Kraton The new EXB Wendy is finally here

[SrC]

@KevinC, Smart move. Keep that better judgement in check.
It's an awesome rig. I just don't want to become a slave to all the potential QC issues.....Again.
The Lim. debacle for me made me put down RC for several months. I didn't even want to come to AF.
Took me 6+ months to sort out that sorry excuse for an "out of the box" Limitless. Great rig and all . One of my favorites now for sure. But it was hell, replacing $200. in parts under warranty. Poor assy, ruined wheels hubs, chassis bent , Rr. diff locked, stripped out parts etc.. Everything B/O etc. Never again.
Sorry for the rant.
I know many are excited about the EXB 1/5. I rain on no ones parade here.
We should clean up the EXB threads and consolidate I agree.

 

[Lynny]

Am I the only one not really that excited about this? I'd prefer something a bit more radical, something completely out of the blue kind of like the Felony.

Um not either the 8s kraton don’t do it for me 1/8 scale is where it’s at

 

[KevinC]

Um not either the 8s kraton don’t do it for me 1/8 scale is where it’s at

I don’t own an 1/8 scale but I do want to buy one.....soon.
1/5 scale is where it’s at for me though, luv the heaviness of it, scale speed, easy to wrench.,,etc.

cheers,
kev

 

[JvG]

I get it, I’m the same way, didn’t mean to offend anyone! Just say’n they have price points most people won’t go over for one reason or another.. So to appeal to a broader audience it needs to stay under a certain threshold.

Oh you are certainly not offending me.
Also get your point but i think that goes for the smaller and lower end rc's.

If you're going to by an 1/5 scale rc you know it's costly up front, but in the long run can be cheaper. My X-Maxx needs less maintenance than my K6s and parts are cheaper.
I'd say buyers just want the best EXB they can get, wether it's 750 or 850.

 

[Harriot10]

I’m with you. Although there will be some good replacements for my current K8 like the shocks and turnbuckles.

I might of bought it 3 months ago, but it wasn't available. I'm already dropping a bunch of cash into my K8. HW combo and a bunch of m2c upgrades. I like the black body! Next 1/5 will be O8S!

Best Arrma video EVER...!!!

Did they upgrade the rear C-clip retainers for the K8 EXB? I need some of those!

 

[RC-Dude]

1/5 cheaper on the long run ... not sure about that. My X-Maxx takes an insane beating. I nearly bought the 8s Kraton with that in mind. But the amount of costly tunig the first 8s Kraton needed to actually take half the beating the X-Maxx is able to take... The X-Maxx is a total exception. The 1/5 Losi DBXl-E is just to nice to bash and don't land wrong. No way anyone could compare that one to the X-Maxx or Kraton 8s.

The 8s Kraton's expectations are set bei the highly bashable 6s Kraton. The Kraton 8s just not as bashable as the 6s Kraton or X-Maxx. If one is fine that its a really cool car.

If you mess up with the X-Maxx it's about 9,5 Kilo x Speed hitting something and a plastic chassis flexing back into position. If the 8s Kraton hits something it's 13 Kilo x speed hitting something and a aluminium chassis trying to survive. The 6s Kraton: just 5,5 Kilo x speed. And that is one of the 6s Kraton's strengths. Simplified: If weight x speed set the "bashablity" expectations, the Kraton 6s is about twice as bashable as the 8s.

 

[Megafandrew]

Good tip. totally agree, i just don't own an 8s Arrma rig yet, i do have the X-Maxx 8s.
I'm trying to to find out if i'll have more fun with the DBXL-E 2.0 or K8S EXB

And for me fun is:

1. Awesomeness: both have that imho
2. Durability: mmmmm.....
3. Parts and upgrades availabilty: mmmmmmmmm.....

I think the dbxle 2.0 beats the K8S in durability. I haven’t ran one but I’ve seen them both in person and the Losi is impressively built. More true to a 1/5 scale build quality then the Arrma imo. But Im also investigating both options lol. I will have one this spring

 

[SrC]

Um not either the 8s kraton don’t do it for me 1/8 scale is where it’s at

I feel 1/8 scale is the sweet spot. Everyone should have one, before jumping to 1/5. Overall, Industry wise, there is much more support and selection for 1/8. There was a time when 1/10 was the focus/sweet spot for Surface RC.
Back in the 1990's through 2000.
1/5 does have its place however. And easily at double the price for the Kit and the parts vs 1/8.
There are much better brands of 1/5 out there. Arrma is new in this arena. FWIW.

 

[JvG]

I feel 1/8 scale is the sweet spot. Everyone should have one, before jumping to 1/5. Overall, Industry wise, there is much more support and selection for 1/8. There was a time when 1/10 was the focus/sweet spot for Surface RC.
Back in the 1990's through 2000.
1/5 does have its place however. And easily at double the price for the Kit and the parts vs 1/8.
There are much better brands of 1/5 out there. Arrma is new in this arena. FWIW.

Until i noticed this:

K6S:

X-Maxx:

DBXL-E:

And the 1/5 diffs run almost half the rpm's at the same speed as an 1/8, they last longer. That's my experience off course.

 

[RC-Dude]

Wrecked too many X-Maxx and Kraton 6s V4 rear diffs (v5 seems a lot stronger). One X-Maxx Center diff. And many X-Maxx pinions and spur gears. Mostly by jumping. Just would not bash DBXLE or Kraton 8s that hard. Not sure yet which one of them it will be. Both DBXLE and X-Maxx don't have the pinion secured with a snap ring like the new Arrma 6s series. Keep coming loose and damage spur / pionion that way. So the Kraton 8s is interesting, depending on the brushless.

And yes, awesomeness of 1/5 is a factor.

 

[Niz55]

Wrecked too many X-Maxx and Kraton 6s V4 rear diffs (v5 seems a lot stronger). One X-Maxx Center diff. And many X-Maxx pinions and spur gears. Mostly by jumping. Just would not bash DBXLE or Kraton 8s that hard. Not sure yet which one of them it will be. Both DBXLE and X-Maxx don't have the pinion secured with a snap ring like the new Arrma 6s series. Keep coming loose and damage spur / pionion that way. So the Kraton 8s is interesting, depending on the brushless.

And yes, awesomeness of 1/5 is a factor.

I never had problem with pinion coming loose. You have to install it correctly. Most people don't.

 

[RC-Dude]

Flatten the shaft for grub screw, tighten grub screw full power, strong loctite.....
An adusted pinion to match the flattened shaft like the new 6s Arrmas have and a snap ring would be helpful.

 

[SrC]

Until i noticed this:

K6S:

View attachment 130470

X-Maxx:

View attachment 130471

DBXL-E:

View attachment 130472

And the 1/5 diffs run almost half the rpm's at the same speed as an 1/8, they last longer. That's my experience off course.

X-max is much lighter to be fair. All Plastic. Can the X-Max be called a true 1/5 scale RC in this regard? IDK. Compare it to other brand, Real 1/5 RC's. Arrma aside.
Yes, the parts are less $$.

 

[SrC]

Wrecked too many X-Maxx and Kraton 6s V4 rear diffs (v5 seems a lot stronger). One X-Maxx Center diff. And many X-Maxx pinions and spur gears. Mostly by jumping. Just would not bash DBXLE or Kraton 8s that hard. Not sure yet which one of them it will be. Both DBXLE and X-Maxx don't have the pinion secured with a snap ring like the new Arrma 6s series. Keep coming loose and damage spur / pionion that way. So the Kraton 8s is interesting, depending on the brushless.

And yes, awesomeness of 1/5 is a factor.

Snap ring seems to be a problem also, Keeps popping off. Bricking the bearings and input gear.

 

[Armarookie43]

Wrecked too many X-Maxx and Kraton 6s V4 rear diffs (v5 seems a lot stronger). One X-Maxx Center diff. And many X-Maxx pinions and spur gears. Mostly by jumping. Just would not bash DBXLE or Kraton 8s that hard. Not sure yet which one of them it will be. Both DBXLE and X-Maxx don't have the pinion secured with a snap ring like the new Arrma 6s series. Keep coming loose and damage spur / pionion that way. So the Kraton 8s is interesting, depending on the brushless.

And yes, awesomeness of 1/5 is a factor.

I put red loctite on my X-Maxx pinion, tighten the crap out of it wait at least 1 day, and my pinion doesn't come loose. Even with 20ft+ jumps into concrete. I'm doing extreme stuff, so I crack bulkheads and diff covers, which usually damages the diff ring gear. That's after many jumps though.

 

[RC-Dude]

Thanks, good to know. Did the same was not sure if it's going to hold. Had been using the weaker loctite. Have not had a chance to bash X-Maxx properly due to strict lockdown rules.

 

[JvG]

X-max is much lighter to be fair. All Plastic. Can the X-Max be called a true 1/5 scale RC in this regard? IDK. Compare it to other brand, Real 1/5 RC's. Arrma aside.
Yes, the parts are less $$.

Yes to me the subject is big and expensive, that's what we are talking about. A k6s is much lighter but the ring gears are double the price. That's all i wanted to point out. Don't want to go the is the X-Maxx 1/5? route again, we already have pages full of that
Anyway enough of this, back to the K8S EXB.

 

[RC-Dude]

Don't mind breaking a wishbone etc. now and then. Thats part of the hobby. I also don't need to go to the moon like Kevin Talbot, Rich Duperbash etc. Love what they do. I just want to know if this car ist bashable in the middle range. 2 - 4 meter high jumps properly landed. 10 - 15 meter long jumps properly landed. Can it take a moderate tumble? That's all. The X-Maxx does it. So does the Kraton 6s. Those are benchmarks. That's a fair comparison. If these expectations are fair I don't know, but that's what I would like to have. I don't need to crash on concrete etc. and test survivabilty. I have guys that test that for me, Rich and Kevin etc.

Do I need to spend another 1000+on M2C etc. to get it (halfway) there? Or is it there already? Have been waiting long for the new release. Over a year. Waiting long to exchange my money for a fun toy this size. Those are fair questions. I think everybody has those questions.

 

[dk3000]

Time will tell, but her she is