►1/10th scale almost ready to run RC car
► Ridiculously fast and robust
► Keenly priced
Electric radio controlled cars aren’t what they used to be. Gone are five minute runtimes, slow charging batteries and sluggish performance compared to your mate’s nitro car. Take this PD Racing TR10 4S, for instance. It can take over twice the voltage of your old Tamiya, runs on LiPo batteries that discharge far faster, giving punchier performance, and is capable of over 50mph out of the box.
Four-wheel drive with tuneable front, rear and centre differentials channel the power to the ground via low-profile off-road tyres, and oil-filled shocks ensure things don’t get too bouncy. Not only do you get full ball bearings for all gear shafts and axles, all the gears are metal, too. The CVD driveshafts are plastic with metal inserts, though.
A big brushless motor and programmable electronic speed controller provides the sizeable reserves of power, and both are fitted with cooling fans to stop things getting melty. The chassis layout is pretty conventional for this sort of basher RC truggy, so called because it’s somewhere between a truck and a buggy.
The motor is mounted longitudinally and a central propshaft carries power to the front wheels. The electronics sit in front of the motor with the battery the other side of the prop. You don’t have to run it on the full 14.8v if you don’t want to, it’ll run happily on a 2S 7.4v or 11.1v 3S pack. The battery tray is adjustable in size, and a chunky support brace runs above the chassis.
It all looks beefy, and the plastic chassis won’t bend like metal, which should help in moments of over-send. With a size that’s big for a 1/10th and a price that looks very tempting, is the TR10 the ballistic bargain basher to buy?
PD Racing TR10 4S
Pros
- Built like a brick outhouse
- Seriously fast
- Some tuning options
- Handles well on 75% power and below
Cons
- Too much front bias to the driveline
- Lairy on 100% power
- No tools included
- Likes to eat tyres
Features
- Fully built in the box
- Just needs batteries and a charger
- Exploded diagram included, but no build manual
The build – TR10 chassis
This section won’t take long. The TR10 is almost ready to run, which means it’s fully built with all the electronics and radio gear, but needs a battery and charger for the car and four AAs for the transmitter. Instantly it’s clear this is big for a 1/10th scale, and dwarfs my Tamiya Squash Van. You won’t need any tools at this stage which is handy, as PD Racing don’t provide any.
I’m not expecting a full suite of screwdrivers, but a couple of allen keys and a wheel wrench would have been nice. I’d recommend making sure you’ve got a 17mm socket and a set of metric allen keys, although some appropriately sized allen drivers would be better for any eventual maintenance or mending.
PD Racing is a new brand to the UK which could be a worry. However, it’s imported by the same people who do Tamiya, and spare parts are available to order. That should mean any breakages can be fixed without long waits for parts or a certain amount of bodgery.
All I need to do for the moment is clip a few cable ties, pull off the protective film from the body and install the batteries. The transmitter is pleasant to hold and has a foam coating for the wheel which is always preferable to plain plastic. You can almost convince yourself it’s Alcantara. Almost.
Easy dial adjusters tweak the steering and throttle trims, and there’s another for the steering rate. This allows you to increase or decrease the steering’s throw, making it more agile or stable respectively. On the back you’ll find your servo reversing switches and on for the power level. This allows you to run at 50%, 75% or 100% throttle, and will become your friend.
The drive
I know I should probably work up to 100% with a 4S, but I’ve got to know what the TR10 feels like fully uncorked. Barmy, is the answer. Punch the throttle and front tyres go skyward then start expanding as the centre differential allows most of the torque to be sent to the airborne front wheels.
It does mean that rather than the TR10 flipping straight onto its back like some other 4S bashers, it just carries a wheelie until it’s moving fast enough that you’ll probably have to back off to regain steering. Feed in the power and it stays more level, building speed rapidly and unrelentingly until it tops 50mph. It is easy to modulate the throttle and you can drive it slower, but the power is addictive.
The wide track and low centre of gravity help ensure there aren’t too many roll-induced tumbles courtesy of the soft, grippy tyres, and the suspension soaks up bumps and semi-sensible jumps easily. More extreme skatepark or BMX track antics would require stiffer springs and thicker shock oil to prevent the chassis slapping the ground. A 15kg metal-geared servo is standard and while not the fastest, feels up to the task.
On 100% power it’s far too easy to overwhelm the front tyres and induce understeer in tight turns. A thicker oil for the centre diff would help lessen the front tyres spinning up and ballooning, but would also make it easier to pull an accidental backflip. I’d take that for a bit more oversteer.
Switching to 75% power makes the TR10 handle far better. With the front tyres less prone to leaving the ground, the rear tyres get more torque which makes it feel more neutral in bends under power, and it’s a lot more manageable. If you’ve got a 3S pack at home and are considering one of these, don’t rush out and buy a 4S. Hell, it’s still brisk on a 2S battery.
Durability
I tried to break the TR10, I really did. I performed huge jumps off of a quarter pipe at a skatepark, landed it awkwardly plenty of times, and very nearly spun it into a shipping container whilst winning a drag race against a BMW M135 for social media. Ultimately, I failed to snap or bend anything.
Although the chassis wears plenty of scrapes and evidence of hard hits, the TR10 always bounced back for more. That’s not to say my testing was without incident. On two separate occasions I had tyres spilt around the sidewall, so I stopped before a catastrophic blowout. Even so, the body is getting chewed behind the front wheels after some full power tyre balloonage.
A pair of replacement tyres is less than £25, but I’m considering looking at alternatives if this becomes a habit. Apart from tyre damage, the body is still in remarkably good condition with no cracks. The wing is still in one piece, albeit with plenty of road rash. For once I’ve lost none of the body clips whilst running – they’re attached to the body with plastic tethers.
Any downsides?
Some might complain there’s no adjustment in the suspension upper arms, but I’m more bothered by the ungainly body with an anonymous grille and headlights. The oddly shaped front arches just aren’t cut big enough, limiting downtravel on the front suspension, but I do like the vibrant orange that fragments into carbon print.
More of an issue are the seemingly easy to shred tyres and its loose centre differential. However, like the bodyshell, these things are easily changed and arguably part of the fun of the hobby.
Price and competition
Expect to pay around £300 for the 4S TR10. That’s significantly less than Arrma Kraton 4S and a huge amount of performance for the money. The FTX Crossbow is a cheaper option if you don’t mind 3S power.
Verdict
The TR10 4S offers tremendous value if you’re after an overpowered basher that’ll take almost all of the punishment you can give it. The TR10 arguably at its best on 75% power – or a 3S pack – giving a great blend of performance and more manageable handling.
I suspect a few tweaks to the diffs will make it more to my liking on 4S, and I’m going to be trimming the body as soon as I’ve finished writing this review, but this is a fun truck out of the box that I look forward to tuning. Knowing there are spares easily available makes it easy to recommend the TR10 4S.
4.5/5
Ratings:
Driving: 4.0
Building/maintaining: 4.5
Value for money: 5.0
Overall: 4.5
Specifications:
Size: 1/10th, length 526mm, width 368mm, height 197mm
Chassis material: ABS plastic
Power: 7.4v, 11.1v, or 14.8v LiPo
Motor type: 3670 brushless, 1950KV
Driven wheels: Four, shaft drive
Top speed: 50mph+
Who tested the PD Racing TR10 4S?
Alan Taylor-Jones is the head of testing for CAR magazine, and also Parkers. He’s been writing about cars professionally since 2015 but has been obsessed with them since not long after birth. When he’s not sampling the latest and sometimes greatest cars, he’s got his hands full with a young family and menagerie of pets. Even so, he still finds the time to have a play with RC cars and Hot Wheels.
How was the PD Racing TR10 4S tested
A 4S 5000mAh LiPo pack from a reputable brand was used to test the TR10 on a variety of terrain. I started off in the office carpark on a mixture on tarmac and grass, before moving on to rougher, stonier ground where the first tyre ripped.
I then moved onto a small skatepark to try the TR10 on some ramps. After it came away from a few hard hits unbroken, I had a good rip around a field to empty the battery. Run time always exceeded 10 minutes.
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