Anyway, the hand wound Crawler 21.5 Brushless motor features sensor/sensorless operation and neodymium magnets. It has a built-in Hill brake, but that isn’t needed with the worm gears in the Losi Comp Crawler, but I’d like it in my Axial AX10. The ESC also has no reverse delay and 4 unique crawler throttle profiles.

Driving the LRP Brushless Motor

Wow. I have not run brushless in a crawler before. I had that same ’special moment’ when I powered it up as when I threw the Monster Max in my eRevo. I don’t know if it has more to do with the out-of-the-box quality of the the Losi or the LRP combination, but I REALLY like this setup.

I’m reading a lot of people in the crawler community mentioning “wheel speed” lately. It is nice to have a little bit of “blast” on reserve to power up tough sections when you need it, but I also like driving super slow. The LRP setup is great for both. It easily packs more punch with a 6 cell NimH battery than a comparable Novak 55 turn brushed setup on Lipo.

LRP Slow Speed Crawling

Where things really get interesting is at the super slow end. This thing is buttery smooth…unbelievably silky smooth…..super slow….(words can’t describe) My Axial has a Mamba Max with the Novak 55t and I can almost feel the revolutions of the motor if you know what I mean (not literally, but that “chug chug chug” feeling when going slow). The LRP setup is just totally smooth – unbelievable low end. You become intimately intertwined with the Crawler as it responds to the trigger. Inching up something is fun. It’s hard to describe until you do it.

Four thumbs up for the LRP setup – well worth the money!

First Thoughts on the Losi Crawler

As soon as you take the 1/10 Losi Comp Crawler out of the box, you feel like it is very tight and well designed. Everything just feels right. If you’re familiar with an out of the box Axial AX10, you’ll immediately think, “Man, why didn’t Axial do this?” You’ll be enamored, but then again – you probably are every time you pull a new toy out of a box.

I’m not dogging the Scorpion – quite the opposite. At this point, my stock Losi isn’t able to keep up with my AX10. However, there are several immediate upgrades you need to perform on an AX10 – even the ARTR version. A stock Losi Crawler will MURDER an AX10 out of the box based purely on the battery location alone. In practice, NO ONE puts their battery on the battery plate at the top of an AX10, so that isn’t a legitimate comparison. Indeed, half the fun of crawling is personalizing your crawler and locating your ESC, Batteries, Servos etc.
Losi versus Axial?

Before I get into a discussion piece by piece of the Losi, I’d like to expand a bit on the comparison. The Losi is tight enough out of the box that I felt confident crawling with it without adjustment. That is not to say that I didn’t end up fine tuning it and taking it entirely apart, but I didn’t attack it before driving it. Now, to contrast that with the Axial: almost everyone I know purchases at least the front axle battery tray/ 4 link suspension setup simultaneous with the car and winds up installing that before even attempting to drive it. It’s just a fact. There are a lot of mods you want to do as soon as you get your hands on a Scorpion. You won’t feel like that with the Losi – which is both a good and BAD thing.

You’re probably asking yourself, “why is that a bad thing?”

Well, depending on which upgrades you buy, within about 2 weeks of owning the Axial . . . you will have a very different truck than your buddy. And his will be different from the next guy. And so on. That may not be the case with the Losi. See where I’m going? Do you really want to show up a competition and be driving the EXACT same truck as the next guy? Or even down at the park with your kids?

“Hey, that is my crawler!”

“No, that is my crawler!”

“Wait, they are exactly the same?”

“Oh, this one has my speed control on it….”

Some Positive Notes on the 2.2 Losi Crawler

• The DIG is great – more on this as I continue to write the review.
• Out of the box solid rear axle with worm gear.
• 4-link suspension out of the box – this is a necessary upgrade on the Axial.
• Comes with the 2.2 Losi Rock Claws which most people end up buying anyway.
• More shock mount possibilities than the Axial with cooler, aluminum threaded shocks out of the box.

Finding the Right Motor/ESC Combination

This was trickier than expected. The Axial was a no brainer: just bolt on the Novak 55 turn brushed motor with a Mamba Max and start crawling. The Novak barely ever breaks a sweat – doesn’t get past warm even on hot days.

Not so with the Losi – probably because of the worm gears. First, I tried the Mamba Max with a Traxxas Velineon motor (unsensored setup) and it was terrible. I had read that the Losi needed a faster turning motor because of the gear reduction via the worm gears. Not true. The 55 turn was fine, but I didn’t want two crawlers running the same brushed motor. Unsensored brushless motors and crawling do not mix – they cog terribly at slow speeds. I wound up burning the $80 Velineon motor up within a couple hours of operation.

Okay, so I was still on the quest for a faster turning motor and jumped up the a 35 Turn Integy motor. I anxiously put it in and started crawling. It drove nicely, but seemed to bind up a bit (which I think was actually the Dig misengaging at times) but after a short time I noticed the motor was nuclear hot. I let it marginally cool down and drove more – it burned up too.

Choice #3 was a pulled 21 turn Titan out of an eRevo. This started out great – lots of power and unbelievable low end as well. I was very optimistic about the Titan……..until it to burned up.

3 Strikes and You’re Out

I didn’t want to spend another $220 on a brushless setup, but I did and I can only saw Awesome. I bought the LRP setup and did a review of it on it’s own. Perfect.