Customer Reviews

Traxxas RTR 1/10 Stampede with Water Proof XL-5 and 7 Cell Battery with Charger

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Truely awesome...within 2 minutes of getting it out of the box it was running...and studpily fast compared to similar priced Tamiyas I have had.

The more I have used and understood this car the more I am impressed with it (I read the manuals after using it 5 times). It has race, training and off-road modes. It has a clutch to reduce tie spin.

I bought 2 x 4300 mAH Nickel hydride batteries from Ebay for 56 USD including charger. These last about 30-40 minutes each!!!

What I love about this car:
-Cornering, acceleration and general handling were awesome.
-It's ready made yet can be rebuilt
-Quality of components compared to other similar priced models
-Availability of parts
-Design- It's simple, yet functional

Dislikes
- It has a steering wheel type radio unit- perhaps I am getting old. I prefer the lever radio units.
- Through my own stupidity I drive it too fast and keep hitting objects like sidewalks. The result is it rips apart the servo saver used in the steering. It takes 2 minutes to replace but in 40 runs I have now replaced this 3 USD piece 4 times. Durability could be improved here.

Bottom line- you'll love this car if you want an off-roader.

I just recently purchased the Traxxas Stampede XL-5 and believe this is an excellent vehicle to get if you are new to R/C. Unlike most R/C vehicles on the market, the newest version with blue ESC and servo is very water-resistant and can withstand a pretty good amount of water/mud. Just keep in mind that batteries are not waterproof, so don't submerge this thing in deep water, or you run the risk of shorting out your battery (which is very bad).

Overall, it's very fun and easy to set up right out of the box. The 'training mode', which runs at 50/50 power, is nice if you wish to let the kids drive the truck. Full power mode is easily capable of doing wheelies and reaching speeds of 25-30mph with the right batteries. I'm running a Duratrax 7.2V 4600 mAh battery, and it provides plenty of power and runtime for this truck. Please keep in mind this truck uses the special Traxxas hi-flow connectors, so be sure your battery has the same connectors, not the standard molex connectors.

I made a few mistakes when driving this truck in front of my house as I have already broken 4 parts by accidentally driving into a curb at a high rate of speed. The parts I've broken are: caster block, steering block, front shock tower, and shock cap. I've upgraded a few of those broken parts with aluminum pieces, but upgrading can become very expensive, so please be very careful when driving this thing on the street.

I bought this truck as an adult hobby for myself. I figured I could have some fun customizing and upgrading it. First, lets talk about the truck itself.

The electric engine means it is very easy to maintain. Just charge and go. I have run my truck through the ringer. Hills, rocks, roads, kid chasing it, wheelies, flipping it over and banging against trees. This thing is extremely durable. After every couple runs I go through the make sure all the screws are tight but I have had no major problems and I run this truck hard. Once, my kid ran it into some concrete steps at full speed. This caused my left front shock cap to come off (not easily done). This truck it easy to work on and after reattaching the shock (a couple screws) we were back running again with no problem.

The Stampede does not offer as many customizable (hop-up) parts as the T-Maxx but it still have a good solution. Also, must hobby stores stock all the replacement parts if needed. It was a lot of fun to spray paint and create a custom body.

This truck goes about 30 MPH+. I had my wife drive down the street with me chasing her. I easily caught up with her (while doing a sweet wheelie).

I highly recommend purchasing a wheelie bar. This thing will stand up on its end very easily but with a wheelie bar you will have much more control and wont damage the rear of your truck. I also high recommend a custom front bumper. The little plastic one that come with the truck is fine but will not protect the truck if you really run into a tree at full speed. Again, this thing is very durable but for over $150+ it is worth it to protect your investment.

I run with 7.2 Venom 3000 batteries and get about 20 minutes of runtime with each one. I always charge at 2 amps.

Length:: 0:58 Mins

I was a little apprehensive at first about getting an RC truck. I have had some in the past only to be let down. The truck/car either broke to easily, wore out to fast or was just to slow. I wanted something that was ready out of the box but something I can fix and repair when/if necessary. A truck that was low maintenance but provided the full package in speed, durability and fun was something I was looking for at a great price. After doing a lot of research my choice was narrowed down to the Traxxas Stampede. So I ordered one, and this particular one came with a small charger and a battery (7-cell 8.4v NiMh) to start me off!! The price was a steal too, (From Horizon Hobby. others had it for $20+ more) at only $164.99 PLUS free shipping!! I had to get it! I ordered it Monday evening and it was at my door by Thursday. I quickly opened it, read the manual and started charging the battery.

Ok, I probably should have let the battery get fully charged, there is only a red/green light on the charger and it charged for over 2 hours and was still red, but I was eager to give it a test. After following the instructions about the first ride, I put it on the ground and let the Stampede loose! Oooooo boy, what fun. The dog couldn't even keep up. I was flyin' down the street doing 180s (rolled it twice and had to pick it up, rolled it twice more but it landed on its tires), hitting a small little grass jump and the truck flew 4-5 feet before landing...and kept going!! I was in a little dirt/sand with no problems. The dog was going crazy and kept trying to catch it but when I steered it towards the dog it ran. Anyhow, I had a blast. The stock Traxxas battery 8.4v 7-cell NiMh, NOT FULLY CHARGED, lasted about 10 minutes. Well, seemed like 10 minutes but I was having so much fun I can't tell exactly how long. Can't wait till it is fully charged...I also ordered another battery so I can have twice the drive time. Needless to say I haven't seen to many cons with this truck just yet. I'll list the pros/cons below in a list.

Pros -
Hella fun.
Great big truck, big tires with good looks.
Good grip on the pavement and runs over grass like nuttin'.
Awesome power and speed.
Nice jumping form, was nice and balanced so as to land back on all four tires utilizing the shocks.
This model came with a battery, charger, extra parts, and decals.
Quiet, especially compared to a nitro (gas) powered. Lose some speed compared to a nitro but fast is fast.

Cons -
No wheelie bar to start. Have to buy it extra. Scratched up the back some...
Watch the speed...turns at high speeds will roll ya. Just have to get used to it. (not really a con)
I guess that's it really. Other than needing some new battery technology to run longer!! Thanks Traxxas!!

I bought my Stampede from Horizon Hobby for $164.99 with free shipping! I think the price has changed since then but shipping is only like $1.99 now. Horizon Hobby shipped it from Illinois and it was fast. I would recommend them when looking for the Stampede model I purchased or any other Traxxas or RC models.


Hope you found this review useful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to post 'em. Thanks!


UPDATE! 11/03/09
After running the truck numerous times, lost count, I went to run it and it didn't work. After some troubleshooting I figured the motor went out so I called Traxxas support. After doing some more troubleshooting with the tech he informed me the motor must have went out. So he said he would send me a new one with a new gear pinion. After talking to a local hobby store owner there is a problem with the gearing and it makes the motor run to hot but Traxxas is quick at replacing the motor when it happens. I have received my new motor, took about a week to get, and am getting ready to install it. Can't wait to get this beast running again!!! Also, I have uploaded a video from the birth of the truck! Let me remind you I was a virgin RC driver at the time...

I am not the music mom, i am her son and i am [...] for your info. I got this truck from my local hobby shop after researching and looking for a couple of weeks. Best [...] dollars ever spent. it is so much fun. It's REALLY FAST. it JUMPS REALLY WELL and is awesome. It has TONS OF TORQUE and is great. It handles great but if you turn a full speed it will flip. It being waterproof makes it so much better!!! People will push the traxxas slash because it's slightly more durable and handles better. If you want to offroad,go fast, jump, bash, and don't care about racing, GET THIS ONE!!! i am 100% glad i got it instead of the slash. it is so much fun.

pros:
FAST!!!
TONS OF TORQUE!!!
HANDLES GREAT!!!
SUPER TOUGH!!!
JUST PLAIN AWESOME!!!

cons:
if you turn at full speed it flips. no biggie. just letting u know.
Other then that one that doesn't really even matter, there are absolutely no others

well you think this truck is fast with the stock motor in it i dropped a 200 dollar brushless motor combo bt castle kreations in it, along with a metal idle gear and it jumped from 30+ mph to about 40+mph

I had bought the kit version of this truck a while ago and I must say, it is a good, solid, and simple truck. I used this truck for racing, just for fun nothing serious, and it did well. Now I use it on my backyard dirt track and jump it off ramps. To give you an idea of how far it will jump, if you take an X factor kicker skateboard ramp and run it at full throttle, it will jump a distance of 3 to 4 feet.

This is my first RC truck. Perfect, exactly what I needed to get into the hobby. Get an extra battery, a wheelie bar, and an rpm wide front bumper from the start. Traxxas has great support. I can't think of a better first RC experience.

Good quality, fast,spare parts can be bought and fun! Buy another battery and original fast charger to double the fun.

We bought this for our son's 9 th birthday. He absolutely loves it. We did buy an EZ Peak quick charger to go with it. It charges in an hour which makes it more fun.