While looking for beginner level stadium trucks to get for my kids, the Duratrax Evader EXT2 caught my eye. There is almost a cult following for this truck. Tons of upgrades are available, everything from graphite and carbon fiber parts to complete suspension upgrades. With the vast majority of hobby shops stocking parts, it seemed like a good choice for my boys. When I went to purchase the trucks. my local hobby shop only had one in stock. So I picked it up, and picked up the Electrix Circuit for my other son.

The Duratrax Evader EXT2 is a 1/10 scale Stadium truck. It comes RTR with a 20T Photon Speed 2 motor, electronic speed control (with forward, reverse, and brake), steering servo, and 27mhz AM radio system. It does not come with batteries, so you will need a 7.2V 6 cell NIMH battery and charger. You will also need 8 AA’s for the radio. The body comes prepainted in 4 different color schemes.

Out of the box the truck has some nice features. It has aluminum shock caps. The battery hold down strap is designed to fit any 6 cell flat pack, or a 2 cell Lipo. The Sprint ESC does not have a built in low voltage cutoff, so if you do opt to run Lipo batteries you will need to add a low voltage cutoff. The tires on the Evader have an aggressive tread pattern, and have proven to have good grip both on and off road. Another nice thing with the Evader is that it comes fully loaded with ball bearings. Every rotating part is supported with sealed ball bearings, making for efficient operation.

Duratrax has also included their “Stress tech guarantee” with the Evader. This guarantee states that if any of the parts included in the plan fail during your first year of ownership Duratrax will replace them at no cost. More on this later.

Driving Impressions

Handling on the Evader is impressive for a beginner RC. You can easily whip it sideways on the dirt and powerslide through a corner. It has a nice weight balance front to rear that leads to a beginner friendly mix of turning ability with forward traction. On high grip surfaces, like the street, the suspension proves a tad soft, in that while cornering the inside rear wheel lifts in the air. With a little tuning this can be worked out. Straight line speed is about average for a beginner RC, right around the 20 mph mark. The Sprint ESC can handle down to a 12T motor, so upgrades are possible. You can also fit pretty much any 540 sized motor into the truck, so there is potential for a brushless upgrade. On the off road track, the Evader handles jumps well. It flies neutrally, making landings very predictable. One thing I’d have liked to see is foam inserts in the tires. There are none included with the truck, and it makes for a very soft tire. With foam inserts the handling could improve some more.

Our experiences

In the 6 months or so we have had this truck, it has been interesting to say the least. I’ve asked around, and not many people are experiencing what we are, so its possible we are the exception to the norm. We are seeing an extreme amount of breakage. It may sound like an exaggeration, but every time my son runs the truck, something breaks. At first it just started with the ball cups on the tie rods popping loose. Not unexpected for a new driver. Then the lower eyelet broke off one of the shocks. Next to fail was the upper chassis brace. After replacing the upper chassis brace, the bulkhead broke. This is all over the course of about two months, running every Sunday at the indoor carpet track. Did my son hit the wall? Sure he did. But, all of the kids hit the wall. Its part of the learning process. There are other Evaders as well hitting the wall, as well as Electrix Circuits, and none are experiencing the breakage we are seeing. Next the chassis broke where the bulkhead mounts to it. After replacing the chassis, one of the front shock upper mounts broke. Then came the other front shock. I’m sure its a result of poor driving, as I know that’s what you are thinking. My point is that everyone in the kids class crashes at the same rate, and no one else is seeing this many parts break. Last night I was taking pictures for this article. In the pictures you will see I fashioned an RPM bumper onto the front to aid with some protection. Well, I lifted the truck by the bumper, and the front end came off in my hand. Yup, another bulkhead break. Its been a never ending story with our truck.

Regarding the Stress tech guarantee, every part that we have broken is on their guarantee. The fine print for the guarantee states that you have to ship them the broken part on your dime, and they will send you the replacement part. What they don’t call out is that it costs more to mail them a ball cup then it does to buy them at the local hobby shop. So rather than pay for the shipping, we have just been buying new parts. Now that we are seeing the bulkhead repeatedly break, I will send it in so we have another spare on hand.

Its a shame this truck breaks as much as it does. My son enjoys driving it, and I hate to see the disappointment on his face when he can’t finish a race because something else broke. Again, we probably just bought a lemon, as many others have nothing but great experiences with the Duratrax Evader EXT2.