The Funny Car  is their second 1/8 scale RC release and it looks like Traxxas is going to be keeping it on the asphalt for awhile with another car that you’re not going to be wanting to take off of any massive jumps. The price tag, however, is less than half of the XO-1, Traxxas first 1/8 scale release. So what do you get in the Funny Car? Traxxas is of course including their new radio with the ability to see your car’s stats like rpms, voltage, temps, speed, etc. as well as adjust trims using your iPhone or iPod. They’re also showing off some impressive new work from their R&D department with an almost all new chassis.

Some sealed electronics but not waterproof RC?

What’s almost as interesting as what you get with the Traxxas funny car is what you don’t get with the Traxxas funny car. Traxxas has built a name for themselves and a solid customer base by offering waterproof RC trucks. The pages regarding the funny car only mention waterproof once: concerning their servos. Suggesting that the brushless motor & ESC aren’t waterproof but I’d speculate that they are surly water resistant. Can’t know for sure till we see the youtube videos of people throwing their funny cars into the pool.

For the brushless system Traxxas has once again outsourced all of the work to Castle. Castle seems to be the “go to” supplier for many RC manufactures looking to essentially rebrand their Mamba monster system, even if it is a slightly larger mamba monster system.

HPI Racing Bullet 4WD
All Traxxas Trucks

Duratrax Evader

I’ve decided that in place of a standard yard I’ll have a bash track. For now we’re borrowing an empty lot in the neighborhood. The nice thing about a bash track is that the only goal is for it to be fun. It doesn’t have to be well kept & clean or fair.

Here’s an example of the bash track we’ve been borrowing in the neighborhood:

In our case we just used a BMX track that a kid in the neighborhood had made. He had made the track out of an abandoned construction area that had mounds of dirt, so it doesn’t take much to create a bash track.

With a bash track snow is an opportunity. You can use it to shape corners or make jumps. It’s fun to make your whole track out of snow, the only only downside is when spring comes around all your hard work is gone.

It’s done using Outerwear kit 20-2644. The video says that it’s only $10 but you can also find them for as much as $40 so you’ll have to do some shopping to find the $10 price tag. I’m thinking that they’re going to get popular pretty quick as they are easier to install than opening up your ESC and covering all the components in liquid tape. You can’t submerge your entire truck so waterproof might be the right word especially when you compare the setup to a waterproof RC truck from Traxxas. However for racing in the snow this is a great solution.

So if you’re looking to get someone the coolest remote control car, then the XO-1 is my suggestion. The coolest car is going to cost you just slightly over $1,000. What would you expect for the coolest RC Car? Now if you’re looking for the coolest RC truck, that’s a whole different story! I’d point you to a waterproof truck that you could drive on something like this:

The two trucks above are the same scale. One will cost you around $50 and the other around $300. Most people would probably ask, “Why the difference? I’d never pay that much for a toy?”. I can’t tell you that the $300 hobby grade RC truck isn’t a toy, it’s a toy just like RC’s from big box stores. The difference is that the RC to the left is a Hobby Grade mini Traxxas Summit? What does that have that the cheaper version doesn’t?

Just a few items are:

• Adjustable Suspension with springs & dampening oil.
• More Speed – 20 MPH with battery out of the box add another battery and get speeds of 40+ MPH
• Replacement Parts – Crashed into the curb at the 20 or 40 MPH? Chances are that with the higher quality parts & suspension it will hop the curb and keep flying. If that’s not the case there’s parts that you can get from your local hobby shop or online that will probably get you rolling again for under $10
• Hop-Ups – Tires, wheels, Motor, You can upgrade anything on this truck and make it one of a kind.
• Waterproof – Traxxas & HPI provide fully waterproof RC models so that you don’t have to worry about playing in water- rain or snow.
• 2.4 GHz Radio – We all remember how  fun it is to have your RC take off when it receives interference. While many cheaper RC trucks still use AM radios where interference is common, Most all hobby grade trucks now use 2.4 GHz technology.

Beyond these advantages is the fact that a Hobby Grade RC truck will provide fun for years to come. RC is a hobby enjoyed by anyone from little children to the elderly.

There’s no need to think about getting a hovercraft when you can get an rc car that can drive 365 feed across a pond like this slightly more popular video of an RC car hydroplaning:

I guess the slash is a perfect vehicle for hydroplaning because of the shape of it’s bottom. A real car would never be able to do something like this because of weight issues and the power just isn’t there like it is with an RC car. Please share links to videos of your RC car hydroplaning in the comments!

This winter we’re going to make an even better track and double up on the motors:

I’ll have to post videos of the summit on 3s and follow up on the speed.

• Video Streaming
• Night Vision
• Still Photos
• No Interference Wifi Control
• Free iOS app to control the tank.

Now when you think Brookstone you probably think durability. Right? So it will be interesting to see how these things hold up, but at $150 you’ll probably get your fun’s worth.

The Savage XS Flux is a new mini vehicle with the same design as the very popular Savage Flux, just scaled down. The Savage XS Flux accepts 1/10 scale batteries & electronics which propels it over 65 MPH.

Although I’ve got to point out that HPI is following traxxas by both adding the waterproof feature, scaling down other popular RCs, and adding a battery and charger to the box, I will admit car looks fantastic and HPI is known for making better quality than Traxxas.