HPI RS4 NITRO:

MY ACURA NSX

MY HONDA CIVIC

Let’s go NITRO!!.......AGAIN!!!

Nitro racing is awesome..After tearing up the tracks with my RC10GT for some time now, I’ve been bitten by the ever increasing sedan racing craze.. Because these R/C rides can be so expensive though , I’ve been putting off the urge to get into it..

However, when I went to the Hobby Show this (last year really) year , I was lucky enough to see a lot of HPI RS4 Nitro’s there..I was really impressed with the packages and the price tags that they came with.. I found that if you wanted to get into sedan racing with a quality R/C machine at a reasonable price , that HPI was the way to go... HPI has always been a good supplier of after market hop-up parts. .In the last few years they have been involved in producing many fine electric and gas R/C rides.. Both on-road and off...

As with my RC10GT , I didn’t want to buy a cheap machine that would need a lot of hop-ups to get competitive and I really think that HPI puts together a machine that is up to challenge..

The HPI RS4 Nitro is built on a 2mm aluminium chassis with a belt driven four wheel drive system... Although the belt tensioner option is available I haven’t felt a need for it as yet.. You have the option of building this car narrow (180mm) or wide (200mm) depending on the type of body you want to top it off with.. The shocks are springs over oil and are plastic bodied. They work really well.. this thing turns on a dime and remains very stable all around the track. As usual , hop-up shocks are available from HPI , but I don’t think I’ll be replacing them until they break.. The one thing I did do though was replace the supplied shock oil with 30 wt. Associated oil... For some reason HPI supplies this real stinky stuff in their kits and I prefer Team Associated’s oil. I Installed HPI White springs front and rear..I also bought a set of gold springs so that I can experiment a bit

The HPI RS4 Nitro rides on 5 spoke white wheels complete with HPI radial tires..These things really hug the road. Of course what else would you expect from one of the major suppliers of after market wheels/tires..??

I installed adjustable Dubro turnbuckles all-around...These are really great for "dialing in" your R/C ride.. I am currently running My HPI RS4 Nitro with 0 degrees of camber in the front and 1 degree in the rear..the front is toed in 0 degrees .The rear is toed in 2 degrees , but that isn't adjustable.. I find this new set-up gives me alot more steering and a slightly loose rear end..I prefer that for my personal driving style.. I also added some cool neon green fuel tubing..Just 'cause it looked cool..It also looks cleaner..The stock turns all yellow and dirty looking..The only problem with the colored fuel lines is that you can't see the when the fuel reaches the carb, when priming..Its o.k. though,if you already have a feel for how much you need to prime your Nitro Star..(2-3 presses) I also added a slightly longer fuel exhaust tubing to clear the rear of the NSX body..No more fuel oil all over the inside of the body..Don't make your exhaust tubing too much longer though because it can restrict exhaust flow and inhibit engine performance...

The supplied Nitro Star .12 pull start power plant really gets this car moving..I was very impressed with the way this ride went together and even more impressed with how easy the Nitro Star fired up..Two pulls and I was off and running..The primer pump on the fuel tank is awesome..You can really control how much you prime the engine...I’m very tempted to get one of these tanks for my RC10GT...After running in the motor as recommended by HPI’s instructions , I finally got the chance to open up the throttle..This car handles great...Smooth throttle response...the top speed is about 45??km/hr..That’s just a “guesstimate”, but with the .12 wide open , I think it is comparable with the O.S. .12 CV-X I have in my RC10GT..I don’t think I will be changing motors very soon anyways..

Note:..After a year of serious racing and a new year of getting my HPI Nitro Star Powered Butt kicked by the far superior OS motors I have now switched over to OS myself..The power in this motor is almost double the power in the Nitro Star.. TIP.......The brake adjuster rod has a little piece of fuel tubing to allow for some flexibility when applying the brakes..After a couple of runs this tubing gets pretty hot and melts away..It doesn’t seem to effect the braking capabilities of the car , but I have replaced it with a small spring cut to fit from a “ball point pen” spring...It works great-so far!! Note; Replaced this spring with a small "blue" spring meant for the front end of the HPI pancar

I run my HPI RS4 Nitro with a Futaba Magnum Sport Transmitter, two Futaba FP-S148 servos and a Futaba FP-R112JE receiver...I have now replaced the steering Futaba FP-S148 with the stronger and faster Hi-Tec HS-605BB servo..The Futaba didn't have the torque to do the job and I was having a hard time getting my HPI RS4 Nitro to run in a straight line..The 605 has dual ball bearings,helical gear,77oz/in. of torque and an operating speed of 0.16 seconds..HPI recommended this servo to me as an affordable option to the more expensive JR servos..I also installed a servo saver and I replaced the wire linkage in the steering set-up with an adjustable turnbuckle set-up.Handles pretty well on the street...This radio works really well with this Nitro ride..Unlike the RC10GT which needs a radio to have a little more adjustment capability , the Nitro RS4 enables you to make these adjustments on the car itself . Even so, I would like to switch to a Futaba Magnum Junior in the near future for better throttle/brake adjustment for both these R/C rides.

Have now installed the HPI 2 speed transmission.($76.00).This is an awesome addition..There is nothing more thrilling than hearing this machine shifting gears and then taking off..You can adjust the point of the actual shift with an Allen key..I know of some guys who have two speed trannies that aren't adjustable at all..This is a nice feature..If you are wondering what the first hop-up you should get is I would suggest this is it..

I have now updated/hopped-up my HPI RS4 Nitro quite a bit..Added an HPI RS4 Purple chassis with countersunk screws on the bottom side..No more worn out screw heads..Also added an HPI purple head and MIP Temp Gauge..HPI header pipe..Full Bearings..Cool New CVEC HSS-100 Tuned Pipe with a cool purple anodized finish.... New Radio!!! I now run my HPI RS4 Nitro and my RS4 Pro with the awesome JR Racing XR2 radio

The Paint;

Windows first....I painted these by hand/brush....I prefer this method to any other because black should really (as the darkest color) be the first thing you paint...It is a really hard thing to tape off properly...This way you just tape around the windows and using a polycarbonate bottled paint you apply two or three coats...Look through the inside of the window at a bright light until you are happy with the coating applied..A little bit of light showing is o.k. as you can’t really see this from the outside anyways...This worked especially well for blacking out the headlights/taillights on the Civic , which I purchased a few years back (The Hobby Show) as a “body only”package , waiting for a chassis to sit on....Didn’t have one until now..

The next thing was the orange(NSX) and the red(civic).....The front windows remained taped as I planned on leaving them clear...Just like the actual street cars would be..

The civic was easy..one color only...I had to tape off the white area of the NSX to apply the Orange...No real tricks to this one..Basically a straight forward paint job on both bodies...I used an “Ultra Fine Point Sharpie” permanent marker to highlight around the doors and other body lines..This worked really well..Unfortunately , I was in so much of a hurry to get my HPI pictures done , that I took them before I added these lines to the Civic.... But they do look really cool...I find it works better if you kind of sketch these lines in here and there rather than actually fill in all the areas .

Since both bodies were Honda, I was able to top off these rides by splitting the decals between them..Racer look for the NSX and a couple of cool looking street machine type decals for the Civic...

Final Thought;??

I really believe that if you want to get into Nitro Sedans as a racer or hobbyist , the HPI RS4 Nitro is the machine for you...It is one of the most affordable R/C Nitro machines on the market and it is probably one of the best quality rides available..The only regret I have with this purchase is that soon after , HPI came out with the HPI Racer..But for the price I paid with the motor included , I still think the HPI RS4 NITRO is the best deal..The instructions were simple and to the point..the kit went together very well...the motor fired up without a hitch..I’m going Nitro Racing....(after some fine tuning).....Final Thought??...Get One..You’ll love it...

How Much??