First, let me say that I've never been a big fan of 1/10 scale vehicles. I have many reasons for this, but the most relevant is the terrain, or rather the lack of terrain options that smaller vehicles have. They don't have the ground clearance to ride most off-road options (grass is the biggest issue). If you look at smaller R/C vehicles, starting with the Team Losi Mini-T that started the trend, historically these have been exclusively dirt, gravel, and pavement (or carpet if you're indoors) cars . And since the vast majority of our customers tend to run in the backyard, this can be a problem.
I'm saying this because you need to understand why I'm so excited about the latest addition to the 1/16th scale Traxxas line. Despite being nicknamed 1/16, he doesn't act like it. It is 1/10 scale through and through and has tackled some of the toughest terrain I ever thought possible.
Let's start from scratch and look at the design and construction of the truck before attempting to take it apart.
First, accessories included. You get a 6-cell 1200mAh battery, an AC overnight charger, various tools, body clips and a manual. The electronics package includes the Traxxas Link 2.4GHz radio system, Velineon 380 brushless drive system, and a standard 1/16 mini servo. You will need four (4) AA batteries for the transmitter and a better quality charger. Seriously, spend the $40 and get a decent charger. Traxxas released one specifically for their 1/16 scale trucks and cars. If you need one beforehand, I recommend the Dynamite Prophet Sport 2 (DYN4077) and a Traxxas charging adapter (TRA3061).
The chassis may be something you've seen before. It is the only chassis Traxxas has ever made for 1:16 scale vehicles. At first it annoyed me that they haven't renewed the design since they released the first 1/16 scale Revo and Slash over a year ago. But the chassis is solid and doesn't need an overhaul. But still, it's more of the same, and it won't be long before I start talking about it. Same shock absorbers (but harder springs), same dimensions, same translation.
Notable is the fact that the Truck uses long-travel rocker arms for the suspension, not the Progressive-2 rocker arms that the Slash and Revo models use. But progressive 2 rockers are also available as an option. And the wishbones are the same as the 1/16 Revo, except for the trailing arms, which are the extended wheelbase arms that are an optional part for the Revo.
The smaller version of the Summit has wheels and tires inspired by its big brother, although the "beadlocks" are molded into the wheels, meaning you can't swap them out for a different color. You can replace these with any 1/10th Stadium Truck wheel and tire and still look great. So you have a lot of wheel and tire options and you are not limited to the smaller stuff. But I personally like the rims and tires the way they are. The tires have ridiculous grip, especially on tarmac - turn the truck as needed, even with the stock battery. The side bite is there too, but almost too much. The truck tends to roll under force when turning, similar to a stampede. But I can't complain about the great grip. Perfect for the tires.
Speaking of the largest dome, it's probably time to mention the question I get asked the most. the mini versiondoes not come with remote diff-locks or a two-speed transmission🇧🇷 This is the only important thing that makes version 1/16 very different from version 1/10. It looks like the new Summit is really aimed at a monster truck, not the track market. While the 1/16 Summit VXL has pretty good suspension, if you want a rock crawler you might want to look elsewhere.
But I think you really want to know how he drives. Well, I can tell you one thing: if you get your hands on one, you probably won't be disappointed.
It drives a lot more like a bigger truck than I would have imagined. It reminds me of a cross between Stampede and Slash. It has a lot of body rotation, like a Slash, but easily tips over and spins like crazy, similar to a Stampede. In fact, it turns so much that a pole with wheels will be a must on this truck. The E-Revo 1/16 wheel bar will work fine, but I can't say I like it. It is bolted to the rear bumper bracket, which is very elastic. And that means the wheelie bar also gave way to the point of being almost unusable. At a later date I plan to try other manufacturers' roll bars and see if they work better. Specifically, I'm thinking of New Era's 1/16 Revo Wheel Bar or the similar unicycle version from Trinity.
With an average run time of thirteen and a half minutes on a 50/50 mix of pavement and grass, it lasts a considerable amount of time, on par with most popular 1/10 scale cars. If you run exclusively on pavement I would estimate an average run time of almost twenty minutes and on grass an average of eight minutes. If that doesn't sound enough, Traxxas offers a parallel battery harness that allows you to double your run time by adding a second (stock) battery. Or, if you're after speed, you can purchase the serial wiring harness, which doubles the voltage to the motor up to 14.4V (12 NiMH cells). Traxxas claims it accelerates to 50+ mph with this setup, and I believe them.
For technical reasons, I could not use two batteries in series (or parallel) for the test. But I used a 2000 mAh LiPo in the truck. I'm not sure if I set the bar too high or what, but I was disappointed. I didn't notice any real performance improvement and execution times were only marginally better. And since I didn't have a chance to test different packs, I'm not sure if it was just the vehicle's characteristics or just a bad battery. Anyway, I think the standard battery is more than adequate. But maybe get a second one and this serial adapter. I think it's going to be fantastic.
In my time with Summit 1/16 I had a lot of fun. I couldn't crack it (which is nice), but the exo cage really took a hit, partly because of the design (I have to be tough on them otherwise it's not an honest review) and partly because of the incredible torque of the one. truck. Has. The only downside to the truck is that I lost a lot of body clips, enough to burn everything they give you in the box and then some. Fortunately, Team Associated's 18T body clips work perfectly and are better than the Traxxas. So I recommend buying a set of these when stocks run out. And a set of Dubro Body Clip retainers - these things are amazing.
On the right is the First Hands On Video we filmed the day we installed the truck. I hope to have more videos of this truck in the future but that's all I have for now, at least we have. It's stock made - we didn't change anything on the truck when we shot this video. So the suspension is too soft for bigger jumps.
All in all, this is a vehicle that I would recommend to anyone looking for some R/C action. Whether you're just starting out in the hobby or you're a veteran of the sport looking for something a little more fun, the Summit brings something to the table that few other trucks can match: a small, travel-friendly stature that doesn't skimp on performance or performance foregoes convenience. Durability. . Expect this car to be a regular stock item on our shelves for a while; it takes something even more special to dethrone the new king of mini monsters.
 | Brian Schneider / Brian is the manager, webmaster, and social media guru at Roger's Hobby Center. He has been in the hobby industry for over a decade teaching people the basics of the R/C world. He has written a number of helpful guides includingA guide to LiPo batteries. |