Have I mentioned to yall how much I love the Aluminum Bling? Well I was tickled a bit when Brian asked me to toss on all the Hop Ups just released for the Dominus 10SC and the soon to be released sibling the 10TR. As a relatively new name in the RC World I was anxious to see what benefit these hop ups would offer the entry level market this truck is geared towards. Keep reading to find out…

From: Helion RC
Direct Link: Dominus Hop Up Parts

Review By:  Manny
Pics By:  Manny

PART NUMBERS:
HLNA0177           Slipper Clutch = $19.99
HLNA0178           Aluminum Wheel Hex Set = $14.99
HLNA0180           Aluminum Battery Mounts = $15.99
HLNA0181           Aluminum Rear Hub Carriers = $24.99
HLNA0182           Aluminum Shock Set  = $49.99
HLNA0183           Universal Drive Shaft Set = $24.99

Test Venues:  Street in front of the Crib, Yard, Dirt Lot

Installation & Build Quality: If you are used to adding fiddly bits you will not be surprised on most of this, but I did have a couple of stumpers. The only color so far is a nice orange for the Aluminum and on the black, honestly that would be my first choice. Overall the parts have a great fit and finish with only a slight variation in color, you would need the magical eye to tell any noticeable difference.

Durability:  Honestly I broke other stuff on the truck (don’t tell Brian) but not a single one of these upgrades even batted an eye.

Misc Notes:  To be brutally honest I have not had much wheel time on the Dominus and with my first outing rolling with the Viper VX4.39 Brushless System, I was pleasantly surprised. With its Aluminum LOW CG Chassis and 4wd to put the power down this thing is a blast! I am way more of a basher than a track fiend, but I have to tell you… I was having visions of a podium finishes with this truck after the upgrades…. Hmmmm maybe the guys won’t notice if I hang on to this truck for a while?

Rear Hub Carriers, Wheel Hex and Drive Shafts:  All basically just swapped out with ease and taking each component to the next level in either Aluminum or what seems to be a hefty hardened steel Drive Shaft Set.

Battery Mount:  This little number will make a snug Lipo on the plastic pieces  almost require a touch of butter to get in between the mounts. The other thing that Helion seems to keep missing the boat on is the height that the battery brace can lock in. The posts that you push your e-clips into are not happy unless you are running the thinnest 3000ish mah packs. My work around to this since the posts now screw into the mount is to leave them a little loose, put the fatty battery of your choice in, place the brace on and install your e-clips and use said e-clips to help screw down the posts. Now this is really not the way it should be but it ends up working really well, and after some good bashing the battery was still solid.

Shock Set:  If you are a tinkerer you won’t have anything less than a threaded shock body. These little numbers take the shocks from a 12mm to 14.5mm and the girth is noticed and appreciated when taking big air and over tight bumpy terrain as well. One small dig is the top retainer to mount the shocks will not work without swapping out screws. (think these were designed for an 1/8th scale buggy???) There were no included screws or other hardware to make them work so I moved the stock plastic bits over and swapped them all out… Problem solved!

Slipper Clutch:  Ohh that slipper clutch….  Now let me start off by saying anytime you have more control of the power you put to the ground the better… BASHERS this means you too! But let me just say this is no small task and probably not for the noob just getting in. First taking 8 screws off just to get to the spur is a bit overkill… then you basically have to remove the rear diff, then the pesky chassis brace is still kind of in the way so you might as well ditch that too. You must move over the Spider gear and it HAS AN E-CLIP (sorry was I yelling). Make sure you use the smaller SILVER E-Clip or you will get a weird binding in your drive train…. grrrr. Did I mention I think this was wrong from the factory binding up the entire rear diff?  Back to business OK Slipper is all in… Good… well everyone that has ever ran any slipper knows it needs to be set/adjusted..  A) Once it breaks in and B) setting up for driving/track conditions.   Then did I mention you need a 10mm open ended wrench to adjust the slipper… we all have one of those in our RC Kits right?…. its right next to the flux capacitor!

SUMMARY

Time to Bash – 7.0/10 – You read the kinks, but otherwise as expected.

Car Show Rating – 9.0/10 – Me Likes the Orange Bling!

Bash-A-Bility – 9/10 – No issues I pushed it hard with nary an issue.

Fun Factor – 9/10 – Who wouldn’t want the first fully tricked out Dominus?

Value – 8/10 – Spending this many pesos on an unknown piece of hardware may be a stretch for some younglings in this game. Overall everything here will take the Dominus to the next level.

Big Squid Rating – 8.4/10 – Bashers, like I said in the beginning I like the fiddly bits especially ones that will take my ride to a bigger and better place with more tuning options as well as the ability to take the abuse we belt out so often. Helion is on the move and these parts say they are serious about the product, even though they have some growing pains just like everyone else. All things considered you can replace/upgrade as you break or go all in.. either way you won’t be disappointed.

For other great Dominus tasty bites… CHEW HERE!

P.S. If you are going this deep into this or any other build… take the time to CLEAN or Replace your BEARINGS!  Otherwise you may be wondering why you made any upgrades at all!

Hi my name is Bruin and I own a Helion Dominus 10r. I still have my stock 1800 mah battery in it and I read your latest lipo shootout. You had the Gens Ace 5800 2s lipo ranked first and I was interested in buying one. I have looked all over the internet and I can’t find any sites that sell them and if they do they are out of stock. Do you know where I could find one or any hobby shops that have them in stock?

I live in Rexburg, Idaho and they just got rid of the nearest Hobbytown USA to me in Idaho Falls so I pretty much have to order everything online now. If you could please reply I would greatly appreciate it. I would also accept any advice like a diffferent/better lipo I should get or any upgrades etc… Thanks

Cubby- Yo hey Bruin, sounds like you are having the same problem a lot of people are, not being able to find the Gens Ace pack they want in stock.

I’ve often said the biggest problem Gens Ace has is keeping their packs in stock. They put out a decent battery at a reasonable price point, but they’ve got a lot to learn about inventory management. So what should be your plan of action? Buy from someone else that has their act together and keeps their product in proper supply.

So what’s an affordable Lipo that is easier to actually lay your hands on? Venom. Venom has come a long ways with the quality of their batteries in recent years, and while they may not have won one of our shootouts, they are solid packs that will make your Helion M U C H faster than the included Ni-MH battery. Oh and even more importantly, it’s typically pretty easy to lay hands on one that suits your needs. Venom is carried by both of the “big two”, Hobbico and Horizon, so whether you are buying from an LHS (sucks to hear you lost yours) or buying on-line, the chances of finding what you need is much greater.

Squid Live #16
I don’t watch the show. it’s a bad timing kind of thing… but I did watch the re-run of #16 (couldn’t sleep and had nothing better to do). Thought I’d send a few comments, just to let you know, it didn’t lull me back to sleep, and that the nonsense is at least somewhat entertaining.

First off that Red Cat S-tryk-r, interesting idea for a rc vehicle, glad they finally got it to market, but couldn’t they have had somebody with some art or industrial design capability at least give them some clues about how something like this should look. Come on now, I mean – one word: UGLY! make that two words: STUPID UGLY! They can do good looking, you didn’t mention the Pagani Huayra, but it is a RedCat so I understand. Now belt drive is cool, it smooths out the shock to the drive train, yea it’s going to be a nightmare to work on but that’s just something that you would have to live with for a Canam style bike. Your only other option for a three wheeler would be a Mardave sidecar racer (spec racer – lame) or some Vaterra you guys are done bashing with (change that, the Vaterra would probably only have one wheel left).

As to bashing with a Corally… problem is after getting things good and wet the sand kicked up by the paddles tends to pack up on the belt and pulleys and before you know it the belt is all stretched out, corners rounded off and the belt starts slipping.

TS

Cubby- Hey now TS, interesting email ya sent in.

Ya, our G+ shows can be interesting at times. At the very least they give us a bit of a chance to hang out face to face. While I may go on and on about meeting up in the uber BSRC offices, the staff is actually all over the place so we don’t really get to see each other that much. We meet up here and there for reviews and shootouts, we also meet up for trade shows and bash events, otherwise the work done here is via UPS and the net. Any time I get to give Brian or Adam crap I consider to be a good time.

I’m not a fan of RedCat. Every time I’ve been exposed to a RedCat vehicle first hand it was with a pile of soon to be rubble, and they haven’t been what I’d call “cordial” to us by any means, so what is there for me to like? That doesn’t mean that times have changed and their new gear is actually worth owning, and that doesn’t mean that they’ve decided to overlook the negatively I’ve written about them and want to hold out their hand to start over, who knows. What I do know is we don’t get any of their product for review, so even if it is quality gear we have no way of knowing it. And… I do know we’ve extended our hand by covering their booths at trade shows and by posting some of their press releases.

With that said, I like their S-TRYK-R. In fact several of the BSRC Bash Crew do. Why? It’s a matter of this- we’ve owned hundreds of cars over the years and are attracted to something completely new and different because we are bored of the “norm”. The S-TRYK-R might be a POS, but we’d actually put up with that if it was so different to own that it was a “new” experience for us.

YOUR Cub Reporter

THE Helion Invictus 10MT 4wd Monster Truck Review

Monster trucks are the weapon of choice for a true basher, their large tires give them plenty of ground clearance for grass driving and driving over large clods of dirt. One of the latest entries in this product categories comes from Helion, a division of Firelands Group and an exclusive product at HobbyTown USA. We’ve been trying to destroy the new Helion Invictus 10MT for weeks now. Did we succeed? Read on…

From: Helion RC
Direct Link: Invictus 10MT
Unboxing Pictures: Unboxing the Invictus

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 16.61″
Width: 13.27″
Wheelbase: 10.83″
Motor: Radient brushless, 540, 3500kv
Speed Controller: Non-sensored brushless, Radient Reaktor
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Helion HRS-3.1, 2.4 GHz, 3 chan
Differential: 2 gear diffs
Slipper Clutch: No
Driveshafts: Bones
Shocks: Plastic bodies, oil filled
Servo Saver: Horn type
Screws: Phillips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 32 pitch
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Helion chevron pattern, foam inserts
Battery: 8 cell, 1800 mah Ni-MH
Part Number: HLNA0248
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/ 2S Lipo): 26 mph
Warranty: 90 days limited
Street Price: $290

Primary Competition: Traxxas Stampede 4×4

What’s Needed To Complete: Four AA batteries

Build Quality: We saw no leaking shocks, nothing was binding, no excessive flash, camber/toe settings were in the ballpark, everything appeared to have been assembled correctly.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim, Sam the Noob, and Iron Mike

Test Venues: RC Outlaws in Collinsville IL, Cliff Cave Park in Oakville MO, CostCo parking lot, and a backyard.

Set-up Notes: We ran the Invictus bone stock initially, then went to a 2S 6500 mah MaxAmps lipo with Traxxas connector adapter later in testing. We used a Hyperion 720iNet3 to charge both the stock pack and the MaxAmps.

Turning: Just like the rest of the Helion line-up the Invictus has a LOT of steering, in fact too much on high bite surfaces, and so much the truck is hard to drive in a straight line. The front end is overly planted making the rear very loose. In a typical corner the Invictus plants hard at turn-in and the rear starts sliding around.

Jumping: The Invictus is a backflip machine. Leave the gas pounded off a jump face and the Invictus loves to backflip, even on small jumps. If you are coming from 2wd or from 4wd with a center diff, the Invictus is lots of fun to backflip but for normal jumping the lack of a center diff makes the truck ultra sensitive to trigger input. A slight stab of the brakes on a 2wd barely nudges the front end down, on the Invictus a little brake drops the front like a brick. Otherwise, due to the large tires and decent suspension take offs and landings are a joy. The big tires and all the travel can soak up crazy amounts of airtime. For example, when jumping off a second story roof the suspension/tire combo soaked up the ultra high impact landings arguably better than many other vehicle we’ve recently tested.

Bumps/Whoops: The Invictus is a beast in the gnarly stuff. Once again those large diameter tires and ample wheel travel can soak up some very rough terrain. We found the spring and damping rates worked well with the chassis, just point it and pin it, it will blast through the chop like a champ.

On-Road: Overall, the over-steer of the Invictus makes it hard to drive on-road and in the corners the rear end likes to slide out. It certainly soaks up pot-holes and road-joints very well, but generally it was hard to drive. There is an upside, the Invictus can be made into a much better on-road machine with a few simple changes.

Grass: The Invictus drives quite well in grass. It has decent ground clearance and those chevron tires give just about the right amount of side-bite.

Tires: Obviously the stock tires are chevrons so they look scale (which is very cool in our book). For actual rc driving they weren’t bad. They give very good bite in mud and they are manufactured from a compound that lives a long time but isn’t rock hard. For their intended use on a monster truck the stock tires hit the mark quite well. The foams were right in the ballpark, not too soft nor too hard.

Power: The included Radient Reactor brushless system has decent overall power. It provides enough power to wheelie, backflip, and throw crazy roost. However… the stock power system cogs like crazy and it runs really hot. The Invictus is overgeared out of the box, and the stock battery pack is not capable of putting out enough current to quench its demands.

Even by simply holding the Invictus up in the air and hitting the gas it cogs and takes a long time to hit max rpm (and it gets worse when the wheels are actually on the ground). Stock, the power system just isn’t set-up for a vehicle of the rotating mass of the Invictus.

We did drive the Invictus multiple times with the stock set-up, meaning stock gearing and battery. The 8 cell Ni-MH ended up running even hotter than the motor (more on this later), proving the stock pack just isn’t up to the task it is being asked to do. When switching over to a lipo (that we know first hand can handle some pretty insane current demands), it still cogged more than we’d like to see, indicating that it was over geared or the brushless system just wasn’t up to the demands of the rotating mass involved.

To get down to what the truck actually drove like, all stock it coggs a lot and often times took a while to get moving (in both forward or reverse). Once actually moving, after its soft low end programming, for sure it had good yank. It had decent top end (although it couldn’t pull its entire gearing) and had enough mid-rang snap to make big jumps, blast up hills, etc. Going to a quality Lipo cut most of the issues out, still some cogging, but a lot more mid-range yank.

To boil it down, yes, you can drive the Invictus with the stock battery and gearing, but I would highly recommend dropping as many teeth on the pinion as will mesh up, and going directly to a quality 2S Lipo.

UPDATE: During our review period we experienced a significant amount of cogging with it. The review went up and the crew over at Helion read about it and suspected our test sample had issues. Our test truck was a pre-production unit, something we were not aware of during the review. Anyways, we shipped the truck back to Cali and got it back with full production electronics. We haven’t had any cogging issues with it since, and we’ve been bashing it on a regular basis.

Radio: The stock Helion radio had great range and weight distribution. The trigger was of a decent size and was nicely located in relation to the grip and wheel. The wheel had a decent foam on it and all the spring rates felt perfect. Overall, a decent and very usable RTR transmitter.

Broken Parts: We did not break one part on the Helion Invictus, even after crazy/stupid abuse. However, we did have some issues. The first thing we do with a new test vehicle is do a mph test. That takes about 2 minutes then we start taking pictures. While we are taking pics we are somewhat cautious to not break the vehicle. So… halfway through the first pack while taking pictures the Invictus spit out one of its front driveshafts. Our local HobbyTown USA didn’t have one in stock yet, so it was a day-ender. We hate day-enders, especially when we didn’t even crash or abuse a vehicle and it happens. Because it might take a while to get a replacement (They are at local Hobby Towns now, but we got our truck early) we dug through our parts box and found an Axial 96mm shaft that was just slightly shorter than the one the Invictus spit out. The Axial bone was much thicker than the Helion part, so we had to bust out the Dremel and do some mod’ing. An hour later the Axial bone would fit in the Helion’s outdrives. When we put the front bones back in we tightend up the pillow balls to make sure they couldn’t accidentally pop out again.

We then went on with our normal testing and didn’t break anything. The Helion lived through some massive crashes, deep water dives, and generally proved tough as nails. If a test vehicle lives through normal testing we start doing stupid stuff. The first “stupid” test was to huck the Invictus off a second story roof. We did that (3 times) to grass with absolutely no broken parts. We then flat landed to pavement from two stories up and ended up bending the center driveshaft bad enough that we will need to replace it.

Misc Notes:

The Helion motor runs hot, but the battery runs even hotter. The hottest day we drove the Invictus on was 70 degrees Fahrenheit, yet we saw motor temps over 160 degrees and over 165 on the battery. The battery got so hot its heat shrink shrunk, the high temps have us concerned about the stock battery life.

The Invictus is very waterproof. We had it over its roof in water multiple times with no ill effects. Kudos to Helion on how waterproof the Invictus is.

The speedo fan was quite loud, but things get hot, and it apparently needs it.

We didn’t notice this out of the box but after a bunch of runs the rear hubs had developed a lot of slop, causing a wobble in the rear tires under power.

We had a lower front shock screw back out. No biggie, but something to keep an eye on.

The clear pinion/spur cover looks neat and helps keep the nasties out of your gears.

We measured run-time at 9 minutes. The stock pack is listed at 1800 mah, but we measured it just over 2000 during a 1C discharge. 9 minutes run-time sounds like a long time to an old schooler, but feels quite short compared to the “norm” now days. When we popped in a 6500 mah MaxAmps it would run longer than we felt like driving it for.

The stock body clips are of a nice design. Sadly they are a bit too thin and bend easily (then disappear).

We’ve been blown away by the packaging from other manufactures lately, the artwork on the Helion box is a bit disappointing.

See the two neat little flags on the back of the body? Look fast, because they won’t last there long.

The red anodized pieces that come stock on the Invictus look cool.

The drivetrain on the Invictus rolled exceptionally free. This is a good thing, it means nothing is binding, giving you longer runtimes and more performance.

The stock servo is quite slow. Normally that is a bad thing, but on the Invictus it helps take some of the bite out of the trucks over-steer.

I was getting the truck ready for the first top speed testing when I realized there were no AA batteries for the transmitter in the box. I dug through the box and searched all over for them, I simply couldn’t find them. I then called Brian and chewed him out for “stealing the AA’s” out of the Helion box. Brian is quite the practical joker, and he owes me about a hundred pranks, so I thought the missing AA’s were his idea. I was wrong, the Helion comes with everything you need to get running except AA batteries. Helion, can ya please just drop in some cheap AA’s? Thanks in advance!

Best Mod Under $5: A new pinion, any pinion smaller than the stock.

Best Mod Over $5: A high quality Lipo battery.

Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash: C We didn’t use the included charger. Why? Because the manual says it takes “4-5 hours” to fully charge the pack. That is forever in the RTR bashing world. If you are using an aftermarket charger you can hit the track in about an hour.

Workability: B Good layout but we are not fans of Phillips hardware.

Car Show Rating: C Scale looking tires with good looking rims couldn’t overcome the body and graphics. We were just not feeling it on this one.

Bash-A-Bility: B Having a “day ender” on the first pack isn’t good, but at the end of testing we didn’t end up breaking any parts. This leads to some serious potential!

Fun Factor: C We had a blast running the Invictus through water holes, over mulch piles, and across a rough field, but the cogging and over-steer held back its fun factor score.

Handling: C The Invictus had its upsides- great suspension and ground clearance, and it’s downsides- too much steering and too touchy to trigger inputs while jumping.

Value: C The Invictus is $290, the Stampede 4×4 is $430, that’s a $130 difference. The problem is that it will probably cost you over $130 to catch up the the Stampede in electronics quality.

Parts Availability: C Our local HobbyTown USA didn’t have the front bone we needed to get going early in testing, but we knew we had the truck before it actually shipped! Helion parts are only available from a HobbyTown USA location, and as of this writing, they do have the parts in stock.

BigSquid Rating: C+ You have to admire the Invictus for taking the best we could dish out without breaking any parts, and with a few mods it can be an epic basher. However, out of the box its power system, over-steer and dog-bone issues keep it from hitting the mark.

We have finally made it back home and can start posting everything we saw at the 2013 HobbyTown USA Convention in Lincoln Nebraska.

Firelands Group is sold exclusively at HobbyTown USA. Their Helion Invictus has been a big hit with bashers this summer, and the Helion product line just keeps getting bigger. Helion premiered their new Criterion 10th scale 2wd buggy at the HobbyTown show. It’s 2wd and comes completely RTR with a 7 cell Ni-MH pack and brushed power system. The price point is $189.

On the air side of things, the biggest news was the Ares Ethos QX 130 quadcopter. This is a bigger brother to the Ares that won our quadcopter shootout and comes with advanced flight control, the ability to do 360 degree flips, and some really cool accessories like water blaster, rocket launcher, winch, and bubble machine.

Hit your local Hobbytown USA dealer to see Helion and Ares products in person, or hit THIS LINK to view all their products on-line.

Have you read our Quadcopter shootout? If not, you can view it HERE.

Just a quick reminder, if you haven’t seen our Helion Invictus Contest Post, check it out.

With just 5 days to go before the drawing, we are going to make it even EASIER to enter since the posts on the Facebook pages has moved down the page. All you need to do is go LIKE the Hobby Town USA Orland Park page. It’s THAT easy! We have been keeping track of all the likes on the posts, and will also keep track of all the new likes on their page. How simple? Click LIKE on their FB page and you are entered!!

For those attending the Big Squid Bash and Swap Meet you will also get special tickets for liking the page for a chance to win the Animus at the event!

So what are you waiting for? Go Click Like!

Hey it’s Monday, time for another Cub Report, thanks to everyone that tunes in each week to see what kind of trouble I can get myself into.

First off, nope, not moto, not F1, but rc! Specifically- this weekend is a big dealio for us as we are having our BigSquidRC Uber Bash and Swap Meet on Saturday. Consider yourself cordially invited to come break some parts with us, to set up a free swap meet table, and to generally enjoy the basher lifestyle. We’ll be having the usual events like RC Sumo, Shopping Cart Slam, and Obstacle Course, along with a few surprises.

For consumers, entry into the bash is absolutely free, as is setting up a swap meet table. If you are anything like me you’ve got boxes of old rc gear in your garage that really should be cleared out to make space for new uber gear, so bring it with ya and make some cash. 10 am is the official start time, feel free to bring your pit table, pit chair and EZ Up. Also, Brian will be doing a raffle to give away some of our beat up old review vehicles for prizes, that should be worth the trip alone. Click right HERE to get all the info you need to hit the event.

We are also giving away a brand new Helion Invictus monster truck and Helion Animus 18th scale SCT in conjunction HobbyTown USA Orland Park. To get the info you need to win Click Here.

For industry types, and it sounds like we’ve got a few coming already, if you are interested in putting up a display of some sort hit the “contact us” button at the top of the page and tell Brian what you are thinking of doing (and yes, it will be free, we just want to coordinate). Or, simply show up and get a feel for a hardcore basher crowd for marketing research. If you’ve been stuck behind the desk more than you like, this Saturday should be a great time to rub elbows with all the people you work so hard to make product for.

On a different note…

We just finished reviewing the new Futaba 4PL Super (4PLS) with telemetry. We hooked up all the sensors, gave it a bunch of trigger time, then I had one of my super awesome ideas to test its durability (these always seem to get me in “extra” amounts of trouble). Anyways, simply dropping/hucking transmitters has become quite mundane so I thought we’d up the ante on the 4PLS (insert evil grin here). The previous 4PL was arguably the best radio you could buy for bashing, so I really wanted to see what the new 4PLS could withstand. The durability test I came up with involved the roof of a building and a Thunder Tiger MT-4 G3. Did the 4PLS prove to be the toughest radio you can buy or did it explode into a million pieces? Am I going to get punched in the face by every single Futaba employee I run into for the rest of my life? Stay tuned to later in the week to find out…

That’s it for this week ya bunch of lunatics, hopefully we’ll see a bunch of you guys this Saturday at our uber bash, until then support your local hobby shops and bash spots.

YOUR Cub Reporter

The 2wd buggy class has seen quite a resurgence in the last couple of years. The latest 2wd buggy to hit the scene comes from Helion with their Criterion RTR. The Criterion should make a great bash machine with its low price, waterproofing, and sturdy design. Some of the features and specifications of the Criterion include-

* 12 turn brushed motor
* 2.4 GHz radio system
* Full ball bearing set
* Metric 30 amp speed controller
* 3000 mah 7 cell Ni-MH battery
* 1 amp wall charger
* Length: 15.21″
* Width: 9.8″
* Wheelbase: 11.14″

The part number for the Helion Criterion is #HLNA0301, they have a street price of just $189, and you will only be able to find them at your friendly local HobbyTown USA location.

Want more information on 2wd buggies? Simply Click This Link for more right here on BigSquidRC.

We first reported about the new buggy from Helion, the Criterion, Right Here. Now Helion has released a video showing just how fast the Criterion is. Using a radar gun and some old fashioned street running, the video shows the top speeds of the Criterion compared to several of its competitors. The Criterion is shown topping out at 33 mph, pretty fast for a 7 cell brushed buggy.

To get more information on the Criterion simply hit THIS LINK. To get even more Helion news check out THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Our favorite chain of hobby shops is HobbyTown USA and they have a nice booth at iHobby this year. Their booth showcases some of their exclusive Helion and Ares products. One of the newest machines they have on display is the Ares Chronos FP 110 ultra micro helicopter. The single rotor FP 110 has an attractive price point of only $99 and they are available at your local HobbyTown USA right now.

On the surface side of things, we got a chance to talk with Gil Losi JR about the Helion line-up of off-road machines. Helion is aimed right at bashers and their new Criterion buggy is really fast right out of the box, look for our full review in the near future.

To get more information on everything at HobbyTown USA hit up This Link.

Click Here for more HobbyTown USA news on BigSquidRC.

“Hey Guys,

I wanted to thank you again for the Invictus. Attached are some pictures from my Sons 6th birthday where we gave him the truck. He was screaming with joy!! Made his birthday. We had it hid away for a few months that is why it has taken time to get you pictures! My wife was laid off her job 2 years ago so we were able to give him a great present from Big Squid RC!!! Thanks soooo much! He has already put Big Squid RC decals on it!

Nathan M.”

Cubby- Yo to the yo Nathan, thanks for checking in after winning the Helion Invictus monster truck. And ya, your son looks crazy stoked in the pics, glad Helion and BigSquidRC were able to help put a smile on his face. Happy to hear he is digging the truck, and congrats again on the big score.

Here is a little side note on our Helion Invictus review. During our review period we experienced a significant amount of cogging with it. The review went up and the crew over at Helion read about it and suspected our test sample had issues. Our test truck was a pre-production unit, something we were not aware of during the review. Anyways, we shipped the truck back to Cali and got it back with full production electronics. We haven’t had any cogging issues with it since, and we’ve been bashing it on a regular basis.

“I have a question, do you know of any hobby shows in the New York area?

David M.”

Cubby- Hey now Daveee M, thanks for the email.

No, there aren’t any “major” hobby shows in the greater NY area. We’ve actually batted around the idea of doing something in that area. The New York/New England area is crazy for rc, I personally think a show in that area would freak’n blow up huge. So who knows, give us a couple more years to get some big bucks together and we might put on something cool out your way.

Until then, the closest thing to an rc trade show in your “area” would be Motorama in Hanover PA. Several rc manufactures set up booths in additional to all the rc racing that goes on over the weekend. The dates are Feb 15-16 in 2014, check it out if ya get a chance.

“Hi Cubby,

I have a 1/8th scale 4wd buggy with a center, rear and front fluid filled differential. Im not sure what wieght the factory used to fill the differentials and i would like to know your recommendation on what fluid weight i should use when i go to perform maintenance on the diff’s. A general guideline for bashing would be great as i dont race at the track.

Thanks and keep up the good work over at BSRC!

David O.”

Cubby- What’s up Daveee O? Word up on the email.

So… what is a recommended starting point for diff oils for bashing? Should they be different than racing?

In racing, changing weights of the diff oils is a great tuning aid. If you need more rear traction you go to thinner oil in the rear, if want less front bite, you go higher in the front. Things are a bit different for the bashing crowd where diff oil is truly used more to help keep tires from ballooning and to help pull gnarly tricks. Bashers also tend to have a LOT more power on tap than the average racer.

In a typical basher set-up you’ll usually find much heavier center oil for sure. This helps a basher in a number of ways. First off, it helps keep the front tires from becoming pizza cutters when you tag the gas on 6S. A heavier center oil will force more of the power to go to the rear, resulting in less pizza cutting. Thicker center oil also makes it easier to pull back and front flips when jumping. A buggy with heavy center diff oil will be much more reactive to throttle input while in the air. Also, bashers like wheelies! A loose center diff will prevent a buggy from pulling a wheelie, forcing all the power to the front wheels when they lift from the ground. Going to a super heavy center diff oil will ensure plenty of power goes to the rear wheels, making it easier to pop wheelies.

As far as the front and rear diffs go, bashers tend to run somewhat heavier oil than a “racer” set-up. Because bashers aren’t looking for maximum corner speed, they are willing to trade some traction for the ability to keep the inside tires from pizza cutting in the corners.

So what weights should you run? That is entirely up to your personal driving style and taste. Light oils are easier to drive and jump, heavier oils can help you pull more extreme bashing moves. Personally I would recommend you start at 20k center, with 10k front and 5k rear, all oil Mugen. This might sound heavy, but if you are a core basher running crazy power, you might very well end up going much heavier to keep things under control. I recommend Mugen diff oil because it is relatively affordable and easily found at hobby shops and on-line. If those weights are hard to drive, go lower for more traction, if you are still having issues with ballooning, go heavier on the applicable diff.

Ask ten different guys and they will give you ten different recommendations, but at the end of the day you gotta do some bashing to figure out what works best for you.

That’s if for this week ya bunch of lunatics, keep those emails pouring in, I promise they will get read (eventually). Shoot me whatever is on that seedy mind of yours to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. If your letter makes the big time you’ll win a free sticker pack, if I proclaim yours “Letter of the Month!” you’ll get a brand spank’n new BSRC Bash Crew t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter

Helion RC is best known for their rc trucks, but we recently received their new boat, the Lagos Sport for review. The Lagos Sport is about 14″ long, is completely ready-to-run, and has an affordable street price of $59. Our full review is still a couple of weeks away, until then check out the unboxing pictures to see exactly what it looks like when you crack the box open.

For more information on the Lagos Sport hit up This Link and to get more Helion news on BigSquidRC just Click Here.

“I am interested in getting one of the new avc systems and running it in my T4 this winter. Is the avc system legal for racing? thanks,
Jason K.”

Cubby- Yo to the yo Jason, I just want to let you know you were ohhh sooo close to being letter of the month. You came in second, hope you weren’t holding your breathe for a t-shirt, but you do get a free sticker pack.

Is the Spektrum AVC (Active Vehicle Control) system legal for racing? Yes and No! Gotta love answers that completely conflict each other.

Yes! AVC is completely legal at local tracks that proclaim it to be legal. Hopefully local track directors are smart enough to realize that AVC isn’t gonna cut 5 seconds a lap off anyones time, but it can make a vehicle easier to drive in slick conditions. But… knowing the racing crowd the way I do- 1. they are typically idiots, and 2. they are more resistant to change than a Baptist church congregation. So… finding a local track that doesn’t care if you run AVC or not will probably be next to impossible.

No! No sanctioning body that I’ve heard of has made electronic stability control legal. The drift guys are against it (even though their cars are freak’n impossible to drive without it), the drag guys are against it (even though it would make zero freakn difference in cars that only go straight), and the off-roaders are against it (because they would rather spend countless hours working on their tracks to make their trucks easier to drive instead of just popping in AVC).

But me being Cubby, I think the more important question is “Should AVC be legal for racing?”. On one hand- our tiny cars are ridiculously hard to drive, especially in the wayyyy overpowered brushless age, on the other- it should all be up to the driver no matter how hard their car is to drive. Of course I am very pro electronic stability control, our small over-powered cars are frustrating to drive as they are now, with some stability control they are simply more fun. If I was running a track, stability control would absolutely be legal, heck I might kick drivers that showed up without it just to help get the ball rolling.

“I have an Animus for my 9 year old daughter and she likes it. We upgraded it with most of the aluminum parts and a losi mini insane motor. We looked at this truck at our local Hobbytown and it seems better than the Animus because the esc and steering servo are seperate, and it seems a touch bigger. Would you consider the SC4.18 an upgrade from the Animus?

Jeff D.”

Cubby- Yo Jeff, you didn’t finish second, you have won the highly coveted and sought after “Letter of the Month” award as proclaimed by me. Shoot Brian your shirt size and your snail mail so we can hook ya up.

So… what’s better (I love these questions) a Helion Animus or a Dromida SC4.18? Ok, I could totally make up some crap answer, but I’ll make an exception here and give ya the real scoop. Yes, we’ve tested both, but we haven’t tested them back to back. Without doing so it is incredibly hard to say which one is the best. Both vehicles are similar in the way they are both 18th scale 4wd brushed SCTs, but they both differ on their high and low points. Without a true shootout, I simply can not hook you up with a real answer. However… I can say that we’ve had a bunch of fun with both, and they both are decent bash machines.

Peace and love, and enjoy your new BigSquidRC t-shirt.

Well that’s all there is for this edition of ASK Cubby. Submit your questions, rants, or obvious trolling to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. Make the front page and get a free sticker pack, have your letter proclaimed as “Letter of the Month!” and get a free t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter

We’ve spent a few weeks now running and reviewing the Lagos Sport boat from Helion RC. The Lagos is an affordable (street price $59) RTR that comes fully assembled and ready to hit the water. It even comes with batteries and a charger, making it even easier to get going. After letting the BSRC Bash Crew pass around the Lagos for a while, here are some of our thoughts-

* The Lagos isn’t an especially large boat (about 14″ long), but it can handle moderately rough water. Yes, you can run the Lagos on a pond. It also tracks very straight for a boat of its size.

* It has good power, even with the stock brushed/Ni-MH power system. It might take a couple seconds to get going from a dead stop, but once the Lagos gets its nose up, it can hit a decent top speed.

* The interior is very well sealed. The hatch cover goes on very tightly, and the entire boat is sealed to keep water away from the electronics. Also, even if water were to get inside, we found the electronics to be waterproof.

* The Lagos Sport can turn quite sharply. It’s not one of “those boats” that pushes like a freight train in the water, if you need to pivot quickly, it can. In fact, it can out-turn its own prop bite.

* The ESC and receiver are combined into one unit.

To get more information on the Lagos, simply click This Link.

Want more boat news? Check out This Link right here on BigSquidRC.

THE Helion Volition 10SC Review

Short course trucks are still scalding hot and Helion RC has jumped into the market with their version called the Volition 10SC. The Volition comes at an affordable price point and is said to come with one of the most powerful brushed RTR motors on the market. We put one through its paces (and then some!) and found out some interesting things. Want to find out how the Volition 10SC stacks up? Hit the “Read More” button to find out…

From: Helion RC
Direct Link: Volition 10SC
Unboxing Pictures: BSRC Volition Unboxing

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Tim Mohr
Video Editing: Doug Welker

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 2wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 21.45″
Width: 11.65″
Wheelbase: 13.03″
Motor: Metric 550 12 turn brushed
Speed Controller: Metric 30 amp
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes, with switch
Radio: Helion HRS-3.1, 2.4GHz
Differential: Gear type
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: Bones
Gear Ratio: 2.62:1
Shocks: Plastic oil filled
Servo Saver: In steering rack
Screws: Phillips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 pitch
Bearings: Yes, rubber sealed
Tires: Helion small knobbies
Battery: 7 cell 3000mAh Ni-MH
Part Number: #HLNA0400
Weight: approx 4.9lb
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/stock battery): 24 mph
Runtime: 19 minutes w/stock battery
Warranty: 90 day limited
Street Price: $224

Primary Competition: Traxxas Slash, Pro-Line PRO-2, ECX Torment, ARRMA Fury, HPI Blitz, Associated SC10, TLR 22SCT

What’s Needed To Complete: Four AA cells for the transmitter.

Build Quality: We only found one problem with the assembly of the truck, a battery strap hold down was loose from the factory. Otherwise, the shocks were properly filled and not leaking, we didn’t find any stripped screws, and gear mesh was good to go.

Test Drivers: Iron Mike, Scaler Doug, WS Raceway’s Adam W, Editor Brian, Hawaiian Chris, Tim Mohr, Sam The Noob, and of course yours truly.

Test Venues: WS Raceway in Paxton Illinois, Jake’s Race Place in Fairmont City Illinois, RC Outlaws in Collinsville Illinois, Minnie Ha Ha park in Fenton Missouri, and a Jack in the Box parking lot.

Set-up Notes: We ran the 10SC bone stock but did not use the included battery charger. For charging duties we used a Hitec X-1 Touch.

Turning: The Volition was a fairly neutral turner with perhaps a bit of push. Its stock set-up made it easy to corner for everyone from noobs to the pros. When pushed hard neither end gave out dramatically, rather all four corners tended to slide.

Jumping: The 10SC tended to jump neutral to slightly nose high. The 10SC has a peppy enough power system to make minor mid-air corrections, but they typically aren’t needed. Hit the jump face straight and the Volition is a pleasure in the air.

Bumps/Whoops: Our test Volition was bouncy though the rough stuff. Out of the box it comes slightly over-damped, both front and rear, which results in more bounce than we would have liked to have seen. On high bite smooth surfaces the heavy damping makes the truck work really well, when the going gets rough it hampers its handling. Thankfully thinner oil is cheap and easy to install.

On-Road: The Volition gets around well on-road. Its tires get good traction on pavement and its low center of gravity keeps it from traction rolling.

Grass: We got in very little grass driving with the Volition, most of our grass was covered in snow during our review period. From what little grass driving we did do, the Volition got around ok. If you dabble in short grass the Volition will get around well, but if you get into taller grass its low ground clearance and small knobby tires hold it back.

Tires: The stock tires worked remarkably well on the damp hard packed dirt at WS Raceway and even on the carpet at Jake’s Place. They produced predictable side and forward bite and generally worked well. On looser/loamier surfaces like gravel, snow, or grass, they didn’t do so well, but then you can’t expect one tire design to work well everywhere. If you drive on hard packed surfaces you will like them, if you drive in the loam you will be reaching for a set of Pro-Line Trenchers.

Power: Compared to your average brushed RTR the Helion had good power. It had good yank on the bottom, a smooth mid-range, and seemed to pull further on top than most stock/brushed systems do. No, it doesn’t have the pure wattage of your average non-sensored brushless system, but it has more than enough yank to the make the jumps at your local track, and more than enough to feel fast to a noob.

Radio: Nobody commented much on the stock transmitter, which is a good thing, it means it worked well. The foam wrapped wheel and serrated trigger felt good, and the wheel/trigger/grip relationship was spot on. The radio felt slightly top heavy, but not so much as to be a nuisance.

Broken Parts: We didn’t break many parts on the Volition. Early in testing we blew out a spur gear while putting in some laps at the track. We also had a tie-rod pop off early in testing but it never happened again, go figure. Later, during our torture testing phase, we ended up breaking a rear hinge pin mount. Breaking the rear hinge pin mount wasn’t easy, it took two full speed runs into a large concrete based light pole.

Misc Notes:

The stock body pins are a nice size and shape, however, they bend easy and like to disappear. Luckily the body mounts are perfect for Pro-Line Thumbwashers.

The 10SC comes with a bit of toe-in on the front. You don’t see toe-in used that much, and because of the solid tie-rods it isn’t adjustable, but it corners well nonetheless.

The stock servo has plenty of power for the Volition, but it is noticeably slow. The most common comment from all our testers was how slow the servo was. A slow servo can be a good thing, it forces you to be a smoother driver, but it can also hurt performance in tight areas or when you must make split second course corrections (like when some idiot is driving backwards down the main straight).

Surprise, surprise, the Volition comes with two switches on its speedo. Which one do you use? The one mounted to the chassis is the actual on/off switch, while the other one turns the LVC (low voltage cut-off) off and on.

Because there has been so much snow in our area we spent a lot of time with the 10SC at local tracks. At the smaller indoor tracks we visited, the Volition certainly felt competitive, even in bone stock form. While we weren’t exactly pulling away from dedicated race trucks, the Volition was more than holding its own.

The stock servo saver works well and is set properly. Why is this being mentioned here? But it isn’t that common of an occurrence. Kudos to Helion for a proper working servo saver.

Best Mod Under $5: Thinner shock oil. We didn’t get a chance to experiment with lighter oils, but we would probably start with AE 20 weight. Lighter oil at both ends will help it absorb bumps instead of bouncing over them.

Best Mod Over $5: Cut the check to Hitec for a faster servo.

Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash: B Charge up the battery, pop some AAs in the transmitter, and you ready to jam.

Workability: B The Volition is well laid and easy to spin wrenches on, but we would have rather seen hex hardware.

Car Show Rating: C Scale is all the rage now days and while the graphics on the Volition are razer sharp and look good, its body has average scale detailing. Its wheels have a great scale look, but the tires aren’t scale looking at all.

Bash-A-Bility: C The Volition took some decent abuse but we did break some parts.

Fun Factor: B The combo of good handing and a decent brushed power system was great fun to drive.

Handling: B Our review Volition cornered predictably and jumped quite well.

Value: B At just over $200 the Helion is a decent bang-for-the-buck in the 1/10th scale short course truck class.

Parts Availability: C You won’t find Volition parts hanging off the pegs at too many local hobby shops but they are readily available from on-line sources.

BigSquid Rating: B- Helion has a solid truck with the Volition 10SC. The Volition can hang with some stiff competition on track and can take some hits while out bashing.

Check out the video of the Volition in action! Make sure to watch in HD!

The video is now up of the Helion Volition SCT to go along with the Volition Review we recently posted. We bashed in snow, on a carpet indoor track, and all sorts of other crazy condition.

Don’t forget to watch it in HD. Enjoy.

Uh oh.. it’s Friday, that means I need a Mystery Link

“Question
I’m thinking of buying a hellion dominus, can a lipo be used in the truck in its stock form?
thank you,
Frank B.”

Cubby- Yo to the yo Franky B, thanks for taking the time to shoot out an email.

For those not familiar with the Helion Dominus, it’s Helion’s 4wd 10th scale short course truck. It has an affordable price point, $199, and won March Bashness a couple years ago, which is voted on strictly by our readers. We liked the one we got to review, the Dominus is a basic, affordable, bash machine.

So… does it do Lipo in stock form? You are gonna love this answer, yes and no.

Yes you can! If you use a Lipo that has a relatively small form factor and you don’t mind driving without an LVC (low voltage cut-off).

No you can not! If you use a ROAR sized Lipo and want some low voltage protection.

Now… the BigSquid Bash Crew doesn’t really freak over the lack of an LVC. We routinely drive vehicles that do not have an LVC in their speedo. We have learned that when you first start feeling a pack getting soft you pull off and re-charge. However, if you are a noobie noob, an LVC can come in handy to keep you from over-discharging your Lipo pack.

Also of note, we ran Lipo in our test truck, a ROAR sized one at that, but to fit such a pack requires some elbow grease. You can find the details on what it takes Here, but if you don’t feel like doing any modding, you might want to look at another platform.

“Send to Cubby
Who you think the number one company that makes bashing trucks and cars is, all my friends say Traxxas but I like HPI the best.
Shiloh F.”

Cubby- Hey now Shiloh, what’s up and be sure to shoot Brian your snail mail so we can hook ya up with an uber BSRC sticker set.

So who do I think the numero uno manufacture (<- sorry guy from last week, LOL) of bash machines is? Wow, my cell is gonna blow up tomorrow for answering this one, but of course that isn't a deterrent to me.

Well... it's not Traxxas, that’s for sure. I sure like their parts availability, but that’s about it.

HPI- has put out solid basher gear for years upon years, but no doubt they’ve had their issues the last couple of years. They didn’t release much last year, and what they did seemed to be drift/on-road oriented, which is fine for some, but not for the people I hang with. My crew needs a machine that works on pavement as well as hucking vert ramps. Oh and, the whole Octane thing…. oooofffaahh….

ARRMA- is known as Durango’s basher line, and they certainly do have some kick butt machines. Their line-up is modern, their marketing is coming together, all they need is one big 4wd gnar-core bash truck to be on top of the heap.

Thunder Tiger- TT has a winner with their epic G3 platform, but some of their lower-end models could use some freshening up.

ECX- still a relatively new brand, they got off to a slightly slow start, but their line-up now days is real solid. While some may hold their very low price points against them, we don’t care about such things here, if they work, they work, and we drive Torments and Ruckuses nearly every day.

Vaterra- is my preferred basher line-up (at the moment). Ya, they are still new to the scene, and it will take another 3-5 years of marketing to cement their name to an average hobbyist, but the product they’ve put out thus far is amazingly good. Pretty much everything in their line-up has class leading looks, while the platforms underneath are typically solid bash machines. Hot looks, decent price points, and vehicles that can survive a good hucking off your roof, now that’s what bashing is all about.

However Shiloh… if you were to go around the table and ask every member of the BSRC Bash Crew what their favorite is, I can assure you there would be several different answers. We have guys that are big fans of HPI, big fans of Axial, and some that even still like Traxxas. And… just because our answers might be different, it doesn’t mean a single one of them is wrong. What’s best for me might suck for you, while the best brand for you might just not work for me.

That’s it for this week ya bunch of lugs, shoot me your vintage ’72 Unadilla GP t-shirts, questions, rants, and F1 swag to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. If your letter makes the bigtime you’ll get a free sticker set, if I proclaim yours as “letter of the month” you get a brand spank’n new BSRC t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter

For all you Helion Dominus owners looking to bash-proof your truck, the crew over at T-Bone Racing have announced one of their famous heavy duty bumpers for you. This racer series bumper is made out of tough nylon and comes with their lifetime warranty against breakage. To beef it up even more it comes with a brace that runs from the front of the chassis to the inside of the bumper.

The part number is #21001, it has a street price of $23 and they are available right now. Hit up This Link for complete details.

Check out This Link for more TBR news on BigSquidRC.

Helion Criterion 2WD Buggy Review

The RC world seems to go in waves, and one of those recent waves seems to be 1/10th scale buggy. Helion RC has jumped in with the Criterion 2WD Buggy, and tossing around the fact that it’s one of the fastest stock RTR’s you can buy! Want to find out how fast, and what our thoughts were on the rest? Hit the “Read More” button and find out… .

From: Helion RC
Direct Link: Criterion Buggy
Unboxing Pictures: Big Squid RC Criterion Unboxing

Review By: Brian
Pics By: Brian

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 2wd
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 15.21″
Width: 9.8″
Wheelbase: 11.14″
Motor: Metric 540 12 turn brushed
Speed Controller: Metric 30 amp
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Helion HRS-3.1, 2.4GHz
Differential: Metal Geared Planetary Differential
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: Bones
Shocks: Plastic oil filled
Servo Saver: In steering rack
Screws: Phillips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 48 pitch
Bearings: Yes, rubber sealed
Tires: Helion small knobs rear, groved front
Battery: 7 cell 3000mAh Ni-MH
Part Number: #HLNA0301
Weight: approx 3.44lbs
Top Speed (measured by BSRC w/stock battery): 31 mph
Warranty: 90 day limited
Street Price: $189

Primary Competition: 2WD Buggies aimed at the basher market like the ARRMA Raider and ECX Boost.

What’s Needed To Complete: Four AA cells for the transmitter.

Build Quality: Our of the box, we had to adjust the spur gear, as it didn’t seem to be meshed properly, and the rear wing holes were not even. It looked like they were cut wrong which gave the wing a slight tilt.

Test Drivers: Brian, Wrench, Dylan (aka Mini Wrench)

Test Venues: Parking lots, city park, skate park, basketball court.

Set-up Notes: We ran the Criterion in box stock configuration but did not use the included battery charger. For charging we used our Duratrax Onyx 245.

Turning: The rear end of the Criterion tends to push pretty hard. Taking corners in the soft stuff at a decent speed would have the back end flying around and the driver fighting to keep it straight before spinning out. The front tires had no problem pointing where you wanted to go, but the back slipped often. With a different tire setup, something more suited for our terrain, we would of been in better shape.

Jumping: The Criterion jumped nice and straight, and the front end would come down just right during most jumps. It was a blast at the skate park as you could land just about anything without a problem.

Bumps/Whoops: The Criterion sits pretty low, and in the rough stuff, or the small bumps it would get bounced around as the chassis would bottom out easily. A little work to use the travel of the suspension to help keep things planted may be in your future if you are planning some more serious stuff besides bashing.

On-Road: The tires obviously were not intended for on-road on the Criterion, but it did ok. We weren’t sliding out, and the Criterion would go wherever you pointed it. We actually had decent traction, and the tires didn’t seem to wear too quickly.

Grass: The chassis sits way too low to do any serious grass driving. We did do some after jumping out of the skate park, or going from one part of the park to the other, but it wasn’t really going well.

Tires: The stock rear tires were not really enjoying our loose dirt that much. On harder surfaces the tires gripped well, and the front tires always pointed the front end wherever you wanted to go. We didn’t notice any unexpected wear during our testing time. If you are going to be in the loose dirt, you may want to consider a different rear tire.

Power: For a brushed motor, the Criterion really hauls! Our top speed was 31 mph, and that was on the stock 7 cell NIMH battery. Acceleration was good through the power band, though a little light from a stop. You could still break loose the tires when you wanted. The top end was more than fast enough to keep you from wanting to do a motor upgrade anytime soon.

Radio: The stock radio well. Nobody had any complaints about it, which in our book means it’s good enough. You can set end points if needed, it feels good in the hand.

Broken Parts: Not much had broken on the Criterion during testing. We cracked a rear arm, and destroyed a spur gear. Not long into our final day of testing we heard the tick of what was most likely a missing tooth. After a few runs things were worse, and towards the end of our demolition and destruction phase, we were jumping off a large stair case when it finally gave out.

Misc Notes:

Spur gears seem to be the #1 cause of a short day on our Helion products lately. If you are picking up new vehicle, go ahead and grab an extra spur or 2. They are cheap, and you are going to need one. Trust us.

The servo savor was tested to it’s limits and works well. We hit all sorts of stuff, and didn’t experience any servo issues.

The steering servo isn’t going to win any speed awards, but it’s good enough to get you where you want to go. If you are looking to do more serious stuff than just out having a good time bashing, you’ll probably want to upgrade.

It’s fast. Heck, we have tested some brushless vehicles lately that aren’t this fast. It’s nice to know when buying this vehicle, you aren’t going to be in it for another $100 to get a better power system.

Best Mod Under $5: Save your $5 and do yourself a favor and go over everything out of the box. Make sure the gear mesh is right, check the holes on the rear wing so it’s centered properly. Tighten any loose screws.

Best Mod Over $5: A faster steering servo may be on your list, and depending on your surfaces you may be looking for a new set of tires.

Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash: B Put batteries in the transmitter, charge up the battery, and while you are waiting, check your screws and gear mesh.

Workability: B The Criterion is pretty open. Everything is easy to get to. We could do without the Phillips screws.

Car Show Rating: B The paint job was well liked by everyone, the body didn’t look like it belonged on the moon.

Bash-A-Bility: B The Criterion took a good beating. We were jumping all sorts of stuff, and even launching 15 feet into the air while jumping out of the skate park.

Fun Factor: B The durability and the top speed keep the fun train rolling.

Handling: B Jumping was very good, but the back end liked to slide out on the soft stuff. Just a little too much push on the back side.

Value: C For $189 the Helion Criterion seems like a good value, especially when you know you won’t need to upgrade the motor anytime soon, but others in it’s class are cheaper.

Parts Availability: C Some Hobby Towns may stock the parts, but you won’t find parts at any other local shops. They are easy to order online though.

BigSquid Rating: B- Overall it’s a fun 1/10th scale bashing buggy. The price is hard to beat.

“Helion Criterion

I want to upgrade my spur gear for my helion criterion and it’s getting annoying trying to find anything for this buggy. I have upgraded my pinion gear and like the reviews say the stock spur gear gets worn VERY easily especially with the new 31t spur gear it doesn’t help I upgraded my motor to a brushless motor. I would like to know if your Exotek direct spur gear hub would work for my buggy. As well as can you direct me to how many teeth I may want to run with my 31t 48p spur gear. I personally was looking for a 62t to 65t.

James J.”

Cubby- Yo hey James, quite the interesting question/rant you have there.

It was difficult to follow your email, or perhaps it’s late and I just don’t care, but after skimming it here is my reply.

No, yes, perhaps and maybe. Have a nice day and thanks for writing in.

LOL. Ok, for sure you have a Helion Criterion buggy and you are having wear issues with the spur gear. We’ve tried a few different spurs on the Helion and ended up using one from a Vaterra Twin Hammers. The Twin Hammers spur takes a tiny bit of trimming with a hobby knife in the slipper pad area and it’s good to go. Oh ya, it last wayyyy longer than the stock Helion unit does.

As far as gearing goes, that depends on a lot of factors. It depends on the kV of your brushless motor, your tires, your cell count, ambient temp, etc. Lets say you pop on the Twin Hammers spur, which is a 78 (if I remember correctly, it’s been a while, feel free to Google it). Start off with the smallest pinion in your box, hopefully around a 16 or so and keep adding teeth until you get your desired performance or until you start seeing motor temps of 140′ish.

Go fast, turn left, and send lots of Dom.

The next letter is a longggg rant on ARRMA, to read it and my response hit the “Read More” button…

“ARRMA Granite Discontinued…Rant

Hello, thank you for such an informative site. I have found that I reference several articles within bigsquidrc.com prior to purchase decisions in much the same way that I would save a library of print magazines, catalogs, etc 30 years ago. I appreciate the information, and objective nature of your shootouts, reviews, and spotlights. Advertising revenue has had such a painfully obvious impact on the content of other publications (notably print ones with trendy acronyms like RCCA).

The purpose of this note is to request that you please utilize your power of influence to persuade the powers that be to make the ARRMA Granite Mega available again. Seriously, WTF? My M.O. over the last several years has been to study data, comparing one vehicle’s features and benefits, arbitrary online reviews, etc to another before laying down cash, primarily focusing on the latest and greatest trends in high end brushless, lipo, and other buzzword gadgetry. Upon reading your impressions of the ARRMA Granite in the review, Basher of the Year, and shootout articles, I realized that I had lost myself in the data; I just want something to play with in the backyard between meetings, dinners, etc. What an epiphany, have fun, with a product that fits well into my budget and offers an excellent value. I went to Tower Hobbies to buy one, and guess what; discontinued. How can a vehicle that won your coveted basher of the year award less than 2 years ago be discontinued? Replaced by a “new” model that offers less value at a lower price point. Plastic gears, fixed molded camber links, etc. Maybe it even comes with a Tamiya connector for a NiCd battery. All the things that you all pointed out regarding the original ARRMA Granite, metal tranny, brushless ready, Chrome wheels (need more chrome in this business) adjustable, durable, upgradeable, etc made me want one are now replaced by a price point POS that is barely 1 step beyond a RadioShack “model”, which by the way, isn’t available for the next 3 months! Sure I could step up my game and budget and go for a BLX model, but at that price point of $379, I already have my eyes set on the Duratrax 835E for $399 (less $50 for the e-mail Tower sends every day).

I am perplexed by the logic behind the decisions, unless the Granite Mega was a loss leader intended to garner marketshare until they just couldn’t afford to sell it anymore. Either way, I will have to reevaluate my purchase decision and go for 2nd or 3rd place in your shootout, or maybe consider one of the newer entries from Hellion or ECX into that $200 range backyard fun bucket. Sadly, ARRMA no longer falls into the evaluation. That is, of course, you fellas review and shootout the price point replacement for the Granite and determine that somehow a product with much less content for a $20 lower price point offers more value than its predecessor. I would prefer that they just offer the product that they made me want after years of marketing dollars, and playing underdog to the evil empire.

Am I the only asshole disappointed by this? Are you guys going to beat the shit out of the new Granite? Or maybe I should just convert my slash 4×4 to run 1/8th scale buggy treads and put the $200 I planned to spend on a new toy into health insurance or something else grownup-like.

Thank you for reading my rant!

Scott S.”

Cubby- Yo Hey Scott, nice rant, I dig it, keep’em coming. We don’t normally post super long emails like yours, but from time to time its cool to get one out there so people can see what our readers are thinking.

To get everyone up to speed here, ARRMA has changed their line-up for 2014, with a lower end “Mega” brushed line-up, and their better equipped “BLS” brushless line. Our reader Scotty is complaining about how ARRMA has cheapened up the Mega line compared to the previous brushed version.

So what would prompt ARRMA to ship the Mega series vehicles with less features? That’s pretty obvious, they are simply looking to hit a cheaper price point. Right now it is priced at $20 less than the previous model, but if you’ve noticed, several of the models under the Hobbico umbrella get discounted a few months after release. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Mega line is quite a bit cheaper a few months down the road, thus making it a good value compared to the previous model.

I can assure you the minds at Hobbico/ARRMA are some of the best in the biz, they went with some cheaper parts on the Mega series to ultimately make more money, and that is only going to happen if it ends up being a better value to end users. The BLS brushless line is dialed and loads of fun, the Mega series (I’m just speculating here as I have no inside info on it) has been aimed one price point down the rung from the original in an effort to increase sales. That might not result in the best equipped vehicle for you personally, but might be much more appealing to consumers on the fence of buying a RedCat/Exceed/Super low-end machine.

The bigger problem I have is something you also brought up in your email, large gaps in availability. That is a problem seen all over the industry, inventory management (and getting the OEM to fire up your product exactly when needed) is no easy task in this, or any industry. You gotta strike when the iron is hot and too many times in our hobby the truck that everybody wants is on backorder for weeks (or months!!!) at a time.

Oh and… are we going to beat the shit out of the new Granite? LOL, we beat the crap out of everything. Trucks. Tools. Transmitters. Heck, even pit mats. LOL. So ya, it’ll (the Granite) get the normal torture testing.

Cool email Scott, may the powers that be read it and make notes.

That’s it for this week ya freaks, shoot your questions/rants/responses/gibberish to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. If your letter hits the front page you get a free sticker pack, if I proclaim yours as “Letter of the Month” you’ll get a free BSRC t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter

Helion RC has just announced their latest vehicle, the Dominus 10SCv2 short course truck. The version 2 comes with multiple updates, the biggest being its Reaktor brushless system. With a 3500kV brushless motor and waterproof electronics, the 10SCv2 is ready for some serious bashing. It also sports a new composite chassis, all metal gear transmission, and a new battery tray with velcro straps to make it easier to use different batteries. A 2.4GHz radio system comes standard, and it comes with a 7 cell 3000 mAh battery pack and charger. To get more information simply hit up This Link over on the official Helion website.

Click Here for more Helion news on BigSquidRC.