MitchellY
Rock Crawler
Minis were once a very popular class, but due to the speed and durability of the larger 1/8 scale vehicles, the Mini class almost all but died. Within the past year, Minis have been making a comeback, so with several new vehicles in the class, I decided to try out one of them and see what the rebirth of Minis is all about.
HSP is a relatively obscure brand that isn't very well known by most, but they make many different vehicles that compete with some of the better known brands. This is my review of their 1/18 / 1/16 class competitor - the 1/16 Scale Electric Power Off-Road Buggy.
Included in the box is a Transmitter, battery, charger, and manuals. So everything you need to get going comes with it.... or does it? I was a little disappointed to find that the battery charger comes with a wall plug other than the standard 110v wall plug that every American household has, so those who don't have another charger will have to buy one that does work for their outlet.
On my pre run inspection, everything looks good straight from the factory. All the screws are tight, and the shocks are set up very well. This thing is beefy! I was very impressed with the stoutness of all the components! Especially the shock tower and shocks. I was at first disappointed at the fact that plastic open diffs were used as it looked to be a weak point of the vehicle, but after many battery packs, they have yet to fail!
The layout of the buggy is a tried and true shaft driven setup with the motor towards the rear and a shaft taking power to the front wheels. Dogbones are used to transfer power from the diffs to the wheels.
The electronics are nothing fancy, but they are more than up to the job of handling this buggy! A 1/10 scale ESC is used to shove power to the 380 size brushed motor. The motor has plenty of power to have fun with, but it's not going to win you any drag races. Gearing is spot on and has the right balance of speed and torque. One of the things that really impressed me is the servo. Usually companies always skimp in this area and put in less than adequate servos that can barely turn the wheels. Not here! A Full size servo is used here and it has plenty of power to turn the pin tires! The battery is a Nimh 6 cell 1100mah stick pack that fits in the nifty little battery tray.
Styling on the buggy is great. There is a rear wing to help with downforce at high speeds.
Spoked wheels with pin tires are used on all four corners. There's nothing that special about the tires, but they do hook up great on a wide variety of surfaces and for all the run time put on them they have very minimal wear!
The radio is a basic 2.4ghz system that has adjustable features for Dual rate, ESC and servo reversing, and of course ESC and servo trim. It works great and I've never had an issue with range or it dropping the signal.
One of the big things people worry about with obscure brands such as HSP is durability. I am happy to report that after many packs of testing this buggy, I have yet to find a weak link. No part has broken or worn out and it looks that it will stay that way for a long time to come!
In conclusion, I have found that this buggy is a great first RC for that youngster that always wants to grab your big rigs because of the durability and easy to use features it has, or if you just want something to run around the yard or living room with! Even though it isn't very big, or fast, it still brings a smile to my face every time I drive it!
HSP is a relatively obscure brand that isn't very well known by most, but they make many different vehicles that compete with some of the better known brands. This is my review of their 1/18 / 1/16 class competitor - the 1/16 Scale Electric Power Off-Road Buggy.
Included in the box is a Transmitter, battery, charger, and manuals. So everything you need to get going comes with it.... or does it? I was a little disappointed to find that the battery charger comes with a wall plug other than the standard 110v wall plug that every American household has, so those who don't have another charger will have to buy one that does work for their outlet.
On my pre run inspection, everything looks good straight from the factory. All the screws are tight, and the shocks are set up very well. This thing is beefy! I was very impressed with the stoutness of all the components! Especially the shock tower and shocks. I was at first disappointed at the fact that plastic open diffs were used as it looked to be a weak point of the vehicle, but after many battery packs, they have yet to fail!
The layout of the buggy is a tried and true shaft driven setup with the motor towards the rear and a shaft taking power to the front wheels. Dogbones are used to transfer power from the diffs to the wheels.
The electronics are nothing fancy, but they are more than up to the job of handling this buggy! A 1/10 scale ESC is used to shove power to the 380 size brushed motor. The motor has plenty of power to have fun with, but it's not going to win you any drag races. Gearing is spot on and has the right balance of speed and torque. One of the things that really impressed me is the servo. Usually companies always skimp in this area and put in less than adequate servos that can barely turn the wheels. Not here! A Full size servo is used here and it has plenty of power to turn the pin tires! The battery is a Nimh 6 cell 1100mah stick pack that fits in the nifty little battery tray.
Styling on the buggy is great. There is a rear wing to help with downforce at high speeds.
The radio is a basic 2.4ghz system that has adjustable features for Dual rate, ESC and servo reversing, and of course ESC and servo trim. It works great and I've never had an issue with range or it dropping the signal.
One of the big things people worry about with obscure brands such as HSP is durability. I am happy to report that after many packs of testing this buggy, I have yet to find a weak link. No part has broken or worn out and it looks that it will stay that way for a long time to come!
In conclusion, I have found that this buggy is a great first RC for that youngster that always wants to grab your big rigs because of the durability and easy to use features it has, or if you just want something to run around the yard or living room with! Even though it isn't very big, or fast, it still brings a smile to my face every time I drive it!
