[Music] hello world welcome back to the razer rc and we're doing it we're doing the full review of the traxxas x-maxx 8s i've actually had this check for a while about eight months or so and been running it bashing it breaking it fixing it tuning it all that good stuff wanted to share my thoughts and do the full review now this truck has been out for a long time i think somewhere around six or seven years by this point did have a a couple different versions they actually originally came out as a 6s vehicle is
now an 8s vehicle they realized the 6x was a little too slow need some more power i think they did some durability upgrades as well but this is the flagship in the traxxas lineup i think it's the most expensive vehicle they make retails for about a thousand bucks here in the united states price is very overseas i think it's even more expensive in europe or japan or something like that but here in the us thousand bucks still fairly pricey and the way this works is we're going to be reviewing it in five different categories as
usual i did make a few changes to the review system so we give it a rating from one to five stars and it's great on a curve so three stars i mean it's average among the sort of six scale electric monster trucks five stars would be best in class one star would be worse than class and so we're going to see how it compares to other vehicles in this class things like the armas like the crane 8s and outcast 8s i have a outcast 8s xb uh things like the sand reaper which i've driven so
not a whole lot of six scale monster trucks out there i think something like the low c db xle doesn't really quite compare a little bit different vehicles more of a buggy there are other large sized vehicles out there but this is kind of that you know medium to large size six scale electric monster truck class the five categories are the design of the vehicle uh the performance how does it drive how does it jump and land how fast is it how does it handle we're also going to be talking about the durability which is
super important a lot of people think this is the most durable rc car you can buy bar none we'll talk about that is that really true uh we'll also talk about support and maintenance which is kind of the livability of this thing is it easy to get parts how easy is it to work on uh how's the warranty and then finally the value of thousand dollars a lot of money and we'll see how that compares to other large-scale monster trucks first category is the design and as you can see it's kind of got that quick
release system like all the new uh traxxas vehicles have in my opinion the x-max kind of kicked off a new generation kind of a new era of traxxas i think they introduced a lot of changes that are now standard on the modern traxxas vehicles things like that quick release body kind of these quick lease battery trays they they went for kind of like extreme durability with this vehicle i think prior to this vehicle they had things like the slash the bandit the ruster not super durable vehicles they went all out in power it is 8s
capable of the most powerful vehicle that they sell i also kind of went with this new bathtub style chassis similar to what you might see on the max which came later double shear shock design it does have sort of symmetrical design as well same shocks front and rear same upper arm same lower arms same drive shaft so kind of a vehicle where it's hard to tell which side is the front which side is the back and then it actually features some steel drive train components it does have a little on driveshaft down the middle it
does have a center differential with i think it's mod one gearing does have metal driveshafts out to the corners which not a lot of traxxas vehicles have and they did actually go with a new size servo which is kind of a proprietary size is a large x-max servo really the max is the only other vehicle that shares that size but you know they kind of went in a new direction there uh and also have a center differential as well that's a little bit unusual they have i think uh sort of this fixed motor mount system
where i guess it's kind of easy to set the mesh without actually have to use a sliding motor mount so a lot of design changes that are kind of new they also added some new technology i think this was the first vehicle that had the uh was it self-righting feature maybe the first one that also had tsm which was traxxas stability management so some new technology they introduced in this vehicle so it was kind of a new generation that uh features a lot of stuff that you know pretty much every traxxas vehicle since uh features
now looking at is obviously high center gravity uh style design plastic tub chassis uh kind of bathtub shaped it is dual battery so you will need two 3s or two 4s packs i did swap out the connectors normally it comes with traxxas connectors of course i am running sort of ec5 or ic5 style connectors um things i like about it um it's easy to stock parts for this thing it does use 17 millimeter hexes which i think is fine they are aluminum axle studs so that's nice some vehicles use larger size wheels i guess technically
you could take these wheels and mount them onto like a 6s a scale vehicle because they do use the same size hexes things i don't like i don't like the proprietary servo i think that's a little bit weird i think the design uh of the vehicle is a little bit more for durability and ease of uh like sort of ownership because all the parts are sort of symmetrical you only have to really stock one set of arms one stick one step drive shaft one set of shock parts that kind of thing so uh not necessarily
best for performance but it certainly does make it a little bit easier to drive i do like the quick release body it does kind of fall off a fair amount and so yeah on major crashes the body can definitely flip off can get a bit annoying but it is kind of nice to be able to pop this thing on and off so i kind of like that as well uh the easy to set mesh thing yeah that's actually works pretty well i did change the gearing on this thing i think it's a little under geared
other box i did go up on the spur gear make it a little bit bigger uh geared up a little bit higher i think it can take that without overheating uh design wise i'm not sure it's really best class it's a little bit hard to work on you know pulling off the parts it's a little bit weird it does actually split into different modular sections although you have to get a parts from the top you have parts from the bottom you kind of have this fan wire that kind of sticking out i do recommend probably
using like an extension cable on that fan just to make it a little bit easier to pull off the rear end uh get to that center differential so front and rear differentials again kind of weird you do have to remove a lot of parts to get at that center the front and rear differentials not super hard but i am actually referring to the manual a lot more on this vehicle to see how things come apart then i would on other vehicles still a little bit difficult to work on in the design category i'm going to
give it a little bit below average score i'm going to give it two stars it has nothing to do with the durability or the performance or anything like that we do have different categories for that it's just looking at this vehicle working on it kind of the weird elements the weird servo size does have fans on the esc and the motor so that's pretty cool it does have the center differential which i like it does have the all metal drivetrain although the aluminum center shaft which i think can be a big problem i personally am
not a huge fan of high standard driving chassis i think you could drive a sort of low center gravity a monster trick that's fine so maybe not one of my best uh you know preferences but in the overall design category i'm going to get a little bit below average i'm going to give it two stars i think there are better vehicles out there like the armrest but certainly not terrible next category is the performance and we'll start off with the radio traxxas tqi radio which comes with pretty much every rc car they make over two
hundred dollars solid radio some things i like it does actually have the option for the traxxas link which makes it a lot more usable response wise it's fair you know it's not really terrible not really great it's okay probably the greatest feature about this thing is that it is multi-model memory so i do use a single radio for all my traxxas vehicles you know if you've got 10 traxxas vehicles you don't need 10 radios you can just buy them all in a single radio that makes it super nice server wise slow but adequately powerful has
not broken on me so even though i think it's pasta geared servo you know durability wise seems kind of questionable i haven't broken one of those and uh that seems totally fine for me the vxl8s esc again not super powerful but pretty typical for all these rtr vehicles certainly if you swap it out for like a max 5 or something like that you'll get a little more punch a little more power and the motor seems totally fine no issues there power wise i think you need to gear this up a little bit traxxas tends to
undergo all their vehicles you can pretty much you know gear them up you know a couple teeth or so no issues there get a little more speed a little more performance and then you can do your backflips i think you could even do double high flips with this thing uh so yeah a lot of performance there power is totally fine pretty typical for an rcr certainly you can always put in more power if you get some adapters and stuff like that not a ton of room for a bigger motor but there are little optional parts
you can get on the aftermarket to increase the motor size now the way it actually drives is rather interesting because looking at it looks pretty much the same as the max which i think is personally one of the worst handling vehicles of all time but the x-max does drive quite a bit different it's quite a bit heavier it rolls a ton but it's not really an issue with this thing actually steers quite well in the dirt the tires actually work pretty well in the dirt as well i think they're you know not really you need
to swap them out you can get a little more performance with better tires for sure but they are adequate for you know out of the box experience so pretty good power pretty good steering jumps jumps through the air kind of crazy doesn't flip particularly fast so you can do your back flips not a ton of rotation in the air though it is sort of longer the tires are not particularly huge as well they don't balloon a ton they're decent tires uh for all around performance but not so much for stunts but you know it does
jump and land reasonably well really the main concern i have is just you're kind of limited to how high you can send this thing you will start breaking parts acceleration braking is fine braking in particular is really really good out of the box you don't really have to mess with the braking settings i think it's pretty much dialed shock wise suspension wise yeah pretty good i think the springs you can use a little bit stiffer springs but not bad out of the box sort of all-purpose uh bashing but if you want to do the bigger
jumps you probably want to go with stiffer springs like i'm running but yeah performance wise i think this is actually one of its stronger points i want to give it four stars i think it's above average steers really well steers better than most of the other large-scale monster trucks out there it rolls a ton but that actually helps with the traction it allows the tires to kind of dig in as it's steering through the corners on dirt totally fine runs quite well on pavement totally fine as well it tends to slide more than it flips
over like the max does the original max tend to flip a lot on pavement this will tend to slide a little bit i think it's just kind of due to the uh sort of weight and heft of this vehicle so uh not bad in those sort of high traction surfaces so performance wise four stars i think you could always upgrade the thing you could always tune the shocks tune the disc put in more power if you like put in a faster server if you like but out of the box this is actually one of the
better vehicles you can buy now a lot of people consider the x-max to be the most durable rc car you can buy i have the fortune of actually owning pretty much every bastard out there uh there's a few i don't from the smaller brands but i'm very very familiar for what makes for a tough rc truck and i do like to send this thing 20 30 feet high just like every other vehicle now uh the x-maxx i think it's pretty durable they went pretty next level with this chassis chassis is very rigid or not rigid
but it's it's like extra reinforced has a bit of flex um doesn't really break all that easily now if you're launching it reach super style you can break the chassis but for most sane humans and 99 of the population i don't think you have an issue with the chassis uh the tires i did actually have one of these and glue or sort of blow out a bit i did have to re-glue one of the tires but the main concern i have with this vehicle is actually the center drive shaft so going down the middle there
is actually an aluminum center drive shaft under massive jumps that you know the chassis basically flexes kind of bends you know front and rear and kind of bends that center drive shaft you'll notice it when you land huge gems 25 feet higher so you'll bend that drive shaft you'll hear it making kind of a weird clicking noise as you're driving um eventually it'll kind of lock up the drivetrain and you'll have to swap it out for sure there are some aftermarket i guess fixes for it i'm not running anything i've just kind of decided to
leave it sort of more at the 15 foot high jumps in uh you know if you stick within that range i think it's fine but that is kind of the main sort of achilles heel of this vehicle if you want to send it if you want to do crazy jumps that's one area you may want to look into fixing i have broken other things i did blow out a bearing i did actually break one of the rear hubs as well so they do make rpm parts with larger bearings maybe something you want to consider the
bearings are kind of thin kind of small or you just swap out the bearings i don't think it's a huge deal but yeah that is another area that can certainly break on you if you're doing those giant jumps but durability wise you know i have lawn dart this thing launches super high did like nose crashes directly into the ground and crazy tumbles through the air landed like on the corners and this thing is really really durable except just that one little drive shaft problem i think otherwise than that it's really really durable i do think
this is the best in class large scale monster truck in the durability category i'm getting a full five stars i don't think you can buy a more durable large scale vehicle out there pretty much everything has got aluminum chassis you'll bend things break you know chassis braces break arms uh brake steering servos all kinds of stuff you can break but this thing is crazy durable they did go next level and it's still the king of durability within the one sixth scale monster truck glass traxxas parts are pretty much available anywhere any local hobby shop near
where you live is pretty much going to carry traxxas parts the xmaxx is a very popular vehicle from my experience uh yeah this is definitely the easiest brand to own their warranty has declined through the years now it's only 30 days and i think it's only electronics pretty much everything else is not carried by that warranty now if you break something they may work with you you know they consider it to be a manufacturing defect but if you launch this into a lamp post you know driving 50 miles per hour down the down the street
and you break an arm or blow up a tire where they're not going to cover you probably depends who you talk to but yeah for the most part yeah their warranty is very very limited at this point but uh you know they are available seven days a week and call them up you can email them you can talk to your local dealer whatever get a lot of good support that way they do have a pretty decent uh sort of upgrade or replacement uh policy for their electronics i think you can get them sort of at
like half price if you blow up an esd so you're not totally out 200 bucks if you blow up an esd you do get a little bit of discount that way so yeah for winning that regard i do think traxxas and the xmax has above average support and maintenance a little bit difficult to work on this is one of the more difficult vehicles i have to work on i just find it kind of weird and how everything is put together and all the different screws you gotta attack from the top and bottom to get at
certain spots but you know it's not terrible i'm gonna give it four stars in the support and maintenance category above average certainly the support size is one of traxxas's strengths and an advantage over its competitors the xmaxx sells for 999 99 or 95 something like that here in the united states i think it originally sold for 800 or less maybe even 750 i can't remember exactly but certainly 800 for a long time and it's been increasing price pretty much every year it's a thousand dollars now which is a crazy amount of money i realize this
is a large vehicle but thousand dollars for pretty much a plastic vehicle is a little bit excessive i think some electronics are nice certainly this radio is above average it does have more capabilities than your standard rtr vehicle servo is plastic esc has no programming options motor is pretty basic the whole vehicle is pretty much all plastics for the shocks and the drive shafts and stuff like that so i'm not really sure why they're charging you so much for an xmax especially now it's been out so long certainly all those design and manufacturing costs have
been recuperated by now so my rating on value is a little different than most it's really looking at what you get in the box and seeing what you're actually paying for so if you're getting a box of i don't know plastic and they're charging a lot of money it's going to rate lower in the value category now other vehicles are in this class to send reaper i think cells are 700 the armas are about 970 or so for the rtr so they're almost the same price just slightly cheaper than the xmax but they are getting
up there in price the xmax used to be kind of the value leader within the large scale class at 800 bucks is pretty good value i mean it certainly had the performance durability all that kind of stuff uh for what you got and what you're paying for and armors were always a little bit more expensive but now the xmaxx they've been jacking up the price and in my opinion is a little bit un you know overvalued or you know below average in the value category so in the valley category i'm gonna give it two stars
i do think it's a little bit below average certainly other large-scale vehicles are quite a bit cheaper or a little bit cheaper and you see what you're paying for with those vehicles you're getting all these little parts aluminum shock towers aluminum chassis aluminum braces all kinds of stuff that you're not getting with the xbox i'm not saying you know metal is better than plastic certainly for durability plastic is better in most cases but i'm talking about how much this thing costs versus how much you're paying and if they're not you know showing you that value
within the vehicle itself then they're pretty much just ripping you out they're just pretty much making money off you and that's tracks this prerogative but that's just my opinion on the price i do think the value is below average so my final thoughts on the x-max what do i think about this thing uh it's kind of a surprising vehicle because i actually got the max first i had the v1 i have got the v2 as well and the max uh was super durable probably still is the most durable rc car i own but kind of
underwhelmed in the performance carry it just didn't steer very well handling was quite poor the shocks were you know pretty poor uh for the vehicle just chassis slaps a lot but this thing actually is really dialed out of the box i'm glad they came out with this thing first i know the max is kind of just you know designed around the same elements but i think they kind of screwed up with the max whereas the xbox is pretty awesome steers well pretty good power jumps and lands excellent does backflips through the air crazy durable except
for that center drive shift shot problem but other than that you know excellent vehicle i think it's a lot of fun obviously i think it's a little bit pricey for what you get and i wish they hadn't maintained uh their you know sort of 800 or even 900 price point but it is a thousand dollars and everything in rc has been going up so i understand why they did that now is it the best rc car ever um it's not my favorite rc car and it kind of depends a lot on your categories or your
opinion on what you think is important for me i don't need a massive huge sixth scale or fifth scale vehicle to have on i can have plenty of fun with an a skill or you know tenska or whatever so that part of it you know certainly you can drive over more terrain but you also need a bigger area to dry this thing you don't want to dry this at your little local park and scare all the kids and you know ram into something at 50 miles an hour because you are gonna hurt yourself you're gonna
hurt them you're gonna hurt your pocketbook you're gonna do a lot of damage with this vehicle so you kind of need a large area not a ton of people around and and that sort of limits where you can drive this thing but it is durable it is fun it is kind of crazy there's nothing like launching this thing through the air doing flips and stuff um it's really impressive from that regard so yeah fun vehicle overall probably still the best vehicle within the sixth scale or fifth scale uh monster trek lineup i do have an
outcast 8s exp if you want to see a head-to-head comparison of that let me know i will make a video let me know what your thoughts are on the xmaxx do you like it do you think it's the best thing out there i think kevin talbot considers this the best rc car you can buy it's not for me but i understand why he likes it so anyways don't forget to hit the like share subscribe and notifications buttons look for more videos soon thanks for watching
