E-Revo Race Report

Hello,

My LHS finally got their E-Revo's about a week and a half ago so I picked up my pre-order. I got a "black" one. Anyway when I got it I quickly installed my radio gear and made some very ugly mods (drilling and dremmeling) to allow the use of my TrakPower batteries. I've got them as far forward as possible and that means some holes just in front of the rear air vent. I also popped on the 17mm hubs from Traxxas. They are quite nice...I slapped on my old Bow Ties and began soldering up some adapters to use the TP batteries with the Traxxas connectors on the EVX. While I've been a brushless/LiPo guy for the past several years, my big upgrades for the E-Revo are on hold pending backorders for the MMM and another Tekno Edition Neu. I plugged everything in and drove it up and down my driveway about 4 times just to make sure it worked.

When I got to the track I was very excited to try the truck for what really would be the first time. I've been racing a two tracks, one monster huge track (Wolcott) and one tiny track (Pin Shop) today I was at Pin Shop which played in perfectly to the E-Revo's strengths and hid quite well it's weaknesses. The track has fairly small jumps. Mostly close spaced doubles. All but one of the jumps were easily reachable on the stock E-Revo. One, the longest spaced double was impossible to make with stock power. Even when I took a super wide (slow) line, I would lawn-dart into the 2nd jump. After three attempts, I realized that I'd have to single it (a new concept for me since my usual ride, an E-CRT can clear the nastiest quads out there.)

In the first qual round I was surprised. We had two heats of MT (about 13 racers.) There was one other E-Revo, being driven by the track owner and a slew of Nitro's. The handling of the E-Revo was much better than I expected. Most notably is the cornering. I could cut to the inside of everyone on the track. It was very easy. The slow speed of the EVX/Titans meant that I could actually control it too! I was just able to put the truck wherever I wanted. It was really cool. The truck's big weakness (in stock trim) is that it is kind of slow but it is still Electric quick to get up to top speed. Even the basher trucks could pull me on the straight but everywhere else I was much quicker. I'd tuck to the inside and nail the short doubles. I don't think I was marshaled once and I pulled out the win in both Qual rounds and the A Main.

The stock suspension is a little soft and forgiving. I have ordered stiffer springs (the platinum settings), the variable rate dampeners (ala platinum) and some 50K shock oil. I also ordered the sway bar kit to help with body roll. At the slow speeds of the stock EVX/Titans, the roll is manageable but when I strap in the TE 1515, I'll want more control. Everything held up and I can see that the E-Revo is definitely a race worthy machine, with some tweaks and upgrades I think it will be a top contender at just about any track.