ASK Cub Reporter, 01.31.2013, Version- More Of Your Questions, Less Of My Answers

What’s the word Cubby? So here is my question that I am sure a lot of Father’s will ask. I have just recently (in the past two years) have gotten in R/C trucks. Mainly I bash and tear up the neighborhood. My son is getting older and I am hoping that this is how he will learn about mechanics, electronics, and general wrenching from his trucking fun. He is around 4. The question I have is what is a great truck to start a young kid on that will last and he can work on and bash as he gets older? I am not going Lipo and I currently have a Traxxas slash ultimate so the wife doesn’t want to spend that $$. Looking for electric and fun out of the box but very indestructible. What can you recommend?
Thanks
Sean M.

Cubby– Hey Sean, thanks for the email and be sure to shoot Brian your snail mail for some free stickers to slap on your Slash 4×4.

So… you are looking for a fun RTR that is nearly indestructible for your 4 year old son. For you are I am going to say buy the ARRMA Granite monster truck. Why? For a few reasons…

1. It was our “Bash Vehicle Of The Year” for 2012, meaning it has proven itself beyond a doubt in our eyes.
2. It steers slowly but predictably, making it a great learning vehicle for a noobs. Some vehicles have way too much steering- this is a nightmare for noobs who give too much steering input the way it is. The Granite doesn’t push, but it doesn’t react too quickly to steering inputs either, perfect for a beginner.
3. Ya, it’s crazy tough. Your son can slam into a LOT of solid objects and you won’t be running to the LHS every day.
4. Because it’s a monster truck it has a decent amount of ground clearance. This comes in quite handy for noobs who love to drive in the grass.

One tip I will give you if you do happen to buy the Granite- water dip the motor (if possible) and drop a couple teeth off the pinion. The stock motors aren’t known for long life, water dipping and dropping the gearing will help keep the motor alive.

Good Morning,
Saw your review and thinking of doing the whole Pro-Line conversion to my Slash 2WD.
In the end it ends up costing about the same as a 22SCT etc., but its something different and cool from other guys.
Do you think the Pro-Line slash is roughly equal to the other big 2WD names? Looks pretty competitive to me.
Cheers,
Derek A.

Cubby– Hey Derek, thanks for the question, it certainly is a good one.

We haven’t gone directly back to back between the Pro-Line Pro-2 Slash and its competitors. Actually we have driven them back to back, but not with set-ups that were identical (like electronics, totally stock, similar tires, etc). So while I can’t give you a precise answer on this one, I’ll give you some of our general observations. Oh and… a legit 2wd SCT shootout sounds like fun, hum….

Does the Pro-Line Pro-2 Slash roughly equal a full scoot “racer” SCT? At this time, not having driven them under equal circumstances, I would say yes and no. I would say on blown-out, loose, outdoor tracks that yes, the Pro-Line can haul ass with the best of them. On a high bite blue-groove or damp indoor clay tracks, I feel it’s at a bit of a disadvantage. Because all the Pro-2 parts can bolt onto a Slash, it inherently has to keep certain aspects of the stock Slash geometry. The stock geometry that it retains seems fine for outdoor/loose tracks, but limits its maximum mechanical grip on high-bite. But like I previously mentioned, until driving them all back-to-back on an equal scale, its really hard to tell for sure.

What I can assure you from first hand knowledge is this- all the Pro-Line parts are of extremely high quality, much better than the stock Traxxas parts they replace. Pro-Line perfected the geometry where they could and use high grade materials throughout, at the end of the day the Pro-2 is a great quality machine.

For bashing purposes the high quality parts mean less breakage and fewer worn out parts. Whereas you might blow a couple spurs a month on a stock Slash, you won’t blow any with the PL tranny. Where you might pop off a shock cap on every run with the Traxxas, it never happens with the Pro-Line gear. Where the stock hinge-pins are all taco’ed out and your a-arms refuse to move on the stock Slash, the Pro-Line pins and arms continue smoothly through their entire stroke without issue.

To boil it down, if you are looking for an uber blue groove racer, at this time I’d recommend elsewhere, but for pretty much anything else, the Pro-Line Pro-2 Slash would be incredibly hard to beat.

That’s it for this week gang, shoot me your questions, answers, random thoughts, and Jeff Hoy hate mail to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com. If your letter hits the big-time you get free stickers, and I will be selecting a letter of the month next week, so get yours in for a chance to win an BSRC t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter