My HPI Venture is on it's way...

[QuesoDelDiablo]

*EDIT
Changed the thread title since it was a bit misleading. I didn't mean to be clickbait..


This isn't really a build thread but I'll open this up as my place to evaluate, review and track changes on my HPI Venture. I've just placed it in the 1.9 General Scale subforum for now, if the truck ends up with it's own forum opening up, I'll see about having it moved over.

Since I'm a big fan of the FJ Cruiser, I've been looking forward to HPI's Venture since I first heard about it so very long ago (Nuremberg toy fair 2016 I believe). I've got mine pre-ordered (ordered from RPP but using a shipping depot in Oroville) and I'm hoping that it will actually appear in late June like they promise. We'll see..

I can't even remember the last time I bought an rtr rig, I'm just that keen to get one of these in my hands though. It works out well in one way: I hate painting, so getting a prepainted body is OK with me. I picked Sandstorm as my color.


Product listing on RPP:
HPI Racing 1/10 Venture Toyota FJ Cruiser 4WD RTR - Beige

Product listing from HPI:
https://www.hpiracing.com/en/kit/117165


Here's my initial thoughts on what I see of the rig and it's potential so far.

Frame
There has been some speculation that the frame rails might be aluminum. It is now being advertised having steel c channel frame rails so that's a relief. I was quite concerned about an aluminum frame and how much it would flex.

Body
I really like the apparent level of detail that HPI has achieved on this rig. The roof rack and spare tire rack are nice features although the tire carrier looks like it might be a bit flimsy. I like that they've included mirrors but if I had the choice I would've taken door handles in their place.

It doesn't appear that there is any light buckets built into or planned for the body. This might be an opportunity for me to design and print light buckets and maybe even a grill..

ESC
I think it's another rebadged hobbywing 1060wp. No complaints there, it's not an amazing ESC, but it's good enough. Waterproof is a nice touch.

Motor
Sealed can 35T. Probably no different than all the others ones out there. Should work well for this rig.

I really like that the motor is front mounted and the transmission feeds a transfer case to send the power to the wheels. This should give it a nice low and forward weight bias. It's a nice touch that (apparently) they've used the transmission out of a Savage XS so there should be some aftermarket support for it.

Servo
If what I get from their website is right, the servo they've spec'd is embarrassingly weak. 4.2kgcm @ 4.8V and 6.5kgcm @ 6.0V. That's about 58.3ozin or 90.3ozin. I'm not sure in which world that's considered suitable for a crawler/scaler/trail rig. If I've got this right, then I'll try the servo out for a few minutes to see what they think is acceptable but I'll have an upgrade ready for it right from the get go.

The servo they've spec'd:
https://www.hpiracing.com/en/part/120018

So far, the servo spec is my biggest disappointment with this rig.

I like that it's a CMS set up from the factory, and it's good to see there's a panhard bar as well.

Driveshafts
From the photos I've seen, the drive shafts look similar to the old Axial design. We'll have to see how they hold up but I'm flagging them as a potential weak spot.

Links
The steering links look little skinny and a bit wimpy. Something a bit more stout looking might be on the upgrade list at some point.

I like that the steering links are behind the axle and the knuckles are zero ackerman. Looks like this rig should have a similar turning radius to the 10.2.

The suspension links look plastic and nothing is indicated on their product info that says metal or plastic. I did ask them on their Facebook page about the suspension links; they said that they are metal but I'm not totally convinced they understood the question. We'll find out for sure when the truck appears..

Suspension mounts
Metal parts are always nice, but these appear to be made of something cast, aluminum I think. I'm sure they'll be fine and the weight down low will be good, but you don't see very much cast metal used in the RC industry.

Tires
I'm interested to see how well they do or don't perform. They don't look amazing and they come mounted on pretty basic glue on "bead lock style" rims. I'll most likely swap these out for some super swampers and aluminum bead locks.

They are advertised as being a soft compound though, so who knows they might be amazing.

Body mounts
The rear body mounts look good and strong, that extra strength should be nice but I've never had an issue with the traditional style posts.

Price
This might be the part that impresses me the most about this rig. At $370.00USD for the RTR it seems like great value.

To put the cost in my own relative terms, I got a $35 discount on the order so that converts over to about $450CAD. I paid $570CAD for my SCX10.2 kit without electronics.

The value will depend largely on how much money I need to throw at it to make it a performer. It's a given that I'll be replacing the servo, almost certain about rims/tires, and the suspension links will probably need replacing as well.

Of course, the upgrade costs will be slightly offset by the rtr gear that I don't need: Battery, (charger?) and Rx/Tx so I'll be able to sell off.


Overall, I'm pretty excited about this rig and I think any of it's possible shortcomings will be easily addressed and rectified. I'm cautiously optimistic that I might like this truck as much as my 10.2.


What do you think? Have you ordered one? Will you be getting one?

 

[Peaker]

Got one ordered at modelsport.co.uk, hope i dont have to wait too long as i am without anything i feel like driving, so lucky me my friend have several scalers i can drive until i get the HPI.

ATM the ETA on the Venture at modelsport are late July

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Got one ordered at modelsport.co.uk, hope i dont have to wait too long as i am without anything i feel like driving, so lucky me my friend have several scalers i can drive until i get the HPI.

ATM the ETA on the Venture at modelsport are late July

When I ordered, RPP was estimating late June but that has since been changed to early July. Hopefully the delay doesn't creep any further.

Because I'm in Canada, releases for everything here are always a few weeks behind the US so I used a shipping depot in Washington to receive mine. It's only a 2hr drive and there's a really good taco shop on the way..

 

[Peaker]

While i do love RPP then that's not really a option for me with a thing like this, i wish it was but as a early retired Dane ( 50 ) then i am not really the person in focus here, it seem better to spend billions on people that never worked a day in their life.

Getting the HPI venture from RPP will turn it into or above the prize of the TRX-4 in local B&M stores after taxes - duties and handling fee.

But down the road i might have to order a few parts for it at RPP "thumbsup"

 

[Highmark]

Im pretty excited for it, of all the new kits it looks the cleanest and most well proportioned.

 

[Peaker]

I friend got his in the mail from a local store, i am desperately trying to get in contact with them

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I friend got his in the mail from a local store, i am desperately trying to get in contact with them

Really? That's impressive, yesterday HPI indicated they were now looking to Mid-July for a release but maybe there's been an early release run..




While I've got some concerns about the stock build (links and servo mostly) I'm really excited by the layout and spec on this rig. I can't wait to try it out. I've already got some upgrades at home waiting for it - tires/rims, servo, bec, scale bits..

 

[Peaker]

Yeah i am also a bit skeptical, i have tried to get in touch with the store where my guy is supposed to have it from but so far no RPLY on mail and they do not pick up the phone, but i did get started on this a little late in the day.
Anyway he is supposed to have it tomorrow so by then i will be 100% sure, ill keep you in the loop.

I also like the drivetrain layout of the HPI, much like the TF2 with the motor up front and a transfer case.
But i sure hope that its cheapness have not transferred too much into the car itself, but if so i do have solid stuff from other cars or spare parts i can put in the HPI, but for starters i will try run it totally stock for a while.

I might have to do something in regard to the battery tray / placement, i am not sure all the old batteries i plan to run in it will fit it as is, but that's a minor thing a little DIY work will fix in no time.

 

[Peaker]

So i got a RPLY on my mail to the shop and it say its not in store.

So really looking forward to see what my guy get in the mail, all i can think off are a demo they might have gotten and sold on, and that's really bad form i think.
Anyway we will see tomorrow.

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I'm looking forward to the follow up and to see what your friend received..

At this point, I'd almost rather receive a demo model if it meant I didn't have to watch the delivery continue to slide...

 

[Peaker]

Looks like Cory and the guys at RPP pushed back the expected in stock date again.

It seem like HPI do not have the same attitude toward promises as i have, i do believe that guy in the video say ready for summer 2017.
By august summer is almost over.

I myself used promises ( to myself ) to first stop smoking cigarettes, and then a year later ditch a decades long abuse of cannabis, and both i just did a cold turkey on.

Keeping promises are crucial to me, its what define people i want to be around.

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Looks like Cory and the guys at RPP pushed back the expected in stock date again.

It seem like HPI do not have the same attitude toward promises as i have, i do believe that guy in the video say ready for summer 2017.
By august summer is almost over.

I myself used promises ( to myself ) to first stop smoking cigarettes, and then a year later ditch a decades long abuse of cannabis, and both i just did a cold turkey on.

Keeping promises are crucial to me, its what define people i want to be around.

HPI commented on their facebook that they are looking at mid-July for the retail release now. Disappointing.

It's getting to be very disheartening that they keep making commitments and then not honouring them. I wish they would just promise a date that they can actually keep, these sliding delays are getting tiresome.

I work in large scale manufacturing (engineer at a multi-million dollar international company) so I understand production delays and the complexity of a new product release. I can appreciate that there's a lot of details to address in making sure the public receives exactly what you want them to, but it shouldn't be that difficult to make a promise they can keep. If I treated production schedules and delivery dates the way they do, my company would be sunk in a matter of months.

 

[Peaker]

Well you would expect that with LEAN - JIT and ISO 9001 CERT and what not fancy power words in manufacturing and production things would be hunky dory, But i have worked at places like that and it dident do it for me, so i tried to get into aerospace but i could not get TERMA to hire me, but that's their loss.
I have also tried the engineer job ( ship engineer ) and that was one job i was glad to get out of, not that me not actually being a engineer by education, but more it was POS little companies floating by chance and not skill, first ship i was ENG on sank in the Mediterranean sea 1-2 years later.

My second job as a ENG was on a factory ship on Greenland, got up there as regular sailor and within a month i was the engineer there, and believe me i kept that million DKkr company running with zip ties - cable shoes - duct tape and silicon sealer :shock: un be fawking believable, and i worked like 16 Hour days for a POS salery.

And now i am almost 51 ( august ) and i will never be working again due to me working too hard and being severely skinny for most of my life, so back are out - shoulders are out, and i am beginning to think the brain are heading in the same direction.

 

[Peaker]

So a update on my guys venture to become a premature HPI venture driver.

Seem like there was a problem understanding each other on the phone, so all that happened was him pre-ordering one and not buying one, pretty ironic as the guy change rides or buy rides as most of us change underwear.
But buying a HPI venture he cant leading me to wonder which new ride he will then bring to the next outing, cuz he really do have and by /sell a lot of scalers.

So he canceled his preorder as i assume he dont want to wait in line with the rest of us hopeful's :mrgreen:

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Well, RPP has pushed the estimated date back to early August.


I'm almost ready to cancel my preorder and just get TRX4 instead..

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Well, RPP has pushed the estimated date back to early August.


I'm almost ready to cancel my preorder and just get TRX4 instead..

HPI never learns. This is fail number...well I lost count.

 

[LSXGMC]

Well, RPP has pushed the estimated date back to early August.


I'm almost ready to cancel my preorder and just get TRX4 instead..

I'm baffled why you haven't. TRX-4 is getting rave reviews except for a couple to-be-expected issues (electronics mainly), but should no doubt run circles around this HPI. Better yet order an SCX2 kit and enjoy the trails!

 

[BigSki]

I hope that hpi eventually gets these rigs to market, as much as I personally wanted one I gave up on them and spent the toy money on a kayak. I have to admit, I'm enjoying my new purchase a whole lot more than waiting for more broken promises to come from hpi.

 

[XJrob]

The Hpi looks promising. I'd hold out for it if you can.

I like the new Traxxas, just don't care for the portal axles

The Hpi is set up awesome right out of the box it seems

 

[MattySlimz1987]

That's awesome. It's looking like you'll be the first here to own one. Be sure to give us some compairison insight.
I saw RcMart (out of all places) was starting to take money for them, pre-order, so I guess that means its FINALLY on its way here. How many years in the making? I saw info on this back before my daughter was born. I really hope HPI takes a turn for the good on this one and gets back on their feet. I hope its durable and I hope it gets good aftermarket support. With the release of a new (competitive) scale HPI crawler, it will bring most major brand rc scale trucks full circle. [emoji106]