There has been a good amount of new vehicle releases lately, but I don’t believe there has been a vehicle released in the last 2 years that has received as much hype as the Axial Yeti! Heck, we posted 3/4 of a picture of the thing, with a link to where you could pre-order, and not only did we receive a record amount of traffic that day, I have heard the pre-orders from our page were through the roof! So does the Yeti deserve all the hype? Is this the rock racer the world has been waiting for?
From: Axial
Direct Link: Axial Yeti (Web page coming soon!)
Review By: Brian and Tim
Pics By: Tim Mohr
Video By: Brian
Specs:
RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shafts
Electric or Gas: Electric
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 20″
Width: 12.5″
Wheelbase: 14.5″
Ground clearance: 2.0″
Differentials: Front Diff is Open, Rear Diff is locked
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: Plastic with Metal Joint
Shocks: Oil Filled, Aluminum Threaded bodies, single rate springs
Screws: Hex
Tires: Axial 2.2 BF Goodrich Krawler T/A
Motor: Axial 4-Pole 3150kv
Speed Controller: Axial AE-3 BL-WP
Waterproof: Yep, go get it wet!
Part Number: #AX90026
Warranty: “…free from defects in material and workmanship when new in the factory sealed box.”
Street Price: $429.99
Top Speed: 32mph
Primary Competition: 1/10th scale Rock Racers. The Vaterra Twin Hammers could go into the mix, but it’s slightly smaller in scale.
What’s Needed To Complete: The Yeti comes RTR, but you will need to provide a 3S Lipo battery to get the full experience.
Test Drivers: Brian ‘Editor in Chief’ , Tim ‘I can drive anything and make it look easy’ Mohr.
Test Venues: Secret Test Location in Southern California. HUGE jumps, soft and hard dirt, sand, and rock.
Set-up Notes: The two vehicles we were able to drive were dialed! We ran them completely stock and just added the 3S Lipo Batteries to get our Yeti’s moving. Something important to note, you can quickly and easily swap out the battery! (Thank you Axial!) With just a couple of pins, the front of the body swings up and back allowing you full access below. No more dealing with tons of screws to gain access to the chassis.
Turning: The Yeti has some push at the corner entry, and while you might expect a vehicle like this to push like a freight train, it actually turns decent. We did traction roll here and there, but while the rear diff was locked, it didn’t really feel like it was in the turns. The rear sway bar gets a serious workout at high speeds.
Crawling: The stock vehicle is set up for high speed! Shortly after it’s released there will be a option to add a low speed gear and change them on the fly. We are looking forward to that. We did get some crawling in on the huge rock masses at the test track, and could see the awesome potential of this setup.
Jumping: The Yeti did have a tendency to nose dive/endo on the jumps similar to the EXO. Thankfully the racer has some serious power on tap that would allow you to pull the nose up. When hitting the big jumps, saving some throttle for the face of the jump will keep that nose in the air. On the other hand, if your looking to land some front flips, the Yeti will make that happen for you.
Bumps/Whoops: The Yeti has has a lot of travel in the rear, and with the EXO suspension in the front it slammed through the rough well. It typically stayed straight and rarely kicked out the rear or ended up on its lid in the rough. We are talking high speed, point A to point B action on a rail.
Tires: Those Walker Evans Wheels were awesome on the rocks and on-road. The fluffy soft stuff was a bit more challenging for the big 2.2’s.
Power:The Yeti had good yank from a dead stop, strong pull in the mid-range, and wound out to an insane top-end for that type of vehicle. It truly gives the brushless power type of experience on 3S. It never lacked for power, threw huge roost, and had more than enough power for insanely huge jumps. There is some serious power here, something we haven’t seen from Axial in a long time. We didn’t notice any cogging during our runs as well.
Broken Parts: Jump after jump, grabbing huge air and suffering some cringe inducing crash landings, we drove away every time. That dual slipper was working over time saving the gearing, and the roll cage kept everything safe under the body. If you watch the video, you would think, something, somewhere must of given out, but nope. We drove the vehicles home, and they lived to see another day.
Misc Notes:
We REALLY liked the way Axial has listened to their fans and made access to the battery and chassis much easier! Rotating the body up and back has been a wishlist item for a while, and we are happy to have it. This access makes it much easier to work on than some similar vehicles like the EXO.
It’s large for a 1/10th scale. Put it next to some similar vehicles, and the Yeti looks like it wants to eat them for lunch.
The power system provided not only great acceleration and top speed, but some serious stopping power as well.
The Yeti has some serious scale looks! Bumper to bumper, the details, the licensed stuff, it all really brings the realism to the front of the pack.
While we normally complain about stock servo’s this one went un-noticed. No complaints here.
The receiver box is waterproof, as well as the ESC, so don’t worry about getting this one wet.
If we had a ‘Best all around’ category, the Yeti would be at the top of the list. There aren’t many vehicles that you can trail drive, bash, rock climb, get huge air with, and even take to your local track.
Yes we had access to the Yeti WAY before the announcement and the release, but the NDA’s we signed were like an inch thick! All you guys posting links to our ‘Axial Racing Road Trip’ were right on when you claimed we were hiding something.
Summary:
A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific
Time To Bash: B It’s RTR, so install the battery with the flip up body, and you are ready for some rock racing action!
Workability: B While we didn’t need to wrench on the vehicles, they have really upped their accessibility for stuff under the hood. If you owned an EXO, working on the Yeti will be like a dream.
Car Show Rating: A There are so many licensed items, and the small details from the drivers to the fire extinguishers and gas tank cap. The Yeti screams scale looks!
Bash-A-Bility: A We beat the heck out of two vehicles for hours, and drove them home. There are less than a handful of vehicles that can claim they drove away from a Big Squid RC review.
Fun Factor: A Driving the Yeti is a blast! With the top speed +30 out of the box, and being able to shoot for the sky without worrying about breaking it was awesome. Add in the fact that if you want, you can take it and go climb some rocks or the side of a mountain, and you have a all around fun vehicle.
Handling: C The Yeti is a bit nose heavy in the jumps. The pushing in the turns takes a little skill to corner tight, but it’s hard to ask for more with such a well rounded vehicle.
Value: B At $429, the pocket book is going to take a sizable dent, but when you think about it, this vehicle will take the place of 2 or 3 in your stable, it’s worth the price of admission.
Parts Availability: B More and more Axial parts are making their way into hobby shops. We are excited to know that the aftermarket and hop-up parts are already on the drawing table, and there should be plenty of support after release.
BigSquid Rating: B+ Axial more than surprised us with the Yeti, but has really shown they are working hard to stay on top by bringing a very versatile vehicle to the market! The Yeti does just about everything you would need 2 or 3 different vehicles to do, and it does it well!
Check out the video of the beast in action:
