Arrma Kraton 6s BLX review (RC monster truck)

[ProCroation]

So, since my last review of the Traxxas Rustler VXL, I have sold it and made a new purchase. I went from 1/10th scale to 1/8th scale and also from a 2wd to a 4wd. My terrain had to change as well as my driving habits.

I drove to Scale Reproductions of Breckinridge lane to pick it up. They only ordered two of these trucks at that time and my friend and I both bought them. It did not come with rechargeable batteries or charger but that's okay. I keep Lipo batteries and a Thunder AC6 charger as I love RC hobby grade cars/trucks. I had been following the reviews from the first people to buy them when they first released and was limited to one single youtube video at that time. (I think I have the most youtube clips available now too). They were said to be nothing short of monstrous.

Out of the box, the truck felt amazingly stout. This thing was heavy IMO but only compared to Traxxas 1/10th scale cars. The body shell is probably the most sturdy feeling one I've ever encountered. Charging time for me was approximately an hour and I used the time to go over every nut/bolt/screw and checked that they were tight. All the tools needed to work on this truck are in the box. I've got about 40 runs out of the truck thus far and decided to review it finally.

Speed: 5 stars. It's freakishly fast and super punchy, even stock. <---Those were my exact words for the Traxxas Rustler VXL. Forget those words in that case, as they no longer apply to that car. This thing rips out of the hole and disappears off in the distance on 6s battery power like a skittish crack-head was just handed a $20 bill. It barely pulls a little wheelie (in grass and on pavement) and the front tires swell a bit as it gains momentum and it doesn't slow down at all. It spins the tires some and yet grabs so much traction quickly afterward and blasts down the street in what can only be described as a rage. Once it gains full traction (which happens in a split second) it gets up to top speed insanely fast. There is an optional high speed gear included in the box that I have yet to need. I can't imagine ever needing more power than this. With the gear swap and 6s batteries it is supposed to achieve 65mph.

Stability: 5 stars. The steering is so predictable, controllable and easy to get accustomed to. Even with all the power it's harnessing, this thing loves to corner, loves to jump...it goes exactly where you want it to. It's very controllable on pavement albeit, with all that speed and weight, it doesn't mind to do some power slides as well. It's easy to drift it and recover fully. I haven't flipped it on pavement from just steering at high speeds. It stays on 4 wheels no problem. Same thing in the grass, dirt, mud, snow and gravel. It will drift but it corrects itself mighty fine. It takes some getting used to, landing big jumps. More on that later haha.

Durability: 5 stars. I wanted to give this a 4 star rating but considering how many hard hits and how many runs I got in, before breaking stuff...I just couldn't. I've had this thing in the air sometimes 18-20 feet and landed it hard on some solid surfaces. I like to land upside down. I like to wreck at the highest speed possible. I like to send my truck into 40+mph somersaults. Okay not really but considering some of my incidents, you'd think I did. I had yet to break, bend, or loosen anything at all until Christmas day. It was cold. All the plastic parts were probably brittle. I landed flat on its top after a wide open throttle, max speed jump, coming down from probably 18 feet high...on pavement. This also led into the longest cartwheel I've ever seen an RC car do. Complete with tumbling on pavement, slamming into a curb, over the curb and continuing to flip until hitting a tree. I broke the rear wing off its mount, broke the roll cage inside the body shell, destroyed a wheel bearing, bent a shock mount bolt and bent the shock towers a little. It still drove and showed no sign of stopping. I discovered everything was destroyed only after getting it home and doing a post-run inspection. What more should a person ask of an RC car really?

User Friendliness: 5 stars. Not much to really say about the controls. It's very easy to operate. It's got plenty of room inside it to work on yourself. Everything is easy to get to and the supplied tools make everything an easy job. You kind of need to be willing because I don't know of many shops that work on Arrma products much. With that being said, I'm finding that most parts are hard to come by. The wing is on back-order and the wheel bearing seems to not even exist currently. I will probably just take the bearing out and go to Albert Crush bearings and see if they can match one up because I'm having no luck yet.

Price: 5 stars. I paid $499.99 and while that sounds like a lot...it's not, for a 1/8th scale 4x4 truck capable of handling 6s lipo battery power, waterproof electronics and the durability/quality of build.

Will post video and pictures as soon as I can.

[ProCroation]

Here is a link to my first time driving it. These were some smaller jumps but the only jumps I had filmed but a great durability test nonetheless. It was only 4s lipo power so it's slower in this video than it is now.
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Here's some footage of the first time I ran it on 6s lipo power. It was cold and so I didn't have anyone to hold the camera. I edited the video down to limit time that the truck was out of view.
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Here's some footage of it running in snow and slick pavement. Again, cold outside so there was no one dumb as me willing to come out there and hold the camera.
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[ProCroation]

Here's some pictures of it. One shows it compared to my old Traxxas car (the blue one) and the other one shows it compared to my kitchen table. It's big...and fun.

[rustynuts]

What size are those tires. I may have some to fit it.

[ProCroation]

3.8"

I've heard the pro line trencher x is a great tire for it.

[rustynuts]

I'll look and see what size I have. That's rim size?

[ken6881]

If you don't already know hobbyking.com is a cheap source for lipos just an FYI

[ProCroation]

I'll look and see what size I have. That's rim size?

Yes

[ProCroation]

If you don't already know hobbyking.com is a cheap source for lipos just an FYI

Yeah that's usually where I get them unless Scale Reproductions has a sale going on.