Review: Roundup: Boulder Dash

With high-torque electric motors, low gear ratios, and wildly articulating suspensions, radio-controlled rock crawlers venture where no toys have gone before.

Roundup: Boulder Dash

Learn How We Rate ##### Wired

Accepts powerful, long-lasting lithium polymer cells for extended missions. Or you can keep it cheap and go with standard NiMHs.

Roundup:

• 1/10A complete failure in every way
• 2/10Sad, really
• 3/10Serious flaws; proceed with caution
• 4/10Downsides outweigh upsides
• 5/10Recommended with reservations
• 6/10Solid with some issues
• 7/10Very good, but not quite great
• 8/10Excellent, with room to kvetch
• 9/10Nearly flawless
• 10/10Metaphysical perfection

1. RC4WD Killer Krawler
This 1/5-scale truck should be called the Overkill Krawler. Its CNC-milled aluminum chassis provides 5 inches of ground clearance and a rigid frame to support its contortionist suspension, dual electric motors, and twin computerized speed controls. Weighted pendulums inside the wheels boost traction by keeping pressure on the rocks below. But you need serious skill to make this beast behave; reprogramming your brain to steer front and rear wheels is tricky.

2. Losi Night Crawler
To tackle jagged rocks and steep slopes, you think ahead and go slow. That means you may have to park in a precarious spot while you sort out your strategy. The 1/10-scale Night Crawler encourages this strategic approach with a worm-gear drive that can apply just enough torque to hold the truck steady. Once you've chosen a path, the 45-degree steering angle and 4-inch aluminum shocks let you take the route you want, not just the path of least resistance.

3. Axial SCX10 TR
Realism runs high in Axial's 1/10-scale Trail Ready crawler: Its tunable suspension, solid rear axle, and bead-lock wheels—which cinch the tires onto the rims so they don't slip while you're grinding up a steep rock face—faithfully replicate a real-life crawler. And its smoother tires and less extreme gear ratios help you squeeze more meters out of each battery charge. Just don't go trying to scale the woodpile.

WIRED When the sun drops below the horizon, LED headlights brightly illuminate the trail ahead of you. It's also faster on flat surfaces than the rest of this convoy.

TIRED Doesn't scoff at gravity like the Krawler or the, uh, Crawler. Abundance of plastic components might add up to dubious durability—even in miniature, this sport is brutal.

$299, axialracing.com

4. Traxxas Summit
The Summit's waterproof electronics open up oceans of new challenges: Rocky streams and snowy slopes will no longer be off-limits for fear of damaging your $500 toy. But the fan-cooled motor drinks a lot of juice—two sets of seven-cell NiMHs. On the plus side, that amplitude of amps, combined with a smart transmission, lets this 1/10-scale truck wear two hats: deft climber one minute and flat-out trail runner the next.

WIRED Transitions from high-speed bashing to methodical ascents at the flick of a switch. (Well, two switches, actually: One changes your gearing and the other locks or unlocks your differentials.)

TIRED Plastic wheels have fake bead-locks—a deadly sin to purists. Suspension articulation not on a par with the other crawlers here.

$569, traxxas.com