Now if you expect this to be one of these reviews full of imager of the model explaining how we opened the box and what's inside, then I will dissapoint you. The Trooper already has few positive reviews from some websites, but we went further - we got one Hurricane (which is almost exactly the same truck as the TMs, details will follow), and for the past few weeks we did everything imaginable to break it. Well, we are yet to try jumping from 2+ meters high ramps, but that's on the list too.

Robitronic Hurricane is actually somehow tuned version of the Team Magic E6 Trooper. Instead of who-knows-them ESC and motor, Robitronic used the well known Castle Creations mamba Monster Motor and ESC combo and a Savox branded servo to ensure you get the proper electronics. Sure, the radio is a bit dissapointing (another Chinese rebrand), but the more important thing to notice is the fact the ESC is version 3 (v3), meaning you get access to the programmable BEC voltage through Castle Link software - that is if you have either the Field Link or the USB Link to connect the ESC to your computer (too bad mamba Monster doesn't have integrated PC link as the Mamba Max pro).

Another change Robitronic did was changing the color of the wheel hexes, shock towers, motor and spur mounts and the shocks. Having said that - they also changed the shock tower thickness and made it from harder aluminum alloy, they also used aluminum shock bodies and caps instead of plastic and they also changed the body - which is the only exception in the list of improvements as it is actually worse than the original E6 body. If you ever buy one of these trucks - we know the Robitronic body shell looks better, sits lower and all that - but it breaks much easier and it is not very flexible, so you will get the rear body mounts punching much bigger holes through it.

The question is (and that should be one of the first questions ever) - is the Hurricane / E6 trooper on par with Thunder Tiger MT-4 G3, Savage Flux HP/2350 and Traxxas E-Maxx and E-Revo Brushed/Brushless? Lets see:

vs. Thunder Tiger MT-4 G3 - they have similar price and the MT-4 is famous for being nearly indestructible, but it also has dissapointing servo and one of these motors and ESCs you never heard of. The motor and ESC actually work well on the MT-4, so they only lack resale value (you can always throw the Castle Neu and the MM on ebay and you will get some money for them).The MT-4 will survive more abuse on 6S and wis clearly the best bashing truck around having such big tires. The Hurricane/Trooper will steer much better, will break only a bit more often and that's mostly because of the body shell and it doesn't cope well with bigger tires (at least without a slight modification of the turnbuckles position). It is not faster and it looks smaller. Given all that - there is no clear winner but if you don't plan reselling anything, then you should buy the TT MT-4 and replace whatever you see wrong in it. If you buy E6 trooper roller though - it is cheaper (we sell these at about 3/4 of the TT MT-4 price, even half of the local price here in Bulgaria), so there is some point considering each of them.

vs. the HPI Savage Flux line. Being almost 1/3 more expensive, the Savage seems to lack in certain aspects - both the HP and 2350 have good electronics, but the HP has the worse radio system of all (TF-20 instead of TF-40 the Flux 2350 has) and the 2350 has weak servo (they are both Futaba rebranded servos though). The Savage has few weak spots and it breaks even after all the fuzz about its hardened dogbones, joint cups and diff gears. It needs replacing of the 18-23T transmission gear and modification of the upper arms pin holder system, and it also eats expensive spur gears if you don't change them to plastic. Oh, also consider the battery trays are not well thought and the chassis might get bent at the rear end. It is considerably more powerful (nevermind the fact the HP version has the same motor, although with older version of the ESC) and faster. I don't know why but I have them both and my XL/widened/what-not/much-heavier Savage still beats the crap out of the Hurricane in terms of speed and accelleration; but it also breaks no matter what, while the Hurricane never got anything broken). I'd not get Savage. You should not get one too, except if you really want having spare parts near you as HPI is in every big local and internet store. The Savage also has tons of tuning options - mostly expensive ones. The Hurricane and the Trooper have none.

vs. the E-Maxx... well, I don't like E-Maxx and I'd never recommend anyone buying so expensive brushed truck, so the Brushed version is out of the question. The Brushless one on 4S will break at least twice faster than the Hurricane on 4S if they do exactly the same, and I'm really fond of that opinion. The Brushless E-Maxx on 6S will break almost every time you drive it. The Hurricane on 6S will break stuff that you never thought possible (like differential outdrives). But then you can modify the hell out of you E-Maxx and it can be turned nearly indestructible. How's that? Expensive.

vs. The E-Revo - again - you should never ever buy a brushed truck that costs more than a roller, no matter the cheap NiMHs in the box, the traxxas servos and the ugly transmitter. The Brushless version is unique in a way only Traxxas can manage to achieve - it only uses parts that you could never use on another truck. Like... tires that only fit Revo. And the-all-new-suspension that you can never fine tune enough. The Revo also needs few upgrades and it is much more expensive (at least in Europe), but it will be faster (which is a pointless consideration for a monster truck) than the Hurricane or the Trooper. I know the Revo looks sleek. Its looks, not a heart though.

And a quick list of pros/cons:

+ The Hurricane has very good electronics
+ It's tough
+ It doesn't have much tuning options, if any
+ Big bore shocks!
+ Arms are the same, so every one you have fits every side of the truck.
+ Very good battery holders (both hardcase and standard doors)

- Turnbuckles pop out if you use wider/offset tires. Solved by adding shim or moving them on top of the upright.
- Body post location is low and leads to hit on the shock tops.
- Body shells are easy to break. Very easy.
- You may have to search for parts - they are not everywhere.
- It desperately needs bigger pinion gear and better motor timing - unless you enjoy crawl show.
- Tires are weak for 6S. The look like Traxxas one, and Traxxas ones are famous for being weak. These hold well and don't baloon much but they get damaged at the end.

To be continued with videos of the Hurricane jumping, hitting roks, bashing around and racing in on a track, driving on asphalt, gravel, dirt, grass, pavement, its top, etc. We have some in our Youtube channel on the left, so check them now.