Redcat Racing Blackout XTE PRO 1/10 Scale Brushless Electric Monster Truck with Waterproof Electronics, Silver SUV

This is a comprehensive review of the Blackout XTE PRO...... As a newbie to R/C cars, I did my research. Talked to experts at 2 well-known hobby shops in my area, read/watched numerous reviews and videos on the 1/10 scale trucks, and spent about 2 hours comparing Traxxas, Losi and Axial at the local shop. Based on reviews and videos, I knew that 4x4 and brushless were a must, as I only wanted to buy once and not spend about $140 to upgrade from brushed to brushless and go from NiMh to LiPo batteries. Both store experts highly recommended the Traxxas Slash 4x4 brushless ($449) over anything else. Neither store carried Redcat, but it looked good on the internet! For looks, I was more impressed with the Losi Ten SC truck and Buggy ($499), as well as the Axial Yeti rock racer ($429). Losi and Yeti are built to scale and are very realistic looking, compared to the Traxxas, which had a very "cheap-looking" plastic body. Axial's Yeti was my favorite for looks and design, but it only had a top speed of about 17mph. I kept doing research, and with Amazon's return policy, decided that I would try the Redcat Blackout XTE PRO...........My Redcat came today and upon opening it, was overall, very impressed. Not only did it have a brushless motor, 4x4 drivetrain and LiPo battery, it was only $200. Some reviews have complained that it lacked instructions, which is FALSE. A detailed instruction book was included in the box, and is also viewable on the Redcat website. As Redcat and others have recommended, I went through the truck and tightened all screws, as well as the wheels. None were found to be very loose, but I didn't want to lose any screws on the first or subsequent runs.I love the look of the XTE body. It doesn't appear cheap, but it is flimsy. I can see why they easily get destroyed when bashing. However, like a prior Amazon reviewer recommended, I lined the inside of the body with Duct tape, which while remaining flexible, insulated the plastic and should provide a level of reinforcement to prevent it from excessive damage. It seems solid now and up to par with what the Traxxas Slash offers. Of the three, the Losi truck body is clearly the best.Impressive things that I didn't find in any reviews, but did find in the XTE PRO are: steel driveshaft, steel axles, thick aluminum shock towers (front and rear), as well as big bore shocks. All parts appear to be a high-quality composite plastic, which should suffice for this truck. There are aluminum upgrade kits available, which will add approx. $200 for the front and rear components - nothing that I plan on doing soon.After charging the battery, I was able to easily bind (connect) the radio (controller) to the XTE PRO. Once everything was ready, I went to a nearby sports park and drove the XTE primarily on the dirt trails and uncut, tall grass (about 4-5" high) adjacent to the park. The truck reacted well and screamed through the trails and grass. I didn't try to go any further than about 200 feet out, which was perfect! After spinning a few donuts in this area and taking some small jumps, I took it to the paved parking lot. Again, very impressed with the handling and speed. The supplied 3200 mAh battery gave me about 27 minutes of fun on 1 charge. I've never driven the other brands that I researched, but I would bet that Redcat is neck and neck with them. I have absolutely NO REGRETS with this purchase.The 7.4v LiPo batteries fit perfect in the battery tray. There doesn't appear to be any room for a longer battery, unless you modify the battery tray, which is molded into the main frame. I will stick with the 2s LiPo batteries for now, and will be ordering 5000s or 5800s to increase the run time and have spares on hand so I can play for an hour at a time.The wheel/tire combo is solid. I did see one video where the reviewer squeezed the wheel, causing it to flex like the tire. These wheels are solid and do not bend or flex like that one review showed. This setup worked great on pavement and off-road in the dirt and tall grass. I will probably buy a set of larger tires/wheels that are specific for off-roading, but for now, the stock rig is great.After today's drive, I wouldn't recommend this truck for anyone under 13-15 years old. Unlike Traxxas, there is no "practice mode" or speed limiter on the controller. The XTE PRO goes extremely fast, and without the right maturity and discipline, as well as hand/eye coordination, its speed could easily get out of control and ruin the fun of driving an R/C car for the younger enthusiasts. Spend $50-$100 and buy something smaller for the true beginner.If anyone from Traxxas, Losi and/or Axial is reading this - I do like your vehicles a lot and wanted to buy one of each. With the included upgrades and 50% cost though, I had to go with Redcat - especially as my first truck. However, if the Redcat fails for some reason (which I hope it doesn't) I will be buying one of yours.

Read this through, I really wanted to like this truck and I do, she just has some teething pains; it started out good.I'm trying to address both novices and experienced hobbiers, not an easy task.This is my 12th RedCat. I have everything from a pair of Tremors to a Rampage MT/Pro. I thought I'd write an honest review to try to look at the negatives I'm reading here. I don't work for RedCat and have no affiliation with them. We don't even have a dealer in our area.So, Let's Go!I bought the suburban style and it is really good looking, wow.First, the one who said it's made out of cheap plastic is wrong, all the major components are all made out of composite plastic and are quite strong. Build out of the box is perfect. Setup consisted of actually nothing except the toe in on one back wheel, (should be 2%) like my experience with all my RedCats, everything is good/ perfect.A negative is the loose battery. I'd suggest taking a strip of packing foam to put under the hold down bracket to tighten it up.Another negative and a big one: You won't be able to go with a normal 11.1 LIPO with this truck, there is no room for the extra thick battery. The battery tucks under the center support. You'd have to cut fully half if it off for it to fit, so forget it; it's not worth chancing the structural integrity over it. And, the battery tray is molded right in, nothing longer then a 7.4 will fit either. I have a work around at the bottom. She comes with a 7.4 LIPO 20c so I know it'll be fast. But it won't compete with my 11.1 Volcano this way, EVER. That being said, it's very fast. While she has plenty of rubber band snapping power, she's geared up for speed as well. That's the HobbyWing electronics with seriously matched gearing.I do like the new servo saver setup, it's a version of existing tech and consists of a band spring wrapped around the servo horn itself, so the steering linkage itself is made solid. A bit of play with the Ackerman bushings but that's it. I'll let you know if there are any problems. I don't understand those who say the steering is hard to adjust as it has standard adjustable tie rods.Speaking of the tie rods and the upper support rods for the suspension; they are stiff composite with steel adjusters on pins or balls. They're all tight and unlike aluminum adjustable's, they don't have any slop in them. Nice. I've gone back to plastic for the tie's and upper support arms in my cars for this reason; I have three fully custom Lightnings.Like all RedCats, she bound to my FlySky GT3B with no problem. The stock RedCat radio is a fine piece as well. It came pre-bound to it as they all do. (I don't know why they don't tell you that)I really like the simple construction, all the lower arms are the same as are all the hubs. Very simple, and simple is good!Tweak: I don't like forward or back play in the lower arms, the fronts on this have play. I installed two Redcat 02171 adjustment clips, one on each side and that took care of it. No problemoUpdate: Just came back from the track: Now I understand the steering issue, the spring clip on the servo doesn't return all the way in either direction, I took a pliers and squeezed it together to tighten it up, no more issue. Then it came back and back. I think I might have a solution: Check the two shoulder screws that hold the cover down over the steering pins. On the older RedCat setups, the screw is tight and the stud with the nut might have to be loose or the linkage will bind. The Blackout should have two studs with nuts and instead it has tightened screws. (tightened by RedCat) I loosened these and the steering relaxed. Take these screws out and put a dab of locktite on them and put them back in. Don't bear down on them, leave them somewhat loose. This may solve the problem with the servo saver, it has mine. At least for now. Redcat, you need to put nyloc nuts on studs here.One thing I like about the Blackout is it's long wheelbase, it handles jumps better then the Volcano, but it's narrower; on grass in turns it's noticeable, so it's a wash. And yes, as long as you don't wreck it, it takes a pretty good beating for sure. Make sure after a tumble, the body is still between the bumpers, if you keep it there, you won't break off the hold downs. This truck cannot be run without the body or the hold downs. If the body is off, the hold downs will get broken, if that happens the shock towers will dig in and break the differential covers in half. One protects the other protects the other protects the other. Make SURE the body is between the bumpers, the front bumper has so much cushion, it'll pop behind the front grill, it cannot be left like that! I can't stress this enough. If you watch for this you won't have any problems if you stay sane.It's fast, but not insane fast as others have stated; it's fast enough that you can't run it flat out on a street with curbs. I'd guess she'll run between 30 to 35 on pavement which is almost insane for a truck. That's true speed folks, not scale speed! Slow for a LIPO rig, but it is only a 20c battery and speaking of the LIPO, the new battery really lasts much longer then I would have expected a 3200 to go, I usually run 5000's and it did a great job.This truck is a bit different then any other RedCat.It uses very strong composite plastic throughout the chassis. No course thread screws are used any longer, the composite is drilled and tapped. The screws will really tighten without the danger of stripping. But, no lock tight on plastic, so what does this mean? The Jury's still out, but she doesn't rattle apart.No more large holes or cutouts on the chassis tongues, much stronger chassis pan for crashes then the Volcano EPX Pro as a result. And unlike the Volcano, it has cushion built into the bumper brackets. Nice.The steering hubs are the same as the back hubs and have very heavy plastic steering flanges, up from two flanges to four flanges per hub. Very strong and it better be because they don't offer aluminum. I do wish they did, really. Hey RedCat, there's only 50 parts on the truck to begin with. Aluminum would be nice for at least the hubs, steering and lower arms. No steering bushings either. I don't know it this is a plus or a negative, but it does make them very easy to put on and it is a truck after all.Too much play in the Ackerman arms! C'mon folks. I don't know a fix for this inherent bushing problem, if anybody else does, please let me know!Plastic spur gear on a LIPO? I don't know, the motor mount is very heavy composite with metal plates, not solid aluminum, it should do well and it wouldn't be the first, no more fine teeth on the gears. Which means the teeth are much wider, and deeper; I would think this might work; keep it greased. If not, go to the stock Volcano gearing with the standard 64 tooth metal spur and pray the motor mount won't flex too much for the tiny teeth. Interesting to note is RedCat doesn't even offer a steel spur, so obviously they don't expect trouble.HobbyWing electronics. This can't be beat, really good stuff. I use HobbyWing on all my custom builds. Very powerful engines. But, you can't use a HobbyWing program card on the ESC. Hey Redcat, what gives about this anyway; all your stuff is like this! I mean really, MAKE YOUR OWN! And while you're at it, MAKE YOUR OWN LIPO CHARGER, we're really sick of all the adapters!15 gram all metal steering servo. This is what you usually buy when your stock one breaks. Nice, about time.No more e-clips on the hinge pins. One screw sets them in sockets. Looks really good! Nice, very nice.Larger double same size bearings on the hubs: This keeps the outer hub bearing from spinning faster then the inside and adds support to the end of the wheel shaft without going aluminum. There's that word again...No sticky pads on the electronics! One pin pops the top on the radio tray and off it comes, or opens like a door, all the components, including the on/ off switch, easily pop out. Really nice clean job. I'm impressed.As you can see, RedCat designed this baby from the ground up. Is that a good thing?The Good: Very easy to take apart with a lot less chance of stripping any screws when putting it back together and a very simple design makes it very easy. Common parts so your stock is minimal.The not so good: UPDATE: Now I have some time with it at the track and for the novice, you'd take another star off.All the lower shock screws stripped out. Folks, I have a private grass track and have a couple very mild jumps in it. The plastic arms with the really short machine thread screws isn't going to cut it. Normally, I'd just get aluminum arms, but they don't have aluminum! So, I had to take long Ground Pounder screws, run them all the way through and put nyloc nuts on them in between the segment struts. Problem solved, but a problem that shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. Before you run this truck at all, I'd recommend putting longer screws in that go all the way through the swing arm segment, you'll see the hole goes all the way through. This extra support might keep you from having to use nuts down the road. It'll certainly give you more time. Also, the back bumper did the exact same thing with it's three lower really short screws and the front was on it's way. They too, have plenty of room for longer stock screws! I'd try that first, the nuts are a real pain. ALL THIS ON CUT GRASS!The narrowness issue also became too much on the grass, so I had to toss the rims and tires it came with and put Volcano wheels on it, that widened the stance and fixed the issue. Too narrow for a Monster Truck. See a theme here? Fixing? It's really just teething, this truck just came out, but the short screws? REALLY?Now my truck is solid and proper and does run after run without any trouble, but the jury's still out on the plastic spur gear, it sure makes a lot of noise. That could be just the plastic motor mount amplifying the sound. And what about the plastic shocks? Without a metal replacement, when those go, I'll go aftermarket and get metal shocks for it as well. It's a shame because they work really well on this truck. We'll see how long they last, I'm not asking for the world here and maybe Redcat will come out with a rebuild kit for them. HINT!The only problem I had with my Volcano EXP Pro was the servo saver and it's got 8 all metal shocks. I think if you're a novice and this is your first, the Volcano really is the better way to go unless you follow my directions to a tee. If you do, you'll love the Blackout, but it's not really a novice truck, it's extremely fast, be very careful with it; this thing can kill somebody!For the hobbier? BUY IT NOW! LOL This thing handles like a dream, the wheel articulation is incredible. Redcat has a perfect mix of low center of gravity, shocks, springs, and angle of attack. She sits right in the middle of her springs and handles laid back, just like a buggy. Running wide open on my grass, which isn't smooth by any means, (a 1/4 acre track) she runs flat as a board, no bouncing, no darting, nothing, almost boring; it's that smooth! She'll cut a corner like a razor blade and still stay flat as a board with the wider stance, very impressive. Remember our scale here, a 2 inch bump would be a 20 inch bump for a real truck.And, she's really beautiful on top of it, nothing wrong with that! But, the novice would say "You shouldn't have these kind of problems in grass, right out of the box and they would be right.Too bad about the 11.1 issue. (see the bottom for the fix) Make sure you use 30, or 35c 7.4 LIPO'S, they have a much better current dump then the 20's and you'll really notice it on acceleration.Also, tighten up on the rear hubs, she's got tie rods and they like to pop off; the rear hubs are steering hubs so they're loose. After alignment checks, bear down on the hub screws a bit to help tighten it up, remember, it has no bushings so it will stiffen. It hasn't popped a rod since I've done this. Remember, your rear wheels are your power, this must flex the ties a lot with loose hubs. This will help that problem.Speaking of the 11.1 issue: I'm a speed freak and no way was I going to settle for this. I also have a couple boats and those batteries and aircraft batteries are smaller; you just have to protect them.So I picked up a tiny 11.1 3000mah 30c boat battery and tried her out. I fully expected the spur gear to strip immediately, maybe bend a dogbone or break an axle due to the huge increase in horsepower. Well, she ran like an MX missile on steroids alright, and didn't break a thing! Wow!! The battery gave me a good half hour and I ran it until the ESC cut it off. You can't nail it off the line on grass because she'll do about 10 back flips, can you say really huge wheelie bar?So, she just graduated to a 11.1 Venom 5000 35c boat battery. I sent some pictures so you can see the setup.You can use the stock cooling fan, I've never had a stock Redcat fan burn out because of 11.1 and I have three vehicles running this setup. If you use an extension wire (VIMVIP 15cm Male to Female Futaba Servo Extension Lead Wire) you can plug the fan directly into the receiver in any event. I have proper fans in stock, but I've never needed them. Watch the heat, she got hot, but it was 95 in the sun when I tested it.Now this thing is scary fast and will dust my Volcano! And better yet, she's bullet proof! By the way, the steering servo is fine; loosing the post screws really did the job. And what about that plastic spur gear? It looks like new, think Red Sticky Grease, it'll stay wet.It's a really great truck now, maybe even the best I've got minus the Ground Pounders and the Rampage. LOLUpdate 8/27/15 I spent the day at the track yesterday and this Blackout continually amazes me as to is resiliency. It's like it's made out of rubber or something! I've recently been playing with a Radio Link transmitter. This unit has a gyroscope built into the receiver and is quite amazing in itself. It makes the trucks/ cars track dead straight and you get in over your head quite easily, LOL. Anyway, I installed this into the Blackout and ran an hour 11.1 through it and I can't count how many times I tumbled it. Once it did about 20 cartwheels, jumped about 5 feet into the air flipping and came crashing to the ground and did about 3 more tumbles then landed on it's feet. All this from just slamming on the brakes because I got in over my head. (she was going MX Missile speed) No lie; and I just drove it away! I couldn't believe this. The first thing that came to my mind was "keep it between the bumpers" and I drove it over, sure enough, the bumper was under the body. So I just popped it back out. That was it, no damage at all and I really don't understand this. This thing took a serious pounding yesterday and all I had to do was shake the grass out when I was done.She just got her 5th star!I've never had a truck that could come even close to this type of abuse and live to do it all over again, and again, and again, and again. She was well worth the teething folks. This truck is the nutcase 11.1 Creme De Creme of 1 10th scale RC. Take good care of it and You can't go wrong!End of Season Update: So, how did she do? I did shred a body, but believe me, that's not the trucks fault. LOL And except for finally upgrading the servo saver to metal for 20 bucks, which is a known issue; a perfect ending to the season. I've never been able to say that about anything RC EVER! Nothing broke at all, the shocks are still working fine and I can't believe they're still hanging in there, no leaks. The plastic spur looks like new, it's amazing what a little grease will do. And, this running like a scared banshee on 11.1 volt, 35c Venom power. I believe this is the smartest 200.00 you can spend in RC. What I also find amazing is the lack of wear and tear. There's no more play in the wheels then when she was new. No rocking in the swing arms, as if they too, are brand new. It's obviously a well thought out design. If you take care of this truck, it'll take care of you. It's become my fall to truck. When everything is broken, I break this out and not worry about it. This truck will not embarrass you and you can really show off with it. If you go 11.1, it'll be the fastest thing out there no matter what it is, even most cars. Really... She earns her 5 stars folks.Nice Job Redcat!Just get the bugs out, the small screws? I mean really????Picture 1: The tiny battery is the white thing surrounded by padding and foam. It's so small it was lost in the battery tray.Picture 2: Ain't she pretty with her Volcano Chrome sneakers? (My custom Volcano S30 Nitro in the background)Picture 3: The three batteries, the top is the 11.1 Redcat brick that everyone is familiar with, the middle is the battery she's on now, and the bottom is the tiny I used for testing.Picture 4: You can see the different thicknesses of the batteries.

This RC is insanely powerful and wicked fast. You will need a big track to drive this bad boy. I did have an issue with mine, the spur gear was not tightened correctly so it failed within minutes. This does not make the product bad but it does say something about the assembly quality. Amazon of course acted like a 5 star business and provided a refund so I can purchase spare parts for the repairs. So with that said, I highly suggest ordering a spare spur gear. You can find all the part numbers on the redcat racing site and then download the manual. This gear is made of plastic as a point of controlled failure. There are metal options out there but I think this will stress other more expensive parts of the car. The remote seems pretty good for the price. The range is good too. The battery is also pretty good, about 30 minute run time. Long story short, with such high performance, plan on replacing parts because you will crash this bad boy. Over all it seems to be built pretty well with good quality parts. Highly suggest this RC truck for all types terrain.Update Make sure to check all screws. You can watch youtube videos on how to check the spur gear. Also, make sure to adjust the steering on the remote. Reducing sensitivity to turning helps tremendously with crashing a rolling over. For the people who are saying bad things about this RC, I cannot find it to be so now that I own one. I also heard that redcat is good with customer support.

Super fast, it is a must to buy bigger tires for this truck, it will handle way better and not flip as much. And I would recommend getting a 2s lipo battery they sell two for only like 25$