petal2thametal
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review on the hpi r40 by rcxotic
It’s obvious that HPI’s R&D department has been doing some serious testing and tuning with this new R40. After Atsushi Hara won the ROAR On-Road Nationals the HPI R40 has been the new leader of the pack. Of coarse, considering it’s race winning features. Such as a woven graphite radio try, centax style clutch, threaded shock bodies, low center of gravity design and front and rear roll bars. It’s up front for many good reasons. Is this the car that puts the racing back into HPI Racing? Let’s just have a look.
Construction:
After opening this large silver box, I noticed labeled bags for easy construction, along with the purple chassis, four foam tires and the instruction manual. I was surprised how easy the car went together. As a matter of fact, I had it completely finished in one night! Although certain sections of the instruction manual left of some valuble details you should have no trouble putting this car together. All the parts fit together just as they were designed to and it had no slop in the linkages, or anywhere else for that matter
How It’s Designed:
HPI has been hard at work designing a race worthy car and finally they’ve done it! The car’s drivetrain starts off with a center force clutch with a 16-tooth pinion gear and a 19 tooth for second gear. The power is then transferred to the spur gear that use a shoe type clutch. Once through the gears it travels towards the rear VIA belt to the rear differential. The differentials on this car are bullet-proof! They use the same steel gears as the HPI Savage, so you’re almost garunteed to have no problems with them. After the rear it travels along the left side of the 3mm purple anodized chassis to to a pulley on a layout shaft, which connects to the front differential. Once again it uses the same gears as the Savage. The HPI’s main goal for the R40 was to keep the lowest center of gravity possible. This is enabled by putting the heaviest things on the bottom of the chassis. This will allow the car to have a tight steering radius and will make handling much better overall. In an effort to lower the center of gravity the battery is the lowest item on the entire car. The fuel tank is specially designed to fit right on top of the battery. The steering servo is lying on its side, while the throttle servo is still standing. Fully loaded the R40 only weighed 1750 grams, that’s only 25 grams over the ROAR limit!
Race Day:
For the very first time running it I brought it to Full Throttle Raceway in Kissimmee, FL. You may have heard of this track because it’s where the electric worlds are going to be held this year. I decided to use the stock 40 & 37 shore tires that were supplied. I also used a Rossi R12 Black Pixi engine, Dynamite inline pipe, Novak XXL receiver and Futaba servos. For the first run I used the box setup that was in the instruction manual. It didn’t seem to have the handling I was looking for. So, I decided to use Hara’s setup from the nationals. After setting up my car I was back on the track. I didn’t have to adjust with the clutch, or the two-speed. The car handled like it was a magnet on rails; it could easily dive into corners and speed out of them. It had a noticeable more amount of handling both on and off the gas than other cars I’ve driven.
Aftermath:
Many of us think as HPI cars being a step up from a toy, I don’t anymore! The R40 proved itself time and time again through one of the hardest tracks in the state circuit. I would recommend this car to anyone that needs a race-winning car and that is low in price. Did I mention that HPI’s parts are the cheapest available? HPI’s parts are 1/3 of the cost of Associated, Mugen and Serpent. That’s definitely a plus in anyone’s book.
Hot:
-3mm purple anodized chassis.
-2.5mm woven graphite radio tray.
-Center force clutch with 2-speed transmission.
-Race worthy car under $280.
Not:
-Instructions lacked some important details.
-Receiver case was too small
It’s obvious that HPI’s R&D department has been doing some serious testing and tuning with this new R40. After Atsushi Hara won the ROAR On-Road Nationals the HPI R40 has been the new leader of the pack. Of coarse, considering it’s race winning features. Such as a woven graphite radio try, centax style clutch, threaded shock bodies, low center of gravity design and front and rear roll bars. It’s up front for many good reasons. Is this the car that puts the racing back into HPI Racing? Let’s just have a look.
Construction:
After opening this large silver box, I noticed labeled bags for easy construction, along with the purple chassis, four foam tires and the instruction manual. I was surprised how easy the car went together. As a matter of fact, I had it completely finished in one night! Although certain sections of the instruction manual left of some valuble details you should have no trouble putting this car together. All the parts fit together just as they were designed to and it had no slop in the linkages, or anywhere else for that matter
How It’s Designed:
HPI has been hard at work designing a race worthy car and finally they’ve done it! The car’s drivetrain starts off with a center force clutch with a 16-tooth pinion gear and a 19 tooth for second gear. The power is then transferred to the spur gear that use a shoe type clutch. Once through the gears it travels towards the rear VIA belt to the rear differential. The differentials on this car are bullet-proof! They use the same steel gears as the HPI Savage, so you’re almost garunteed to have no problems with them. After the rear it travels along the left side of the 3mm purple anodized chassis to to a pulley on a layout shaft, which connects to the front differential. Once again it uses the same gears as the Savage. The HPI’s main goal for the R40 was to keep the lowest center of gravity possible. This is enabled by putting the heaviest things on the bottom of the chassis. This will allow the car to have a tight steering radius and will make handling much better overall. In an effort to lower the center of gravity the battery is the lowest item on the entire car. The fuel tank is specially designed to fit right on top of the battery. The steering servo is lying on its side, while the throttle servo is still standing. Fully loaded the R40 only weighed 1750 grams, that’s only 25 grams over the ROAR limit!
Race Day:
For the very first time running it I brought it to Full Throttle Raceway in Kissimmee, FL. You may have heard of this track because it’s where the electric worlds are going to be held this year. I decided to use the stock 40 & 37 shore tires that were supplied. I also used a Rossi R12 Black Pixi engine, Dynamite inline pipe, Novak XXL receiver and Futaba servos. For the first run I used the box setup that was in the instruction manual. It didn’t seem to have the handling I was looking for. So, I decided to use Hara’s setup from the nationals. After setting up my car I was back on the track. I didn’t have to adjust with the clutch, or the two-speed. The car handled like it was a magnet on rails; it could easily dive into corners and speed out of them. It had a noticeable more amount of handling both on and off the gas than other cars I’ve driven.
Aftermath:
Many of us think as HPI cars being a step up from a toy, I don’t anymore! The R40 proved itself time and time again through one of the hardest tracks in the state circuit. I would recommend this car to anyone that needs a race-winning car and that is low in price. Did I mention that HPI’s parts are the cheapest available? HPI’s parts are 1/3 of the cost of Associated, Mugen and Serpent. That’s definitely a plus in anyone’s book.
Hot:
-3mm purple anodized chassis.
-2.5mm woven graphite radio tray.
-Center force clutch with 2-speed transmission.
-Race worthy car under $280.
Not:
-Instructions lacked some important details.
-Receiver case was too small
