Overview:
The EB410 is Tekno's first foray into true 1/10 scale racing, and they built upon the lessons learned from their 8th scale line of kits. I've always been a fan of Tekno, because they are definitely one of the underdogs in the RC world who try their hardest to just get it done. Their kits are known for high performance, extreme durability, and high quality parts and instructions. I had been watching this company for a while, and they finally produced a kit that I felt I needed to get.
Build: 5
The Tekno manual is very well done, clear with high quality full color schematics. The only thing missing was explaining what wheels fit the car, I wish they included that information. Out of the box, the kit is designed for TLR 22-4 wheels, although Associated wheels will fit with the +1 front wheel hexes.
However, there is one area that really brings down the score -- the plastic shock caps were a bit ovaled for me and made out of a soft, plastic material that was really difficult to thread on properly. They also stripped out on one of the bleeder screw holes -- I think the plastic should be made a little harder with more glass content. The o-rings on the bleeder screws are also ridiculously small and difficult to get on.
Other than that, the build was quite fun and everything fit together well. If they included aluminum shock caps, I could easily give the build a score of 8, but the plastic ones definitely drop down the score several notches alone.
Design: 7
The EB410 is a unique design, and you can see there were certain things Tekno focused on. First and foremost is an emphasis on extreme forward weight-bias. Everything, and I mean everything, is pushed all the way forward with the back 1/3 of the chassis completely empty. This is unusual -- the 22-4 has a balanced weight distribution, the B64 has a classic rear-weight bias, but the Tekno team decided that a heavily forward weight bias worked best.
There are also lots of little details Tekno built in to improve the durability and tidiness of the truck. Almost all of the bolts and nuts are captured, requiring only one tool to tighten/loosen. For example, the shock standoffs are mated into the shock tower, so you don't have to hold down the hex side while you spin off the nuts. Shock cups are captured into the eyelets, and there are tidy wire holders throughout. The chassis nicely accommodates different size servos (standard and low-profile) and you have the ability to use both of the most common wheel offsets (TLR and Associated) on the same buggy.
But at times they got a little overkill -- Tekno has left-handed hex screws to hold in the shocks, which I found unnecessary and replaced them with standard button heads. The electronics can also be a bit difficult to package in such a small place.
The area I was a bit surprised they didn't build into the design is adjustable axle heights. There are diff shims to raise or lower the gearboxes, but the latest competing designs also allow you to raise or lower the axles in the hubs. There also is no slipper clutch option -- this buggy is center differential only.
Performance: 9
I tested the buggy with the stock setup and it was a bit squirrelly. There is gobs of steering, but the rear end was a little unstable and twitchy. I then put in Ryan Lutz's Ohio RC Factory setup, and the kit was perfect. Removing the short rear chassis brace as well as raising the inner ballstuds tamed down the rear end and softened it and made it more stable.
Highlights of the buggy are excellent steering while still maintaining good rear traction. I think the value of the front weight distribution is that it uses the front end much more. Both for steering, but also on throttle has more of a 4WD effect where all of the wheels are driving the buggy forward rather than having more of a rear-wheel bias.
Transitions with the stock setup were a little erratic, but with the additional sweep from the Lutz setup it seems to have improved quite a bit.
Jumping and landing is also very good. The buggy has a slight nosedive, but nothing unusual for a 4WD vehicle. Landing is where this buggy really shines -- the 13mm shocks irked a lot of people for having non-standard springs, but I can honeslty say this buggy lands better than any 10th scale buggy I've driven. It's phenomenal -- it lands very plush and stable, and you can instantly get on the power as soon as this thing touches down.
Braking can be slightly unstable, but it makes it easy to land a jump, get on the brakes, and pivot around a 180. Short landing pads become long ones with this buggy. I did notice the buggy has very little rear droop -- both front and rear have about the same amount of droop, presumably to tame the rear end under braking.
Overall the buggy drives amazing and I'm not sure it could be any better.
Durability: 7
4WD buggies are the most difficult class to keep durable, but I think the Tekno does a good job. The plastics are forgiving, but I did break a couple of things.
Smashing the right side into a wall in a high-speed sweeper resulted in a bent inner hingepin and a tweaked shock standoff. It seems like the plastics do a good job of absorbing impact without breaking, but there are reports that the metals tend to bend. The shock standoffs stick out further than 12mm shocks, and I think this contributes to them being more prone to getting bent.
The body does stick out more than most buggies, which means that landing upside-down tends to focus most of the forces onto the front top of the body, and I've noticed it starting to break down.
I was worried about the lack of side rails on the chassis, but it's been holding up pretty well with no signs of fatigue. The bottom of the chassis also seems quite durable with minimal wear.
Value: 6
The EB410 sells for $399, which is quite inexpensive for a 4WD buggy. There's not a lot of carbon fiber (read: none) and limited aluminum in the kit, you can tell they did their best to lower the price. You will need to supply your own wheels however.
On the plus side: machined aluminum A/B/C/D blocks and motor mount parts, parts made in Taiwan (rather than China), and high quality plastics and chassis. On the down side, lots of parts on parts trees, steel hexes, and no carbon fiber anywhere.
There are a couple of pieces that I think are a must have -- aluminum shock caps and aluminum servo horn. Most people will also want to get the carbon top plate is nice because it has an integrated fan mount.
Overall, I think the kit is a good value being priced lower than most kits, but it definitely is low on the bling chart.
Support: 3
Tekno is a small company, but if you're outside of California it may be hard to find local support. I imagine outside of the U.S. is especially bad. Setup sheets are limited, but parts are easily available online and from Tekno themselves.
Maintenance: 7
Maintenance on the EB410 is pretty good, for the most part. The diffs are easy to get to, requiring 4 screws to unbolt and it's nice that the underside of the front and rear diffs are sealed. Shocks are easy to bleed, and with the machined caps are not an issue.
The only area that can be tricky is the electronics. It's difficult to place the electronics so that wires are out of the way, and still have everything serviceable. In my buggy, I can get to the receiver plugs, the bind button, the ESC power button, access to the transponder and still remove the motor fairly easily, but I have a hard time getting to the motor sensor wire on my ESC. So if it fails, I have to remove the capacitors and then shoe goo them back into place.
Dislikes:
I wish they had provided a little more real estate to the electronics, and provided aluminum shock caps in the box. Other than that, I can't really complain much about the kit.
Conclusion:
The Tekno's extremely high performance, good durability, and low price is hard to beat. I'm sure this kit has its competitors going back into the lab and re-thinking their buggy strategy. At the 2017 IFMAR 1/20 World Championship, the TLR guys did something Tekno-like and moved all of their electronics forward on the 22-4 2.0 and left the back half of the chassis open.
I think Tekno has moved the bar forward in the 4WD 1/10 scale buggy world, and everyone else is scrambling to catch up. This is a very, very good kit. If you're considering buying one, don't hesitate and pick one up. Just make sure you get the aluminum shock caps too!
