GIVE ME STRENGTH
If you delve a bit deeper into the Revo 3.3 you start to pick up on a few more of the new additions. Underneath the extended 3mm 6061-T6 moulded chassis you’ll find a new strengthening plate beneath the engine. This isn’t even mentioned in the marketing spiel but is a very welcome addition in my eyes as I’ve cracked two chassis around here, okay one was a carbon version and I did severely abuse the truck in both cases going for big air jumps.

The only other change to the Revo 3.3 is the inclusion of Progressive 2 rockers on the suspension. The rockers make up part of the Revo’s unique lay down suspension system which in our opinion is one of the highlights of this truck. By having the shocks laid down inside the truck, they are a lot less prone to being damaged and filled with muck. The rockers come in three stages, originally they came with the stage one versions but you get a more progressive shock action by using the stage two versions. You do also need to extend the push rods slightly when using the P2 rockers but Traxxas have done this for you, hence the little red rings at either end of the push rods.

GIVE ME LIFE
TTraxxas are also very particular about the method of breaking in the TRX engine, this has always been the case and it’s continued with the TRX 3.3. They do not recommend running a tank at idle but instead to get it out and running giving it slightly more throttle for each tank completed. By the time you get to the fifth tank you’re doing wide open throttle runs and it’s ready for some fine tuning. I had no problems whatsoever breaking this engine in, although it was a little tight to start with and the EZ-Start system wouldn’t turn the engine over if the piston got stuck at top dead centre (TDC). This isn’t an issue as the flat head of a screw driver on the flywheel soon gets the piston past TDC.

FUN TIME
Time then to see what this new truck was made of with its début outing at the Clanfield track, near Portsmouth. It was a fine Wednesday evening and a bunch of us had cruised down there to get some track time in a nice relaxed environment. Tony and the guys have built a great track in Clanfield, it runs real smoothly and they’ve even put some jumps in recently which pleased us immensely. The Revo 3.3 hit the track in a totally stock form and impressed me from the outset. For a monster truck it just handles so well, in fact I believe the LST2 is the only other truck in the market at the moment that comes anywhere close. The new TRX 3.3 engine had plenty of poke in it and was noticeably smoother throughout the power band than it’s predecessor, however as I’ve been driving a lot of high powered truggies and buggies recently it did feel like it was lacking in power a little, but it’s not really fair to compare this Revo to them… although I just have. I found myself cruising round the track with a mixture of 1:8 scale buggies and truggies and even though these were all equipped with .21ci or bigger engines, I was more than holding my own, not bad considering it was me driving! The Revo 3.3 had passed this first outing with flying colours and I didn’t even break anything, perhaps it needed a bit of a tougher test….

A REAL CHALLENGE
TTo push this truck a little harder it was time to introduce it to the MaxBashing track and the pressures of a full-on race day as I joined the other monster truck runners in round 5 of the club championship at the start of August. I sat out of the first round of heats and went out for round 2 feeling quietly confident. Unfortunately one of the push rods came loose and put me out before I even got started, this seemed quite a bizarre breakage as nothing had actually broken and once screwed back into place all was good, well almost. The throttle servo seemed to be playing up, initially I though the Opti drive system was at fault, I’m not a big fan of this unit although it is a clever bit of technology that will automatically detect if the gearbox is still rotating before it lets you put it in reverse. It does means there’s a little more “slack” in the gear box though and for a professional racer like me (in my dreams), those milliseconds make a real difference… Yeah right! It turned out it was the servo which had gone all Pete Tong so I swapped this round for a new basic one and at the same time removed the Opti drive unit, locking reverse out. I completed the rest of the day without a problem, picking up five laps in the third round of heats and finishing fifth in the B final, although I was actually on for second place but had set the throttle up wrongly meaning it was over revving and getting hot so I had to back off, it’s not easy fixing a kit whilst trying to run a race meeting at the same time!

RACER'S OPTIONS
One of the real advantages of the Revo 3.3 is the array of new options available for it. The most exciting of these has got to be the centre diff (part # 5414) and rear brake kit (part # 5417). These need to be used in conjunction with each other as adding the centre diff kit means the original brakes only work on the front wheels. We’ll be installing this set up very soon and will bring you all the details.

FINAL THOUGHTS
So as you might have guessed I was very impressed with the Revo 3.3, it seemed a lot tougher than the original version and had more power to boot, but you don’t have to take just my word on it as I let Ben Champion, our current monster truck champion, take it for a spin round the track. Ben’s so adept with his Revo that his lap times with it would qualify him for the truggy A final!

A CHAMPIONS VERDICT
Handling? It dismisses most corners with ease, the lack of steering throw can be a problem through the tighter corners, but with a tap of the brakes the rear end comes round keeping it tight into the apexes and a simple mod involving a dremel and some trimming will have it turning on a sixpence. The ultra smooth suspension is softer than a baby’s behind; accompanied by the extended chassis even the most savage of bumps the MaxBashing track has to offer do little to upset the 3.3’s composure. Under hard acceleration there’s a little too much rear end sag, caused by the chassis being extended from the front which has a result of shifting the weight backwards, this was also an issue with the 2.5 but again is easily fixed with some heavier springs or shock oil. What impressed me most about the 3.3 was the engine, like its smaller sibling the power band is smoother than smooth, punch the throttle and there is no fuss, with a larger engine I was expecting the Revo to behave worse than an orangutan having an epileptic fit, but I was pleasantly surprised and think the Revo with a TRX3.3 are a match made in heaven. Fancying myself as a bit of a physic, I can see an extended chassis, the new brace and a TRX3.3 engine finding their way onto my Revo in the very near future!

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