HorizonRC.com Review - Losi 1/10-scale Night Crawler RTR

Crawlers have truly burst onto the scene, thanks in large part to Losis multiple entries into the class. The 1/10-scale Comp Crawler raised the bar in many areas in terms of performance. For those who are looking for premium performance without the premium price tag, Losi has the perfect truck for you in the 1/10-scale RTR Night Crawler. Borrowing many key designs and features from the Comp Crawler, the Night Crawler brings some different twists to the crawling game and gets you up and running in no-time flat.

I was able to take the Night Crawler with me when I headed to the recent Spektrum Off Road Championships held at S&Ns Trackside Hobbies, my old home track. They have recently set up a crawler room with a wide variety of different obstacles, rock formations, elevation changes and more. With a bunch of charged packs, my daughter at my side and my camera at the ready, we took to the course to try to get a better grasp of this whole rock crawling thing.

Ill admit that I havent hopped on the rock crawling bandwagon before now. I mean its crawling rocks and going over stuff, how hard could it possibly be, right? Well, after spending a few days with the Night Crawler, I have to admit that I get it now. Rock crawling is a very cerebral experience, much more than I ever gave it credit for. While many may consider 1/12-scale on-road racing as the RC equivalent of a chess match, perhaps rock crawling is the closest thing to it in a single-vehicle format. It challenges you to think two, three, four moves ahead and plan accordingly and really develop a strategy for how to best attack the course. Thats another difference between rock crawling and any other form of RC Ive ever done. Its not just you against the field for the most laps in the least amount of time. Its you versus the rock, the trail, and in many ways, yourself. Its a pretty visceral experience.
I will admit whole heartedly that I get it now. I understand better why so many people have fun rock crawling. Perhaps it took seeing my daughter having a blast doing it that really opened my eyes but seeing her having fun helped me have fun too. The Night Crawler is a capable rig that does rock crawling right. Its as complete a setup as youll ever find. From its Spektrum-equipped 2.4GHz Losi radio system, multi-National Champion Rock Claw tires, worm gear drivetrain and excellent ESC, this is a very good truck. In fact, its so good that my daughter may just be a better rock crawler than her father is. Well I guess it had to happen sooner or later, but a few more years would have been nice.


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[horizonhobby]

I can totally understand and relate. Best advice I can give is to just try it. Like I thought, "what's the appeal? It's rock crawling...You just...crawl...rocks". it's actually got quite a bit more to it than that.

[horizonhobby]

Think of it like a corkscrew. Instead of having a ring and pinion gear setup like conventional transmissions the worm gear is mounted vertically in the transmission case. Check out the link to the Night Crawler's page in the more info section, there are photos of what it is and what it looks like.

[horizonhobby]

I actually do have dark footage. The problem is that the camera did not do well in low light and the footage looked bad. You guys would not have liked it.

[Craftsteen]

Really nice vid i was looking for a good vid of this crawler before i buy it thanx for makin

[horizonhobby]

I know Losi has a 5000mAh LiPo right now, I am sure you could get higher but runtime is honestly not an issue on these trucks. I ran a Dynamite 5300 in the truck too and had over a 20-minute runtime, no problems.

[horizonhobby]

Run time was not an issue. I stopped more often just to take a break than because of the battery.

[horizonhobby]

Yeah I did. The LED's weren't like "I'm going to go blind they're so bright" but they were actually really good. Although it's funny..I rolled the truck once in the dark and the LED shined right in my eye. It kinda hurt, lol.

[SUNSETRETREATSXM]

Good professional review and nice car.

[soldierpimpdaddy]

hay man i gotta tell you the crawler cam was by far one of the coolest on board rc cams i have seen no just if you had hooked it to the chasis and shot it through the body it felt and when on throtle sounded alot like a real crawler awsome vid keep them goin...rc till i die

[horizonhobby]

$339.99 Ready-To-Run. All you'd need is a battery pack and charger and you're good to go.

[horizonhobby]

You'll get close with the Mini-Rock Crawler. It's RTR for $239.99.

[horizonhobby]

Well I was under the pressure of making sure the video was under 10-minutes to conform to YouTube's limits, does that count? :)

[chino]

awsome rtr. i took 2nd in sportsman class at the local course with a near stock night crawler

[horizonhobby]

I do not however I would recommend looking up RCCrawler on Google. YouTube blocks links but that is a very active crawler forum and I am sure Badger and the crew will be able to help you out.

[Thinkflite]

wow a vid i always wanted great job man awesome.

[horizonhobby]

@lunar22ful Crawlers are designed for torque, not top speed. I'd estimate the speed would be about 8-10MPH if that.

[horizonhobby]

I can totally relate to that attitude. Yeah, there's a lot more to this than even I gave it credit for. Like I said in the video, how hard can it be? It's rock crawling...you...crawl over rocks, right? You do have to put a lot of thought into where you're going to crawl up, how much throttle to use, planning ahead, etc. I didn't give it a lot of credit till I tried it.

[horizonhobby]

@nubetube513 Pretty much anywhere that has major obstacles to crawl over can become a crawling course.

[horizonhobby]

@traxxas441 It's cheaper. The RTR is $339.99, the BND is $299.99 on the Horizon Hobby site.

[xxgg]

yeah i thought it would be awesome watch the shocks work.
i am sure you've got the fund to try it in the future.

thanks again.