From personal experience with our pre-production XO-1 test cars:

The tires are specially made for the XO-1 -- they are not off-the-shelf 8th scale tires. They are belted (so they don't balloon at high RPM,) and they are very sticky.

You have to be gentle with the throttle -- it has so much torque it will break all four tires loose and then "skate" all over the place. But it's pretty stable at high speed.

I don't know for sure, but I believe Traxxas will make the radio/ESC available for separate purchase. Really a question for Traxxas.

Anything else you can tell us about the handling? I've pretty well talked myself out of buying one but if the downforce makes a noticeable improvement in handling over a 1/8th scale Buggy a roller with a MMM combo would be cool. Not just high speed stability but I'm really interested in how it corners, everything I've got is stupid fast in a straight line but handles like it's drunk :rules:

Well, to be honest I'm not really a good enough driver to comment much... :whistle:

It definitely corners better at speed (like an F1 car) but at high speed the turns are WIDE.

Haha I hear that, I pretty much point and shoot. My trucks are all muscle cars, untouchable down the straights but I can't drive worth a hoot. I guess I'm not terrible, but certainly nothing to brag about!

That's cool, my 3.3 4-Tec took wide turns as well but for a completely different reason :lol: Not to keep bitching over and over again but man that limiter is killing me, if it weren't for that I'd ditch my Hyper 7 TQ (which I run as an onroader) and everything else I don't use much and order one when my tax return comes in :diablo:

I completely missed the pic, was reading the text. Guess that shows my inteligence level, I would rather read than look at pretty pics.

I do not doubt that it can be made to wheely, it does have a solid center drive, and maybe some traction compound and hot asphalt would be a good grippy combo.

But Patrick just said that it can break the tires loose, so...

It has been my experience that longer wheelbase rcs do not wheely are much, especially if the weight distibution is well centered and the cg is low.

I will not buy one of these till the initial batch is sold and proven by more eager people than myself.

I am working on getting an old i phone for cheap right now, just to have a cool touch screen setup.

Also thinking that an ambitious modder could use the traxxas radio for its guns, and make a really cool tx out of it.

I like the form and feel of the cheapo fly sky gt3b. So use the trigger and wheel off the traxxas radio, make the docking bay (or permanently attach) the i device on the top and put a good sized 3s lipo on the bottom to balance it out. Given the various i device docks I have seen I am sure a good off the shelf solution could be found. Just thinking out loud, but I may have to investigat this further.

There is a young guy on RC Crawler who does mods to the GT3B and he seems pretty good. He sells hack kits to open it up for more channels and better mixing. His screen name is losikid. He would be a good resource for modding the tx like you want linc. He has modded quite a few other radios as well and sells lighting kits for several.

I have seen his products, I was going to buy his programming products for my gt3b.

I know several local guys who have bought things from him and had good success so he seems like a stand up character.

I can't find any pictures or info on Castle link live. Is it really just like on PC but can be adjusted on iPod?

There are videos of the Traxxas link App in action, showing things like voltage and rpms being relayed from the esc, and also showing transmitter adjustments, but I haven't seen any video or images of the esc-adjustment side of things.... :neutral:

To have telemetry AND adjust the ESC, you need TWO iDevices...

/sarcasm

Fortunately they all only cost $100...if you don't mind it being broken, that is :lol:

I am thinking that the esc programming is in the traxxas app, seems that patrick said in this thread it was designed for traxxas Only apps, so thinking Castle is using the traxxas app to test viability of a similar setup for programming. I'm not sure if it's been answered, wether the MMM extreme can be programmed by the castle link

no no no

whats up next is esc's that require a sim card :lol:
that way you can pay at&t $100 a month:yes:

Castle Link Live is a data protocol that communicates with a receiver, for settings/data and throttle while the ESC is operational.

We designed and wrote the protocol about two years ago. Traxxas is the first company to exploit it.

Totally unrelated to CC or the Traxxas car, but it requires an iphone as well. I thought this was pretty cool, I just came across this on craigslist tonight. http://spokane.craigslist.org/tag/2725392472.html

It's funny how no-one has complained about the AR drone needing a iOS device to operate. I guess they get a little leeway, for not being Traxxas. :tongue:

That craigslist ad was funny. I am going to cal lhim and see if he can ship me a free cat. Cause I do not won a cat, and would like to have a cat before I get an ar drone.

Meh, the drone thing has been out for a while & was designed solely to work with the iPhone; the drone is an iPhone accessory essentially so you can't really complain about it not having a standard remote.

The XO-1 however is a 'standard' r/c car which requires an iDevice to unlock extra features- that's what has peeved so many guys really.

I think the main issue isn't so much price of the iPhone/plod/touchmyself since they can be bought cheaply used as pointed out already, it's more to do with having to buy a 'new' phone or mp3 player just to access the features... of an r/c car.

I'd rather have seen castle and/or traxxas release their own touch-screen device that plugged into the transmitter or esc ( with an add-on of some sort- wireless castlelink adaptor if you will ) to open up the extra features, atleast that way people aren't so put-out by having to buy into an Apple product they won't otherwise use...

I think it would have been nice if they just did away with the whole unlock feature and just had a controller with a screen and telemetry all in one unit. They could have charged a little more, but in the end they would have something that was RTR and would have been completely unique.

But then they would have a 100mph vehicle, without getting people to sign a waiver=lawsuit waiting to happen.

To be blunt, the lawsuit/liability thing is just bull****. This whole hobby is a lawsuit waiting to happen; you have lipos that can burn your house down if you don't treat them right, gears that can chomp a finger if you are stupid enough to go near them while it's running, voltages that can harm you (for HV people), currents that can generate enough heat to burn, and so on. And really, a ~10lb vehicle will hurt just as much doing 70mph into your ankle as 100mph. Idiots will get hurt and hurt others no matter what you do.

why does everyone cry so much about the unlock? that's like we crying that i want a new ford diesel but i only like the old shitty dodge transmission that's in my current truck because i don't like change. don't like it its cool don't buy it.

crying about it isn't going to change it


sorry rant over

Um, maybe it's more like this: You pay full price for your new ford diesel and it can only go 50mph unless you unlock it with an iphone. Would you be happy?

:whistle:

Actually when you do spend some money on a programmer, you can unlock a whole lot of power from your Diesel.

How do you know nobody complained about the iPhone leash, then didn't buy one because they couldn't use it? If you could control it over WiFi or BlueTooth using a computer it would be more easily accessible. Heck, if you could use telepathy ANYONE could use it. But then we'd have to put an iPhone-only unlock ability on it so that some crazy person doesn't get their hands on it and ram it into people :whip:

+1. And as for idiots hurting themselves, I've done it! Hit myself with my Baja before (not at full speed, but fast enough to know I don't want to do it again). Also had my plane try to take off in my lap while I was working with it, my fault for not waiting until I was ready to fly before plugging the battery in. Tore right through my shorts and tore up my leg (you may have seen the pics on my Facebook) and I still have the scars ~2 years later. !@#$ happens, it's the nature of the hobby.

That is very true, but from the factory the engine is tuned for longevity. Modified diesels take a LOT more work to maintain. I wouldn't be happy if I bought a new truck and the torque converter or clutch only lasted 10k miles and if they were built to handle the full capabilities of the engine it would cost twice as much...

Same as RC. Got to pay to go fast. In Traxxas case, better batteries, gears, spare parts and the I-device.

Not quite. Supposedly it's built to handle the power already. This is more accurately described by your new Mustang coming limited to 50 MPH when even the Fiesta can do better.

EDIT: Mustangs do come factory-limited though. Mine is around 150, and while I do have to spend a bunch of money (less than an iPod touch, but still) to remove the limiter at least it's high enough I rarely ever see it.

My Expedition is limited too. Will cost about 500 bucks to "unlock" it's potential. Allready spend money on a better brake pads, wheels and tires. My poor Camry is limited too. I did spend money on a Centerforce clutch for it, for mo' Torque. I can chirp the tires into second gear with that four banger and 17" wheels.

The Traxxas has the potential to go way faster with a different motor and batteries. Just waiting for the modders to get their hands on one. I'm hoping Monster Mike does come up with some improvements for it, before I blow the money on one.

I don't recall either of those being touted as being the fastest in the world though :rules:

It does have potential, but IMO the power system going into it is a beast as it is. Despite the $1100 price tag I would still be in limbo as to whether or not to buy one IF it weren't for the limiter. It's just not right. Oh well, surely someone will see the potential and start selling unlocked XO-1s on eBay :whistle:

I see that happening too.:yes:

For sure!

To everyone that has complained about the price....have you looked at the price of brushless botors lately? The motor and esc price is about 40% of the price tag

no but i bought a dodge and without an edge it only makes a pathetic 230hp:lol:

the point is if you don't like it don't buy it:whip:

The Castle Motors have gone to nearly $300 ea on their site which Patrick has explained as the price of one of the key raw materials going through the roof. Personally, it just means if I see Castle Neu motors for $100 ea on the Forums with light use I snap em up :)

If you can afford $1099 for an XO1, you can afford to buy an Ipod Touch to unlock it. Do we complain that a MMM Esc won't work with a Hobbywing Esc card?

If anybody would complain about that, it would be you. So I think we're good to go.:na:

Nah mate I got my Castle Link card..

But seriously if you can afford a $1099 rc car, you can afford an Ipod Touch to use the software, not to get into this Iphone vs Android thing, but I have an Iphone and an Android Tablet, and for the 'non computer nerd' amongst us, the Apple is a lot more user friendly so I can see why that platform was used.

The reason they used the itouch iphone is that the plug on the bottom is the same on both products. No other smart products have matching plugs.