Now hitting stores from Axial Racing and Horizon Hobby is the Yeti Jr.™ Can-Am® Maverick 1/18th Scale Electric 4WD – RTR. The Axial is one of the very first UTVs to hit the market, and with Axial’s scale knowledge, it certainly looks like the full sized beast. We’ve been putting in pack after pack on the Axial to see just how fun (and durable) the Can-Am® Maverick is. Does the Can-Am have good power? How does it handle in the rough? How are the new electronics? Can you bash it hard without breaking it? Read on for the full scoop…
From: Axial Racing
Direct Link: Yeti Jr.™ Can-Am® Maverick 1/18th Scale Electric 4WD – RTR frp, Horizon Hobby
Unboxing Pictures: BSRC Unboxes The Axial Racing Can-Am Maverick X3
Review By: Iron Mike
Specs:
RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes, water resistant
Scale: 1/18th
Length: 11″
Width: 7″
Wheelbase: 8.1″
Weight: 1.6 lbs
Motor: Brushed Dynamite Tazer 380, 37 turns
Speed Controller: Spektrum ESC/receiver combo
Low Voltage Cut-off: No
Radio: Spektrum STX2
Differential: Gear type front & rear
Shocks: Threaded, plastic bodies and caps, oil filled
Servo Saver: On servo output shaft
Screws: Metric, hex
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 pitch
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Licensed Maxxis Bighorn 2.0 UTV tread
Battery: All batteries needed to run are included w/ charger
Part Number: #AXI90069
Warranty: “Horizon Hobby warranties the product to be free of defects at the date of purchase.”
Top Speed (measured by BSRC on 2S LiPo): 18 mph
Street Price: $149
What’s Needed To Complete: You won’t need anything to complete the Axial as everything you need to get up and driving comes inside the box.
Test Drivers: Robbie G., The RC Kid, and Iron Mikeee
Set-up Notes: As the norm for all of our reviews, we tested the Axial box stock. However, we must note that we did most of our driving on a MaxAmps 2S 1850 LiPo, which is not recommended by the factory, but it sure perks the Can-Am up. To charge both the stock NiMH and the LiPo we used a Hitec X1 Pro.
Driving: How does the Axial drive? That seems to be the question that everyone wants to know. The UTV looks awesome, but is it fast and can it corner? The Can-Am is a bit top heavy, so when there is plenty of traction (pavement, high bite dirt, etc) it does traction roll in corners. On looser surfaces (gravel, loose dirt) traction rolling is rare, so you can really push it in corners. Overall, we thought it turned exceptionally well for an 18th scaler. Most 1/18th sized vehicles tend to be too sensitive near neutral on the steering, but the Axial is spot on and is easy to drive in a straight line at speed. In most “normal” style turns, you come in as hot as you dare, tap the brake to scrub some speed, then the Can-Am generally would just rail past the apex and throw corner exit.
Bumps tend to kick the rear of the Axial around, at least when there is a bump that only hits one rear tire. Both the front and rear suspension work well and are quite smooth, with the only exception being when you catch a rear corner by itself. The rear suspension travels vertically just fine (quite smoothly), but it has a lot of resistance on the horizontal plane, thus making it kick when only one rear tire hits a bump.
Like most vehicles that have an independent front suspension combined with a solid rear axle, the nose likes to drop over jumps. The little Axial has decent over-rev to help pull the nose up, but eventually you end up jumping it like you would a Yeti, a Twin Hammers, etc. To get the best pop off a jump face, and to also help keep the UTV level while in flight, we found that rolling up to a jump face between 1/3 to 1/2 throttle, then pinning it WFO off the face, generally gave the best results when catching airtime.
Tires: We liked the stock tires and thought they were quite usable for typical backyard bashing applications. They are molded from a fairly soft rubber, and while the stock foams are quite soft, they worked well on softer surfaces. The tires have a nice scale look and are fully licensed by Maxxis.
Power: How hard does the Can-Am rip? Well, thankfully it is not geared for crawling, it is geared for fun! No, it isn’t crazy fast, but it has about the right amount of power for the chassis. Top speed comes in right around 18 mph, which feels quick for a vehicle of this scale. It has enough power to do massive burnouts on slick surfaces, enough to pop wheelies on pavement (when going from reverse to forward), and it has enough speed to make it fun on pavement.
Radio: It is so weird getting an Axial with Horizon electronics, but yet here we are. The Spektrum STX2 that is supplied with the Axial has a decent amount of adjustments for an RTR radio and generally worked well for our various test drivers. And no, we didn’t have any range for glitching issues.
Broken Parts: We are stoked to say that the stock electronics have held up quite well, as did the chassis. The Axial doesn’t have a lot of weight, nor does it have break-neck speed. Both of those factors help to keep it alive during normal driving and we were able to bash it quite hard without breaking any parts. When we took things to an extreme level (think roof jumping!) we did end up breaking a rear link and shock. Overall, we felt that this latest version of the Yeti Jr. seemed to hold up much better than earlier releases.
Misc Notes:
The body uses two clips up front, then hinges at the rear. This made it fast and easy to change out battery packs.
To maintain a proper scale appearance, the Can-Am does not have any bumpers. True to a UTV, there isn’t a lot of protection when smashing into curbs, branches, etc. Thankfully, the Axial’s low weight and quality plastic allow it to absorb a lot of abuse.
The included wall charger worked fine for us, albeit it being a slow USB unit. If you want to charge your pack up in less than several hours, look for a quality aftermarket charger.
For a battery connector, the Axial comes stock with an EC3 on its new Spektrum ESC/receiver combo. By the way, our ESC, as well as all the rest of the electronics, held up fine on our test unit, which should be good news to some of you previous Yeti Jr platform owners.
While the stock servo wasn’t lighting quick, it had more than enough power to easily go lock-to-lock on carpet, and it held up like a boss for the duration of our review.
Best Mod: No, the stock ESC/receiver unit is not LiPo compatible, so pop in a Castle ESC and a new receiver so you can get more power, speed, and run-time by going LiPo.
Summary:
A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific
Time To Bash: A Everything you need comes right in the box. Getting the Axial up and running couldn’t be easier.
Workability: B An 18th scaler can be hard to see for older eyes, but we had no issues spinning wrenches on the Can-Am® Maverick.
Car Show Rating: B The Axial has a gorgeous body, but that solid axle rear end takes away from its scale realism.
Bash-A-Bility: B Our Can-Am held up much better than previous Yeti Jr. releases.
Fun Factor: B Our Bash Crew had loads of fun driving the Can-Am. From on-road to off, from rocks to grass, the nicely styled (and powered) Can-Am gave us hours of fun with very little wrenching involved.
Handling: C The Axial turns well for an 18th scaler, but that solid rear axle holds it back when driving at speed.
Value: A Everyone who got a chance to pull trigger on the Axial agreed that it was a fantastic buy at its $149 price point.
Parts Availability: N/A The Can-Am comes with numerous new parts, it is a bit too early for us to evaluate its parts support.
BigSquid Rating: B+ The Axial Yeti Jr.™ Can-Am® Maverick is a fun UTV. The Axial sports great styling and has enough power under the hood for loads of fun. We are big fans of the Axial, as well as the UTV genre, and we can definitely recommend the Can-Am® Maverick to you.
