Jeff Hoy, American » rtr

New Truck: Robitronic EST- BL Truck

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:38:42 +0000

Robitronic, the makers of the excessively cool 1/18 scale Scalpel pan car, have decided to branch out a litte bit. They have announced a new 1/10 scale RTR stadium truck targeted at newbies called the EST- BL. But just because it’s a beginner’s truck don’t expect it to skimp on performance or high tech goodies, it’s brushless powered and includes a 2.4GHz radio. As with most RTRs you’ll need a battery (2S LiPo or 6 cell NiMH) and charger to complete the package. Unfortunately there’s no word on MSRP or ship date, check with your local hobby shop or keep an eye on Stormer Hobbies and Tower Hobbies.

Features & Specs

RTR – out of the box
Brushless Motor
2.4GHz Radio
2WD
Painted Body
Oil filled shocks
Ball Bearings
Wheelbase: 11.4″
Length: 17.7″
Width: 12.6″
Height: 6.7″

New Product: Team Associated RC18 Late Model

Jeff Hoy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:53:01 +0000

Team Associated’s stable of 1/18th scale cars has just grown by one. Hot on the heels of their awesome looking SC18, AE has dug deep and come up with the RC18 Late Model. It’s an RTR with a 2.4 GHz radio, built on the new SC18 belt driven chassis. Just like the SC18 it seems that batteries and a charger are NOT included, you’ll have to supply those yourself. MSRP is $279, street price will likely be closer to $180, the release timeframe is March of this year. Here’s a link to Team Associated’s press release (PDF doc).

Team Losi has a 1/18th Late Model car as well, so this class will be gaining some momentum in the coming months. AE now needs to get a sprint car to market and the classes will be complete. Dirt oval as a whole, I believe, is under-represented in this hobby.

The 1/18th scale sector of the r/c hobby keeps growing despite the fact that some industry “insiders” see it as just a fad. Everything is getting smaller, cars, boats, airplanes, helicopters; simply so people can find more places to use them. The days of needing a huge empty lot are at an end, nearly everybody has a backyard, basement, or garage big enough for these small vehicles.

The evolution of buggy racing?

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:29:54 +0000

It’s no secret that the advent of the short course style trucks, like the Slash, Strike, and SC10, has changed the face of off-road truck racing. My first thought upon seeing these trucks was “when is somebody going to give 2wd buggies the same treatment?” Well, it’s finally happened, and Kyosho is the first one out of the gate.

Kyosho announced their new take on the 2wd off-road buggy with the new Ultima DB Desert Buggy. This buggy is intended to be a more realistic take on the full scale buggies that are raced along side short course trucks and baja trucks. It’s based on the Ultima SC chassis and uses the same realistic looking wheels and tires. It includes a very nice looking body with a tube roll cage and window nets. Also included is a complete radio system, 20 turn mild modified motor, lipo compatible ESC, and it is completely assembled as a Ready Set. The only requirements are batteries for the car (LiPo or NiMH), batteries for the radio, and a charger.

Read all about it and check out all the pictures at Kyosho’s Ultima DB product page.

[Update] Greg Vogel at RC Driver shares similar thoughts.

Two (more) new RTRs from Associated, still no SC18…

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:40:51 +0000

Team Associated announced two new RTR packages today. Both are based on the highly successful RC10T4 stadium truck RC10B4 off-road buggy with some changes and dubbed the RC10T4.1 RC10B4.1. One is brushed motor powered, the other is brushless. They both come with a new 2.4 GHz radio system as well. MSRPs are $339.99 $329.99 for brushed and $399.99 $389.99 for brushless. Street price would likely be closer to $250 and $300 (update: Tower and Stormer are showing street prices at closer to $200 and $250, your local hobby shop‘s prices will vary). They’re nice looking rides and the RC10T4 RC10B4 has been a dominator in the racing scene for a long time.

RC10B4.1 Brushed RTR

RC10B4.1 Brushless RTR

Still no news on the SC18 though. I’m a bit surprised that it’s not out yet considering it’s been advertised for three months now. I’m fully expecting it to ship with a 2.4 GHz radio now though, instead of the advertised 27 MHz.

Two new RTRs from Associated, still no SC18…

Jeff Hoy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:06:01 +0000

Team Associated announced to new RTR packages today. Both are based on the highly successful RC10T4 stadium truck with some changes and dubbed the RC10T4.1. One is brushed motor powered, the other is brushless. They both come with a new 2.4 GHz radio system as well. MSRPs are $339.99 for brushed and $399.99 for brushless. Street price would likely be closer to $250 and $300 (update: Tower and Stormer are showing street prices at closer to $200 and $250, your local hobby shop‘s prices will vary). They’re nice looking rides and the RC10T4 has been a dominator in the racing scene for a long time.

RC10T4.1 Brushed RTR

RC10T4.1 Brushless RTR

Duratrax Vendetta SC in stock

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:25:09 +0000

Tower Hobbies has the Duratrax Vendetta SC in stock. So if you’re looking for some small scale short course action then whip out your credit card and get to buying. You can get it in red, white, blue, or yellow. For $219.99 you don’t get everything you need. You’ll still have to provide a battery pack for the truck, a charger for that pack (with a Tamiya-Micro plug adapter), and batteries for the transmitter. With the selections I’ve provided you’re looking at another $59.46, or $279.45 plus tax/shipping total.

I’m going to take a wait and see attitude. Team Associated’s SC18 is just around the corner and may come in at a much lower price point. All of AE’s mini RTRs include batteries and a charger in the box, and all of them are below the $200 mark. I think the SC18 is going to be at or above $200, but still much less than the $280 total for the Vendetta SC. That’s not to say that the Vendetta isn’t worth it, we’ll have to wait for some reviews. It does come with a 2.4Ghz radio, instead of a 27Mhz AM radio like the SC18, that alone might be worth the (suspected) price premium for some.

If you absolutely must be the first at your track to have a 1/18th scale short course, then this is it, go get it. If you can wait, I suggest you do to see what Associated has up their sleeve.

Be sure to check with your local hobby shop first for price and availability.

Micro Awesomeness.

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:23:34 +0000

Well, I love me them Losi Micros and I love me them Losi Highrollers. Now two of my loves have become one. The new Micro-Highroller is a teeny, tiny, dead wringer for it’s bigger brother.

It has officially been added to my r/c must buy list.

HPI’s Brama 10b…

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:01:00 +0000

…looks like a winner for those interested in an entry level 4WD buggy. RC Driver has a positive review in the March issue, calling it “fun on a budget.” Zero RC also has a quick overview with some general info. HPI is bringing on the competition for Tamiya’s Baja King. The only problem I see with the Brama is that it’s a RTR. The price point is dead on as well. You get everything (yes everything, even a sport battery pack and charger) you need to get started except batteries for the transmitter for only $170 online. Check your local hobby shop first though. It’s definitely an attractive looking car. I’d love to get a hold of one of these to see how it compares to my beloved Baja King.

The official video from HPI is after the break, it’s autoplay so beware.

Losi Highroller Review

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Big wheeled, great looking, ground clearance to die for, fun. Those are all phrases you could use to describe Losi’s newest electric truck, the Highroller. It’s a purpose built basher that flies right and looks good to boot.

Features

The Highroller has a three gear transmission, a 12-turn closed endbell modified motor, and high performance speed control with reverse and reverse lockout. Big bore shocks, massive tires, a ton of ground clearance, and skid plates all make sure that this truck can be run anywhere and over any obstacle that might be in it’s way. Full ball bearings in the transmission and at the wheels are a great inclusion on an entry level kit like this one. A 2-channel 27Mhz transmitter and receiver offer a reasonable amount of control but little adjustability. A 2.4Ghz radio like those included in some of Losi’s other kits would have been a better option I think, but Losi was obviously concerned with cost with the Highroller.

What’s in the box?

As a RTR the Highroller includes almost everything you need to get started, except batteries and a charger. The truck, radio, manual, and accessory bag pretty much round out the complete contents of the impressively large box.

There are some tools provided for basic maintenance, but in my opinion they are substandard. The 4-way wrench included only works on the wheel nuts and slipper nut, not the shock nuts or ball studs for the steering. Add to that the fact that it’s made out of plastic diminishes it’s worth to me. A steel 4-way couldn’t have been that much more expensive. Two allen wrenches are included, the smaller of which is easily rounded off if you try to torque the screws too much. A flat wrench is also included for the turnbuckle tie-rods and it works well enough even if it is a tight fit. If you’re handing this truck a lot of punishment you may want to consider investing in a better set of tools.

The manual provides a ton of great information on running, tuning and maintaining your truck. Make sure to give it all a good read before setting out with the Highroller. And refer to it often if you’re new to the hobby and want to make performance improvements.

Prep time

The Highroller is a RTR, but that doesn’t mean you should just put a battery in and start bashing. Take some time to check that all the screws are tight, all the tie-rods are the same length, and everything spins and moves freely. It might also be wise to use some thread-locker on the few metal to metal screws on the truck. I found a couple of the screws were loose on my truck and the slipper clutch was very loose. Beyond that the truck was well put together, though I did greatly miss the opportunity to do it myself.

Fun time

As usual I replaced the stock receiver with a unit compatible with my Futaba 4PK transmitter. Unless you spend a lot of time tweaking your settings and know what they do the 4PK won’t offer many advantages over the stock transmitter other than the better signal of a 2.4Ghz system. The stock radio will work just fine for pretty much everybody.

I put in a fresh Team Orion 3400mah carbon edition race LiPo and hit the dirt. This is a big truck with big tires, so it didn’t really rip away, it kind of lumbered up to a top speed of just over 15mph. It’s certainly not going to beat any speed records or even my Baja King in a drag race, but for what it is the speed was impressive enough.

High speed responsiveness isn’t all that great, I put the Highroller through a slalom course at high speed, the truck didn’t take it too well. It handled fine at about half throttle. Trying to swing those big tires and high chassis around takes some serious work on the part of the servo and suspension. A bit of tuning may get it to handle the corners quicker but may make it a little less stable in other ways.

Trying to make fast stops or sharp turns under braking is a bit of a mess on the street. The Highroller tends to 180 in both of those circumstances. From what I can tell this is caused by a very loose differential. Being a gear diff the only way to tighten it up would be to use a heavier grease. The diff isn’t sealed though, so applying grease to it would only help for a very short time.

The Highroller flies flat with little input from the driver and when it lands you hear a satisfying whomp from the massive tires compressing. And no matter how crooked my launch was, the Highroller always landed wheels down and ready for more. There’s enough ground clearance and suspension that chassis slap never even came up as a concern for me, even off some massive jumps. The Highroller soaks them all up in stride and keeps on running. I even managed to pull a couple slap wheelies after I adjusted the slipper clutch a little bit.

All that said though the Highroller isn’t made for racing, it’s made for bashing. And you can do that with gusto with this truck. You can drive this truck pretty much anywhere — rocks, grass, bad streets, playgrounds — and have a ton of fun doing it. The Highroller really is a blast to drive in a way I haven’t experienced in a long time. It’s going to flip and roll and tumble it’s way over anything you throw at it and you’ll probably be laughing about it instead of running a calculator in your head trying to figure out how much it’s going to cost to fix it. The Highroller is fairly durable and braced in all the right spots. Skid plates help protect the steering and transmission and the motor is mounted high over the transmission to keep it up out of the way. Big bumpers front and rear help to keep walls, curbs, and other cars at bay. In my drive time I only experienced one bent axle, easily fixed with a couple pairs of pliers, and a couple cracks in the body shell also emerged.

Not so fun time

Unless you’re a gearhead that is. The maintenance and tuning of the Highroller isn’t difficult, but it would have been easier if I had built it myself and known all the issues involved with it’s assembly.

The truck is meant to be sturdy and as such there’s a lot of braces installed that you have to remove if you want to strip off some of the bigger parts. Trying to remove the transmission was quite a pain the first time, but then I realized I didn’t need to take off everything that I did, so it’s been easier since. Instructions for assembly and disassembly would have been very nice to have.

My particular Highroller came out of the box with crazy amounts of toe-out at the front and negative camber all around. I adjusted the toe to about 1.5 of toe-out and I put the camber to about .5 negative front and rear. That improved straight-line handling quite a bit and reduced steering a tad which is giving the truck a bit more stable feel during cornering.

What could be improved

Not much is needed to make the Highroller better. It already comes will full ball bearings and turnbuckle tie-rods, two very nice features for an entry level truck. I would suggest a stronger steering servo to swing those big tires a little easier, that might make it a bit more responsive. You might also want to replace the servo tape used to hold the receiver and ESC in place, when I replaced the receiver it pulled off quite easily. The only other thing this truck needs is a sealed gear diff or adjustable ball diff. I think that would greatly improve street performance. Overall the Highroller is a good package out of the box.

Conclusion

From the outside it may look like Losi is trying to position itself as another Traxxas. The new Highroller just seems to add to that because it’s obviously meant to compete with the likes of Traxxas’ Stampede or Tamiya’s Super Blackfoot, two other 2WD monster trucks. Is Losi doing anything better than those two with this truck? Not really, it’s more or less the same. Traxxas’ Stampede is cheaper but offers no other real advantages over the Highroller. If you want to build your own truck though get the Blackfoot as it’s the only kit truck out in this class. I’m still not a fan of RTRs.

Probably the one place where this truck wins over the other two is style. It just looks a lot better than the ‘Pede and Blackfoot, but that’s purely subjective. For first timers you can’t go wrong with the Highroller. It’s performance could use a little adjustment but it’s no slouch. It flies well, lands soft, and takes it all in stride.

Info

Manufacturer: Losi; Horizon Hobby (distributor)
Product website: http://www.losi.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=LOSB0103
Where to buy: Stormer Racing ($159.99); Your local hobby shop (±$159.99)

Losi Micro-T Review

Jeff Hoy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:01:16 +0000

Losi’s Micro-T is the next step in the fast growing mini and micro market of the r/c hobby and industry.

Everything you need is included, and it is the first truly self-contained, travel anywhere off-road r/c truck. The entire package includes a RTR truck with 27 Mhz transmitter, a battery powered peak charger for the included NiMH battery installed in the truck, a full compliment of AA batteries for the transmitter and charger, and some spare parts and pieces. The box itself has a carry handle and is very easy to repack exactly as it came from the factory. The entire package is small enough to be packed in a suitcase and taken with you where ever you go, for those times when you need your r/c fix while sitting in a motel room in the middle of nowhere.

The Micro-T is a downright fun little truck. You can race it anywhere, use it to harass play with your pets, or just bash around your living room or basement. It’s perfect if you live in a cramped apartment. Or if you live in an area with harsh winters it’s a great fit for tooling around in your just shoveled driveway. It’s a fast, jumping, agile, wheelie popping machine that will give you many hours of entertainment.

I’ve been driving the crap out of the Micro-T and it’s been holding up well to the punishment I’ve dished out. You might think this truck would be extremely fragile given it’s small stature. But it’s pretty robust and has taken many head-on impacts and tumbles down stairs without one broken piece. If you do break something though there’s plenty of options to replace it with because quite a few third party manufacturers have created a load of hop-up parts for the T. Aluminum, carbon fiber, hotter motors, wheels and tires, bodies, and tons more stuff is out there for the customizer in all of us.

The feature that the Micro-T has going for it is that there’s nothing else like it anywhere. It is a truly unique platform and market that nobody else has decided to get involved in. Smaller in size than the Kyosho Mini-Z platform and the Radio Shack Xmod series, but not nearly as small as the ZipZaps set. The Micro-T is small enough to be driven pretty much anywhere, but still big enough to be worked on and adjusted. And it’s about the only real off-road micro performer. The Micro-T is an excellent compromise between size, performance, and ease of use.

I’ve given the controller to many friends and let them rip the Micro around for a while. They all loved it. The Micro-T’s size and performance give it a near universal appeal that almost nobody can turn down. I highly recommend you add the Micro-T to your hobby shelf. Find it online or at your local hobby shop for around $80 with nothing else required to buy. There’ll be plenty you’ll WANT to buy though just to make this baby your own.