Everybody’s Scalin’ For the Weekend – Looking Forward to the Axial Yeti
In case you missed it, last week Axial made a huge announcement: the Axial Yeti 1:10 Rock Racer. Regardless of your personal opinion on the vehicle, the release is a big deal for the hobby. If you don’t believe me you should see the outrageous web traffic that our review has been doing! It’s sparked a ton of discussion on message boards and Facebook groups as well. I’ve heard that pre-orders for the vehicle are super high. So yeah, you can tell people are interested. I only speak for myself here, but let me discuss why the release excites me. Click the “Read More” below to see my ramblings.
The Business
Before speaking about the actual nuts and bolts of the truck, let’s talk about the big picture. The Ultra4 inspired Yeti strikes me as a landmark release for Axial. The company has already taken a niche segment of the hobby (crawling and scaling) and made it popular, but this is the vehicle that looks to open the brand up to an even larger amount of people. I love the SCX10. It stands beside the O.G. Tamiya Clodbuster as my favorite kit of all time. That being said though, many bashers just don’t dig crawling. Going slow is not for everyone. The Yeti looks to inject a major dose of air and speed into scaling.
The Platform
Both inside and out, the Yeti looks boss. The scale community has been building hybrid Wraith and Exo builds for a long time and therefore it’s long been a request for something like this to be offered from the factory. Axial one upped this by not just offering a standard “Wrexo” build, but by designing a new platform around the request. The Yeti looks to be tough, easy to work on, and very versatile. It’s also pretty sweet that it comes brushless and waterproof right out of the box. I think there is a lot of value in the $419 asking price.
The Aftermarket
The aftermarket looks to have a field day with this one. Thanks to utilizing many parts already available (namely the stout AR60 axles shared by the Wraith and Deadbolt) hop-ups are going to be offered on day one. I’ve heard that some other popular aftermarket companies are going to have Yeti-specific parts available immediately. That’s just the start. I can’t wait to see the wild stuff people do with it….especially when someone offers a trophy truck conversion kit (crosses fingers)!
My Plan
Well, the first thing I need to do is actually get the truck. Crazy concept, I know. I have one pre-ordered so it should arrive mid-July when the first batch is due to retailers. The main plan I’ll be working towards is turning it into a trail monster, so expect hop-up guides and the like as I take it from mild to wild. Most of all I’m just excited to drive the thing. Until then, like many of you, I’ll be waiting on the postman.
For more Axial news on BigSquidRC you can click here. To see what’s going on in the world of scale rc why don’t you click here?