While some RC users are into bashing, and racing around the track, others want a machine that can crawl over rocks and offer solid speed on rougher terrains all at the same time. The Traxxas Telluride 4×4 does just that, and you can read more about this RC car right here in our Traxxas Telluride Review!
A little about the company behind this beast
Traxxas is more than a reputable name in the RC world. They’ve been successful at this for over two decades, and that’s no coincidence. Back in 1986, the company was founded by Jim Jenkins and David Katz. The idea was to enter the RC community (like so many others) but they didn’t just stop there. Jenkins and Katz focused on creating RTR (ready to run) vehicles to the community revolutionizing the way people perceive radio controlled vehicles.
They make a little bit of everything. From quadcopters to trucks and cars. If it’s radio controlled, Traxxas probably has it in stock. In fact, if radio controlled humans ever become a ‘thing,’ Traxxas will probably have them for sale somewhere in Texas.
Jokes aside, the company has been delivering since 1986, and not only do they supply us with RCs to blaze the track, and leave the competition in the dust, they also dominate rougher terrains with RCs equally efficient.
That’s what we’re going to talk about today. The Telluride 4×4 to be exact. An extreme terrain RC that has all the killer features you need to master the deadliest paths.
Let’s get into the specs and features of the Traxxas Telluride 4×4!
Traxxas Telluride Review
In this review, we’ll talk about the Traxxas Telluride. We will show you what it’s good for, what it’s not good for, and how you can bring it up to your standards if you are a rock crawling god. Keep on reading if you’re interested, but first, take a look at what this RC can do.
Specs and Features
The shaft driven 4WD system has been proven to be effective. The Telluride 4×4 is a testament to that fact. The electronics and battery compartment are integrated into the chassis, topping the unit off with great presentation.
Waterproof Electronics
The Telluride is shipped with a 2.4GHZ radio system, and waterproof electronics for just about any condition. No really, you could probably drive this thing through a hurricane. The Telluride is down to drive through mud, snow or water. Just don’t get too hyped about it and actually try to drive this thing through a storm. You know, for obvious reasons.
Equipped with trail-tuned differentials, the Telluride 4×4 offers sure-footed climbing and is recorded to hit speeds as high as 30mph. You receive this model with an XL-5 waterproof ESC (electronic speed controller) and Traxxas high-current connector.
A Trail Driving Rock Crawler?
What Traxxas have here is a vehicle designed for light duty trail driving, while offering users a decent amount of speed. So durability and speed are the departments they seemed to have set out to conquer. I’ll tell you right now — if you’re looking for a trail driving RC that’s going to leave your competition in the dust, this isn’t the car for you.
In other words, you can run this RC on gravelly surfaces, and even some tougher areas (depending on your setup) but the Telluride isn’t the fastest RC out there.
The telluride’s tires are kind of hard, and lacking the grip to go over certain surfaces. But they’re far from being throwaways, I mean they have a lot of tread area so they’ll last you a really long time. Customers will buy this thing and have a blast with it as is. One polarizing element may be the Titan 12 motor, which is great for 2WD vehicles. Some folks love this motor, and others may feel differently. It’s going to come down to an RC user’s specific experience with the thing.
My honest advice is this: the Titan 12 turn motor works really well for 2WD RCs, so that’s all great. The problem comes in because the Telluride is a Four-wheel drive vehicle. This means its hammering more power to the ground, and the Titan 12 turn motor is in some cases insufficient. The speed is good enough, though. You want this thing to tackle various terrains not necessarily blaze over them.
Be warned that over certain surfaces the motor is likely to run kind of warm. The slower you go, the warmer that motor gets. This brings me to my next point – is the Telluride fit for crawling? The answer depends on you. As a stock car, it is not fit for crawling huge rocks, but it can certainly be modified to become the “RC Crawler” beast you always dreamed of.
If you push this bad boy to slow things down and try to overcome some rocks or any other formidable obstacles, I will bet you a Krabby Patty that motor is going to throw in the towel.
Go for the Tires
What I’d recommend from the jump is for you to get the best tires available for this unit. It might save you a bit of frustration, depending on what you’re planning to do with this vehicle. If you’ve got the ideal location to run this thing on from the get go and you know it’s going to be perfect and have no intention of taking it anywhere else, then you’ll be fine with these tires. If you intend to drive this thing all across the globe, across all sorts of surfaces — I’d suggest you get some better tires.
The suspension setup is great out the box. About as great as any suspension setup gets with RTR (ready to run) vehicles. I have to give the manufacturer’s (Traxxas) credit. It’s no easy task creating the perfect setup for a vehicle meant to run on every God-given surface known to man — but they did pretty well.
If you want to be stubborn about the whole crawling thing, here’ some good news — there is a way to make this bad boy adjust. Some of you may be considering just throwing a crawler motor in there. Cause that’s going to fix all your problems right? The Telluride will just start crawling over rocks with no issues right?
Actually, no. Not even close. Won’t happen.
In fact, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Big time.
Users have tried it, and it sucked. The specific scenario I’m referring to involved a Chimera A (which is very similar to the Telluride with slash 4×4 chassis). The user threw in a 55 turn crawler motor, with the lowest gear one could get on the chassis. Guess how that turned out?
Motor went bye-bye.
Typically the gearing on Traxxas four wheel drive 1/10 vehicles is nowhere being fit for slow speed action. So this hardly comes as a surprise.
How to make it work
If you want to make the Telluride ideal for trail driving, PLUS rock crawling — your best bet would be a censored brushless motor setup. Doesn’t have to cost you enough money to feed a small and impoverished village in West Africa either. If you don’t want to go with the censored brushless motor setup, there is an exception. You can try out the censor less setup if you don’t intend to drive or crawl the unit into infinity. Setting this bad boy up as a more rounded vehicle will cost you a bit more. But if you want this specific vehicle, and you want it to do that specific thing and do it well — you might want to look into it.
I’m confident that if you upgrade the tires, stiffen the differentials, and change out the motor, you’ll have this unit rock crawling, and trail driving with impressive speed.
Possibilities are Endless
One great thing about the Telluride 4×4 is the aftermarket support. If you’re happy with the vehicle as is (which you probably will be) you can always start out small and work your way up. Make as many upgrades as you like until this thing drives like your dream RC!
Let’s have a look at some of these features in point form:
Telluride Features:
- Model comes with 2.4GHZ radio system
- Waterproof electronics fit for all weather/conditions/seasons
- Receiver box is watertight
- XL-5 ESC (electric speed controller)
- Tough fiber-composite build
These features (among others) make the Telluride one tough machine, for almost any terrain you can imagine. Now let’s talk about some of the downsides to this RC.
On the downside
We mentioned the tires earlier. While they’re not the best, like I said, you can upgrade them to suit your needs. If you choose not to upgrade them, it’s not like all the fun is going to be ruined. You can have a great time with the stock tires too. Especially if you’re not doing THAT much driving on various surfaces.
The next problem is the differentials are open; this is part of why if you’re trying to go the extra mile with your RC you may need to upgrade. Stiffening your differentials should help out with going over certain tougher terrains.
Conclusion
Whether you settle with this unit as shipped or choose to upgrade and take things to the next level, it’s guaranteed you’ll love it. The Telluride 4×4 is designed to handle tough terrains while offering solid speed and control. To have this quality at such a great asking price, there really isn’t much to complain about.
