Traxxas Mini Slash: Meh or Yuhhhh!
Introduction
I enjoy heading out to the RC track at night to do some laps with my son. I think of this like playing the Wii, Switch, PlayStation, or Xbox with your kids, but getting outside to do it. I see it as race simulation, but with an RC car. The main diffrence is eventually I will design the livery on the body, and I will perform the upgrades unlike a video game that does it for you. I can design the body, and learn how to paint as well. I put that in the plus column.
I also like the fact that you have to prepare before heading out the door. There are batteries to load up before you go. You have to make sure they are charged. Sometimes a vehicle needs some fixing, which leads to learning new things.
One challenge that I am feeling in the hobby is: where do you store all this stuff? I am really digging the short-course trucks right now. I know, welcome to the early 2000’s, dude! Yeah, I know I change speed and direction like a snail proving a turtle is a sprinter. It is slow, that slow!
I may have found a solution to enjoy short-course trucks and have the space to store them. Welcome to the 1/18 scale short-course trucks with the Slash Mini and the 1/16 scale Mojave Grom. I picked up a Slash Mini on sale. We have run the truck about 10-15 times pior to this post. So, let’s get into this truck.
(I might call this truck Rocky Balboa. Sure, it is still standing, still in the fight, but all I hear is, “Cut me! Cut me Mick!”
The Good
This is like the full-scale Slash that has been made since Franklin tried to harness electricity. Maybe the original Slash is not that old, but it is close. The first one came out around 2008. It took the market from the stadium trucks and the monster trucks by being a scale desert racer. It turns out that people really like the two-wheel-drive desert-racer truck. So, kudos to Traxxas for bringing us the original Slash.
This Mini Slash is the 1:18 scale of the bigger 1:10 scale truck. So, it looks like the Slash, but it met the shrink ray. The best part is that there were no complications after his shrink ray. I guess Gru did some tweaks to improve it. Yes, this truck is like the 4x4 Slash, but smaller.
Traxxas claims 35 MPH. I am not sure if that is the case. Personally, my butt dyno is saying right around 30mph at best. That might not sound fast, but the truck is small, so 30MPH is plenty fast.
(You can see that the plastic is pretty sturdy. This is the bottom of the truck after running it 10-15 times. I like how the screws are set in the body. I use a compressor after each run to get the dust off it)
The build of the truck chassis is pretty solid. We have cartwheeled this thing, overshot jumps, done some end-over-ends, or what I call “Bows that have gone very wrong.” The chassis is sturdy, and it takes a beating. The downside is that all this rigidity makes the truck heavy.
(This is standard Traxxas BL-2S. It is a 3300KV motor. This will not take a 3s LiPO. Standard Traxxas servo.)
The electronics are Traxxas standard electronics. The nice thing is that the speed controller will go into different modes (video coming). There is a training mode for newer drivers. There is a race mode with reverse elimination. Then there is normal mode. That is the mode we have been running.
The truck looks cool out of the box. I really do love how Traxxas designed the Slash’s body. It has a driver and some plastic reinforcements on the outside of the body to offer some protection. The body comes off the truck with four clips on the bottom. They are sturdy and hold the body on well.
(I put the slash in stuck turtle mode and work the clips loose. I have seen other people just grab the clips with the truck on its wheels and release the body. The system works, but I am not sure if I really love it.)
Traxxas has a great network for its products. Say what you want about their company, but they have made sure that if something breaks, you can get a replacement for it anywhere in the country.
The Bad
The front bumper is made of bubble gum and rubber. This is good in the sense that the bumper will bend. It does not snap when it takes a hard hit to the front. However, it is bad because as the bumper bends, it will catch high spots in the dirt and flip the truck. If Traxxas wants to be serious about this scale, they need to stiffen that up a bit. I am pretty sure that Proline will come up with a fix in the future, as this truck is pretty new and there are not many aftermarket options.
(You can see here that the bumper is pushed way down. It will catch rocks or high spots on the dirt. You know when it does because the truck will either flip or do an endo without flipping.)
Tire options in this scale are limited. Traxxas does produce a few options that look pretty good. However, I cannot wait for JConcepts and Proline to start attacking this segment. This truck with some badlands on the rear would have much better bite in the loose stuff. Stock ones are middle of the road, probably more on the hard side of the spectrum.
(These are the standard tires. I am a bit “Meh” on them.)
The body feels like plastic, but is as durable as tissue paper in the hands of a 5-year-old opening his birthday present. Initially, it looks well wrapped, but a few tumbles and the rips begin. I look forward to Proline coming along and giving us some options.
The weak body would not be a huge deal, but the unpainted bodies are 50 bucks. Painted ones are 70! You can probably use one to two bodies a year for practice laps, but if you race this truck, then you will have to budget for bodies. If Traxxas could get an unpainted body down to 20 bucks, that would be awesome. Heck, you can reuse the driver and other bits. I guess the upside is you get more practice designing bodies.
I think it would be great to get a little more shock travel and set up a little softer from the factory. Yes, you can adjust the shocks, but I think they need to be just a smidge longer for some more travel. I still have to experiment with different shock oil to see if this can improve. I think it is something that can be tuned out through trial and error.
My Advice
This is a Paulie’s Pick if you can get the mini slash for $250 or under. I picked it up for the $ 200-ish range. I think at that price point, Traxxas has something to dominate the market. However, at the time of writing this article, I checked, and the truck is $267 on Amazon. If Traxxas stays at the $267 price point, then I would tell you to wait for some upgrade options like tires and bumpers to make the truck a bit more fun to drive.
I think if Traxxas could get this truck at or below the $250 price point, they could take the market. I would like to see what Proline or J Concepts develops for this truck in the future. I am not saying stay away from the Slash Mini, but I would say wait to get it for $250. My opinion will change if there are more aftermarket parts available.
Conclusion
So, if you want to get your kids outside, off the screen, but still have the sensation of gaming, then pick up a small short-course truck. I am going to keep tweaking this Slash mini, but I have a feeling the Mojave Grom might be in my future. This Slash might find itself on Facebook Marketplace.
However, it is a fun truck, and it is worth a look in light of my qualifications: under $250 as it stands. I would say under $275 if a lot of aftermarket options hit the market. If Proline and other companies start producing tires and a body for this truck, then this might be a really good buy. The one thing to consider is that Traxxas has the most parts available. Honestly, the main things that break are the bumpers and the body. If something else breaks, Traxxas has done a great job in their distribution so that you can get parts easily for this one. Yes, you pay for the marketing, but if you are on vacation, you can find a part that broke when you were chilling with your fam. In the meantime, I’m going to keep heading out to the track at night. The new RC track in town has motivated me to get my RC stuff running again! Pick something up and get out there with your kids. I’ve met some of the most helpful and kindest people out at the dirt track!
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