading battery tray. It seems they’ve really taken off, and were acquired by Horizon Hobby at somewhere along the line. Interestingly enough, they’ve positioned themselves as a slightly more ‘hardcore’ alternative to TRAXXAS, but with marketing that implies a similarly strong tolerance for abuse. Initial Impressions: Pros: Came in a box in a box in another box, meaning no damage. Not sure I needed this many boxes, but I guess with some creativity and duct tape I could make a nice little cardboard ramp (Not that it would do much for a ⅛ buggy) Vehicle seems setup well from the factory, although I did increase the rear preload with the included shock shims, to reduce the chances of it squatting into the ground on a hard launch. The battery tie down straps are nice, and the tethered body clips are a great little touch. Cons: This is really nitpicky, but it had quite the smell to it when I unboxed it. I opened a window to help diffuse the scent, but I don’t recall any other RC car I ever purchased being so aromatic. The EC5 connectors used are not the most common, you may need to solder IC5 connectors to your battery and charger leads to get running. Not a big deal, but be aware. Driving: Well. Running a 6Ah 80C 3S lipo in this thing...it’s fast. Like, I’m hesitant to go full throttle for fear of hitting something at 50mph fast. The vehicle handles very well out of the box, although there is a little front toe out that I may neutralize to improve straight line tracking. The powertrain is more than enough for anybody just bashing around, and I’m excited to get this thing to a track (or at the very least an empty skate park) and see how it handles more aerobatic driving. The steering servo is plenty torquey while offering sufficient speed. And the radio transmitter/receiver combo offers plenty of range. ARRMA has done a solid job of ensuring that this mid-range RTR vehicle has no glaring flaws out of the box, and I really appreciate that, especially at the $320 price point I paid. Accessories/Transmitter: The included Spektrum transmitter is...fine. I think I like it slightly less than my older DX2s that used to come with Horizon products. It works very well, just feels a bit light and cheap, and the all black color scheme is uninspired. However, I’m really nitpicking this thing. Long Term Durability: I cannot really comment on this aspect yet, but if you don’t hit any walls or curbs at 50mph, I don’t think this vehicle is gonna break. Other user’s experience seems to support my initial assumptions. It feels tough, and a glance over the chassis didn’t show any glaring design flaws. Conclusion: This is a fantastic ‘second’ or beyond vehicle for the RC hobbyist. I hesitate to recommend it to a newbie, for two main reasons: You need to purchase a Lithium battery charger and battery (ies) and you may be required to solder IC5 connectors to both to get running. This thing is really really fast even at the 50% throttle setting. If these two points don’t scare you, this vehicle is fantastic fun for the money, and I look forward to many charge and discharge cycles. For the price, I’m very very pleased. 4.8*/5.
