In the beginning, the Traxxas Revo was a nitro powered monster truck that set new standards for performance. Soon, brushless was taking over everything and the E-Revo was released. The electric form of the Revo was even more extreme, going even faster, and jumping even higher. It has just been a few weeks since the Traxxas E-Revo 2.0 was announced, but it is already making a huge buzz among the bashing community. The second version of the E-Revo was beefed up from nose to tail, with some of its upgrades coming right off the giant X-Maxx. While we haven’t had a ton of time with the E-Revo 2.0, we have certainly put it through its paces. Is the new version faster than the old one? Does it break less than the last one? Is it worth the money? What are you waiting for, start scrolling down for the good stuff…
From: Traxxas
Direct Link: E-Revo 2.0
Unboxing Pictures: Big Squid Unboxes The E-Revo 2.0
Review By: Cubby
Photography By: Tim Mohr
Specs:
RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10 (it is huge for a 1/10th scaler)
Length: 23.05″
Width: 18.32″
Wheelbase: 14.94″
Weight: 11.2lb
Motor: Brushless, non-sensored, 2200kV
Speed Controller: Velineon VXL-6s brushless
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Traxxas TQi, 2.4GHz
Differential: Sealed, 4 gear
Driveshafts: Large metal CVD style shafts at the wheels
Shocks: Aluminum bodies, oil filled
Servo Saver: In steering rack
Screws: Metric, hex
Spur/Pinion Pitch: Mod 1
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Traxxas Talon EXT
Battery: Not included
Part Number: #86086-4
Warranty: 30 days on electronics
Bashing Specs:
Front wheel travel: 3.2″ (Wow!)
Rear wheel travel: 3.2″
Wheelie on demand: Heck ya!
Backflip off ramps: Oh ya!
Stability Control: Yes, Traxxas TSM
Sound Module: No
Self-Righting: Yes
FPV: No
Top Speed (measured by BSRC, stock gearing, 6S LiPo): 50 mph
Runtime (measured by BSRC on 6S 5000 LiPo): 18 minutes
Street Price: $589
Primary Competition: Other big monster trucks like the ARRMA Kraton and Losi LST 3XL-E, and stunt trucks like the Tekno MT410 and the ARRMA Outcast.
What’s Needed To Complete: Four AA batteries for the transmitter, a pair of LiPo packs for the truck, and a battery charger.
Build Quality: We could find no fault with the build quality on the 2.0. The wheels were tight, the shocks were well built and not leaking, the gear mesh was spot-on, etc.
Test Drivers: Robbie A-Is-For-Airtime, Iron Mikeee, Sam The Noob, T-Mohr, and yours truly.
Test Venues: We used 3 local parks for testing. All the parks offered plenty of pavement, grass, mud, and sand to drive on.
Set-up Notes: Lots and lots of bone stock. We popped four Interstate AA batteries into the TQi and used a pair of Traxxas 3S 5000mAh LiPo batteries to power the truck. Charging was taken care of by a Traxxas EZ Peak Live.
Driving: The new Revo drives a lot like the old unit. It still has a lot of chassis lean in the corners and the ultra-long travel suspension is still extremely progressive. The 2.0 is set-up for soft surfaces and does an amazing job of finding traction where there seems none to be had. Yes, it does traction roll when it has the grip available (pavement, higher grip dirt), but in really nasty, loose conditions, it is amazing.
For cornering, the 2.0 has a lot of steering, which is a good thing to have on a truck this big/fast. Yes, on higher grip surfaces you’ll have to keep corner speeds down to prevent rolling over, but in the loose stuff just drive it in hard and peg it at the apex.
Jumping the 2.0 is also much like the old truck. While it does have a center diff, it jumps more like a non-center-diffed truck. This means it is quite sensitive to trigger inputs. That also means it loves to pull off tricks while airborne. The 2.0 does have a lot of weight in the tires, so with the 6S power system, pulling off double backflips isn’t that hard, which of course is great fun. The suspension also does a good job of soaking up landings, even super tall ones like jumping off a roof. Very nice. We feel like we also need to mention that yes, it is capable of serious airtime right out of the box. It has crazy power and the chassis to use it, so if airtime is your thing, the 2.0 should be at the top of your list.
By the way, driving the 2.0 on pavement was a ton of fun. No, you can’t corner very fast with it, but it loves to speed run and pull off standing backflips. Oh, we also did a lot of grass driving with the truck and it was awesome. Those big tires and crazy power system made the truck a missile when zooming around the back yard.
Power: Ya, how about that new power system? The ESC comes right out of the X-Maxx. So ya, we barely noticed it get past “skin temp” after driving. So, we felt like the new Revo is slightly softer off the bottom and into the mid-range but came on harder in the last 10% of the throttle. The softer low-end makes it easier to drive when going slow, but it still has more than enough raw snap to pull off standing backflips.
Our GPS showed with stock gearing the truck topped out at 50 mph. This is pretty much where we would gear it. It has great power, it has solid runtime, and motor temps are totally in check on 5 minute runs.
Radio: The included TQi worked well for us during our testing. We never experienced a glitch and the range was more than we ever tried to use during normal driving.
Broken Parts: This really is the highlight of the entire review. You see, something weird is going on. Ya, we know the 2.0 is littered with X-Maxx upgrades, but still, we thought we could break it. LOL.
So ya, during the course of our testing, we start out small and keep increasing the insanity until the car breaks. That is the normal, our 2.0 testing was anything but. We really didn’t have an “easy” period for the 2.0. How is that? Can you drive a 6S Revo slow? Nope, we can’t either!
At a loss for words here, so, why don’t you just guess what broke first. An a-arm? A hub? A shock tower (which the Revo doesn’t really have)? Nope, it was… wait for it… oh so close… the TIRES. Yes, the first thing that “broke” on the 2.0 was its tires! We drove it like we stole it from pack #1 and our test truck is still fully capable of being driven, except for its tires.
So, are the tires bad? Nope, not at all, they are decent units. We did get ours wet, which certainly helped them die more quickly, but we feel like the 2.0 is pretty much going to kill ANY set of non-belted tires we put on it.
We found the E-Revo 2.0 to be a tank. In fact, it just might be the toughest truck we’ve ever tested. It simply didn’t want to break. No, we did not drive it WFO into a brick wall, but we give some serious effort into breaking the truck and we could not. Also, we don’t have a lot of time on the truck. We have a dozen packs through it and it still lives, a fact that we don’t think we could say about any of its competition if we put them through the exact same beating.
Misc Notes:
While we were testing, we added a module (#6511, under $50) to the radio so we could then monitor telemetry and do a firmware update via the Traxxas Link App. While the module does cost a few bucks, the link app is free and the telemetry is very cool.
TSM. We found the 2.0’s electronic stability management to work really well on loose surfaces. We are huge fans and used it off and on during the review.
Oh ya, the 2.0 also comes with that trick self righting feature and it works really well on flat surfaces. This is a very cool electronic accessory that we used wayyyyyy too much. LOL
Oh ya, there are Zero body clips on the new Revo. How does its body mounting system work? For us it worked perfectly. It is set up much like the X-Maxx with a small handle in the rear to lock down or remove the body. While some people don’t really notice body clips, the lack of them is a big dealio to us and a whole lot of casual consumers. We are very much looking forward to a world where we never see a body clip (or E-clip!) EVER again.
When you compress the suspension on a flat area you notice that the suspension doesn’t like to bottom out far enough for the chassis to hit the ground. That is typically a bad thing, but for the 2.0 looks can be deceiving. The shocks on the 2.0 use a rubber bottoming cone to soften up massive hits. On those super big hits the truck can bottom the chassis after compressing through the bottoming cones. So basically, the 2.0 is set-up for serious landings right out of the box and we can say first hand that its suspension did a great job on roof landings.
The driveshafts are absolutely enormous in the 2.0. For the first time in a very long time, MIP might have a truck where they don’t really need to put out upgrades. That is bad for MIP, but good for you, the driver.
With an all new re-design, Traxxas could have gone any way they wanted with it. When we first looked at the truck we had to question their use of a dual servo set-up, as they could have gone with a single, or a single 1/5, servo. However, after a few minutes of driving, we had to say that going with dual servo is the best option on a truck like the Revo. After we saw it tumbling down the street at 45 mph + with the front wheels getting slammed like crazy, we were glad there were two servos sucking up the abuse instead of just one.
How were motor temps? Very good actually. We did notice the motor getting warm on long runs, but on normal length runs (5-10 minutes) the motor was shooting around 130 on a 60 degree ambient day. If you plan on making long runs, keep on eye on temps, otherwise just enjoy all that power.
Best Mod: We’ve already placed the call, some Badlands are on the way. 🙂 Otherwise, the stock servos get the job done, nothing breaks, and it looks cool out of the box.
Summary:
A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific
Time To Bash: B The Traxxas has a pretty standard set-up time for a ready to run. It may take a bit longer because it uses two battery packs, but we found it easy to get up and running.
Workability: B While not a “standard” style layout, we thought it was easy to wrench on the 2.0. Hex hardware is standard and the truck has a nice open layout.
Car Show Rating: A Some cars are supposed to look scale, others are OK to get more extreme. The E-Revo 2.0 is like an F1 bash machine, with each part designed for maximum bashing performance. With that said, we loved the extreme basher styling of the truck. The body sports trendy colors that look good at a distance. Then, when you get up close to where you can examine the details on the body, it just blows you away. Also, its wheel/tire combo looked on-point for hardcore bashing.
Bash-A-Bility: A+ When asking our testing group “What is the toughest truck we’ve ever tested?” there are a couple that stand out. We have had 3 or 4 cars that we found impossible to break in the past, but both were also much slower brushed RTR cars that topped out well below 30 mph. The E-Revo 2.0 is one of the most powerful trucks on the market and it still would not break. Therefore, we have a new “King of the Durability Hill” with the E-Revo 2.0. Seriously, if you hate wrenching or just don’t have time to constantly fix a truck, the E-Revo 2.0 should be at the top of your list.
Fun Factor: A There are many different ways to bash, but the core group here at BigSquidRC are all about extreme bashing. You know what that is- always hitting ramps, looking for jumps that we doubt we can make but try anyways, going WFO through the gnarliest terrain we can find, etc. Quite simply, the E-Revo 2.0 is perfect for extreme bashing and that is what makes it so fun. It has insane power, it has insane durability, it has an electronic self righting feature, it has suspension that can soak up the landing from jumping off the Sear’s Tower. For what hardcore bashers do, it is the most fun we have experienced from a review vehicle, period.
Handling: B Yes, the new version does handle a lot like the previous unit. The chassis has a lot of chassis lean in the corners, it is really set-up for big jumps and crazy whoop sections.
Value: B At a $589 price point, we feel the 2.0 is a solid value. It is a fantastic truck that is loaded with heavy-duty upgrades from the X-Maxx. Yes, you get a lot for your dollar with this one.
Parts Availability: N/A The E-Revo 2.0 is comprised of mostly new parts that are now starting to ship to retailers. However, Traxxas is known for the best parts support, we expect it to be no different on the latest Revo.
BigSquid Rating: A What’s the scoop with the Traxxas E-Revo 2.0? Well, it is perhaps the most durable truck we’ve ever tested, as well as being arguably the most fun. The second version of the Revo is a large improvement over the previous, and just might be the best bash truck EVER made. If you bash hard, you owe it to yourself to take it to the next level with the E-Revo 2.0, it is that good.
