Grantimus

hey im new to rc cars and i want to get into it, but i cant decide to between the rs4 3 evo or the rs4 18ss (both nitro of course). the 18ss is a kit and i have to buy a radio but it comes with the engine and the evo is RTR. they cost the same minus the radio for the 18ss, and i think i would prefer to build a kit since i love buildiing things. i dont know too much about the differences here and i would appreciate some input such as, the pros and cons to kit cars or RTR cars and the specific models. thanks for any help.

Team Diamond

You know, these guys talk about big engines and advanced radios, but to get there you need to practice driving, tuning, learn a lot, and just get used to it. Plus building a kit can get pretty frustrating, unless you can build 3,000+ piece legos & stuff, but whatever! Just get the RTR, it's fast, easy, and reliable, trust me, I know! Just tell the experts to take their thermonuclear radios and advnce lunar ranging engines and take them to the barn! (Get the RTR!)

[sm=RAINFRO.gif] I have an RTR, so what, it's still mine!!!

steven16440

yeah man i agree because i have an rs4 evo 3 and its an rtr. i think kits take too much of your time and it can probably get very complicated

hpiracefan

rs4 3 18ss its fast as hell a pain to break in but fast and if u like to build models and have become too advanced in it this is deff the best model ive ever put together but thats just my oppinion

ELITE913

18ss has heavy duty gears, 1.5 hp engine, heavy duty outdrives, better easyer to work on engine, body that comes clear- paint it however you like!... more than $200 worth of hop ups from the evo

hpiracefan

as i said b4 i love my 18 ss i wouldnt trade it in for ne thing in the world as far as im concerned to he## with team losi,traxxas,team associate all that

Ramness

I would go for the kit! You can look at the instructions on HPI’s website before you buy it and see if you think you can handle it. It’s not all that hard or time consuming, it took me 6-8 hours over the course of a few days working on it when I had time. Just takes patients and the right tools to get it done. Plus you have the added feeling of accomplishment and bragging rights to say you built it yourself.

hpiracefan

i agree with ramness

JoeyD

It does not matter what you decide either way it's HPI and whatever you do decide you will be happy that you did. HPI products are great.

Grantimus

ya... so i bought the 18ss kit about a week ago. i think it was a good decision. i havent built it yet, but im looking forward to it. the only part i regret was the 400 dollars, although im sure it will be a blast.

Ramness

$400! Was that with the added cost of a radio too? If not I hope they at least included some Vaseline with that price! You can get it on tower for $290 with the 20 instant coupon on $149+ orders.

hpiracefan

WOW!!!!!! i didnt even pay that much for mine mine was only 280 plus tax but then again i live in cook county IL and taxes r hell here

Grantimus

ya i got it on tower without the coupon and i bought a radio and fuel, etc. it was 380 not too bad ill have fun with it

hpiracefan

have u started putting it together yet??

vibeeleven

I have the evo, but I ended up buying the 18 ss motor and putting the t-15 in my old rs4. The evo is insanely fast with the 18ss motor.

Grantimus

yep ive started building it. im tryin to take it slow cause building things like this is my favorite part and i always rush through it and dont enjoy it

hpiracefan

i had fun putting my car together but this wasnt the first kit i had neither though

Grantimus

so i put it together and i am breaking in the engine. im having some trouble though; i cant get the engine to idle for more than 2 seconds. i have to be giving it at least 1/4 or 1/3 throttle for it to stay alive. its really annoying. any ideas? im gonna make a separate post about it but id appreciate any input.

hpi apollo

grantimus, i sorta had the same problem with mine, make sure your carb is staying open 1-2mm at idle, and lean out the hsn 1/8th of a turn until it will run about 10 seconds on its own, at idle when breaking in, the engine tends to load up on excess fuel which will make it cut out, also lean out the lsn 1/8th of a turn, that should help, mine was a little stubborn too

BLBncsu

If your breaking in the engine according to the manual it will be hard to keep it alive at idle. The engine is running really rich at break-in and giving it just a bit of throttle shouldn't hurt much but doing like hpi apollo says is good. I had to keep the glow-plug ignitor on the engine the entire time I was breaking it in just to keep it running. Its a pain but good to go through to ensure a great running engine in the future.