Evaluating the Traxxas Stampede TRA3605

Several months ago, I got an awesome deal on coupons to a hobby shop in my neck of the woods.  I bought something like $300 worth of gift certificates for about twenty cents on the dollar.  At the time, my daughter and I were building models (her idea, by the way), so I figured that it would be a good investment, but she kind of burned out on models.  Since I was still holding over $200 worth of gift certificates, I figured that I could turn her interest to RC airplanes.  This whole endeavor though was about spending time with her, based on what she wanted... and she was more interested in having an RC car, or rather, a truck.  She wanted a truck, like the Dodge Dakota that we actually own.  Based on what she wanted, and my price constraints, we purchased the Traxxas Stampede TRA3605.

The idea with this car was that we could have a reasonably fast, durable, low-maintenance toy... something that my daughter and I could play with for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, where I could charge the batteries, we could run the car through one or two batteries, and that would be that.  I didn't expect to beat on the car, but I expected it to be durable enough to jump a few curbs, run through some grass and tolerate splashing through the occasional shallow puddle.  The result has been a mixed bag.

For those of you who want the short version, let me say this.  The body is tough as nails.  The motor... not so much.  And with that said, let me start off with the negative.  The Traxxas Titan 12T motor absolutely fails to live up to my expectations.  I've had this car for just over a month, and I've already plowed through two motors.  When I bought the car, the hobby shop guy specifically told me to RTFM, so I did.  The manual said something about a break-in period, so I ran through one battery charge, going VERY easy on the motor.  I ran it only on concrete, rarely at top speed, and I was easy on the throttle.  I won't bore you with the details, but that motor burned out within a week... and no, we weren't playing with this every day.

I DID call Traxxas, and they sent out a replacement, no questions asked.  Furthermore, the tech told me, in great detail, that a break-in period was required.  I asked many questions about the break-in period, and when the new motor arrived I broke it in.  Specifically, I ran a full charge with no load, and then ran a second charge on concrete, using his specific recommendation.  I know a bit about electromechanics... if this didn't seat the brushes, then nothing would.

After this, I once again played with the car.  I ran the motor through several charges strictly on concrete.  But I once again made the mistake of running it in grass for about 50% of my latest run, and again the motor has failed.  I'm not going to blame this on Traxxas.  I'm going to blame this on my expectations.

Now, with that out of the way, the chassis of this car is virtually indestructible.  I did manage to break one part, but hey, I hit a pole at 30+ MPH.  It would have been totally unreasonable to expect the piece to hold up, when a REAL car crumbles at that speed.  But the thing is, only ONE piece broke.  I've taken the truck down stairs... even launched it off of my deck, which is about a 4 foot jump, and the chassis totally withstood the abuse.

I've done some research, and am now converting to the brushless motor and electronic speed control system.  From everything I've heard, it's a lot faster, and has far more torque.  But I've got to say, I was happy with the speed and torque of the 12T.  The only thing that disappointed me was that it wasn't durable enough.  Again though, I'm not specifically blaming Traxxas.  The Stampede was more than content to run on pavement, sand and through small puddles.  It just couldn't handle the grass.  But in my area, grass is a big thing.