t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Here is the newest 1/8 car from HPI.... HPI WR8 '11 Ford Fiesta Rally Car



http://www.hpiracing.com/kitinfo/106949/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWW-FjQa08[/youtube]

When you combine the ultra-tough Bullet 3.0 drivetrain with the true to scale look of the Ford Abu Dhabi WRC team, you get the HPI WR8 Rally: scale realism and awesome nitro power!

Rallying is the ultimate test of a road car, pushing it beyond its limits, and by starting with the drivetrain from the Bullet 3.0 nitro-powered truck, designers had the perfect starting point to make an all-new HPI rally car! By making improvements to the suspension and wheelbase, the WR8 chassis was born! The WR8 keeps the tough bevel gear differentials, 4WD shaft drivetrain, twin disc brakes and fully ball bearing-supported drivetrain of the Bullet nitro truck, then we added a new Nitro Star G3.0 High Output engine, racing-style clutch, new suspension geometry, thick sway bars, plus scale gravel tires and wheels to make it a real rally contender!

To make it a complete scale package, our bodyshell designers got to work replicating the 2011 Ford Fiesta RS WRC used by the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, the offical Ford works rally team. This car saw action all around the world, from New Zealand to Norway, Great Britain to Germany! The shape and decals of this championship contender are absolutely spot-on, and when you add the officially licensed Abu Dhabi/Castrol livery, Michelin gravel tires and OZ wheels, it's impossible to distinguish it from the real thing!


FEATURES:

EXTENDED BULLET CHASSIS
The 3mm aluminum chassis is the foundation of a tough and durable racing machine, and features composite braces front and rear, cool silver anodizing and countersunk screws on the bottom for zero interference going over obstacles. The dirt guards keep the worst mud and dirt from getting into the chassis and protect the chassis as well.

HIGH GROUND CLEARANCE
A rally car has to cope with a range of conditions and road types that most cars or SUVs will never see - this is why the ride height is adjustable for off-road and on-road conditions using simple clips on the dampers.

G3.0 HIGH-OUTPUT ENGINE
The new Nitro Star G3.0 HO engine is a super-powerful upgraded engine based on the powerful G3.0 used in the Firestorm and Bullet 3.0 trucks. It features a steel flywheel for smooth idling and is fitted with a racing style 2-shoe clutch for excellent acceleration and throttle response.

DUAL DISC BRAKES
Twin steel disc brakes provide maximum stopping power, and are easily adjusted to provide more front or more rear braking action.

HIGH EFFICIENCY SHAFT 4WD DRIVETRAIN
The WR8 Rally is equipped with the shaft drivetrain straight out of the Bullet 3.0 nitro truck. Three oil-filled gear diffs with bevel gears, a full-time 4WD drivetrain supported by rubber-sealed ball bearings, high-strength steel driveshafts & axles and much more!

WATERPROOF SERVOS
The extra-strong & waterproof SF-10W servo is ideal for bashers and racers looking for a strong and durable servo for absolutely any kind of condition, and it's the perfect fit to handle the steering and throttle/brake duties in the WR8 Rally. The servos are mounted to an orange-anodized aluminum plate for extra durability and control.

SPLASHPROOF RADIO BOX
Splashproof receiver box fits the 2.4Ghz receiver and receiver pack, plus the antenna mount.

SKIDPLATE FRONT BUMPER
The front bumper protects the front end of the chassis and suspension, and prevents the body from taking too much damage over jumps. A raised skid plate made from tough plastic allows the car to slide over objects in the road, and the high density foam bumper is sandwiched between a high angle skid plate and an upper bumper brace that doubles as a front body mount.

ALL-NEW SUSPENSION GEOMETRY
The suspension of the WR8 is entirely new, with durable lower arms to fit the scale size of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC body, solid upper links for simple adjustment and shocks that are the perfect length for off-road use.

MICHELIN GRAVEL RALLY TIRES
Officially licensed by Michelin and featuring the exclusive tread design of the Latitude Cross S1 gravel tires used in WRC competition, these tires are the ultimate in scale realism! The full-size tires must work in a wide range of conditions, as the rules allow only one type of gravel tire, and the scale version works great on gravel, dusty dirt and even on limited tarmac use.

FRONT AND REAR SWAY BARS
Front and rear sway bars for precise handling and adjustability

REAR SHOCK MUD GUARDS
Keeping mud and dirt off the shocks is a key in preventing excessive maintenance time to rebuild the shocks, and the shock guards fitted on the rear suspension arms do a fantastic job in keeping dirt, mud and more off the rear shocks!

TRUE SCALE FORD FIESTA RS WRC BODY
Nothing can beat scale realism when you're talking about model cars, and we're proud to feature the official vehicle and livery design of the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team on the WR8 Rally! Every feature of the real car is replicated in perfect scale miniature!

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

I wonder where the price point on this thing will be? It better be less than $300 or it will be a flop IMO.What were they thinking putting an .18 in an 1/8 scale car? and 12mm hexes?

SerpentCT4S

My Feedback: (1)

I doubt it it will less than $300. The RS4 is a 1/10 and its over $300. This is a 1/8 so it must be in the $400 range. I'm willing to get it and slap an OS 18 engine in it. The motor looks like the only lame part of it.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Where did you see that it has 12mm hubs?

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

My bad. It doesn't SAY 12mm, but look at the pics. If these aren't 12mm I don't know what they are. My point is that they aren't 17mm like they should be if its an 1/8 scale. It should be able to share wheel from 1/8 buggys and GT cars.

nastyboys727

looks kinda cheezy tho
and the 12mm hex looks like a revamped super nitro rally
but its a very cool vid

MiamizFinest

Is it just me or is HPI starting to looking more and more like smartech style cars everyday??? they still have some great cars but things like this leave me scratching my head?!!?!? They had a rally before and it was a flop, i wonder what pushed them to try again?! To sell this car has to be less than 400 ish or close to it, because if its anymore a inferno gt would be way more practical.

Have you ever seen the first inferno gt race video from japan on packed hard snow course with pin style tires, and that suburu body that was pretty sick!

378

My Feedback: (4)

That's all I have to say on this car.

iexion

That does look more like a smartech along with the bullet 1/10 off roads they have. Kinda feel they could of done a better job making the chassis look a little more original. The front and rear shock towers dont appear very adjustable.
Their also looks like a 2 inch gap from the back on the engine and battery box to the rear diff which makes it a so called "1/8" scale
I dont want to sound too negative because I DO like seeing someone still putting out a 1/10-1/8 nitro onroad but honestly it does look like its on the cheap side and will be over priced [&o]

1: flip the engine so its on the other side like a 1/8 buggy/truggy and SCT
2: .21 engine not a .18
3: lose the cheap orange looking aluminum for some carbon fiber and a larger CC fuel tank.
4: Sell at $359.99

And I'll have a brand new HPI (which hasn't happened since 2005 i think)

Edit: Does anyone know what size the body is? Im thinking a WRX STI body would be killer

378

My Feedback: (4)

...Why is everyone incessantly wishing for a big block when a smallblock is more than ample? The videos showed a car that will powerslide on command, regardless of surface, and that tells me it's already got far more power than the tires can handle. A big block in this thing would just render it uncontrollable at anything over quarter throttle, and that's on dry pavement.


Big blocks are nice, but they aren't a necessity. Nothing wrong with a smallblock, if the car only weighs three or four pounds it will be beyond lively with a hot .18. Like, say, 18 CV-RX or OS 18TZ, depending on whether you want it roasting the tires from a dead stop or at 40MPH. On top of that it's not going to suck down expensive glow fuel quite as fast.




Lastly, there's room in the chassis to install a big block, if you're one of those people who insist on having RCs so crazily overpowered they're nearly undriveable above quarter throttle.

iexion

Thats howya do it son

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

I highly doubt the smallblock is more than ample. Of course i twill powerslide on command. It is on dirt, gravel, and WET pavement. My 3 year olds powerwheels 4 wheeler will power slide on wet pavement!LOL! It also looks like it is fast in the vid but I wonder what the gear ratio is. With the right gearing you can make even an underpowered 1/8 scale with a small block LOOK fast. But I bet it tops out around 25-30 mph if that. A big block would make this a true 1/8 scale. I don't understand why an company would devolope a new car and put such an underpowered powerplant in it. if your going to call it an 1/8 scale then put an 1/8 scale engine in it! If it was geared properly a big block would be very controllable. I say spinning tires is just wasted top end! But thats just me, I like speed and lots of it!

One thing I will agree with you about is a smallblock will no doubt save in fuel.

HerrSavage

Well it's always cool IMO to see a new 1/8, especially nitro. And not just some new 1/10 electric SC or whatever ([:'(] )

They REALLY need to have a 1/8 GT car plateform - 17mm hexes, 2-speed, .21-.28 engine. Don't know if this could be the platform for it.

The Kyosho 1/9 DRX is far cooler - and cheaper - at least here in Germany.. And there's apparently a 2-speed option for it..

Lars from Norway

The body is 227 mm wide, which is very narrow for an 1/8-car. Kyoshos DRX's are 260 mm wide to comparasion, and the standard width on 1/8-scale is 310 mm. The wheelbase is 300 mm, compared to 325 mm on most common 1/8-scale cars. So, no other body that i know of will fit this car, only thing to hope for is that there will be more options for the bodies. But as i am a Ford rally-man i like this Fiesta a lot

378

My Feedback: (4)

I still fail to see the appeal of a car undriveably overpowered. My smallblock powered NTC3 is enough of a handful, full throttle just spins the wheels through both gears, but I've got a decent range, up to about 3/4 throttle or so, where it will actually put the power down. Great fun. And if I want it to behave like a ragdoll I just slam the throttle wide open and let it follow the road crown while doing donuts like they're the last ones before the world ends.


That power wheels isn't a valid comparison unless you're fitting PVC drift tires to your RC. As for your surface comments...blah. I've got a smallblock powered touring car that is an absolute animal at full throttle, as overpowered as any big block powered car would be. But I have a good range of throttle where it isn't, which means I can still do more than squeeze the trigger and hope it pirouettes in the direction I want it to go.


And then if I get bored I can open the throttle fully and let it go wherever the hell it wants to go, regardless of the surface on which the car runs. It just doesn't care, WOT = four tires spinning through second gear.


And it's just got a 'weak' little smallblock in it...


A big block would just be the latter. IT would be absolutely uncontrollable. Smallblocks make more than enough power to give you uncontrollable when you want it and a good range of controllable when you don't. They're more than sufficient.

Doesn't matter. Anyone who buys this for it's intended purpose is only rarely going to see more than 20-25MPH, and if anyone buys this for speed runs they're a bit [&:]

Engine displacement does not make a car a given scale. If it did, my NTC3 would be 1/8 scale if I stuffed a .21 in it.

What dictates power requirements is intended use and vehicle weight. A heavy vehicle designed to slog it out in mudpits is best served with a .28 or bigger, a rally car like this is just fine with a .18, and a super lightweight tourer is best fitted with a .12.

I don't understand why everyone wants a car that's impossible to drive because there's so damn much power that the slightest tap of the throttle sends it into the nearest ditch ass first!

Now this I can get behind. Go on HPI, give us a 1/8 scale turbocharged 4-stroke I4 for it!

If it was geared to nullify the torque the BB puts out it'd either top out at 15-20 or it'd be geared for 70-80MPH and would accelerate slower than it did with the stock engine.

Then why the hell are you clamoring for a big block in a chassis that can barely handle a smallblock?!


Nice contradiction. You go on and on about how it'd be underpowered with a smallblock, ignoring the fact that it has absolutely no trouble spinning the wheels with the .18, and then you turn around and say spinning tires is wasted power. [&:]

I do to. I also like being able to get up to that speed, something you need a weak enough engine that the tires don't just give up and spin in place every time the throttle servo twitches.


Wanna know the truly funny thing? You don't need a big block to get the uncontrollablility you seem to crave. An OS 18TZ will run rings around many .21s on the market, and it will drop right in. No need for fancy motor mounts or anything. Fancy low-end torque instead? Grab yourself an 18 CV-RX, that will literally drop right in if you get the rotary carb version, and I can tell you from firsthand experience those things make far more torque than any smallblock has any right to make.

iexion

I had a 18TZ in my RS4 with the tallest gearing Hpi had. We are all very aware of a 18tz but that same TZ engine cost about the same if not more then a LRP Z28.

The car is not a true 1/8 scale. So be it.

rchabits

This car looks like the rally sibling of the ofna twin titan truck from a few years ago.At a glance this car looks like a $350 dollar kit at best.Alot of plastic parts where aluminum should be like shocks,towers,etc.At least it should be,because I doubt anyone,but a beginner would choose this over other 1/8 rally cars like the gt2 with better bodies,aftermarket parts and support.Looks like a good beginner car tho if it not too expensive.

RCUSEE

i kinda like it. is there any improvement compared to a inferno rallycar ?

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

Nope.

I actually really like HPI but this one doesn't excite me at all. The Inferno GT line looks better in every way. The only thing I like about this car is the body. Increbily detailed, but Kyosho already has that too.

djyjrlz

the hpi g3.0/t3.0 line are definitely more than enough to push this rally car about, look at the bullet line... they have the SAME chassis and drive-train, with MUCH bigger tires, and they still pull 40 mph, as well as spinning the wheels on dry tarmac. these are slightly heavier vehicles too. 

DANIK15

Well it totaly looks and probably performs better than a traxxas ken brock "rally" car. I will defenitelly pick this thing up! I been waiting for a drift/rally car for a while now!

djyjrlz

the only real problem i can see with this is that the body is being demolished in the promo video. if you look closely you can see it cracking and breaking under normal off road stuff. hope its not too much of an issue because i don't want to be spending £35+ on a body every few weeks.