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The HPI Blitz is a competitive little bugger. It gives you the durability of the Traxxas Slash with the race pedigree that you would expect in a more expensive Team Losi or Team Associated short course truck.
Out of the box you are met with everything necessary to get your truck up and running... sort of... The stock battery is garbage and will only give you about 5 minutes of run time if even that.
For these quirks, I give you my tips.
Buy a better battery. Nothing crazy if you are being frugal, just something over 3000MaH.
6 cell NiMh batteries may seem too slow to some with stock electronics. So if you are a speed freak, try and get yourself a 7-cell NiMh flat pack out of the gate. Or LiPo if you are feeling frisky.
Get a peak charger. Again nothing crazy; 1-2 amp charge rate is fine. Just be sure it can peak NiMh batteries or else you risk explosions when leaving a battery unattended. The stock charger will have you sitting for 6+ hours until it finishes. And even then, it doesn't have a very good warning system when the battery reaches its peak.
If you insist on using the original battery, I suggest charging it once, then run the battery until your ESC starts cutting off power (It may do so straight away even with LiPo cutoff disabled). Then pick the truck up, hit the throttle on and off until it slows, and try to drain the battery a bit more. Then throw it on your peak charger after it cools off... It won't work miracles, but it could help wake the battery up.
Better steering lies in your BOX ALREADY! There are steering blocks included with the RTR kit in a bag of spare parts. Go ahead and install them for a little more steering throw. Could be a big help if you try racing the truck in a stock class without swapping the steering servo.
Check all screws and make sure they are tight. Having something loose could send you to the repair bench before even getting through your first battery.
Make sure you have a proper gear mesh! I cannot stress this enough. The stock slipper assembly is finicky and WILL strip your spur gears like nothing if you are off. Put a thin piece of paper (legal pad paper is fine) between gears. And make sure there is only a tiny bit of play in the gears when you finish tightening the motor screws as the motor may have shifted position slightly resulting in a gear mesh that is far too tight or far too loose. I'd say only allow half a millimeter of movement between spur and pinion.
Use Loc-tite on the pinion gear set screw. They have a tendency to come loose when you run in cold/wet weather.
Once you do all of this, or decide to ignore the advice and just run it anyway, you will be able to enjoy the bashing splendor that is the HPI Blitz. There is no reason to have two short course trucks - one for bashing and one for racing- because the Blitz balances them both so well that it pays for itself every time you land nose down on concrete without it falling apart.
It is an absolute beast for the price. Concrete wall at 25mph? No problem. Flat cement landing from a 15 foot high jump? Go for it. Win the A-main at your local hobby shop; very possible. |
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