Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Euro (EUR)
Scorching the Pavement in Our High-Performance Street Rustler
With the build process completed on our Rustler in Part 1 of this series, it was time to hit the streets and see how it performs. We brought our road-ready Rustler 4X4 to a local recreation center, chosen for its large textured-concrete parking lot that offered good grip and plenty of room to move. After a quick roll-around to get the steering perfectly trimmed, we clicked the wheelie bar into its lowest position and went for it with a full-throttle launch. The slipper clutch did its slipping thing for just a moment before locking up and sending full power to the tires. The Street Brawler took off with front tires skimming the pavement as it leaned into the wheelie bar and quickly covered the parking lot’s full distance, which suddenly seemed a lot shorter. The Brawler was an absolute blast as a straight-line machine, and clicked off arrow-straight launches over and over. It tears off spinning all four tires, then digs in and moves out. Raising the wheelie bar a click let the truck wheelstand all the way to top speed, and it put on quite a show.
Power Cell LiPo & Traxxas Link
To complete the Street Brawler, we strapped in a 2872 3-cell Power Cell LiPo for maximum Velineon brushless horsepower, and installed the optional Traxxas Link Wireless Module into the TQi transmitter for Bluetooth connectivity with iOS and Android devices. The Traxxas Link app unlocks Drive Effects to tweak the settings for Steering Sensitivity, Steering %, and Throttle Sensitivity—powerful tools for fine-tuning the driving feel of your model. Traxxas Link also makes it easy to customize Training Mode, which isn’t just for beginners—you’ll see.
To test the Street Brawler’s cornering prowess, we ran circles and figure eights as we steadily dug deeper into the throttle. With its long-travel suspension intact, the Street Brawler liked to squat on power and lighten the front wheels, which gave it prominent understeer but sure made it easy to drive. Easing off the trigger to reweight the front wheels let the Brawler dig in and transition to oversteer, which wasn’t difficult to modulate even with Traxxas Stability Management (TSM) deactivated—but dialing TSM up to 50% was more fun, and allowed us to really rip into the throttle and drift the Brawler without feeling like we were dancing on the edge of control. Even with its off-road suspension travel, the truck’s cornering attitude was very flat, and the only time we got anywhere near traction rolling was if we were very aggressive with snap left-right turns.
We noticed the truck had more push and less oversteer when turning left than when turning right, indicating the suspension was “tweaked” (the shocks were not evenly preloaded from left to right). This is where the GTR shocks’ threaded bodies really come in handy. After a few spring-collar twists and test laps, the Street Brawler was carving turns equally well in both directions.
The truck felt great with its stiff front and rear swaybars, and we were curious to see just how much of an effect they were having. So, we deactivated them by unhooking one end of each bar, and quickly discovered the answer to the “how much effect do they have” was “a lot.” The Street Brawler gained a significant amount of side bite without the swaybars, but with an increase in chassis roll and a greater likelihood of getting up on two wheels. Those swaybars work! We hooked them back up for the rest of the session.
The Anaconda® tires gained more grip as they warmed up and their smooth finish wore off, making the Street Brawler feel even more sure-footed. We set up a road course with orange cones and had a lot of fun trading the transmitter and trying to better each other’s hottest lap.
Full 3-cell power in the tight layout was a surefire way to overshoot the turns and add to your lap time, so instead of doing all the throttle-limiting via trigger finger, we used Traxxas Link to activate Training Mode and set the maximum throttle position to 70%. That allowed us to use 100% of the trigger’s throw for maximum throttle-input precision. Also helpful: upping the Steering and Throttle Sensitivity settings (which you may know as “exponential” or “expo.”). Increasing the sensitivity value results in less “touchiness” near neutral, with greater responsiveness as you turn the wheel or pull the trigger farther.
Traxxas Link makes it easy to quickly try new Drive Effects settings.
Traxxas Link even allows you to customize Training Mode.
That’s a Wrap
The Street Brawler is a big success! It’s an absolute shredder, a high-speed thrill ride that’s even more fun to drive than it was to build. We could go further to hone the Rustler 4X4 as a dedicated blacktop burner, but we wanted to keep its off-road versatility intact—swap the Anaconda street skins for the factory Talon EXT tires, flip the wheelie bar up, and the Street Brawler is ready for full-throttle fun in the dirt. You can’t do that with dedicated road cars! Whether you go all-out with the upgrades like we did or just pick up a set of Anaconda tires to make your rig road-ready, we know you’ll have fun personalizing your Rustler 4X4 for exactly the type of RC you’re into.
That's it for the Rustler 4X4 Street Brawler build. Be sure to check out part one of this build to see how it all came together and order up the full slate of accessories for your build. Until then, don't be afraid to experiment with your own vehicles. Wrenching is a big part of our hobby, and a lot of fun!