Trucks Helion Animus 18mt

[murankar]

So I went christmas shopping for the kids this past week. My youngest child (Sage 6 yrs old) wants an RC car. With me being in the hobby I couldnt settle with a Toys R Us rc car, neigh neigh. I went to Hobby Town USA and spoke with my guys there. I said this is for a 6 year old, it needs to be small enough to run indoors but not required and MUST have parts support. I walk back to back and the sales guy says hold on have something to fit the bill. Pulls out the Helion Animus 18mt (the upgraded version). As soon as I saw it I swiped the card.

After getting home and having this thing in the room I got the itch. This truck has the looks but does it have the performance, to be seen. Anyhow today I had to finish the shopping and somehow another Animus 18mt found its way into the bag. Not sure how it happened but I wont argue.

Okay before I get into it who makes this truck and why. As we all may know Hobby Town USA has its own manufacturer for a bunch of segments, Ares for helis and quads and from what I can tell Helion for ground pounders. Now this company was formed by some people from Traxxes and one other campany which I cant remember. I believe the parent company is Firelands for all the brands.

What do I know about the truck?

For starters because its upgraded some of the plastic has been converted to aluminum. This truck has a bunch of replacement parts available and they are not all that expensive. On my version I have oiled filled shocks which if I understand it they are better than non oiled filled. It runs on a brushed motor with an 1100 mah nimh battery that is fitted with a deans connector. Now as with all lower end rc stuff it has its proprietary pieces. The drive servo is integrated with the ESC and RX. Now that part is replaceable and the price is in th $20 range. There is also an option to run a 2S Lipo on this setup. I wont just yet, I want to see if the motor can be changed to brushless along with the ESC. I have a feeling i cant but you never know.

Without running it I am impressed as to how it feels in the hands. It feels substantial and durable. NOw that does not mean it is, again we will see.

MORE TO COME

 

[Tony]

Yes, oil filled is MUCH better than non oil filled. Watch the review I did on that little truck. No oil in those shocks and that thing would bounce all over the place. Sounds like a nice truck. But you know what I'm going to say next...

 

[murankar]

Yes well the video is on hold. The camera I ordered ended up being a huge pos.

So I got the maiden run around done. I hammered on it in the grass for a about 3 minutes. That motor was blazing hot. I think it needs to be broke in proper prior to hammering on it. I think being in grass it was causing the motor to work harder.

As for the TX, it's very simple in design. There are three knobs for adjusting steering trim, throttle trim and dual rates. As for the dual rates go the higher you set it the sharper the turns and if left at zero it won't turn.

Charging took forever. Not sure why but I can surmise that the charge rate is about 1c. I could probably slap thus bad boy on the pl6 and speed things up a bit. I will try and get something on video soon. Christmas just killed me.

 

[Tony]

Brushed motors run hotter than brushless most of the time. And yes, they should be broke in properly. They actually make drops you can use to help this. But what I would do is just raise the back wheels off the ground, 10% throttle for about 5 minutes. Should take care of it.

 

[murankar]

I just ran it for for about 3 minutes at full open. I will finish the rest of the charge on pavement taken it easy.

It was watching this thing bounce on the ground. I'll see about getting some close ups tonight so y'all can see the details.