Element RC Enduro24 Trailrunner 1:24 Crawler Review

The Element RC Enduro24 Trailrunner is a ready-to-run 1:24 scale trail truck hailing from the Team Associated stable. A name synonymous with performance in the RC world, the Trailrunner has one heck of a reputation to uphold… So does it have the proper crawling capability we’d expect from T.A. in such a seriously compact package?

With 4-link suspension front and rear, a forward-mounted motor for better climb grip, and a steel frame chassis, this is a proper little machine — not a toy. Comes complete with LiPo battery and USB charger, so you’re pretty much good to go straight out of the box. Let’s take a look deeper look…

Table Of Contents

• A Proper Crawler in Miniature
• Features & Benefits
• What We Like
• What to Be Aware Of
• Summary & Verdict
• Where To Buy

A Proper Crawler in Miniature

It really is amazing what small-scale crawlers can do these days, and there’s a growing number of choices for anyone getting into the hobby or expanding their collection. You can either go down the “Super-Scale” route, and choose something with a licensed bodyshell, which often bumps the retail price up considerably. Or you can go down the generic bodyshell route and pick something more wallet-friendly. And that’s where the Enduro 24 Trailrunner firmly sits.

This is aimed squarely at RC enthusiasts who want a capable crawler without the footprint (or the price tag) of a full-size rig, as well as younger or newer hobbyists looking for a quality entry point into scale crawling. Whether you want something to run on your desk, tackle a rocky path in the garden, or complement an existing 1:10 fleet, the Enduro24 Trailrunner makes a compelling case for itself.

Out of the box, the Element RC Enduro24 Trailrunner (model EL20182) is a 1:24 scale ready-to-run trail truck that takes a lot of the design thinking from its larger 1:10 sibling and squeezes it into a package small enough to almost fit in your jacket pocket. At just 215mm long and weighing 228g, this is genuinely compact — but it’s not been dumbed down to get there.

It comes ready to run, with everything included — motor, servo, receiver, ESC, LiPo battery, USB charger, and a 2.4GHz transmitter. You’ll just need four AA batteries for the transmitter, and you’re away.

And that’s the first challenge… getting it out of the box! I’m the sort of chap that likes to do these things carefully, and retain all of the original packaging… just in case, and the Trailrunner doesn’t want to come out without a fight. There’s a hefty old cable tie around its waist, which secures it to the cardboard base, which is pretty tricky to get at without a little thought.

In the end, I took the bodyshell off by removing the 4 clips and snipping the cable tie with side cutters to free the little beast. In my haste to get it out, though I did make a bit of a pig’s ear of the cardboard base… but it’s only packaging. What I did like, however, is that Element RC have gone to the trouble of printing the inside of the box to look like a pretty cool garage, with an oil-stained floor and even a spilt cup of coffee! A very nice touch, which could be turned into the start of a 1:24 scale garage diorama if you fancied it.

Talking Of Bodyshells

The bodyshell is a polycarbonate, generic modern SUV design, and it’s not bad looking at all. As with many polycarbonate shells, though, the moulded detail is pretty simple, and the windows, lights and front grille are all just factory-applied stickers. But it’s a pleasant-looking little thing. And the benefit of it being polycarbonate is that there’s no delicate scale detailing like chrome bumpers and wing mirrors to damage or lose when in use.

The other benefit of polycarbonate shells is that they’re painted on the inside, which helps prevent scratching of the paintwork as you’re scraping the truck down a large chunk of granite in the garden rockery. Let’s take a look at what’s under the shell

Features & Benefits

Steel Frame Rails

One of the first things worth noting is the chassis construction. The Enduro24 uses sturdy steel frame rails, similar its 1:10 scale counterpart. This gives some serious strength to the little chap, as well as adding a decent amount of weight low down, which matters when the whole rig weighs in at under 230g.

Front and Rear 4-Link Suspension

The independent 4-link suspension front and rear is arguably the headline feature here. Proper 4-link geometry at 1:24 scale is a significant bit of engineering, and it shows in how the truck articulates. It allows the Trailrunner to flex and conform to uneven terrain the way a real off-roader would — keeping tyres in contact with the ground over rocks, roots, and rough surfaces rather than simply getting stuck or skipping over obstacles. For anyone who’s ever run a budget mini crawler and watched it beach itself on a pebble, this matters.

There’s no fancy oil-filled shocks to mess about with here… just a simple coil spring arrangement, but on the desk, just testing the suspension by hand, you can feel it’s pretty soft, which I’m hoping makes it nice and flexible when in use.

Checking the flexibility this set-up gives on the bench, I’ve got the left-hand front wheel raised about 40mm off the bench, and the remaining three wheels are still maintaining good contact with the bench.

Forward-Mounted Motor and Divorced Transfer Case

The front-mounted brushed motor and steering servo are a clever bit of layout thinking by Element RC. Positioning the motor next to the steering servo at the front places more weight over the front axle, which improves grip and traction when you’re pointing the nose uphill. The divorced transfer case works alongside this to lower the centre of gravity and keep the drivetrain compact — both of which contribute to stability on challenging terrain. The 62.6:1 overall gear ratio gives you the torque you need for a proper crawling pace rather than just buzzing about at speed. In fact, if you want speed, it’s worth looking elsewhere.

The centrally mounted transfer case also gives plenty of space in the centre of the chassis, in case you wanted to switch the bodyshell and add something with more scale looks and a detailed interior further down the line.

And just quickly, there’s no mention of bearings anywhere, so I’m assuming for now, nothing is ballraced. It’ll just be plastic bushes, which is fine for a basic truck, but I’d consider upgrading to a decent set of bearings if the truck performs how I’m hoping it does. It’ll give longer run times fractionally, yes, but most importantly, it’ll increase the operational lifespan of the truck. I’ll pop a wheel off shortly, though and double-check.

Complete bearing sets for the Enduro 24 are available on eBay.

Gear Ratios

• Spur and Pinion (64/12): 5.33:1
• Transmission (40/16): 2.5:1
• Transfer Case (40/17): 2.35:1
• Axle Ring and Pinion (24/12): 2:1
• Final Drive Ratio: 62.6:1

Tyres and Wheels

The 1.0″ symmetrical wheels feature matte black plastic moulded rims that really look the part, and at first glance, the factory-fitted tyres seem to be moulded in a very soft, high-grip rubber with a realistic scale tread pattern. Again, there’s no branding to worry about here, which again keeps the cost down.

If I try to slide the vehicle across the smooth bench mat it’s standing on in front of me, the tyres don’t want to let go. In fact, the harder I push, the more they seem to grab! I’ve got high hopes for this little fella indeed.

Why am I banging on about the tyres? Well, soft compound tyres are important in crawling — they conform to surfaces easily and grip where harder rubber tyres supplied with some models would slip. It’ll be interesting to see how this copes with the garden rockery.

The 7mm plastic wheel hexes make swapping wheels straightforward if you want to experiment later on.

Electronics Package

The electronics are tidy. A 2-in-1 receiver and ESC combo keeps the internal layout clean and compact — sensible in a rig this size where every millimetre of space counts. And it’s mounted over the rear axle along with the battery to help add a little weight to the rear end.

The receiver/ESC is marked as “Water Resistant”, which means we should be good running this thing in the rain, or on a bit of wet grass, but I wouldn’t go snorkelling in a local stream with it.

The high-torque sub micro servo handles steering duties and reportedly keeps the front wheels exactly where you point them, which is what you want when you’re picking a line through an obstacle. We shall have to see how well it performs.

The 2-channel 2.4GHz radio system is designed to give you reliable, interference-resistant control without any faffing about with frequencies in days of old. And it features all the usual trim controls you’d expect.

Battery and Charging

Included in the box, in fact, it’s already mounted in the truck, is a Reedy 520mAh 1S LiPo battery and a USB charger. Its capacity isn’t that generous, so it’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. The battery is held in place by a simple red rubber band, but I did notice it’s not a standard rubber band; it’s made of something that looks a little more capable. So I’m hoping this can stand the test of time and doesn’t perish.

I did notice there isn’t a spare band in the box, so it might be worth carrying even a standard spare rubber band in your pocket if you’re going to be swapping batteries while you’re out and about.

The USB charging is genuinely convenient — you’re not hunting for a specialist charger or a specific mains plug. Just plug it into a power bank or a USB wall adapter, and you’re topped up. Element RC claim long run times from the included battery, which is promising for a rig this size. I guess we shall find out soon.

Test Run

I popped the little fella onto charge on Saturday morning while we popped out for an hour to walk the dog. It takes just a couple of seconds to remove the bodyshell and plug the battery into the supplied USB charger. I just used the wall socket with built-in USB chargers, and by the time we got home, the battery was fully charged and ready for action.

Transmitter Batteries

Now, one quick thing to note… the manual doesn’t mention batteries for the transmitter, and I couldn’t see any mention of them on the box either. They’re not included, which is fine, and I wouldn’t expect them to be, but every product listing I found online said it needs 4 x AA batteries… This is incorrect. It’s 4 x AAA. Like I say, it’s not big deal. Just something to be aware of.

The Power Switch Is Tricky To Get At

Now, this might just be my ageing fat fingers, but I found powering up the 1:24 Trail Runner a little fiddly. Connecting the battery is a doddle, but the power switch is mounted on the upper rear-right of the chassis, under a rubber cover to keep it watertight. This seemed very hard to get at with the bodyshell fitted. I had to fight a bit to get my finger in position to switch it on, and the feedback from the switch is so subtle that it was really tricky to tell if I’d actually moved the switch or not.

Many vehicles I’ve tested over the years give a little “jiggle” of the servos when you switch things on, whereas Enduro 24 remains perfectly still and silent. Any, a quick flick of the steering wheel proved it was ready for action.

Excellent Factory Fitted Tyres

The first test was the transition from the patio, up the dog ramp to the garden path, which is close to 45 degrees. The first thing that struck me was how naturally grippy the factory-fitted tyres are. They’re one of the best factory compounds I’ve tested.

The approach angle on the Trailrunner is pretty decent, but the aforementioned plastic ramp can be quite slippery, so it struggled to mount the ramp head on. Attacking it at about 45 degrees, though, and it coped with no issue, confidently scaling the 5ft ramp without a slip or a slide.

The slab & gravel garden path was a doddle, with the Enduro taking the 1.5-inch high slabs in its stride. I’d only driven 20 yards and was already confident that this was a very capable little truck. And I have to say, compared to similar offerings from FMS, etc., this really is a small truck. Positioning the motor over the front axle was definitely a smart move by Enduro 24’s design team. It helps give it that extra bit of bite when tackling obstacles.

Confidence in The Body Shell

Heading to the rockery by the pond, I had high hopes for the Trailrunner, and I wasn’t disappointed. The seemingly indestructible nature of the polycarbonate body may have given me the confidence to push it harder than I have some of my other models, but this tiny RC truck took some of the biggest rocks in its stride.

OK, so you have to pick your lines carefully, and it’s not going to scale a vertical climb higher than about 3 inches in one go, but it will certainly have a good go. In fact, taking things very steadily, I managed a decent over 4 rocks, each about 5 inches tall, without a wobble. I only managed it once, though. The rest of the time, it barrel-rolled its way down. That really tested the bodyshell, but I couldn’t see a mark on it.

A Very Capable Truck

Power-wise, the Enduro’s brushed motor has plenty of umph for tackling most outdoor and indoor courses with no real issue. Obviously, it’s not going to compete with a 1:10 scale rig, and it’s a trail truck rather than an actual Crawler, so it’ll never be able to perform like an actual crawler, but it’s capable enough to put a smile on your face, young or old.

The 62.6:1 ratio means top speed is a slow walking pace, and there’s no second gear on this model for faster running on the flat. That does, however, mean everything the motor can give is turned into torque, which is what you really need from a trail truck like this.

Runtime-wise… I ran this for over 45 minutes while the Sunday roast was cooking, and it still had more to give by the time I switched it off. In that entire time, the only thing the Enduro struggled with was some long grass at the edge of the lawn. The tyres are that sticky, they wrapped the grass perfectly around the front-left tyre and stopped the truck in its tracks.

Ok, so… important stuff to note. Any concerns about the capacity of the 1S LiPo were unfounded, as the runtime was pretty decent.

The front-mounted motor and centre-mounted gearbox really help with keeping the centre of gravity (CG) low, keeping the little fella stable and giving you the confidence to attempt some pretty tricky lines over quite extreme terrain. It would still benefit from a little extra weight down low, though, so I might see if I’ve got any 7mm brass hexes I can replace the factory-fitted ones with and give it another test.

The wheel/tyre combination do look a little on the small side compared to those fitted to my FMS FCX24 Blazer, but what they lack in stature, they make up for in grip. They had no problem holding the Trailrunner firm on the steepest of slopes while ascending or descending. Even after an accidental topple into the waterfall by the rockery, they still managed to hold their own while wet. After their performance on our test run, I wouldn’t be in a rush to upgrade them. There are other things I’d tinker with first, like the hexes and maybe a larger capacity battery. Then look for some aluminium upgrades for the suspension components.

During our test, the sub-micro steering servo held up well, at no point being a cause for concern in terms of strength or power. Even with the truck jammed up against a rock, the servo still had the capacity to be able to push the truck away from the rock to help me try and find a line to continue the climb.

And lastly the suspension… It’s very soft, and there are no means of adjusting things straight out of the box, but I found this to the Enduro 24’s benefit. It gave the whole rig plenty of room to flex… So much so, that there were several occasions where that flex was pushed to the limit during our test, with one tyre jammed up high against the wheel arch, while its opposite was on tiptoes! But it took it all in its stride.

What We Like

• Proper 4-link suspension front and rear — real articulation at this scale is a genuine differentiator
• Steel chassis frame rails — scale-accurate construction that adds both realism and rigidity
• Forward-mounted motor layout improves front-end grip and climb performance – a real bonus
• 62.6:1 gear ratio — plenty of crawling torque for slow, controlled obstacle navigation
• Soft, high-grip scale tyres — moulded in a compound that actually works on varied surfaces – they’re brilliant
• 2-in-1 ESC and receiver combo keeps the electronics clean and compact
• USB charging — convenient and practical, no specialist equipment needed
• Polycarbonate body — It’s sleek and well finished, with no fancy detailing to break off on your first run
• Ready to run — everything in the box, including battery and charger (just need 4 AAA batteries for the transmitter)

What to Be Aware Of

• Brushed motor — perfectly capable for crawling, but brushed motors do wear over time and will eventually need servicing or replacement and don’t give the level of fine control you’d get from a brushless system.
• Plastic wheel hexes — functional and easy to swap, but not as durable as metal alternatives in a harder-used rig. Swapping for brass ones would also add a little extra, low-down weight.
• 1:24 scale is compact — which is part of the appeal, but it does mean less aftermarket support and upgrade options compared to 1:10 platforms. That said, at the time of writing, spare parts availability seems pretty good.
• Single 1S LiPo included — if you want extended run sessions, you’ll want a spare battery, which means an extra purchase. It uses standard battery connectors, so you should be able to pick up an extra battery easily enough.
• Warranty information — The only specific warranty information I could see on the paperwork relates to the battery, and the manual is very basic. Mostly just a list of spare parts and some quick start info.
• Transmitter requires AAA batteries — not included, so have four to hand before your first run
• No tools included – You would usually get a box spanner and maybe a screwdriver, but I guess Element RC have really tried to keep the costs down here. So you’ll need to pick one up if you don’t have one in your toolbox already.

Specification

Specification	Detail
Product Name	Element RC Enduro24 Trailrunner Trail Truck RTR
Model Number	EL20182
Brand	Element RC
Scale	1:24
Power	Electric
Length	215.0mm (8.46″)
Width	102.0mm (4.02″)
Wheelbase	128.0mm (5.04″)
Weight	228.0g (0.5 lb)
Internal Gear Ratio	62.6:1
Motor	88T brushed motor
Radio System	2-channel 2.4GHz
Servo	High-torque sub-micro servo
ESC / Receiver	2-in-1 combo unit
Battery	1S LiPo (included)
Charger	USB charger (included)
Wheel Size	1.0″
Wheel Hexes	7mm (plastic)
Chassis	Steel frame rails
Body Material	Single-piece polycarbonate
Transmitter Batteries Required	4 × AAA (not included)

Summary & Verdict

The Element RC Enduro24 Trailrunner is a genuinely well-thought-out mini crawler. It would have been easy to take the Enduro name and slap it on a simplified, budget-cut 1:24 rig — but Element RC have clearly made an effort to carry real design intent across the scale jump. The 4-link suspension, steel frame rails, forward-mounted motor, and proper soft-compound tyres all point to a truck that’s been engineered to actually crawl, not just look like it could. And indeed it performed very well.

At 228g and 215mm long, it’s a genuinely pocketable rig, and the USB charging is a practical touch that makes it easy to live with day-to-day. The brushed motor and plastic wheel hexes are the obvious areas where corners have been cut compared to a more premium build, but neither is a deal-breaker — particularly at this scale and price point.

The lack of customer reviews at the time of writing makes it harder to assess long-term reliability from real-world use, so it’s worth keeping an eye on community feedback as more people get their hands on one. But it performed very well for us, and it’ll definitely be up there as one of the favourite trucks in my micro crawler collection.

If you’re after a compact crawler with proper credentials rather than just compact dimensions, this is well worth a serious look.

Availability

Fancy one? Well, as I write this, Element RC have actually sadly discontinued this particular model, but several shops do still have them in stock. There’s also its twin sister, the Enduro 24 Sendero, which you can find in several online stores.