Well, now I had a Jato 3.3. What did that mean? Could I go strait to a track and start racing? Or would it need some time and work? Well to answer those questions we should take a look at the Jato 3.3. Since the name includes the engine alone, why don't we start there. The engine is a 3.3 Traxxas Race engine. Now when I say "race" that is just because it is quite literally part of the name of the engine, but there is not really anything about this engine that makes it a "race" engine. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Traxxas likes to consider themselves "The fastest" in RC, so that helps us understand this engine. You may not hear this much, as a matter of fact when I said it earlier today I had a friend look at me weird wanting to know what I meant....but as I was saying, you may not hear this, but vehicles can actually have too much power for their size and or track they are racing on. The 3.3 is too much power for both its size and the track it would race on. What makes this even more disappointing is that its not a very high quality .21 size (the size the engine actually falls into, even though Traxxas uses a different measurement system to reach the 3.3). The engine is quite literally called a "throw away" engine. You could put about 6 gallons of fuel through the engine, and instead of rebuilding it, you send it to Traxxas with $100, and get a new one. Not a bad deal if you do not like working on engines. Otherwise its a very weak engine overall, and from everything I have read, does not hold up to modifications very well (we'll still see in the future, as I plan to port and polish one of mine). The carb on the engine is not properly sized either, something that should be noted. Traxxas decided to use the same carb that they do on their 2.5R engine, for the 3.3. What does this mean? Well the flow through the carb is smaller than the engine can actually handle, restricting throttle response. The engine was also electric starter and came with a "tuned" blue pipe. All in all its a rather odd set up...Traxxas is going for a very fast vehicle out of the box, yet they have an engine with a restricted size carburetor, and the extra weight of an electric start motor?
Stemming from there we have the transmission, which is the typical Traxxas dual gear, auto shifting transmission, this all seems pretty typical and works well, however we move into the brake. The brake is ridiculously underpowered. It sits on the transmission of a 2wd, which makes it a rear brake. The problem may not actually be the brake which is a solid fiber disc of sorts, the problem also may not be the metal plates used to pinch this fiber disc, and the problem may not be the plastic arm that activates the brake is very weak and bends, but the problem could actually be a combination of all of the above. Either way the brake experiences drastic and sudden brake fade early into the drive. Not a good combination with an overpowered vehicle.
Then the power from the engine reaches the pavement. The Traxxas Anaconda tires come stock on the Jato. They have very little traction, and the front and rear would slide around through turns on asphalt. They are not sticky, but they tend to last quite some time. Pretty typical of an RTR kit, but if you want to control your vehicle at the advertised "70mph" speed, consider tries with better traction so you don't destroy your truck. The angles of the tires, both front and rear are completely adjustable as you would expect.
From the tires we naturally arrive at our suspension. The suspensions are plastic body, but they are the oil filled GTR shocks from Traxxas. They do have aluminum upgrades, variable valves, multiple spring rates available, and threaded shock bodies to get your ride height dialed in. Altogether not bad shocks but its best to keep an eye on them, as the tops are known to pop off. There are a few shock mounting locations both top and bottom on both the front and rear. Not as many as you may find on a 1/8 scale buggy, but still a fair amount. The center of gravity is actually really low as well, and the weight is mostly in the rear.
Now is when I would typically do a review on the electronics, but because I purchased this vehicle used, I can not do a proper review at this time on this trucks electronics.
So for a recap, we have a very low center of gravity, rear wheel drive truck, that is incredibly over powered, under braking. When the truck wants to respond, its actually a rather fun truck to drive. Personally I have it currently still set up for asphalt, but I plan to do a quick rebuild to make it more dirt track friendly. I will be covering that in the future as I get funding. Can it be a race truck? Ill cover that in the future too!
Well guess that is all for now, thanks for stopping by everyone, hope this helps you out!
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