hpi dash question

[PreludeClone]

I'm thinking about picking up one of these cars, the HPI Dash.
I think it's pretty cool how they fit all the 200mm bodies and such, so I'm gonna have to pick up a Prelude body for it. anywho, I read in the HPI catalog that due to the simplicity of the Dash, the speed of the car is not upgradable.

seems how I'm new to RC, i'm going to have to believe them. But I've done a little research on the subject lately... and wouldn't it be possible to just replace the electric motor it's already got with a higher output electric motor, like a Trinity or Reedy motor?

[PreludeClone]

...and after a little bit more research on this board i've heard this car sucks. only like, two people said it was good, and like fifteen said it was crappy. I don't much like the idea that it's not upgradeable.

how about that micro RS-4? is that any good? and it damn well better be upgradable.

[trw]

no , in the Dash its not even possible to replace the motors..as its buried deep into the car unlike most other cars and the dash's motor is housed in such a way only that size of motor will fit.....i would strongly suggest finding a different car.....the dash can only go about 10mph i think....even for bashing it isnt a good car....if your going to do bashing...you might want to look into a car such as an HPI Sprint and there are some other car that are good too..

now if your gonna race then definitly stay away from the Dash....and consider a Team Associated TC3 or a Team Losi XXX-S

it all depends on your bugget though

[PreludeClone]

that's interesting to know about the motor housing and such... I've been doing custom modification on real 1:1 cars for a while now. I'm an ASE certified master tech and I've tricked out two hondas, working on a third, the Prelude.

would it be possible to custom modify the motor's housing to accept a larger sized motor? I mean, I can do it to a real car, I'm sure I can do it to one of these, if there's room for it. I could re-locate some of the parts or something, heat-weld the motor housing out of the frame and just fabricate a new motor housing that could accept a different motor, or do something crazy like that.

I mean, my budget's not too large at the moment cause I've got my motor out of the 'Lude pulled out and I'm rebuilding it at the moment. I mean, my valve springs cost more than some of HPI's best rc models. so I'm looking for something cheap and inexpensive to just play around with for a little while. Plus, I like the idea of being able to put the HPI 200mm Prelude body on it. so I can drive a 1:1 Prelude and a 1:10 Prelude.

but would a custom fabrication like that be possible?

[trw]

well you can put a 200mm body on any car even the 190mms....they have adapters you can put on 190mm wheelbases to make em fit 200mms thats what i did to my car

im sure custom fabrication with a dremel is possible....if it doesnt interfear with other chassis or electrical components, even if you did succeed in inputting a 540 motor into a dash, the chassis itself is a problem...especially for racing

the chassis of the Dash is so large and bulky....cars such as the TC3 or HPI Sprint weigh 2 times less and come with more speed and power out of the box....

since i havent ever owned a Dash and seen very few pics..but have heard of many bad reports....my info may not be totally accurate....but close if not completly.

plus a car such as an HPI Sprint or a TC3 or a XXX-s are fully upgradeable strait from the manufacturer no custom fitting necessary

also since the Dash's chassis is so large and bulky i would assume at high speeds that a 540 motor (depending on the turns) could put out you would have countless handling problems.

also i must state..that the Micro DOES however have a 540 motor upgrade kit....and with a 540 motor those tiny things can go up to 50mph, or so ive heard....but if you want a pre-lude body stick with 1/10 scale

phew lol...hope this helps :D

[cardboard]

TRW, did you ever own a dash? I once had one. Believe it or not, there is definatley enough room to put a 540 motor in there. It's actually hard to mount the 380 motor because it swims around in a huge housing.
However, the electronics are are different story. Due to the crappy 1 board toy-grade electronics, one will fry after awhile and your stuck with a worthless piece of crap. And, the buit in ESC probably cannot handle the 540 motor. It's not a bad car, but it is really mean't for younger kids who don't want to do work on it.
If you like to tinker with stuff, stay away from the micro. My micro was my second car, and I got bored of it very quickly. Why? Micro racing hardly exists, if you want to get to decent speeds you need the Graupner 300-thats cool, but that stock setup can't hold up to that. Not to blast the micro, but there is very little to adjust and toy around with. When I got my XXX-S roller a few days ago, I thought i went to heaven. There is enough on 1/10 sedans to tinker with to keep you busy for weeks.
What I reccommend: When your on a budget, use ebay. Cars lose 25% of their value when the kit is built. And, if you find something that really needs some repair, you can get them really cheap.
Cars to stay away from:All hpi's unless you find a Pro4. I haven't been happy with HPI quality.
I think thats it......

[PreludeClone]

yeah, i thought about using ebay, but i don't have an account and i'm not real comfortable with giving them my credit card information just to have an account there.

either way, I think I'm going to end up getting one. I can't really afford to be spending $300 on something that I might only play with a few times when I could be buying anew connecting rods with that money. I really just want to have a Prelude body rc, so that when I go to shows to show off my 1:1 'Lude, I can have a little miniature version of it. it'd be fun! haha

either way, I think I'll pick up the dash and when I get bored of how slow it is, I'll see about modifying it to handle a different motor.

[PreludeClone]

oh yeah, and about the electronics in it... let's say I fry one, right? it's possible to replace it, isn't it? maybe with better peices of electronics from other HPI cars, like the RS4?

[cardboard]

Nope, as I said before, it has a toy-grade 1 board electronic system. Mine fried after a few months and there is no way to replace it.

[b3guyRC10]

Just get the Traxxas 4tec, RTR for $150. Much faster and completely upgradeable.

[howielong]

i was on hpi's website looking at the dash and that car looks so bad and it also looks like you cant do anything to the car you should at least get the sprint or a 4-tec

[banditdrifter]

Look into tamiya, they have very good, fast, durable kits for under 200 bucks. towerhobbies had a good deal on the Kyosho kx-one for like 120.00 bux. check it out.

[TheBlackKat]

DO NOT GET A MICRO RS4....Those things are damn boring. Unless theres a track nearby but the closest track to my place is 55 miles away.

[PreludeClone]

yeah... looks like r/c is gonna have to wait for me... I had my Prelude's crankshaft shot peened and knife-edged, balanced and blueprinted today. grand total of about $460. Guess I coulda bought a real nice r/c with that... but the crankshaft for my 'Lude is more important.