HPI Nitro RS4 18ss kit

[Grasshopper]

Old fashion American muscle! This is not a fancy paint job..... but I think it looks killer and just goes to show how simple 1 or 2 color rattle can jobs can still be sweet ! thanks to Stickers. I am a sticker geek. I painted this body to match the picture on the kit box. The kit also comes with scale 68 camaro ss stickers in case you want to paint a rag top -original factory chevrolet job. I forgot to paint the rear spoiler for mine, Doh! I'm doing that right now. This kit was a real pleasure to build, went together smoothly in 1 evening. Nothing really away from the stock design, accept I put diff oil in the diffs instead of grease, This is my first on road rc car, so I don't have any idea about set up stuff . oh yea- they call for a spring inside the front diff on the cross pin ? WTF? Anyone know whats up with that? I did not like that, so omitted that part in favor of some 7000wt diff oil. Nothing else really out of the ordinary. I will post a review of how it drives and so on as soon as I can get some trigger time with it. Might even slap some drift tires on there for some whacked out parking lot fun. Many thanks for the photos taken by Graham @ A Main Hobbies -http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/losikiller/18sssvrswm.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/losikiller/18ssflrswm.jpg

[cbonner99]

Looks pretty cool. I was thinking about one of those to mess around in the driveway.

[Grasshopper]

Ok- break in time: After priming the carb and tugging the pull start cord till my arm felt like it was going to fall off, this mill just would not fire up. :confused:
Way too rich at the factory settings.
I leaned out the bottom end about 6hrs. and the top about 3 -and it roared to life. :thumbs:
I bench ran it for a tank, putted around on the ground for a tank, and then opened her up. The car steers well- not on a dime- but you can kick the back end out with a quick pull of the throttle. Launch is good with the .18ss motor and it quickly gets up to an impressive speed. I have not hit second gear yet ( at least I don't think so- I am new to the whole 2 speed, on road stuff ) I was expecting a noticeable shift point but there was none. It did hit some impressive speed in the limited space in my court. I think I will have to adjust the shift point a bit and see what happens next.
I ran several more tanks, taking it easy- as the motor is still being broken in- and the brakes are a bit mushy at this point. I don't have the confidence in the brakes to just grab full throttle and hold it. The linkage for the brake is on the same single sided servo horn as the throttle, and uses a "servo saver break away type design" I am not sold on this set up yet. No confidence in it at this time really.
I can say that the motor has fired up with just 2-3 tugs of the pull start cord- every time, since that initial start. Just goes to show that there is nothing bad about a pull start assembly, as long as the carb is primed and there is a ballpark tune on the needle settings. :thumbs:
The stock tires hook up good in a straight line speed run, but also break away easily when turning sharp with some throttle input, which makes for some cool drift action. The low stance makes the car get upset by some occasional gravel or pebbles on the asphalt, and there is no way to raise the ride height, but that makes it all the more exciting. It can recover quickly and confidently even at speed.
With the body on- this car looks sweet and is definitely an attention grabber!
With the wide variety of bodies available for it,( I recon any 190-200mm body can be mounted) this kit can be very adaptable to many different looks. Add drift tires that bolt right on, and you can have tons of fun away from the track in your neighborhood setting.
These are just some of my first impressions with this car , and I have a lot to learn still.
Looking forward to many more tanks run through it just as soon as it stops raining!!:cussing: