Now for something a bit smaller...

[Flerbizky 225]

Hmmm.. Another one from HobbyKing: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__20617__1_18_scale_4wd_rtr_short_course_truck.html

And shipping on the one from Horizon came in at US$ 145 - yikes.

[Vrdetailing 1241]

Please listen guys .. Don't do it... The batteries and esc combo ect are awesome but the cars are rubbish

[ChrisRx718 4470]

I would have liked a Losi too - but I looked at those and I'd still be looking at ~ £50 more than the total I've spent already after buying hop-ups etc.

Part of the fun of this was going into it being fully-aware of the issues with parts and quality. I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the costs!

Tamiya cars are all well and good, but there's a degree of satisfaction in taking something which isn't *quite* there and modifying it / making it work well.

I barrel-rolled this buggy end-over-end for about 20 meters and it just carried on. There's that lack of fear that you're going to break something expensive, because there's nothing expensive on it!

Originally when I started the thread off I wanted a TamTech Gear but I was talked out of it. Look how expensive they are in comparison, and would they deliver the same quantity of 'fun'? That's the all-important question, since this is a hobby driven by having fun in the first place.

[Vrdetailing 1241]

Maybe they have finally got it right.. I hope so.. I found the shells very brittle.. As long as you are having fun

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Been busy on this one, I think I jinxed it in my last post -

"I barrel-rolled this buggy end-over-end for about 20 meters and it just carried on. There's that lack of fear that you're going to break something expensive, because there's nothing expensive on it"

Turns out the steering servo got rather knackered on impact the other day.

I searched the web and found a suitable replacement, ordered from eBay in the end.

Metal-geared and hopefully a bit higher quality than the stock item.

Also recently fitted the hardened-steel spur gear and spur gear / diff outdrive support which came from Belarus.

The latter imroves the mesh between spur and pinion by putting the two much more parallel than the standard plastic setup permits.

Whilst it was out of action I decided to fit a few more hop-ups, some 3Racing universal front shafts as the dogbones ocasionally popped out of the wheel cups.

Anything which was dismantled was reassembled with 3Racing titanium hardware too.

Here's a pile of the parts which have been superseeded so far-

Hopefully it will be out destroying tyre treads again soon!

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Little parts delivery today...

Still barely broken the bank at a little under £40 spent. Imagine if this was one of the named brands?!

[emory70 153]

I had a couple rc18t trucks when they first came out. Amazing little things. Supplied pin spikes were trash, and am radio is archaic now, but even stock with just a couple simple tricks, a very fun ride. Disappointed the new ones are belt dive. Shaft all the way for me.

[shenlonco 1156]

Lesson I learned with all the mini and micro stuff always make sure you buy a car with all the gears sealed I would say a good 70% of them are not and always get debris jammed up in the gears.

I think traxxas makes the best mini types that are sealed water proof and can take a beating... I once had there mini summit that thing can take a beating most 1/10 scales could not survive from... they have the new cheaper line latrax now.

[ChrisRx718 4470]

I agree, the one concern I still have with this buggy is the exposed spur/pinion. I have my steel spur gear now which is holding up well, whilst the pinions are made of brass. We'll see how it goes!

Busy yesterday / today installing all of the upgrades. The steering is soooo much better it's like a different buggy. The upper carbon deck prevents chassis flex and keeps the spur/pinion mesh completely square (previously any chassis flex would put this mesh out of line).

The Hobbywing ESC will enable me to upgrade the motor further down the line but also has more programmable features inc. LiPo cutoff, which I'm not sure the original kit-supplied ESC did have.

I also thought it was fair to add a Hobbywing bright pink sticker to the bodyshell, they supply you with a whole load of stickers after all.

[Vrdetailing 1241]

So would you recommend a hobbyking car or not... Prove me wrong lol..

[ChrisRx718 4470]

I absolutely would, just not to a beginner. I wanted a buggy I could throw into the boot of the car and give abuse to. Sure, it has it's design flaws but it's incredibly fast for what it is and it takes jumps really well!

Will see what difference all these changes have made but I'm really just hoping for better reliability out of it and less time on the bench. It absolutely monsters the HPI Mini Recon my boss has too!

[danb1974 93]

The exposed spur/pinion is a big issue on small cars (kemora, mini 8ight) when driving offroad.

On my kemora after many unsuccessful attempts to seal the area, I had to convert to steel pinion and spur. Noisy but the only way to get past one battery pack.