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‘HPI Racing’ Category

What’s New at Big Squid RC Headquarters?

Posted by Brian @ 1:30 am. Filed in: Axial, Duratrax, HPI Racing, Novak

We get emails and forum suggestions of products that we should check out or review, and I thought I would take a moment and let you know the some of the stuff we have in the works.

First up, we have started to mess with the new Duratrax RT-X 27! Fastest monster on the block? Can’t wait to find out! Out of the box impressions are good. I like the new chassis design, and those rims rock! We will be putting this truck to the test in the very near future!

Does size matter? Yes.. yes it does! I have seen a few 5B’s in action, but never got behind the wheel of one. This thing is intimidating! It’s big, heavy, and awesome! The box took up the whole office, so I stepped outside to take the next shot. Snow! I haven’t put any fuel in it yet, but I am really looking forward to this test! Might not be able to wait for the winter thaw, will try and hit the indoor track soon, run over a few tiny 1/8th scales! LOL. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to winterize it and hit the snow drifts? Does HPI Racing make a snow plow for this thing?

We have heard nothing but good things about the HPI Racing Wheely King! It sounds like a fun little basher, and that’s what we do! Sounds like a must have! Will also be looking into doing a crawler conversion! Wheely’s usually = good reviews! Bring on the fun!

Also, a few things you have already been reading about, the Team Novak brushless GOAT system that I put in my crawler. This system is awesome! I’m pretty new to the crawling sport, but having just won an event with it last week, I have to say this system rocks! Look for the review coming soon!

Wow, there is a lot of stuff in the works! Have any questions you want us to look into on any of these products while we are testing, drop us an email, or post it up in the forum.

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The Week in Review – Version 03.02.08

Posted by Cubby @ 10:57 pm. Filed in: brushless, cubby, Hot Bodies, HPI Racing, Schumacher, Traxxas

As I sit here watching “Giant Squid: Caught on Camera” on the Discovery Hi-Def channel, I can’t help but to reflect on just how far BigSquidRC has come in the last 12 months. This site has come from a little known basher site, to one that now gets more hits than most of the mainstream rc magazines sites get. That’s a huge accomplishment, and a statement to the fact that the paper based rags are in a for a butt kick’n by internet only news sites. Thankfully, BigSquidRC is one of the leaders in providing internet only rc news, reviews, and other information. So thank you readers and contributors for helping push BigSquidRC closer to the top every day!

Enough tooting of the horn. The show must go on.
One news item you won’t be seeing in the paper rags has to do with something I touched on last week, rc’s era of litigation. Early in 2007, several rc companies were sued by private individuals over labeling their products as “Made In the USA”. Novak, Horizon/Losi/Spektrum, Castle Creations, and Thunder Power went under the legal microscope in the state of California. To boil it all down- in California, to legally promote your products as “Made in the USA” not only must they be made here, but every single part in your product must come from the USA as well. In todays world, it is impossible to find every single part you would need for a speed controller from an American manufacture, making it impossible to meet California’s criteria for the “Made in USA” logo. So no matter if 100% of the actual work to design, assemble, and distribute the product happened right here in the US of A, a 99.9% American product could never legally wear the “Made in the USA” logo in the state of California.

It appears that all four companies have reached out of court settlements. What this means to the Joe Blow American rc driver is two things. First being that money hungry lawyers now smell blood in our industry, and we can expect even more litigation. Secondly, the more lawsuits that are filed, regardless of win or loss, the more the prices on rc products are going to go up. Companies that lose or settle out will be forced to raise prices to keep their doors open, and even companies never sued will start taking greater measures to limit losses in such case. Those preventative measures will raise costs of operation, and thus trickle down to higher prices at your local hobby shop.

Now, to take a quick look at some of the products and news released this week.
HPI announced their off road series this week. Yet another week where HPI manages to make it back into the news. It looks like an awesome idea on club racing. The rules are pretty simple- you have to drive an HPI or Hotbodies platform. Wouldn’t it be neat to race where everyone is essentially running the same vehicles? Imagine how much tuning info you could gain in just one race weekend!

Also on the HPI front, HotBodies has shot out the press info on their new 2wd dirt off-road competition buggy. This really is a landmark release. I mean really, who would have ever thought HPI would have sold a competitive 2wd buggy? Well it’s here, so now the buying public has more choices in that class than they have had in years. And the biggest design feature of the new buggy? An aluminum chassis! Awww, takes me back to the good old days when the original RC10 came out.

Isn’t it interesting that both Hotbodies and MRC/Academy have both released new 2wd buggies? Yet another sign that the manufactures are gearing up for the big switch from nitro back to electric. Can anyone say “B5 on the way”??

Traxxas announced their “Platinum” edition Revo. I guess that’s fine and dandy, but the buying public would much rather have seen the brushless/li-po powered Revo. True, the Revo in any form is arguably the single best engineered rc vehicle of all time, and also one of the toughest. But let’s get on with the electric revolution already.
Speaking of the electric side, Schumacher USA shot out the press release for the new 3250 mah CORE li-po pack they are distributing here in the USA. Looks like a fine pack, but a bit shy on capacity. Schu has had amazing success with their new Speed Passion brushless line-up, and deservedly so. Let’s see if their li-po’s take off with the same intensity.

That’s all for this week rc fans. Support your local hobby shops, support your local tracks, and be sure and get your daily dose of BigSquidRC!

Cub

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Traxxas

The Cub Report – February, Week 3

Posted by Cubby @ 10:19 pm. Filed in: Hot Bodies, HPI Racing, Novak, Team Associated

After popping a fresh bottle of Dom Perignon 99′, I sat down to realize that few things in life are appreciated as much as they should be. I appreciate that in the last few weeks there were actually some really cool products introduced to the rc world, because this week nothing of real note was shown.

I’d guess the “biggest” news was the “official” press release for the Associated RC12R FT. I’m sure if you are one of the two hundred people still racing 12th scale in this country, and you haven’t been at any of the big carpet races the last few months, this was huge news to you.

Seems like there were several new crawler bodies and such introduced this week. But I’ve never seen the point in going as slowly as possible with anything, let alone an rc car. So I won’t comment on these products. What I will comment on is BigSquidRC.com’s CFO Brian doing his first crawler competition this week. Rumors leaked out early and often that Brian has mad crawling skills. Maybe he does, or maybe it was his stump pulling Greatest Of All Time Novak system that kept him from finishing last. First this guys pwns the drag world, and now he’s working on doing the same with crawlers??

Hot Bodies shot out their official release on their Cyclone D4 World Edition electric off-road 4wd buggy this week. Lot’s of carbon fiber, very trick looking. And since the Associated B44 hit, the local 4wd classes have been larger than they have been in over a decade. Now if I just had Hara’s skillz I could put it up front like he does. While this isn’t huge news, it should be of note that the once quiet storm which used to be HPI/Hot Bodies is making some more noise this week. They are getting back into the game in a big way.

The strangest release of the week had to be from JConcepts. Normally, these guys make some of the coolest gear on the market. But what were they thinking with the introduction of their J82 conversion kit? For those of you that haven’t seen it, imagine this. Take an Associated T4, and convert it to an electric buggy (huh?). It ends up basically looking like a slightly oversized B4. I’m speechless and desperately need my champaign flute refilled.

So that’s it for this week. Support you local hobby shops, race at your local tracks, and give away some of your old crap to some youngster at the track.

Sincerely,

Cub-a-Reporter

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HPI shows the Savage XL RC Monster Truck!

Posted by Brian @ 1:09 am. Filed in: HPI Racing

Whoa! It’s like HPI Racing can read my mind! I swear I was just thinking that it has been a while since they have announced a new truck for us to drool over.. and poof they give us the HPI Savage XL!
The Savage XL is 55mm longer and 25mm wider with a huge 5.9cc (.36 cubic inch) engine. Wowzza! To get this big boy moving with a 3 speed transmission and metal gears. There is a ton of cool info, so check out the NEW Product Forum for the full press sheet.
Check out this pic of the XL about to eat it’s little brother.

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HPI, LRP, Kyosho, Nuremberg, Oh My! Week in RC.

Posted by Cubby @ 12:25 am. Filed in: HPI Racing, Kyosho, Nuremberg

Welcome to month two in 08′, and like always, the rc world did not fail to deliver the goods.

The most news came out of the Nuremberg Toy Fair. When it comes to terms of “cool”, Nuremberg often bests the American shows when it comes to new products.

But first, I must address a huge beef I have with the management of BigSquidRC. Where was my first class ticket to Nuremberg? I was forced to fly coach and spend a miserable week in the Florida heat last week, and this week they won’t even buy me a ticket to Bavaria Germany? Where is the justice in this world? I fully expect a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose’ 98′, with a BigSquidRC sticker on it, in my hand or this will be my last write up for you guys.

So I digress. The biggest surprise of the show looked to be the new LRP NEXXT brushless controller. LRP states that this speedo “provides sensored driveablity without hall sensors”. Now I find that hard to believe, but the latest generation Castle Mamba 25 is truly remarkable in it’s drive quality, and it is non-sensored. It’s common knowledge that the real guys “in the know” about non-sensored systems
make good arguments as to why their technology is second to none, even throttle control from a dead stop. Time will tell if the LRP NEXXT technology is the next big thing, or yet another example of technology that was over hyped.

The only other thing that really caught my eye from the show was the Kyosho dNano 1/43rd scale racers. Wanna talk hi tech? They come stock with a 2.4Ghz transmitter (that looks exact like a phaser from Star Trek TOS!!!), stock li-po battery, and you can easily race a class of ten cars on your kitchen table! They do look really trick. But be careful, hitting a grain of salt will result in a marshalling.

HPI is getting their swagger back. Over the last couple years, they seemed to have quietly been sitting back gaining a fresh breathe of air. Guess what? The sleeping giant is back in full force. For all those serious bashers, the King of nitro bashmobiles is back, bigger, badder, and gnarlier. It’s called the Savage XL, and it looks EKA (extra kick ass). I’ve never seen any truck take a beating like a Savage does. The new version is bigger, badder, and sure to PWN the local dirt lot when it
comes to driving over all competition.

This week HPI also released news on their all new 10th scale, electric, brushless, off road truck called the Flux. In this new world of lithium batteries and brushless motors, you’d be hard pressed to actually find a transmission capable of handling a decent BL motor on 3S lithium from any manufacture. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that the Flux comes with all metal gears in the tranny. Horrray! (and will the rest of the industry please follow!!) I love it when manufacture
actually engineer for durability, not for a price point.

That’s it for this week. Read your daily dose of BigSquidRC, support your local hobby shops, and get off of here and drive your ride. You need to wear it out now because there is so much new gear ya have to buy!
Your all knowing, all seeing,
Cubby Reporter

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HPI Makes My Dream Come True!

Posted by Brian @ 11:32 pm. Filed in: HPI Racing

For years, (literally) I have been asking body manufacturers to create a hearse. HPI Racing finally did it! It’s called the Grave Robber, and is modeled after a late 1950′s hearse! It’s made from .040 thick clear polycarbonate and is ready to fit the Savage, T-Maxx/E-Maxx size monster trucks. AWESOME! I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

A short time back we talked about the new Baja 5B SS kit. We have a few more details on it now. It will have a larger 26cc engine, new tuned pipe and header, new clutch setup, and this sweet looking gunmetal chassis with orange accent pieces! I like orange! No radio or receiver, but it does come with high output steering servo. Very nice! Anyone building a kit, usually has radio stuff laying around, but probably wouldn’t have good enough servo to handle this bad boy. If anyone out there needs some Christmas gift ideas for me, I think I would be extremely happy to find one of these under the tree! *hint hint*

HPI Racing has also sent word about the new E-Firestorm 10T. It’s the first ever 2WD Electric truck from HPI. Full bearing set, 15 turn motor, oil-filled threaded shocks, and lots of option parts are going to help this truck stand out in the crowd. If anyone picks one up, let me hear about it!

Finishing the HPI Racing news today is the 1/10th scale RTR Spring 2 Drift Sport. It’s 4wd, comes with hard compound pre-mounted drift tires, and officially licensed replica bodies like the Toyota Trueno AE86 or the Nissan GReedy 350Z. Looks good! Anyone doing any drifting in the Chicago Area?

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HPI Gives us the 1/5 scale Baja SS!

Posted by Brian @ 1:12 am. Filed in: HPI Racing

I love spy work! I know it’s not really a spy shot, but with pictures of the new HPI Baja 1/5 scale SS being VERY rare, this was as good as I could do. I don’t have a lot of details on the buggy, but here are a few.. should ship around October 31st, it will come with a clear body, orange anodized parts, tuned pipe. I’ll do my best to find out some more details. Don’t forget to check out the official HPI Racing home page for information on the original 5b.

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