A Smaller Crawler - The Axial SCX30 (review)
Smaller micro crawlers weren't on my bingo card for 2025, but Axial surprised me, and probably a lot of other people, with this one. Will it be any good? Is it just a gimmicky desktop toy? It sure doesn't look like one.
Check out the video below to find out, or read on if that's more your thing!
Quick Specs
- 1/30 Scale Crawler
- .030 Brushed motor/2 in 1 ESC Receiver
- Grease filled (suprisingly good) Shocks
- 2S Lipo, USB charger, and transmitter batteries included!
- Jeep, Bronco, and Chevy K10 (currently out of stock) bodies available
- Price 99.99
Whats in the Box?
The SCX30 comes with the truck, the usual SLT2 transmitter, batteries for the transmitter, a 2S LiPo battery, and a USB charger.
Depending on which version you get, you'll also receive extra parts that allow you to remove accessories such as the roof rack and spare tire. As of the time of this review, only the Bronco includes a blank slider that can replace the ESC/receiver slider.
Overview
Two things stick out when you first see an SCX30 in person.
First, this thing is TINY. You know it's going to be small, but nothing really prepares you for what it's actually like holding one in your hand.
The second thing you'll notice is how incredibly detailed the bodies are. Axial could have easily gotten away with a few stickers here and there, but these are more like scale model bodies than typical RTR crawler bodies.
There are no body clips to deal with either. Just pull up on the front until it unclips, then slide the body backward to remove it.
Under the body you'll find a very nicely organized hobby grade crawler chassis. The motor is mounted sideways and leaned toward the front. One slider integrates the ESC/receiver combo, while the other holds the battery with a simple rubber strap.
There's definitely room on the chassis if you want to swap electronics, which is nice because people are absolutely going to modify these things. At the very least, a brushless conversion should be straightforward since the SCX30 uses the same size motor as the SCX24.
The chassis looks a lot like what I would expect from an aftermarket SCX24 chassis. There are several shock mounting locations available, it comes with high-clearance links, and the geometry keeps the driveshafts tucked nicely out of the way.
The axles are well designed too, featuring integrated sliders molded into the housings to help the differentials slide over rocks.
Overall, it looks like the SCX30 is designed to perform well.
How well?
Let's find out.
First Pack
I chose my very cluttered dining room table as the location for my initial testing since it seems like the kind of place most people will run their SCX30.
Cruising over laptops, decorations, laptop bags, and all sorts of random household items was much easier than I expected. I was having an absolute blast trying to challenge this thing on my indoor household-item course.
The throttle feel is smooth and controlled, and the SCX30 is geared quite low, which is perfect for this type of driving. The turning radius leaves a little to be desired, but I can still get around my dining room table without making three point turns, so I'm not going to complain too much.
The only real performance issue I encountered was the weight of the body. The SCX30 has a tendency to roll over because of it, but honestly, I'll take the good-looking body over a lower center of gravity on a stock truck any day.
Fifth Pack
The SCX30 is great indoors, but it proved it could handle a lot more than decorations and office supplies.
I took it outside for the rest of my testing to see how it would hold up on some of my favorite lines at my usual crawling spot. This turned out to be one of the best ideas I've had in a while because the SCX30 feels perfectly at home on real rocks and terrain.
Not only was I able to tackle some of the more challenging lines my outdoor spot has to offer, but I was also finding and creating entirely new lines in an area I've crawled hundreds of times. The small size of the SCX30 makes every crawling spot feel huge, and sections that wouldn't even register as a line for a larger crawler become usable, and even challenging at times.
It can handle the big stuff too.
Steep side hills and climbs were challenging with the scale Bronco body, but they were mostly doable and would likely become much easier with a lighter body and/or a few modifications.
I ran the SCX30 at this same spot for hours, and I would have stayed even longer if it hadn't started getting dark. I had more fun crawling with the SCX30 than I've had in a very long time at this spot.
As long as I had a charged battery, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
Was there anything I Didn't Like?
Honestly, not really.
If I had to nitpick, the truck is a little top-heavy and the turning radius could be better.
I'm also not a huge fan of the PH2.0 battery connector with the little locking tabs on top. They can be annoying when unplugging batteries. Thankfully, you can shave those tabs down and make them much easier to work with.
At this point, though, I'm really fishing for complaints.
Durability Notes
I don't typically run into many durability issues with crawlers, and the SCX30 didn't give me any reason to worry. During testing I didn't experience any axles popping apart, stripped gears, servo failures, or other mechanical problems.
Despite rolling down steep rock faces more than a few times, the body held up surprisingly well too. I don't think you'll break this little guy very easily if you're driving it normally.
Final Word
The SCX30 is amazing.
I think everybody who's into RC should own one, and I can say that without the slightest hesitation.
It's fantastic on indoor courses, and it's equally capable outside on real terrain. Because of its size, price, and the low cost of spare batteries, I genuinely believe it's one of the most accessible hobby grade RC crawlers on the market.
Once the aftermarket really gets rolling, I can easily see myself building and owning several of these. They may not be the easiest vehicles in the world to work on, but I think they're going to be incredibly fun to build.
The SCX30 is an innovative product that genuinely brings something new to the hobby, and I'd love to see more innovation like this in the future.
If you're interested in picking up an SCX30 for yourself you can pick up the Bronco, and or the Jeep by following the links! There is a white Jeep, and a Chevrolet K10 available in teal, and black, but they're out of stock til August.
