Up top are a pair of 2018 servos to tackle throttle/brake and gear change duties, and they’re joined by the separate bland grey receiver and battery boxes. The Traxxas TQ3 transmitter assumes authority over the new T-Maxx 3.3 and this hasn’t changed at all. It still has the red third channel button located neatly by the thumb position for an easy selection of reverse gear, and a nice soft steering wheel for comfort. The manual is like a book of knowledge, featuring a host of tips and advice ranging from excellent newbie stuff to technical things I didn’t even know! Amid the anatomy of the Maxx, there are suspension setups and tuning options explained, transmission settings and gear ratios, and what I’ll be needing next… the engine break-in instructions.

Our first date

The TRX range of engines were never ones to be sat around for a tank at idle, they want to be driven straight away. The dormant TRX 3.3 engine was like a sleeping Princess waiting for a kiss from her Prince to wake her, but I beat him to it by sloshing her full of fuel and slamming an EZ start into her slot. To which she responded by having a bit of a cough and a scream before buzzing into life. So with the body off and a first tank at a quarter throttle, followed by two more at half throttle with the body on and a further two with full throttle bursts, she’s ready for some action!

It wasn’t long before I learnt that the wheelie bar is an essential piece of kit on this truck, it’s as easy to pick the front end up as it is to find a kleptomaniac at a shoplifters anonymous meeting. The power delivery is really quite brutal. The new gearbox does a great job of producing a seamless interchange from first to second gear and even if the front end stays down, there’s always the chance it could float upwards when it hits second.

Of course, if you’re not squeezing the throttle like your life depended on it, progressive throttle will have it launching forwards at a stunning pace, easily comparable to a top end truggy or buggy, and such speed will make you hope the brakes are going to be good enough to stop it. Well fear not, because that big steel disc and those Revo style brake pads will not leave you wanting. In fact, the brakes were set so good you’ll be a victim of some front flip induced, cart wheeling capers without a steady application of them. The Talon tyres were doing a fine job of finding grip on the grass/dirt surface of the MB racetrack and as the Maxx came with a high suspension setup, it did want to fall over on the sharper corners so I took the initiative and reset them all to sit lower in the hope that I could drive it more without having to chase after it when it went belly up. Success was just a simple setup away with the Maxx, now much happier in its surroundings and so much more stable through the turns.

Steering is no trouble either, as the torque of the 2055 servo proves man enough for the task and the 30wt silicone oil within the suspension is a good enough combination to give just the right damping action without having too much body roll. After all the chivalry I’d shown my new love, I felt it was about time I introduced this lass to the jumps and a bit of rough stuff. She responded well, very well in fact, absorbing everything in her path from smaller obstacles to the big jumps.

Being a 1:10 scale monster she is very agile in the air and it’s no trouble at all to manoeuvre or correct mid-flight, but with those tight brakes the nose did tend to come down very sharply. She loves big air and I was happy to give it to her. The way I was driving it you’d think I didn’t like it, but if truth be told I was just getting caught in the moment and I’ll admit to getting carried away. It took some absolutely horrific treatment in the process with some especially heavy front end landings after clearing all three of the woops, but as she came away unscathed every time it merely encouraged me to keep up the good work.

I was itching to try a back-flip and as I always say, if you have an itch you should scratch it… or at least buy some cream. Anyway, she did indeed go on to perform a series of stunning flips, some of which landed well and some of which didn’t. With such harshness being dished out it was inevitable there would be a casualty, and the first signs of this was after the flips. With knowledge of the previous versions I feared for the lifespan of the bulkheads because this is such a stress point it is common to snap them under duress, but they were fine. It was the shocks that had popped their caps off, firstly both on one side of the rear and shortly after (and because I just ignored the sagging back end) the other two rear shocks popped. What can I say; when I’d finished with her she couldn’t walk properly!

Call me...

With driving like that, it deserved a medal to come away with so little damage, if only Traxxas had installed ally shock caps as standard she’d still be gagging for more. Unfortunately the wheelie bar did come off a fair few times too, in the end I just left it in my pocket as I sought big air followed by even bigger crash landings.

The EZ-start works a treat and the TRX 3.3 fires up in seconds, holds a tune well, doesn’t overheat, and even the protective plastic top is screwed on now to stop it falling off on the first rollover. I won’t say I’m overly enamoured with the grey bits, but they do emphasise the fact that it’s all strengthened plastic and of course I could help out with some dye to improve her looks. The T-Maxx 3.3 seems to be the perfect partner; she’s always eager to please, isn’t high maintenance and absolutely loves it when I take charge and treat her rough, not to mention that she doesn’t mind me spending time with other models. In all seriousness though, I am well impressed with the T-Maxx 3.3, it’s got power, poise and the potential to make its competition give a wary look at it, because it’s now on par with if not better than them!