iLLcrew

Be cautious purchasing the HPI Firestorm RTRNitro truck. First of all, my included Glow Igniter is no good. Tried new batteries and all. Borrowed a buddies rechargable one, all was well. Got through two tanks of break in (barely) when the throttle servo went bad. HPI has not responded to my calls or emails and are dodging the problem. For a newcomer to the hobby, Iam sure disappointed in my purchase. I had to order a new servo already and have to wait 3 weeks as no hobby shops are nearby. Avoid HPIProducts!

Scinet7

Is there a glow starter included with the Firestorm? There wasn't with mine. Also the HPI SF1 servo is a rebadged Futaba S3003 servo, it's not an HPI manufactured product. Hope you get it sorted.

SaucerHead

As someone that's been in the hobby the past ten years, I'd have to completely disagree. I've owned cars from most of the major manufacturers and all of them are going to have their kinks, but at the end of the day, HPI makes satisfactory models for the price. You're buying an RTR, and any person in the hobby will tell you that most of the time the first thing they replace on an RTR are the servos, and that's as a preventative measure. Generally it's the steering servo to go first but nonetheless.

I wouldn't let it discourage you. A good friend of mine has used nothing but HPI and he's never broke a single stock servo, and i can remember on a couple occasions him having to call HPI to inquire about a 2-speed shimming problem, and the reps being very helpful.

It's a rewarding hobby, but certainly one of give and take. Believe me, things WILL break.

iLLcrew

Maybe so SaucerHead, but don't you think losing a servo in the first day of light use warrants some support from the company. There is no reason for them to put cheapo servo's in. I would think it would make sense for them to use good ones, to avoid a bad rep for cheap parts.

quietnas1

Well don't know who you spoke to at HPI. My experience with their customer service was awesome. I got my Savage X 4.6 back in Christmas of 2009. I didn't get to start breaking it in until the second week of January. In About mid February I tried some crazy jump, landed wrong, and blew the rear diff. I called their customer service, explained what happened, and without hesitation they sent me a set of bullet proof diffs die the front and back. Also shortly after my Roto Start went bad, again I called them and they.sent me a new one. I was able to fix the bad one so the new one till this day is still in the box. Hell if you ask me I think they stellar customer service. Try them again Monday morning.

quietnas1

quietnas1

Oops

Foxy

Indeed it would. Keep trying. I can't imagine why you are having such trouble with their usually excellent customer service. just keep on at them, and don't get angry, just be persistent, they will probably send youa free t-shirt as well if they agree that they haven't been as responsive as they should have been, they are good like that.

About the servo itself, its well known that all RTR servos are junk. I don't know why they even include them, since its always the first thing to get replaced. I'd rather have 10 bucks off and no servo, but then I suppose it wouldn't be RTR. Ah well...

controlliner

I've had a similar experience. The throttle servo was glitchy right out of the box. The engine threw the rod through the crank case on break in while running exactly as instructions recommended for break in. They gave me the hardest time about that, they said I over revved it with an over lean carb setting which was BS. They eventually sent me a new engine, after some "serious talk". I'll never waste money on another HPI product.

SyCo_VeNoM

or $20 added to the price and a good servo used.

But yea most RTRs servos crap out pretty fast. For example on my RTR 1/8th scale buggy the steering servo was so weak I put it on a stampede, and it was struggling to turn the wheels. The buggy literally weighed 2-3 times more than the stampede too so I'd have hated to see it's performance on that.

But for a throttle servo the SF-1 isn't that bad I've got a few still being used in old ass RC's this case it might have just been a bum servo.

Ttowntoolman

Or the travel was not adjusted properly so the servo tried to push the throttle or brakes into a position that was beyond the limit which stripped the plastic gears in the servo. Checking the end point adjustments before operation is a must, extra important with a cheep servo.....