The 1/8 scale four wheel drive buggy segment of the hobby offers some of the best action and thrills you'll ever find off-road. In this genre, you'll recognize several familiar names such as Kyosho and Ofna. However, once in a while, another manufacturer decides to toss up the list of familiar names and throw a buggy of their own into the mix. Such is the case with RD Logics, a company most often associated with aftermarket hop-ups and accessories. They're looking at expanding the reputation they've created for themselves, and the SHO 1/8 scale buggy is one of their latest offerings.

The RD Logics SHO isn't necessarily designed to be in direct competition with a high end Mugen or Xray 1/8 scale buggy. Instead RD Logics had the intention of offering a good platform, at a reasonable price, and provide both strength and the ability to perform well. In removing the SHO from the box and seeing the thick shock towers and chassis, I think I can immediately say it appears they have covered the strength department well.

Despite how impressive the buggy looks, it isn't going to prove itself sitting beside the box. After all, this buggy arrived at my doorstep, and I'm not known for being a pushover in regards to putting a vehicle through a torture test. So, it's time to head to the hobby store and grab some nitro. Let's see how well RD Logics did with their first entry into the world of the 1/8 scale buggy.

The RD Logics SHO comes with a lexan body that's pre-painted, or rather screen printed. So this ensures you'll be ready to quickly jump into the action with your new 1/8 scale buggy. The overall scheme for the coloring is rather basic, compared to other designs I've seen, but it works well with the buggy.

The SHO comes with plenty of documentation to help cover the basics while you're getting up and running. You'll receive one manual that covers the basic operation of the buggy, involving tasks such as break-in and tuning. This will be invaluable to the newcomer, and even more experienced hobbyists as well. Another manual included with the RD Logics SHO contains assembly diagrams and a parts list. This is always a welcome sight, as even an experienced person can often find a need to refer to this sort of information.

You'll also find a manual that details the Airtronics radio as well. I do wish that Airtronics presented a much more detailed manual with their radios than they often do though. Many owners will feel that the radio's manual lacks the detail needed to fully understand the radio's features. Along with the manuals, you'll find a sheet of decals that you can use to round out the looks of your buggy's body.

RD Logics includes several of their accessories along with the SHO. To help get you up and running, you'll get a fuel bottle and glow igniter. These would certainly be items you'd need to purchase otherwise. A set of L-wrenches for the hex screws, and a four-way wrench, will help you work on the buggy due to maintenance or repairs. Some air filter oil, and a frequency flag help round out the impressive list of accessories.

Since the SHO is an 1/8 scale buggy, you'll find the layout of the chassis and components to be similar to other buggies of this genre. The chassis sits close to the ground, and features CVD-style axles and driveshafts, with a center differential and individual differentials for each axle. Plastic mud guards help protect the chassis from dirt and debris. The pipe for the big block motor is slung to the side of the chassis, while the fuel tank sits right beside it.

On the opposite side of the chassis, from the pipe and fuel tank, you'll find the electronics box. It houses the receiver, as well as an onboard power source. Carbon-fiber braces support the throttle and steering servos, and off to the side of that plate you'll also find a transponder mount.

The foundation for the RD Logics SHO is the 4mm aluminum chassis plate. This plate is machined from aluminum and features countersunk hardware from front to back, with the exception of the screws that secure the engine mount to the chassis. The area around these four screws is milled out so that they are recessed and slotted. This allows you to adjust the gap between the clutch bell and the spur gear.

You'll also notice a cutout on the bottom of the chassis, which facilitates the use of a starter box, should you wish to go that route to start your RD Logics buggy. This is a convenient feature of the chassis, as many owners will eventually use this option. There's another slot under the spur gear, which allows the center differential to sit as low as possible on the chassis.

The fuel tank for the RD Logics SHO sits between the tuned pipe and the carbon fiber upper chassis that supports the throttle servo. The tank itself holds 75cc of fuel, which is typical for an 1/8 scale buggy. A channel around the mouth of the tank routes spilled fuel away from the chassis, and dumps it out underneath the buggy via a hole in the chassis. This helps to prevent the fuel from ending up on the brakes, which could affect how well they operate.

If you want to talk about strength, then the SHO can easily back that up with its 4mm aluminum shock towers. In fact, the shock towers are some of the thickest I've ever come across. The shocks themselves are made with six unique mounting points, for the upper end of the shocks, to help tailor the handling characteristics of the buggy to your liking. Underneath the shock tower you'll find the plastic bulkheads that house the differential, and attached to the upper edge of them is a 2.5mm sway bar.

The 4mm suspension pins are held in place by a plastic brace that is secured to the bulkhead assembly by a pair of screws. A similar brace holds the rear of the suspension pins. The suspension pins are locked in place by pairs of e-clips. On most buggies I've come across, these suspension pin braces are aluminum so I'm curious to see how well the solution used on the RD Logics buggy holds up during the driving phase of the review.

The shocks on the SHO are top-notch, and bear a substantial resemblance to the ones found on higher end buggies. They are constructed of aluminum, and use threaded preload spacers to adjust ride height. RD Logics also includes clip on spacers as well, so you can use them above the threaded adjuster to prevent the threaded adjusters from moving as the buggy is driven hard. A thin rubber boot helps to protect the 3mm shock shafts from dirt and dust.

The steering servo setup for the SHO uses a laydown approach that has become very popular on 1/8 scale buggies in the past couple of years. The servo of choice is an Airtronics 94162, which offers 154 oz/in of torque at 6.0 volts. This should be plenty to handle a buggy like the SHO. The servo also features metal gears for durability, as that's necessary for about any off-road buggy. The Airtronics 94162 drives a bellcrank-style servo saver that's adjustable via a thumb-wheel, as is typical with most buggies of this genre.

A 2.5mm carbon-fiber upper plate runs across the top of the servo, and serves as the foundation for the throttle servo. Thick 6mm aluminum chassis braces provide extra strength between the lower aluminum chassis plate and the shock tower, as an added measure of protection.

If you need extra steering capability out of the front end of the RD Logics SHO, the aluminum bellcrank system the buggy is equipped with facilitates adjusting the Ackerman angle. This gives you the capability to aggressively add more steering into the buggy, should you feel the need to do so. To further tailor the steering characteristics of the buggy, the upper suspension pins come equipped with plastic clips. This allows the front caster angle to be easily adjusted, which can change the way the buggy reacts to low and high-speed steering. Turnbuckles allow the toe angle of the front end to be altered easily as well.

The front suspension of the SHO uses a pivot ball approach. This style of front end has become the standard for mid-level and high end buggies. The biggest advantage is the fact that a pivot ball suspension offers a great deal more setup flexibility that a c-hub style setup. The pivot ball suspension also allows the plastic caster clips that I mentioned earlier to be used for adjusting the front caster angle. In addition, a properly tuned pivot ball setup has much less unwanted play as well.

The pivot ball setup used on the RD Logics SHO uses a two piece ball retainer setup. Black plastic pivot ball caps ride against a 13.5mm pivot ball, while an aluminum retainer keeps the cap properly tensioned. The steering block, that houses the pivot balls and retainers, also is home to dual 16x8x5mm bearings for the axle stubs.

The axles for the SHO are steel CVD-style assemblies. The axle itself is 4.5mm at its thinnest point, and increases slightly as it approaches the axle stub to 5.5mm. The hardened axle stub measures a diameter of 8mm where it passes through the axle bearings. A 17mm adapter fits over the axle stub, and held in place by a 3mm pin. A grub screw is run into the end of the axle, and holds the pin in place.

The differentials for the SHO buggy are held to the chassis by front and rear halved bulkhead assemblies. The differential rides on sealed bearings, to eliminate drivetrain friction. The differential itself is easily accessed after the front bumper is detached from the chassis, and the outer half of the bulkhead assembly removed. From that point removal only requires the bottom end of the shocks to be detached, as this will allow the axles to swing out as the differential is pulled out. Also take notice of the fact the chassis is milled to allow the differentials to sit as low as possible.

The differential itself uses a plastic case to support the steel ring gear. Four screws secure both the case and the ring gear together. A set of thin shims is used to position the differential assembly for proper gear backlash once it sits in the bulkhead assembly.

Once the differential is opened up, you get a glimpse of how well built the driveline of the SHO is. Inside the differential's housing, you find a full set of six gears handling the transfer of power between the two wheels at each end of the buggy. To allow for differential tuning, the housing itself is sealed with a rubber gasket. This keeps the differential oil of your choice inside where it belongs.

The center differential is similar in construction to the other two. It is also a true six gear differential, and is tunable by the use of diff oil as well. Plastic braces with bearings support the differential on the main chassis plate, while a 3mm aluminum upper brace supports the vertical supports. Stainless steel disks and calipers reside at each end of the differential, and have fiber pads between them to provide some progressive feedback while you are working the brakes on the buggy. The driveshafts fit into the output yokes on the differential with their dogbone-style end, while at the outer differentials, they use a CVD-style approach instead.

The throttle and braking action is handled by an Airtronics 94102. It provides 50oz/in of torque, and a good overall response time. The servo mounts to the 2.5mm carbon-fiber plate I mentioned earlier, and has a transponder mount positioned beside it, hung off of the carbon-fiber plate.

The braking linkage provides you with true front and rear braking action. The linkage is not only adjustable by moving the linkage collars, but it can also be fine tuned by turning the thumbwheels as well. This makes adjusting the front to rear brake bias extremely easy.

The rear wing of the SHO is durably constructed, as the rear wing of an 1/8 scale buggy will often bear a tremendous amount of abuse. To help secure the wing to the wing mount, the SHO uses body clips with a brace that connects the two mount posts together. This ties the two mount posts together, and makes the point where the body clip reside even thicker.

If the possibility of being able to adjust the downforce supplied by the rear wing appeals to you, you'll be happy to note that the SHO delivers. The wing mount has several positions to facilitate the capability of altering the angle of the wing on the buggy. This is a feature that some buggies don't even offer, especially ones in the price range of the SHO.

The rear suspension of the SHO takes the c-hub route. Thick upper links with adjustable turnbuckles connect the upper end of the bearing carriers to the main chassis. A 4mm suspension pin connects the bearing carriers to the lower suspension arms. The axle setup follows the same approach as the ones on the front, and resides in a pair of 16x8x5mm bearings. Just as with the front, the rear gets the sway bar treatment as well, with a 2.5mm sway bar tying the suspension arms together. The rear suspension arms offer four positions for the lower end of the shock, which is also the same as the front suspension arms.

The SHO has a nice and thick chassis for strength. However, the chassis of the SHO is milled out wherever possible. An example of this is under the fuel tank. Aside from looking cool, this can add up to a considerable benefit in regards to shedding weight. This is a detail that is often only found in higher end buggies or replacement aftermarket chassis plates. So the manufacturer gets a big thumbs up for this inclusion!

An 1/8 scale buggy isn't any fun without big block power. So the SHO delivers with a .21 cubic inch pull start motor. A tuned pipe and header combo, finished in black, provide a good balance of back pressure and scavenging for the motor. The two parts are joined together by a silicone exhaust coupler and zip ties. The header is held to the motor block by a header spring, which is typical big block fare. Incoming air is filtered adequately by a typical 1/8 scale buggy filter with both an inner and outer element.

Fuel and air mixture for the .21 motor is handled by an aluminum-bodied slide carburetor. The carburetor uses both a high and low speed needle to regulate the delivery of fuel, and both are easily reached when the motor is installed on the buggy's chassis. The idle adjustment screw is located near the high speed needle, and just above the flywheel. Due to its location, the tuned pipe makes access to it a little tougher than the adjustment needles. However it can still be reached with a little effort, and having a flathead screwdriver ground to an angle helps substantially for the idle adjustment though. A blue silicone boot protects the carburetor's slide from dust and debris, while helping to maintain a good airtight seal.

The motor uses a three shoe clutch assembly to transfer power from the flywheel to the clutch bell, and ultimately the driveline. The three shoes are a composite material, and use individual springs to properly tension them. Two bearings, with rubber seals, allow the clutch bell to spin effortlessly on the motor's crankshaft when the motor is idling.

The motor itself uses true ABC construction, and is constructed well for an out of the box motor. The black anodized motor head uses a replaceable button for the glow plug, and is held to the motor by four hex head screws. To facilitate starting the motor, it's equipped with a pull-start. However, as I mentioned before, a starter box can also be used if you desire.

The wheels for the RD Logics SHO I received were white dish style rims. This differed slightly from the pictures on the box, so I'm assuming there's probably been a running production change at some point. However, the dish-style rims are always a good choice in regards to strength and style. The pre-glued tires use a knobbed design, with angles cut into their face to enhance their grip. The foams that support the tires are fairly firm. I feel as if this will reduce overall traction. However, the tires themselves appear to be aimed more towards bashers and a racer would likely swap the tires to suit their conditions anyway.

The electronics box of the SHO uses a slick dual-lid design that allows you to open only the part of the box you need to access. This helps to make things easier overall, as it reduces the amount of wires you'll need to cram back in the electronics box once it's opened. It's a very nice touch, although I'd like to be able to have the option of using a flat 5-cell pack as well but it simply will not fit.

The included receiver is made by Airtronics, just as the radio is. The exact model number is the 92727, and is designed to work with the included Blazer Sport radio. The receiver is an AM unit, as is the radio, and should work well for most beginners. Later on, most people would opt to swap the electronics out for something of the FM variety however.

The included Blazer Sport radio works well for the RTR buggy, as it offers all of the basic items you'll need to start off with. While it is a typical low-end RTR radio, you'll find that it does offer a dual-rate adjustment and a charging jack. The adjustments do use analog knobs, which is easy for a beginner to utilize. However, they do offer the drawback of being thrown out of whack if they are moved while the radio is off.

Getting the RD Logics SHO from the box to the dirt takes little effort. In fact, most of the preparation items I took the time to perform weren't even required, but I felt they offered a substantial benefit to the operation of the buggy. I started by removing the plastic protective film from the included lexan body, and then applied some of the supplied stickers in a fashion that suited my tastes.

To handle powering the onboard electronics, I chose to use a 5-cell receiver pack in a hump configuration. The pack I actually chose was a custom pack I built from some Venom 2/3A NiMH cells. The hump pack dropped right in place of the stock battery holder, and provides a much more consistent source of power than if I had chosen to use alkaline batteries. This is in addition to the fact that a rechargeable receiver pack will save you some money in the long run.

The SHO didn't come with anything to cover the end of the antenna tube. The antenna wire itself was simply tied in a loose knot to prevent the wire from sliding back down the tube. So I dug into my pitbox and pulled out a Dubro antenna cap. These Dubro caps work well in situations like this, and come with a small antenna collar to help hold the excess wire in place alongside the tube. In the event you'd want to go this route, the Dubro part number is 2342, and you can pick them up for well under a dollar.

While I was in my pitbox, I also pulled out a Dubro inline fuel filter as well. The natural aluminum of this filter (part #2305) matched the rest of the buggy well, and it will serve as another layer of protection for the motor along with the bronze filter in the tank. To extend the fuel line, in a suitable fashion for mounting the filter, I also used some Dubro fuel line as well. I chose some purple fuel line to compliment the lower part of the buggy's body. The filter itself was mounted on the splash guard after I made a small hole in it with my body hole reamer.

I also wanted to make a handle to facilitate easier refueling once I was driving the buggy. So I grabbed a ziptie and used a small section of the fuel tubing that had come on the SHO before I swapped it out for the purple line and fuel filter. I fed the zip tie through the hole in the lid and then fed it through the fuel line leaving a loop. Following that, I locked the ziptie in place and trimmed the excess away.

One task that you should perform before running, even though it's not mentioned in the manual, is to oil the air filter. While most seasoned veterans would check the filter before running, most beginners won't. So I'm a little disappointed by the fact that the SHO's manual doesn't reference this task in the least. If it was missed, engine damage could result. To oil the filter, apply several drop of the included air filter oil around it. Squeeze the filter, until it is an even shade indicating that the oil is spread evenly. Then squeeze out any excess oil.

Once I had squared away a few personal touches, I was nearly ready to tear up the dirt. However, I still needed to drop the body in place on the buggy itself and install the supplied body clips. I also had to supply some batteries for the Airtronics radio as well. Always use a set of fresh, good quality batteries. 1/8 scale buggies are powerful, and can quickly put some distance between themselves and the radio. So a good set of batteries is essential when it comes to providing a good signal to the receiver.

The RD Logics SHO awaited me to get it in the dirt, with its naturally finished aluminum accessories. I could tell, as I got ready for the driving phase of the review, that running this buggy was going to be a lot of fun. I planned to start my testing in the backyard environment, which is often a normal course of action for me. This usually works out to be the best plan, as I can handle break-in and some general running before I head to a more suitable environment for testing.

For the break-in phase I strayed from the manual that came with the SHO. The suggested break-in method of running several tanks through at idle would be a good recommendation for the beginner, but I feel as if there are better methods for the more seasoned nitro fan. If you have a good handle on the concept of tuning, I think actually running the vehicle can provide you with better results overall. So I chose to use the heat cycling method instead.

The break-in process flew by pretty quickly, after I made a few adjustments to make sure the motor was running in the 200° range. After I had properly worked my way through the procedure, I started to drive the SHO around in the backyard. However it wasn't long before I pulled the buggy in for some suspension adjustments. I had noticed that it wandered some when running a straight line during the break-in process and it was even more noticeable now that I was really starting to open it up.

Once I pulled the buggy in and shut down the motor, I made some quick changes to the toe angle of the front wheels. Out of the box, they were pointing straight ahead. So I toed out the front wheels slightly, around 1-2° of toe-in. This adjustment helps the buggy to track a little straighter in a straight line, as well as making it a little easier to control when powering out of a corner. In addition to these changes I also adjusted the camber of the wheels slightly as well. The front wheels had a slight positive camber to them out of the box, while the rear was sitting pretty close to straight up. So to help the buggy corner better at speed, I set all the wheels to 2° of negative camber.

Once I fired the SHO back up, and ran for a few minutes, the changes I had made showcased a definite improvement to the temperament of the buggy. Handling, both on and off power, was much more predictable than before making it easy to whip the buggy through a turn and power out of it at speed. After a couple of tanks though, I noticed that I seemed to have lost the ability to stop the buggy. So I once again brought the buggy to a halt to check it out.

The reason I had no brakes was readily apparent once I pulled the body off of the SHO. One of the grub screws that hold the linkage to the braking assembly had worked itself loose and fallen out. Then the linkage itself had slid loose of the braking assembly. In essence, I only had front brakes which were set soft to begin with. So I dug into my pitbox and found a suitable replacement grub screw for the braking assembly, and applied some threadlock to it. I also used this time to run through the buggy and double check other metal to metal screws for the same condition. Once I was satisfied with this procedure, and had given the threadlock sufficient curing time, I was ready to hit the dirt once more.

With my early adjustments behind me, I was finally getting a good handle on the SHO. Now that I was feeling fairly comfortable behind the wheel, I started hitting the dirt jump in the backyard, and working my way around the track layout I have constructed over time. The SHO seemed to take to this very well as it is just like most buggies, built to handle and run fast. It took to the air very well, requiring very little throttle adjustment if you prepared yourself as you were running up the face of the jump. If I preloaded the springs by backing off the throttle just before I hit the ramp, and then clamped down the throttle again, it shot off the top of the ramp perfectly level. Once landing, it was immediately ready to take off and head to the next corner. Even on the steeper of the jumps that make up my track, it jumped very well and required very little correction as long as I had a good run to the ramp.

A little later, to further enhance the handling, I decided to alter the shock's position on the aluminum shock tower. I moved the shock down to the middle hole on the top row, to lessen the shock's reaction to the terrain initially. I had originally intended to move the upper end of the shock a little further inboard, but I noticed that the spring and sway bar would make contact. So I decided against adjusting the shock inboard that far. This whole adjustment was made to help provide a little more progressive feel to the suspension while cornering. Even though I had been running through the corners in the backyard, the suspension was simply not as firm as I wanted when I pushed it to its limits. This adjustment helped correct that condition.

For the next hour or so, I continued to drive the buggy around the backyard track to get used to how it felt as I pushed its limits. Even though the conditions were pretty dry and dusty, the tires seemed to hook up fairly well as there was a good coating of loose dirt on the ground's surface. This made it very easy to powerslide controllably through some of the corners as I made my way around the backyard track. While I could have stood to have some more traction, the tires provided adequate control in this particular scenario.

My afternoon would end very abruptly however, after landing the buggy from a jump. I had been trying to work with landing the buggy with a slight nose-down approach to help keep my momentum up and landed a little hard with the buggy's weight positioned on one wheel. Right away I could tell that there was a problem, as that one corner of the buggy started dragging the ground as it continued on its way from the jump. So I pulled it back over to me, and shut it off to examine it.

The problem was that the suspension pin blocks on both sides of the bulkhead had snapped on the left side of the SHO. If you remember, I had some concerns with this one aspect of the buggy, and it seemed that my thoughts had played out as I had thought they might. It appeared my day was over, as there was simply no way to come up with an immediate repair to this break. So I packed it in, looked up the part number, and made a visit to the hobby store.

Later on that evening, as I was cleaning up the buggy, I happened to notice that the tuned pipe had caused the body to heat up and distort some around the hole that was made in it. This was due to the fact that the hole really didn't provide a lot of clearance between it and the pipe. So I cut the area away some more, to provide a greater amount of clearance between the pipe and the body. I also eliminated the hole as well, opting to just have a cut out. This would not only provide a greater amount of clearance, but would also make the body much easier to put on or off as well.

Once I had the SHO repaired from my backyard outing I prepared myself for a trip to the local off-road track. I was pretty excited about this, as the jumps at Monkey Bottom Raceway can give an 1/8 scale plenty of air as well as putting on quite a show!

Once I arrived at the track, I fueled the buggy up and quickly got it running. Soon after hearing the exhaust note, I was running the SHO up and down the front stretch of the track to get it warmed up. It didn't take the buggy long to warm up, and it was immediately noticeable that traction was almost non-existent. While the tires had worked fairly well in the backyard, they were going to have a tough time on the hard and dry surface of the track. Making conditions even tougher was the fact there was a very light dusting of loose dirt on top of the hard packed surface of the track. So I knew that running wide open would be out of the question, and that I would need to stay on top of things to keep the buggy under control.

I soon began running around the track and made a few laps. However, after I completed a couple of laps, the motor seemed to be running way too lean. As I pulled it over to me, it flamed out at my feet. I quickly checked the temperature and received a reading of 300°. With this in mind, I richened the high speed needle around a quarter of a turn and then readied myself to re-fire the motor.

After it had flamed out, the motor did want to start and wasn't even firing. So I pulled the plug and checked the coil, even though my Dubro igniter gave me a tone indicating that the plug was in good condition. The coil checked out fine however, so I focused on the fuel delivery as I plugged the pipe's stinger with my finger and pulled the starter cord a few times. While the fuel tubing I had installed made it difficult to see whether fuel had reached the carburetor, I could pinch the line and tell whether there was any fuel at that point. That pinch told the tale, as after doing so could tell I was on the right track and that fuel wasn't going through the line.

I knew that I should focus my attention towards an airleak, and since I knew I had replaced the fuel line when prepping the buggy I first looked towards the fuel tank. My search didn't take long, as I found the problem in the form of the tank lid's o-ring. It simply didn't feel as if it had any seal when it was shut. So as an emergency fix for the track, I dug into my pitbox and pulled out a similar o-ring and placed it between the stock o-ring and the top of the cap. I hoped this would create enough of a seal to salvage the afternoon, allowing me to replace the factory installed o-ring at a later time.

Once the fix was finished, and the buggy re-fired, it didn't take me long to see everything was golden. The motor ran much better in regards to holding a tune and running at an acceptable temperature. So I began to run the buggy on the slippery track once again.

Although I had to hold back, it was very obvious that the .21 motor of the SHO packs a very mean punch. After driving buggies recently with larger sport motors, I had thought I'd be a little disappointed with the SHO when I first received it. However, I'd have to say it easily packs just as much punch as the larger sport motors do.

Aside from having to be careful on the slick track, the buggy handled very well. Obviously I wasn't able to push it anywhere close to its physical limits, but it did feel like it wanted to corner so much better than the tires would allow. Jumping the SHO was an absolute pleasure, just as it was in the backyard. Control came easily, even though I had to use a little more throttle and braking action to land level than I did in the backyard. This was attributed to the fact that the jumps push the buggy a little higher in the air than the ones I had previously worked with. However the jumps at the track made it that much more fun to drive especially when I hit the tabletops, and the large double coming out of the first turn.

After a while, both the SHO and I adapted well in regards to handling in the air. As long as I had a good straight run to the jump, the .21 pushed me high enough in the air to clear the tabletop or double I was trying to clear at the time. I got used to exactly how much throttle I would need to clear the exact distance I needed, and then bring it to the ground with the nose angled slightly down for a run down the backside of the tabletop or double. I tried several times to perform the same feat with the triple right before the last turn on the track but never was able to pull it off due to the lack of traction leading up to the jump. I had to settle with doubling the first two while taking the last of them as a single. Under different conditions, with better tires, the SHO would have easily cleared them all though.

I thoroughly enjoyed running the RD Logics SHO at the track, as it seemed to really be a good fit for the buggy's capabilities. With the exception of the issue with the tank's o-ring, I had no problems at the track that sidelined me. This made for an enjoyable afternoon overall, which is exactly what this hobby should be!

The RD Logics SHO is a very impressive 1/8 scale starter buggy, considering what all it provides for the price. The super thick aluminum chassis and shock towers provide tons of durability for those who may be new to the hobby and need to polish their driving skills. The only real big disadvantage to the platform, for the beginner, is the fact it comes equipped with a pullstart. Electric and rotary starters make this aspect much easier for newcomers, and it would be a good option for RD Logics to include since the SHO is along the lines of an entry to mid-level 1/8 scale with its price.

I ran across two problems with the buggy, one of which I feel that RD Logics could really improve upon in regards to the buggy's design. This would be the fact that they use plastic tie bars to connect the suspension pins together. I really feel these parts should be made of aluminum, not plastic, and the early break I experienced backs up my thoughts. Most 1/8 scale buggies use aluminum for this critical area, and it would improve the SHO's already impressive layout if this change was made at some point in the future.

I also had a problem with the tank's o-ring, but I attribute this more to a bad part than a faulty design. I would recommend that any new SHO owners inspect this area to ensure they don't run into a similar problem however, as trying to track down an airleak can be a hair-pulling experience at times.

The RD Logics SHO provides a very well rounded 1/8 scale buggy for the price. Seeing a release like this gets me excited, as it gives some competition to manufacturers who have developed a bigger association with this genre. More competition drives manufacturers to constantly improve their product lines, and in the end, it's the consumer that wins!

RD Logics
13750 Van Ness Avenue
Gardena, CA 90249 USA
Phone: (310) 217-0908
Fax: (310) 217-0762
Website: www.rdlogics.com

Trinity Products, Inc.
36 Meridian Road
Edison, NJ 08820 USA
Phone: (800) 848-9411
Fax: (732) 635-1640
Website: www.teamtrinity.com
Products used: Monster Horsepower Fuel (20%), After Run Oil