Traxxas Rustler vs Duratrax Evader ST

[ZooMad75]

We've been having fun with my son's Traxxas Bandit so I was looking at getting a new truck for myself. A couple of reasons...While my Vintage Super Blackfoot is just as quick, breaking parts is a pain. I can't go down to my LHS and get what I need. Ebay is pretty much the only way and that took almost 2 weeks for my used shock tower to arrive. A new truck would be just as quick if not quicker. Up to date design and I can get parts and Hop-up parts for it. So which to choose?

I've decided on RTR versus a kit as you can't beat the bang for your buck. I don't have a problem building (I acutally love building them) but time is money and I'd like to slap a nimh in it and go. Plus I've narrowed my choice down to 2wd stadium trucks to keep costs down and stick with a simplified chassis.

SO, I've narrowed my choices to a Traxxas Rustler XL5 or a Duratrax Evader EXT EP ST. Both are similar chassis setups with slipper clutch trannies. Street price on Tower Hobbies is $172 for the Rusty and $119 for the Evader. Funny thing is, the Rusty comes with plastic shocks and solid camber links where as the Evader comes with threaded aluminum shocks and adjustable turnbuckles for the camber links. In this case I like the extra adjustability the Evader has. To get those on a Rusty, your going to pay extra for hop-up parts. Motor and ESC's differ from both, but from what I've researched so far, comparable speed-wise.

The other kicker is the 1yr no-questions asked warranty on plastic parts against breakage on the Evader. Traxxas doesn't have that, but they do support it well if something goes wrong in the first year.

So my cheap mind is thinking the Evader is the clear choice for price and features. Still, I don't know too much about it. Looking for hop-ups on the Evader seems to be limited to Duratrax only. Whereas the Rusty has a huge aftermarket backing and a pretty stout in house hop-up selection too. You can get everything from Graphite chassis/suspension parts to complete aluminum chassis/suspension.

If I did go with the Rusty, parts could be shared between it and my son's Bandit if need be.

My budget-wise wallet says go for the Evader. While my gearhead mind sees more possibilites with the rusty to upgrade later. Which one do I listen too? Any have any experience with either truck?

[Pioneer]

I like my old Rustler and really like the fact that they have so much aftermarket support and hop-up's. I ordered the wrong CVD's the other day and was think it would be fun to build it instead of letting those CVD's go to waste. Ive also found parts to be allot cheaper vs other brands. I think Bigdave has one to:confused: The one thing I know that you'll want to replace is all the suspension mounting pins, they bend so freakin easy.....

[newracer]

Does your LHS have Duratrax parts? If you get the Duratrax you might be almost in the same boat as you are with the Blackfoot. Yes they warranty the parts but you have to ship them the part and wait for them to ship a new one back.

I had a Ruslter a long time ago, gave it to my BIL. It was fun to drive and very durable.

[ZooMad75]

I don't think my LHS has the duratrax stuff. I saw that Colpar sells them, but that's a drive from Pueblo. I'm in Denver on a regular basis, but I would hate to wait if I needed a common part.

We've got two Hobby shops to go to down here and both I know for a fact carry Traxxas. One is 5 minutes away the other is 15 (one case where Pueblo being small isn't a bad thing).

I'm looking at it this way now...I will or my son will break something, it's nice to be able to hop in the car and get what we need. We are both throttle jockeys and crashes will happen. Plus what I found online so far about the evader is that it's more of a racer and less a basher. Meaning, stress-tech warranty or not, stuff breaks more on the Evader.

I'm thinking the Rusty is leading my choices right now. Local support with parts, upgrades out the wazoo and it's pretty dang tough for bashing. If we had a local track to race at I'd probably go for the Evader, but goofing off in the dirt, the Rusty seems to be the logical choice.

[newracer]

If I was you I'd definitely go with the Rustler due to parts availability. Plus the Bandit and the Rustler have some common parts.

[ZooMad75]

I'm going for the rusty. I can't stand getting whooped by my son in a race. I need to get a couple of paychecks behind me to catch up from x-mas and then I'll go over to the LHS and get one. His price is below tower's without shipping anyway. Plus I like supporting the local shops.

[ZooMad75]

Well I got the Rusty yesterday. Pretty crazy putting the rusty and the SuperBlackfoot next to each other. The Rusty is Almost 2" wider in track and 1" longer in wheelbase. The suspension geometry is much better, even with my improved blackfoot running long RC10 shocks on all 4 corners.

We got too busy today to goof off and go bash, but we'll get it dirty tomorrow. Pics to follow if I can find my camera cord...