Traxxas Spartan

[JPriami]

Well the good thing is that there are some people who own Spartans that are a bit mechanically inclined and enjoy a challenge that are showing what you can do to stock OEM equipment to make it function better. As long as it dosent have internal electrical issues that will fail regardless. like esc's on fire etc.
And then there are some that have done the above mentioned to show others what to do for help, then said screw it & have gone all out and gutted the thing to make the electronics rock solid that dont want to deal with the stock equipment and below 50mph speeds. Then ironing out issues with stability above 50mph. So far Ive mastered 54MPH and stable. Now if i can finagle more mph out of it and keep the stability id be happy. I was really shooting for 60 for what ive got in it thus far. Just not sure its going to get there with out crashing into oblivion.

If traxxas can, would, could, should, get the issues worked out and advertise the boat as 45+mph it would really be a great starter boat for those wanting something like this. Once bitten by a quick boat its hard to stop. You want more. So it would get more people involved, then help them learn about it all. They will see faster, better, & fiberglass boats catch their attention and well..you know the drill.

[Make-a-Wake]

Just for kicks i "built" a DF35 in my mind.............I totaled up the hull and hardware cost from OSE(rudder, stinger, flex, prop etc...), added a Leopard 4082 and a T180 esc.......all at the cheapest price i could find.....................and added about 50 bucks for servo mount, brass tube........blah blah blah.....................and it came out to around $445. This would be a high quality boat for not much more at all, assuming of course you had a radio which most do anyways...................

[GeoVW72]

JPriami: It's unfortunate, but the general public really lacks any mechanical ability. They want nitro because it's "fast" and sound cool, but they won't tune and want "tune-ups" and LHS's to have their exceed parts The stereo type is sad but true. had a kid with a broken SW26rs that literally brought it in full of water ; receiver was dead and the replacement was "defective" because the dog swamped the boat.

Make-a-Wake: You're viewing this from an odd angle. By all means build the boat, add a radio and cheap batts and put it on ebay as the spartan killer for $475 and offer tech support, I doubt you'll be happy.

Brushless55: everything new has issues, the way they are handled is key. Traxxas has been doing the worst job. They seem too large to quickly respond to issues and interests, they finally have 17mm hexes for the slashes

The one bit of information I would be curious to know is when Tim Roberts(the designer) left Traxxas, that and the fact that their driver Steve Slayden left makes me wonder if they are putting price over design.
Tim knew the boat needed a 4 pole, but the cost per unit was too much, says the bean counters.

Things are starting to thaw out here, anyone know the part # for the ice breaker attachment? Interest in boats is also up, prepare for the next wave of noobs

[Doby]

Well said...but it will fall on deaf ears.

[properchopper]

Wel it's raining today, I'm a little bored, so here goes : I believe that most of the banter/evaluation of the Spartan here on OSE is really "preaching to the choir". I'll go out on a limb here and say that a reasonably good portion of OSE forum members have been in it long enough to "know better" and have experience with higher performance rigs that were developed by finding out what's realistic and what's not. Clearly, Traxxas is a big enough and well established enough enterprise to perform some semblence of marketing research to find out what their target market is for the Spartan, and where the greatest number of purchases will come from. If you consider how many forum members there are here (lots), and count the number of us that actually bought a Spartan, the number's very small, and those that did are already modding them (good grief) to wring out more performance. I'd say that Traxxas is really targeting the "first boat" market segment ( few of which are in the OSE choir) for the greatest return on their investment, which for them is good business practice. It's easy for the more experienced boaters to observe that Traxxas "shot themselves in the foot " with some rather optimistic performance claims, but know that ( I'll bet) there are lots of happy newbies getting their feet wet ( sorry, intentional pun) with the Spartan and may, hopefully one day journey into the realm of higher end stuff. Be gentle with these folks, they one day may be the ones beating you into turn one !

[Doby]

Again.....Well said...but it will fall on ....... why bother..

[JPriami]

What are you saying I can't hear you? Lol. Just kidding. :D

[Doby]

What are you saying I can't hear you? Lol. Just kidding. :D

[properchopper]

Again.....Well said...but it will fall on ....... why bother..

That's exactly my point. We're all preaching to the choir I'd say that Traxxas could care less what more sophisticated boaters think about the boat. They plant their marketing seeds in the soil of the ultra-newbie looking for a visually attractive, big box-art product. The only reasing I'm "bothering" is because hopefully, one day these Spartan folks may find their way here and we can welcome them and continue to grow and promote this FE thang . Heck, I think I'll polish some props 'till the sun re-appears.

[Doby]

I wasn't refering to Traxxas with my comments....

[Rumdog]

I guess you guys haven't noticed all the new members here wondering why their Spartans are going up in flames?
Doby, do YOU have an oinion, or are you just going to give everyone who does a hard time? Traxxas being the big company they are, is appealing to a very large market. A lot of guys trying a boat for the first time, will buy the Traxxas. Why not? It comes fully RTR, and claims 50 plus mph. Most guys will buy just because of the speed claim and that it looks cool and for no other reason. When esc's start smoking, and motors start frying... and their new lipos get ruined, there is a VERY good chance that FE boats will leave a bad tast in their mouth. KIs that good for the sport? No.
Traxxas' ability to throw cash around for marketing and winning so-called boat of the year is not a good thing for this hobby. Look at all of the GOOD rtr's coming out that work well right out of the box. The newbie aint gonna buy it because it don't say 50 plus on the box.

[properchopper]

I wasn't refering to Traxxas with my comments....

Oops, don't want to create any mixups, sorry. And I just love your pups- I'm unfortunately dogless but hope someday...

[Brushless55]

That's exactly my point. We're all preaching to the choir I'd say that Traxxas could care less what more sophisticated boaters think about the boat. They plant their marketing seeds in the soil of the ultra-newbie looking for a visually attracrive, big box-art product. The only reasing I'm "bothering" is because hopefully, one day these Spartan folks may find their way here and we can welcome them and continue to grow and promote this FE thang . Heck, I think I'll polish some props 'till the sun re-appears.

I guess you guys haven't noticed all the new members here wondering why their Spartans are going up in flames?
Doby, do YOU have an oinion, or are you just going to give everyone who does a hard time? Traxxas being the big company they are, is appealing to a very large market. A lot of guys trying a boat for the first time, will buy the Traxxas. Why not? It comes fully RTR, and claims 50 plus mph. Most guys will buy just because of the speed claim and that it looks cool and for no other reason. When esc's start smoking, and motors start frying... and their new lipos get ruined, there is a VERY good chance that FE boats will leave a bad tast in their mouth. KIs that good for the sport? No.
Traxxas' ability to throw cash around for marketing and winning so-called boat of the year is not a good thing for this hobby. Look at all of the GOOD rtr's coming out that work well right out of the box. The newbie aint gonna buy it because it don't say 50 plus on the box.

Well said Rum!

[dag-nabit]

Some good may come of all this.

Set aside the problems the Spartan is having for a moment, and think about the target market.

Traxxas, Aquacraft, Proboat, and everyone else is in the business to sell boats (and other stuff).

If the Spartan raises the expectations of consumers to wanting bigger, better, faster, we may start to see some very exciting RTR offerings coming out from the other players in the next 12-18 months.

Kevin

[JPriami]

If this boat did 50+ MPH out of the box and had no real problems for an RTR boat doing that under for $400 Im willing to bet the farm that even some experienced boaters would still buy it just to see if they could make it do more. Heck thats what I was thinking when I ordered mine. Or at least to have a cheaper decently fast boat to let the kids try out when you go run your boats.

But reality is its a 45+mph boat that can potentially burn up the esc and has fallen short of its long awaited hype. So its not off to a good start.

And honestly over the years I cant think of one forum thread for an RTR boat (on all the manufactures) that didn't have owners having problems out of the boat and someone somewhere complaining about its design and problems.
Im not defending traxxas trust me (if I had it my way they should go back to court over this boat and their bloated advertising some companies need to be kept in check or at least reality). I'm just saying.

All and all what is ultimately best if you want something right and you know what to do. Build something yourself with quality components and materials the way you want it. That way when it turns out great you can feel proud and accomplished. Or if its not so good, well you have yourself to blame just as well. But if you learn from your mistakes you know what not to do, and can work it out just the same.