By Ross Ballot
Rally racing might just be the most adrenaline-pumping motorsport, full stop. Capturing that– or any full-size– feeling in the scale hobby sense can be difficult, like lightning in a bottle. Rlaarlo has been at the forefront of the recent rally racer push in the RC scene, and their new XTS-S10 rally car might just be the ticket for bringing rally car excitement to your hands and home.
What is the XTS-S10?
In true rally car guise, the S10 tries to push boundaries. It’s the first application of Rlaarlo’s new tagline: Dare to Doubt, Dare to Dash. “This is the culmination of RLAARLO’s new start, an uncompromising machine built to obliterate the standards of the past.” Big claims, eh? Let’s see how it does– and if that’s true. Other highlights from the brand for this car are good. Rlaarlo touts an aggressive design, transparent body shell with fully detailed interior, 80A sensored brushless ESC and “pro-grade handling,” and a 190mm track width which is modular among the class for body swaps.
At first look, the chassis is close to the last version of this configuration, with only minor differences in the suspension arms and electronics versus the last 1/10 Rlaarlo rally car. Still, it was a good platform already, so these changes should make it even better, right? Right?
Well, look at the specs and there’s some unpacking to do, most of which is good– at least on the surface. The new S10 boasts 4WD with a center differential, front/rear lighting, a sensored brushless 80A ESC with 2-3S LiPo battery capability (a 3S 2200mAH 35C LiPo battery comes with the RTR kit), a standard cooling fan and heat sink, 11kg waterproof metal gear servo, and a 2.4GHz 6-channel “T-rexRC” remote that has a gyroscope and a claimed range up to 350 meters.
Sure does look good, doesn’t it?
Visually though, it’s a stunner. We love the details. The co-driver is reading pace notes! That’s rad. And the roll cage, box flares, and other tidbits make it look like the real thing. The paint is particularly excellent; it has actual depth and flake to it just the way a brand new real 1:1 car bathed in Subaru’s iconic World Rally Blue would. Tires? They look great, although the brand name stamped (molded?) into the rubber is a bit cheesy.
Just don’t go calling it a Subaru (Rlaarlo admittedly doesn’t), because there’s no automaker licensing involved. And this isn’t the only branding/licensing question. What exactly are KMA Wheals? Yes, it’s spelled “wheals” on the stickers. And with other RC reviewers calling it a Rubaru, we have reservations on the body front.
Ruh roh
Speaking of issues, we have to address the issue of the provided liver-replicating stickers. In the photos on the box and online, the S10 looks like a full-fledged rally car with Subaru WRC garb. However, the stickers provided to us will not go onto the car without serious modification to the former, requiring the cutting or removal of body parts to install. Call us what you will, but spending a few hours to apply stickers to a RTR car is asking a bit much. That said, Rlaarlo says a YouTube video demonstrating the sticker application process will be live by the time customer/production S10s ship. Needless to say, we left the big yellow Subaru stickers off.
Know what? That’s fine with us, since the XTS-S10 looks awesome relatively bare. Why would you want to hide the beautiful WRB paint? This thing looks so good that it’s the first time I ever wished for a spare/backup body for an RC car, just for the sake of keeping the factory unit pristine. But that’s not how rally cars are meant to be treated, so let’s unleash the S10 and, er, dare to dash.
Subarus blow smoke, this doesn’t
It’s always easy to tell when a company is blowing smoke. They lead with the specs and not the anticipated experience, asking quietly for the media to show how impressive it is on paper versus in the real world. So with that in mind, how is the Rlaarlo? Well, it’s good. Very good. Not great, but very good.
Left 6 over crest into left 3, flat fifty into hairpin, over dip into… garbage can? That’s the sensation you get when piloting this thing. I owned a VA WRX once upon a time, and this RC helps scratch that Colin McRae and Travis Pastrana-led itch. That car promised rally racing vibes but only delivered on AWD all-weather supremacy was a letdown in my world. It never let its hair down, but thankfully this Rlaarlo uncorks that bottle.
Out of the gate, the S10 accelerates hard and the throttle response is immediate. Line it up and slam the throttle; the car simply goes. There’s no lag whatsoever (thank you, modern electronics) and the responsiveness from the steering is perfectly proportional and similarly reactive. By the time you think it and your hands turn the wheel or flick the throttle, the S10 is already doing what you want. In that sense, it captures the rally vibe perfectly; these cars are meant to be an extension of your brain, and that’s fully the case here as far as the “driving” experience goes.
Goddamn is it fun though
Most importantly for rallying– and the RC rally car experience– might be the Scandinavian flick: Go hard into a corner, fling the steering one direction, then rapidly chuck it the other to steer through the corner, rooster tail flying behind the car’s back end. Yes, you can do a scandi flick with the S10, which for many is the mark of a real rally car.
And like a rally car, the STX-S10’s tires, though high quality as they may be, won’t last long. It’s really the smaller version of its full-size self in that regard, in that the motor and traction when going sideways are perfectly lined up to dramatically overwhelm the tires at even half throttle.
Should you want to turn the hooligan antics down, the 5-stage gyro can allegedly be adjusted to your liking and, for newer drivers, ability. Our test unit had an extremely sensitive gyro that proved problematic to tinker with, but supposedly production models will be more user-friendly. Think of it as something like GM’s PTM traction control system, allowing just the right amount of slip for the circumstances depending on the driving you’re doing at the time. Hopefully buyers get this adjustability.
To be honest…
In the sake of transparency, there were a couple issues with the Rlaarlo test unit. The fender flares repeatedly made contact with the tires, which slowed the car down and made terrible noises. . Also, two times inside the first charge of the battery after a roll or minor jump the XTS-S10 went into what we can only perceive as “limp mode,” which means it basically powers down so it runs at a maximum of about 1/10th throttle. Other reviewers have reported ESC overheating/overload issues, but again, that could be pre-production woes.
Also questionable is the speed. Rlaarlo quotes 50-80 km/h, which is 31-49 MPH; Other reviewers are seeing 35-40 MPH, which is in the 50-60 km/h range. Even with the speed pinion installed, reviewers are only seeing 45 MPH or so. We don’t have the fancy speed testing gear others do, but those numbers seem fully representative of what a car with this degree of branding support should pull. If anything, the S10 actually feels a little slower than the P12. That could be perception– the P12 is a wild ride under full throttle with little holding it back– or reality. Then again, it doesn’t really matter, does it?
How far have we come?
The ultimate name of the game here is fun, and determining whether the S10 achieves its goals depends on how it is as a rally car and as a fun, smile-inducing RC. The media release also brings up a question and the matter of journalistic integrity. As DerbyCityRC pointed out, the pre-production models that Rlaarlo shipped were flawed and it’s easy to hold that against them, citing a desire to get product in reviewers’ hands in a timely manner over actual quality.
Yet despite this, overall, we’re going to say that Rlaarlo succeeded on both parts of the equation. This isn’t a flawless machine; if anything, it’s quite the contrary. However, we hope that with Rlaarlo’s credibility they can make these things right by the time they actually hit buyers’ hands. Pricing comes in at $329.99 for a RTR and $199.99 for the model without electric components. At these prices it’ll be a solid proposition in a segment that’s inevitably going to become more crowded and probably quickly.
Is the XTS-S10 perfect? No, far from it. But the car is a lot of fun to play with whether you’re an experienced RC enthusiast or novice to the field, regardless of how troublesome it can be. We just hope the backing company is up to the task of supporting any potential needs that buyers may pose on the back end.
Yay
- High quality parts
- Good build quality
- Looks killer
- Absolutely rips at full throttle
- Manageable speed with gyro on (and even with it off)
Nay
- Subaru body without actual licensing
- Possible tinkering/adjustments needed out of the box
- Could use a little more ground clearance
- Fan is quite loud
- Stickers require skilled craftsmanship to apply.
The Takeaway
Though great on paper, the Rlaarlo XTS-S10 rally car is stuck following a game-changing predecessor into the newfound RC rally car world that has emerged over the last few years. The S10 is more than sufficient as far as what it brings to the table on the performance and fun fronts, albeit with the caveat that it might be making promises its reality can’t cash. And yet, just look at the thing; that alone, whether static or in motion, might be enough to win over buyers, and rightfully so.
Jeff Glucker