The Redcat gen 8 v2 is a quality rock crawler that has good climbing abilities and looks like a normal car, it’s actually a fully licensed International® Scout II body. The body offers internal wheel wells that protects the inside from getting filled with most of the junk that would otherwise be thrown inside by the tires.
The Redcat scout 2 comes in two colors, an almost neon green color, and a sexy dark purple, as you can see from the images I chose the sexy purple 😍 The body is of course painted from inside, so even after a few tumbles and scratches the car still looks almost as good as new.
I did add a lighting kit to my car, for as little as $31, it’s worth every penny. It’s also brighter than you would think, driving in the dark gives a decent light to maneuver around and find your path.
The only negative thing about the light kit that makes me scratch my head is why oh why would they use white LED’s on the rear fender? As a reverse light sure, it would have made sense. But as an always on light it’s very disturbing, walking behind the car in the dark, those lights kind of blinds you. Replacing these with red LED’s or disable them would make more sense.. But enough about the lights.
The servo is a metal geared 25kg servo mounted on the chassis, Both axels have gear covers in aluminum, CNC machined spool and use portal axels to give better ground clearance of 54.5mm. Tires are licensed Interco IROCK super swampers tyres with real beadlock rims to keep your tires on the rim while you explore uneven terrain. Tires are ventilated and have an internal soft sponge.
I believe most of the gears used are metal, but I’m not sure. The drivetrain use plastic in most cases. What I do know is that the gear box is quite noisy on high speed and low resistance driving. I currently don’t own tools small enough to open everything at this time. Adding more grease on the gears might help with some of the noise.
Redcat have published some 3D printable upgrades on thingiverse for the gen 8. Practical things like roof rack, front skid plate, cooling fan brackets and more. Worth checking if you have or want a 3D printer.
With an approach angle of 61°, 80mm ground clearance(middle) and departure angle of 39.5° the car is seldom stuck, but sand dunes or other loose powdery substances is not ideal, it’s a heavy car (3130 grams w/o battery) and the result is it digs down if it’s not enough traction and you get wheel spin.
All in all I think this car is an excellent beginner car, I’ve let my daughter(5 years old) and nieces and nephews try it out, and it looks like they manage the car fine from an age around 11, but personality is a huge factor here, many of them have never driven RC before, at least nothing like this. This is not a toy.
Specs
| Scale: | 1:10 |
| Ready To Run: | Yes, but needs separate battery and charger |
| Battery: | 2-3c LiPo or 6v-10,8v NiMh with Deans/T-plug |
| Fun time: | Battery dependent, I run a 2c 5300mAh LiPo and get 2h+ |
| Charge time: | Battery and charger dependent, I get full charged in ~1h |
| Radio battery: | 4x 1,5v AA (not included) |
| Size: | 571mm x 249mm x 258mm / 22.48″ x 9.8″ x 10.15″ (LWH) |
| ESC: | 40A brushed, waterproof |
| Motor: | 17T RC550 brushed |
| Servo: | Hexfly, 25kg, waterproof |
| Radio: | 2.4GHz, 2 channels |
The scout 2 also offers adjustable wheelbase, each corner have 9 different mounting holes to choose from. Out of the box the wheelbase is 324mm, and is adjustable between 312mm to 336mm.