Awesome truck with great power! Boys (8 & 6) played with it in the snow & it was perfect because the snow reduced the acceleration plus made it super fun for spin outs! I think on dry pavement it may be too much power (at least for the younger boy) but out on an open grass or gravel field, they have been able to handle it fine. We have not had any major wipe outs yet (knock on wood) but it seems pretty solid. After using it in the snow or rain, just have to make sure to wipe it down & clean it up. My boys have had many other remote control cars and trucks growing up (yes I know they are so old now right? lol) but they were much less power plus they had very simple remote controls. My older son did actually have one intermediate powered dune buggy style with a wheel based transmitter so he became accustomed to the steering & now it has passed onto the younger boy. Definitely recommend this to anyone considering it.

I wanted to say that I was very impressed with this RC truck, ESPECIALLY at this price. The truck looks great, and expensive. Personally, I enjoy the much larger ones (I own a Traxxas X-Maxx) but I bought this one for my son. For a brushed motor this thing is quick and powerful and just wants to bash around. The quality is as good, if not better, than ones that cost twice as much. The adjustable suspension allows you to change the ride height and it's built sturdy. Redcat Racing gets a bad rap sometimes online, but I think the people that write bad stuff about it don't know what they're talking about.

Like other reviewers have stated, in the RC hobby things break if they are abused or if you drive them into a tree at 25 mph, but sometimes you do that and you drive away, it doesn't matter what brand it is.

Overall this truck is a win. Great look, great suspension, good tires, great design, and above average build quality. If you can spare a few extra bucks, the brushless version is even better.

Want to make a kid (or adult for that matter) happy? Buy this truck and work your way up. I don't think you could get more value for the money or more fun!

I have a fully modded slash and wanted something to leave as is couldnt resist 130 shipped now thatw a steal one problem brushed the original motor and esc didnt even last thru the first battery pack before it smelled funny and seen lil bit of smoke ok redcat like that nope!!!

Thats were the brushless conversion comes in i had a vxl-3s that been sitting in a box for a long time might as well put it to some good use had to custom cut the esc tray and everything else just dropped in now i have the XTE PRO for $130 now thats a bargain great lil basher for what it is

I was blown away by this car. It is fully water proof and fully functional in a few inches of sleet. The car was packed dense sleet, so i put in in the lundry tub and let it all melt. - cant believe it had not effect on the car.

It does roster tails under full throttle and last 15 to 20 mins on tbe sandard battery.

I stongly recommend getting a lithium battery that boost overall speed and battery life is increased to 20 to 30 minutes.

I tested the car at a known distance of 300 yards by tying a balloon to the top of the car and just sending it on its way at full throttle. It could have probably gone further, but i only had 300 yards.

I have driven this on all surfaces doing anything i felt like, and nothing has broken.
Please note it looks like if you crash and it hits a wheel, you might need to get some spare parts. So the best advice, just dont crash into a post that hits the wheel only.

Ok a little history first. Back in the day I used to race these things back when I was in High School and some in college a bit. Fast forward 15 years and I now have my own 11 year old son. His experience with RC is limited to the cheap little ones that you find at Walmart and Target for less than $100. I decided for Xmas that I would buy one a bit more expensive to make sure he's interested AND get experience before we take the plunge and buy a full-on racing truck. My point is, I know a bit about these and the test subject here is an 11 year old with extremely limited experience.

Right off the bat, this thing broke, with pictures. My dad (his grandpa) has a known habit of LOVING all things RC and tends to play with them first to "show you" how they work. My son was at my parents on Xmas day when this opened and as he did to me for many years, my dad decided to show him. Unfortunately for as much as grandpa loves these things, he's not that great at them. Instead of going right to miss the curb, as the car was going at him, to show off, he went left and full-on smacked the car into the curb at full speed. This caused damage to the chassis as pictured. Replacement was only about $15 though and again, these things happen. THIS CAR GOES FAST AND IS NOT INDESTRUCTIBLE. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GET SOMETHING YOU CAN RUN AT 20-35MPH INTO SOLID OBJECTS AND EXPECT IT TO SURVIVE, YOU'RE NUTS!

Anyways, so the chassis came and we replaced it. He then ran into our second "problem". This thing has a servo-saver, which is basically a spring attached to the steering servo (motor that makes it go left or right) so that if you smack into a curb or rack or building or cat at full speed, the spring will allow the steering linkage to tweak without breaking the gears in the servo. Naturally hee has run into a number of things as he is learning to control the truck. Once this happens it's an easy fix in that you unscrew the steering arm from the servo, reset it so it sits between the springs and then screw it back on. Takes 3 mins tops, most of the time is spent getting the body on and off.

Despite the servo saver, he still managed to damage the servo. It's got a 3kg rating and he definitely rammed thing at more than 3kg of force over and over again. We spent $10 and got the 6kg servo now and it's been smooth sailing since as he gets better.

This is a learners car or an EXCELLENT backyard brawler. Again you can't run into things 20-35mph and expect it to survive every single time. I highly recommend getting a 5000maH battery and charger...so you have two packs and can run them without having to recharge for hours and then getting 15 mins of playtime.

In conclusion, this car was more than enough fun to remind me that I missed and loved the hobby. I'll be getting my own truck soon enough so I can join him and teach him how to race with other people on a track as well. For the cost as well as "fun factor" out of the box you really can't go wrong.