I have about a half dozen battery packs through it, and after a couple of minor mods, it is actually a blast to drive.
I have been (mostly) driving at a local park-n-ride lot that is pretty much a ghost town, and thus perfect. The stock set up is for rough off road driving, and the front is setup super soft, and the manual recommends adding the largest spring preload spacers. And that did help a lot. It became a LOT more drivable. But it kept the front end high, and in corners, it sort of would skip. Still better than without the preload spacers, but I needed a better solution.
I had purchased the highly recommended aluminum shock caps, and I decided to swap them in before I hit something hard enough to pull the stock plastic caps off. At the same time, I put more viscous silicone shock fluid. Traxxas ships the shocks with 30 wt fluid, so I went up to 70wt in the rears, and 50wt in the front. Buttoned them up, and took it out.
Without the preload spacers, I took it back to the lot, did some asphalt and dirt driving. Wow, what a different. A totally different handling experience. A lot better, more planted, and much less roll in the corners. On dirt and pavement it was a lot easier to control.
Also, I have done some small jumps, and the Slash is very neutral in the air. It launches and lands with aplomb. I am not a Kevin Talbot type of basher, sending it to the moon, so I can’t comment on the hard core bashing. But for us mere mortals, it is very easy to drive and jump.
I bought this as a project. To be like a newbie, and changing things to improve it. I never expected to love this, compared to my other drives, but it has grown on me. It is so simple, it take no thinking to get out and drive. It isn’t too fast, but it is fast enough to put a grin on your face.
Next up, I have a LCG (low center of gravity) chassis that will lower the center of gravity by about an inch, and make it much better handling. That will be a this weekend project.
