THE Cub Report, Version- Enough Is Always Too Little
Hello rc fans, welcome to this week’s Cub Report. I trust you are all dialed in for the X-Mas season and that you’ve been a good boy (or girl!) all year to get that special remote control gift under the tree on Christmas morning.
While there is a normally a lull in the big rc news from just before Black Friday until Nuremberg, last week was different, it was filled with big releases. Arguably the biggest of which was the 8S Traxxas X-Maxx. The 8S X-Maxx is making some seriously big waves. In the basher world, crazy, over-the-top power is run of the mill, and in many circles, the biggest power always wins. The person with the biggest power might not be the fastest, but he is the guy that everyone aspires to beat. If you remember the early days of brushless, you were crazy for showing up with 3S. Then somebody showed up with 4S, then some joker brought a 6S powered truck. But that is where most of the hobby stagnated for a while, with 6S being a typical upper limit. With the announcement of the 8S X-Maxx, I have to wonder if that is really going to set off a voltage war. Will ARRMA introduce a 10S Nero? How about Losi doing a 12S LST XXL-3 monster truck? Will the manufacturers finally be forced to go to belted tires to keep all the new found wattage and RPM under control?
Nope, I have no idea if this is going to kick off a cell count arms race, but Traxxas has started pretty much every big trend since the T-Maxx. Higher voltage is a good thing electrically speaking, allowing speedos to potentially live longer. Yes, it is harder to create a good BEC that can soak up all that extra voltage, but it is something that the ESC manufacturers shouldn’t have a huge problem dealing with. On the consumer side of things, power levels will get even more stupid, which if you like to drive insane power or do crazy stunts (or simply just go REAL fast), will be a great thing. The higher cell count packs will cost more, but if you are picking up a new 8S X-Maxx, you already know you better bring some extra cash for big packs. Anyways, hold onto your pants bashers, 2017 just might be the year of “even more ridiculous” power, and one where the tire makers will be forced to solve the ballooning problem.
Also in the news were the 1/18th scaled Axial Jr series vehicles. These will join the extremely popular Pro-Line Ambush, RC4WD G2, ECX Temper, and numerous other vehicles in the small scale crawling/off-road genre. Ya know, the hardcore scaler/trail/crawling guys have no issue going outside in 30 degree weather and running in the snow with their 10th scalers, but, the more casual crawler guys (like several members of our staff here) would MUCH rather stay warm inside and crawl. Like pretty much every sport, the hardcore guys are far outnumbered by the casual folks, so it only makes sense that the Ambush, 1/18 G2, ect, have sold like hotcakes. Yes indeed, its looks like the small scale crawling scene is gonna explode this winter, which is a great thing for the hobby. Casual bashers have always needed a good way to keep in the hobby during the colder months, now it looks like the industry is hooking them up with something that is easily run indoors.
On a different note… the rest of our year here at BigSquidRC is going to be off the hook. We will be wrapping up the huge Pro-Line Wipeout Video Contest, we’ve got to pick a “Bash Vehicle Of The Year”, and a whole lot more is going on. The rc biz keeps on rolling, we hope you are having as much fun as we are.
Until next week, support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can!
YOUR Cub Reporter
