Review: ausmicro.com drives HRT Race Commodore

[Aaron]

Holden, and Holden Special Vehicles have been very sucessful over the past few years in sales, marketing and on the racetrack!

So I guess it comes as no surprise they they’re the first Australian carmaker to dive into the micro RC world. Their range of four models covers the HRT Race car, HSV Maloo Ute, HSV GTS Coupe and the HSV GTS sedan, all in VY model guise. For information on the ‘real’ cars pop over to http://www.hsv.com.au

Pictures of the Micro version can be seen in our Gallery

http://www.ausmicro.com/galleries/bitcharg/hsv_bit

Here we’re reviewing the HRT Race car model. It comes shipped in a large blister pack and is available from K-Mart and most of toy retailers. The pack includes a fully assembled car, a trigger type controller (still non-proportional control) and charger. Batteries (3x AA for the transmitter, and 4x AAA for the charger pack) are not included.

It didn’t take long to get us up and running (keep your small phillips head screw driver handy to open the battery bays) and straight away a few things became obvious, the quality of the shell is actually quite good with the car being clearly similar to the 1:1 scale version. It would appear the cars use a Bensu LWB chassis and overall they appear to be well made and well finished.

I know you’re all waiting for the most important thing – how does it drive? The answer is this has to be one of the best Char-G Clones I’ve driven out of the box, it’s nice and fast with an exceptionally long run time. The controller is not so good, with a slightly patchy reception. I would estimate the motor to be equivalent to 3.0, but with better torque than a Lucifer Ruby. The steering is not balanced, with the car turning harder to the right than the left. Unfortunately the steering alignment adjuster has little effect on this. The controller is not great to use but better than a lot of the push button kind that come with the cheaper clones.

Overall I would say that these bits will introduce the hobby to a wider audience and won’t really dissappoint many, unless you’ve got experience with the geniune Tomy product.

The inclusion of the Ute model makes for an interesting range of ‘pimping’ mods that we won’t go into here.

Overall I’d mark it down with a solid 7 out of 10.

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Many thanks to the lovely KittyKatSmack for providing the car in question.

Edited by – Aaron on 15 June 2003 19:43:36

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Site Owner Guy.

[barto_85]

wow, sounds excellent, how much are they?

[barto_85]

wow, sounds excellent, how much are they?

[Shypo]

sounds pretty cool, how big is the shell?
could we fit it 2 a BCG?

[Shypo]

sounds pretty cool, how big is the shell?
could we fit it 2 a BCG?

[Aaron]

They are about AUD40. They’re 8cm long with what looks like 1cm extra wheelbase over a stadard Bit. I’ll do some comparison pics tomorrow and post them up.

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Site Owner Guy.

[Aaron]

They are about AUD40. They’re 8cm long with what looks like 1cm extra wheelbase over a stadard Bit. I’ll do some comparison pics tomorrow and post them up.

--
Site Owner Guy.

[micro_Amps]

Wow, good stuff,
where can one get one’s hands on one?
If you know what I mean.
:)uA

[micro_Amps]

Wow, good stuff,
where can one get one’s hands on one?
If you know what I mean.
:)uA

[Shypo]

is the shell diecast?
if its plastic a chop job may be in order

[Shypo]

is the shell diecast?
if its plastic a chop job may be in order

[micro_Amps]

With a wheel remote, does it have proportional control?
:)uA

[micro_Amps]

With a wheel remote, does it have proportional control?
:)uA

[Aaron]

No proportional control and a plastic shell.

K-Mart is where this example came from. They’re imported by Toy Group Australia – http://www.toygroupaustralia.com.au

Edited by – Aaron on 15 June 2003 20:15:00

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Site Owner Guy.

[Aaron]

No proportional control and a plastic shell.

K-Mart is where this example came from. They’re imported by Toy Group Australia – http://www.toygroupaustralia.com.au

Edited by – Aaron on 15 June 2003 20:15:00

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Site Owner Guy.

[GT-ahh]

ooh im all excited….gonna get me one of these…

[GT-ahh]

ooh im all excited….gonna get me one of these…

[Shypo]

excellent..plastic shell:evil:

[Shypo]

excellent..plastic shell:evil:

[barto_85]

pity they dont just sell the shells. Otherwise its an expensive modification if it goes wrong while trying to fit them on a BCG.

[barto_85]

pity they dont just sell the shells. Otherwise its an expensive modification if it goes wrong while trying to fit them on a BCG.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Quote:

The inclusion of the Ute model makes for an interesting range of ‘pimping’ mods that we won’t go into here.

Please do:smiley16:

[oldtamiyaphile]

Quote:

The inclusion of the Ute model makes for an interesting range of ‘pimping’ mods that we won’t go into here.

Please do:smiley16:

[TallduDe]

cool

are any parts inter changable with BCG’s????

[TallduDe]

cool

are any parts inter changable with BCG’s????

[Impreza]

So are they zip zap size then? Aaron, pls post more pics when you have them:)

[Impreza]

So are they zip zap size then? Aaron, pls post more pics when you have them:)

[Genspec]

From the TGA website, it looks like there may be a Monaro in the pipeline as well (or is that just wishful thinking ?)

[Genspec]

From the TGA website, it looks like there may be a Monaro in the pipeline as well (or is that just wishful thinking ?)

[barto_85]

yeah I was under that impression when i saw it, that would be good. I would have to buy that one because we have a monaro.

[barto_85]

yeah I was under that impression when i saw it, that would be good. I would have to buy that one because we have a monaro.

[8ch Ess Vee]

Can’t wait to get one (or a few).

Should be a good base to work with if nothing else.

Set of alloy rims, new paint job and dump it right down on it’s guts!!!:D

Aaron wrote that there is a GST Coupe, so basically yes there is a Monaro, but perhaps with the additional HSV body kit pieces.

Anyone seen them on the shelves yet??

If so whereabouts?

More information please!!

[8ch Ess Vee]

Can’t wait to get one (or a few).

Should be a good base to work with if nothing else.

Set of alloy rims, new paint job and dump it right down on it’s guts!!!:D

Aaron wrote that there is a GST Coupe, so basically yes there is a Monaro, but perhaps with the additional HSV body kit pieces.

Anyone seen them on the shelves yet??

If so whereabouts?

More information please!!

[barto_85]

I think Aaron got his from Kmart or Big W, but I think one of my friends saw them at toyworld.

[barto_85]

I think Aaron got his from Kmart or Big W, but I think one of my friends saw them at toyworld.

[Shypo]

8ch Ess Vee… took the words right out of my mouth mate

[Shypo]

8ch Ess Vee… took the words right out of my mouth mate

[GT-ahh]

oh yes…. yelloe monaro with a huge wing…

[GT-ahh]

oh yes…. yelloe monaro with a huge wing…

[barto_85]

show these americans that are pulling out these chargers etc some Australian cars.

[barto_85]

show these americans that are pulling out these chargers etc some Australian cars.

[GT-ahh]

you know the new monaro is being exported to america under the pontiac name….

[GT-ahh]

you know the new monaro is being exported to america under the pontiac name….

[barto_85]

yeah, Im not sure which i prefer, the only really noticeable difference is the grill at the front, and they have changed the engine and exhaust system etc. They’re badged as a Pontiac GTO over there. If you go here, http://www.pontiac.com/ then go to the vehicles menu at the top and then go down to upcoming vehicles, GTO, it gives a pretty good photo of one.

Edited by – barto_85 on 16 June 2003 17:28:21

[barto_85]

yeah, Im not sure which i prefer, the only really noticeable difference is the grill at the front, and they have changed the engine and exhaust system etc. They’re badged as a Pontiac GTO over there. If you go here, http://www.pontiac.com/ then go to the vehicles menu at the top and then go down to upcoming vehicles, GTO, it gives a pretty good photo of one.

Edited by – barto_85 on 16 June 2003 17:28:21

[Shypo]

I would love a HSV monaro to add to my Bit collection.. I really wanna chop one of those shells…

[Shypo]

I would love a HSV monaro to add to my Bit collection.. I really wanna chop one of those shells…

[GT-ahh]

in america the emmission laws are abit more lax, the new exhaust system is 3db louder, I think…

[GT-ahh]

in america the emmission laws are abit more lax, the new exhaust system is 3db louder, I think…

[Aaron]

I may have pics of the Maloo ute version tommorrow as one of my work collegues got the last one off the shelves in the ACT…

--
Site Owner Guy.

[Aaron]

I may have pics of the Maloo ute version tommorrow as one of my work collegues got the last one off the shelves in the ACT…

--
Site Owner Guy.

[barto_85]

Sorry, i dont think this question has been asked, you mentioned something about 4xAAA batteries for the charger pack, how do these cars charge and how long does it take to charge?

[barto_85]

Sorry, i dont think this question has been asked, you mentioned something about 4xAAA batteries for the charger pack, how do these cars charge and how long does it take to charge?

[Aaron]

About the same 45sec to a minute to charge from the external pack. I’ll really try to get more pics today in a free moment. They definately run longer though – probably due to teh better charging system voltage and the like.

A.

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Site Owner Guy.

[Aaron]

OK New pictures are up in the Gallery

Direct Link is:

http://www.ausmicro.com/galleries/bitcharg/hsvbit2/index.htm

Unfortunately I missed my chance at getting some pics of the Black Maloo Ute, but can report that it does drive like a real ute 😉 Drifts real nice 😉

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Site Owner Guy.

[barto_85]

haha, excellent, that looks pretty good, thanks for the pics aaron.

[TallduDe]

if the car isnt a proportional steering car why does it have a motor at the front near the steering?

[Shypo]

i though the motor was juts up the back in those photos…

[barto_85]

yep, you’re right shypo, the engine is in the back. Looks like it to me anyway.

[TallduDe]

Ok I edited a pic with an arrow. :):D

Can someone explain to me how this motor (or what appears to be a motor) works then?

http://community.webshots.com/user/talldude666

[Aaron]

It does the steering – which when driving doesn not appear to be proportional. Once the novelty of it has worn off I may strip and check it out 😉

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Site Owner Guy.

[TallduDe]

kool

cant wait. take pics while your doing it 😀

hope the monaro comes out.

[micro_Amps]

Good pics Aaron. Motor driven steering, excellent, just like the puchi maru and the Tomy club cars. There’s 2 H-bridges on that pcb, one for the drive motor and one for the steering motor.
If the steering isnt propo. then you should find it is gentler than the ‘snap’ left and right of the BCGs.
I gotta get me one of those.
Straight onto the autopsy table, hehehe.
:)uA

[Impreza]

Thanks for the updated pics Aaron (and TallduDe).
I agree with u, straight onto the autopsy table. It would be nice to see how the gears mesh with the front wheel(s). Aaron (or anyone else) do you have pics for the internationals on what the other models look like:(?

[oldtamiyaphile]

It’s not propo, there are several clones, tin cars etc that use motor steering w/o propo. So far, these haven’t appeared near me. Gonna get a ute to go with my (just waiting for paint) BA FP-V GT Ute.

Edited by – oldtamiyaphile on 19 June 2003 16:37:43

[barto_85]

Is that done up beetle yours oldtamiyaphile? it looks good, i just visited the site in your signature.

[KittyKatSmack]

OK, last ute in ACT was not bought by Aarons friend because I bought one today, so now we have two holdens, the one Aaron has written up and the Maloo ute.

As I was cruisin through toys r us, I also saw some clones with the same set up ie/ handset and charger set up. These are not hsv’s and are no where near as good on the quality of the shell and wheels, but seem to be the same everywhere else. I will get Aaron to take pics and we will do some racing, compare the holdens with the clones etc.
I only bought them to show off at the race on Saturday coz my BitCharG’s haven’t arrived.
They were half the price at $19.99AUD.
Same long wheel base as the holdens though, but one sorta looks like it’s meant to be a Subaru Forrester I think, and the other one….. er…. I will have to get a second opinion on this one before I make judgement!

Will let ya’s know……

:approve:😀

[KittyKatSmack]

oldtamiyaphile has a hummer like I have… except I have the black shell and the cam shell with the gun turret!

limited edition release on the Hum Vee’s!

hee hee hee

[GT-ahh]

I bought a yellow monaro today for $32 (15% off) at K-mart. Hardwired motor and the rear axle is fixed and it doesnt have suspension, it uses an 80mah battery that is removable throught the bottom and the steering looks like a mini servo. except its not propo. The shell fit real snug and the monaro looks mad, once of course i got rid of the black paint on the front bumper….
Controller wise its sloppy but could easily be converted to a standard button interface, the arial is quite dissapointing and the range is fair, i get about 3-4m, a telescopic would increas this.

Edited by – GT-ahh on 19 June 2003 20:40:54

[micro_Amps]

Thats it! I’m hitting Kmart tomorrow to see if they have them in Melbourne.
:)uA

[jamiekulhanek]

I wonder if they have bodgy steering, might add scale realism :smiley2::smiley2:

[Shypo]

sounds pretty sweeet GT-ahh.. you best bring it 2 race day

[Aaron]

Well the Kitty grabbed up the camera and snapped a bunch of pics of her days purchases and the results are now up in the Image Gallery, Pop over and take a look.

http://www.ausmicro.com/galleries/bitcharg/new_style_micros/index.htm

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Site Owner Guy.

[Shypo]

the rims are shocking:shock:

[barto_85]

is that the maloo ute is it?

[Shypo]

yeah it is..

[micro_Amps]

I’ve seen those ‘micro RC’ cars (not the hsv ones the other ones) on ebay for about 5 bucks. And the maloo wheels, well they do look a bit ‘hot wheels’ dont they.
A set of dub city wheels would look hot on the hsv cars.
:)uA

[GT-ahh]

the wheels on the monaro are very shiney and all bling bling.:D

[KittyKatSmack]

Also have the dub Honda… very schmicko…
can’t wait to pull it apart for parts

bwahahahahahahahaha

Next will be the line up of the Holdens and Clones with the actual Tomy’s and Hummers….

😀

Will be interesting to see them all compare together….

Personally I don’t mind the controller, but I can use both fairly well these days…..
(don’t have to turn the map book upside down to read it either :P)

Been having a ball with the little buggers, and the clones, well what can I say, but SMASH EM UP!

Demolition Derby here we come!!!

:evil::evil::evil:

[oldtamiyaphile]

barto_85 , everything on my site is mine 🙂

The ute is seriously ugly. Think I might have to do my own. I’d post my Falcon, but my FTP isn’t working.

The blue SUV is a Opel/Vauxhaul/Holden Frontera/ Isuzu Wizard/ Rodeo (love badge engineering) or maybe a Nissan Pathfinder.

Edited by – oldtamiyaphile on 20 June 2003 01:15:14

[barto_85]

you have some nice bodies on your site oldtamiyaphile, i like the paint job on the beetle. Willys pickup and the dodge pickup i like too.

[jamiekulhanek]

I refuse to buy one, i will wait till ford bring out their line (prolly never) then i will buy a FPV GTP or an XR6 Turbo.

[Pork_Hunt]

mine has realistic scale piston slap, but i REALLY like the way the munro handles

[micro_Amps]

Well, I bought the HRT version of this car. I thought the solid plastic shells of the ute and the HSV GTS cars lacked a bit in the good looks depatment, at least the HRT has all the signage and stickers on it (see Aarons pic earlier in this thread)
Interesting idea, it has a removable battery. Which is great because the battery in mine was DEAD, and I dont mean just flat, I mean DEAD. It was leaking and wouldnt hold a charge. Quick change to a spare 150mAH cell and I was going again. The steering gearing uses a motor to push a pin left or right. It holds power on the steering motor while you are turning. Seems to do the job adequately (? spelling) but could probably do with a stronger steering return spring. The car internals are much the same as BCG or clone. The control chipset is Rx2c/Tx2c and can be controlled by a BCG controller but left/right is reversed and forward/backwards is also reversed. A small mod to change both motor wires in the car will see it running on a BCG controller no problem.
:)uA

[Shypo]

KittY: where’d u get your dubs car… I want the rims soo bad

[Aaron]

Toy ‘r’ Us have them Shypes…. The Dubs come in live 3 sizes though – then in addition you havethe Hot Wheels “Hot Tuners” cars as well!

I can see the opportunities to be boundless for truely ricey mods 😉

A.

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Site Owner Guy.

[micro_Amps]

The hot tuners honda civic looks like it might even be the right size to go straight on a BCG chassis too.

Yeh shypes, I got my dubs at toys r us too.
:)uA

[GT-ahh]

bit pointless puting a diecast shell on a bcg tho

[Shypo]

yeah for a show car it would be fine or if you had say 3 cells then it would be fine:evil:

thanks for the answers Aaron and Micro.. i may have 2 go 2 toys’r’us lol

[ms char-ged]

damn, a ba falcon would look sick, the quality of the holden shell looks crappy though, my opinion anywayz

[leonli17]

I don’t know will there be Fords. because i think that HSV fund the toy company to make those HSV RC cars. But it’ll be mad to see the BA Falcon GT. And the Pursuit Ute.

[Aaron]

mmm But start adding a splash of colour 😉

Yes it’s done in colourshift paint, from Purple to Gold

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Site Owner Guy.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Where did you get said paint? Looks cool.

[Shypo]

dude that paint is like $18 a jar..

where’d u grab it Aaron?

[TallduDe]

that paint job makes the car look a whole lot better.

tried putting in a faster motor yet???

[Aaron]

I paid $10 for a jar of it. It’s brushed on at the moment, but I think I’ll have to thin it and spray – or brush still but at least it will ‘flow’ better.

The paint remains a little ausmicro.com secret 😉 *laughs* I’m actually planning on doing a Mini-Z shell with the stuff once I work out the best application methods etc

But I know your local car parts shop can source a ‘kit’ of pressure cans to spray larger objects.

I haven’t even driven that ute yet! It just looked like the perfect candidate for the paint test. I’ll finish up the paintwork on the weekend and maybe work on the rest of the styling ‘issues’ as well…

A.

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Site Owner Guy.

[barto_85]

yeah the car does look much better in that colour.

[z-beam]

nice work Aaron! $10 dollars a pot, it must be thinned out nail polish!!! dont you hate the way chicks at the pharmacy look at you when you buy fancy nail polish!!!

[Shypo]

thats exactly what I was thinkin Z-beam… nothin but Nail polish:p

[Aaron]

Well – *grins* It may (or may not) be nail polish but either way it’s the true colour shift purple->gold stuff.

I’ve finished laying down the colour now and am about to start with some light polishing to see if I can even out the poor quality brushwork.

I haven’t unpacked/setup my hobby stuff since moving last month, been doing this in pieces at nights in front of the PC.

Once work situation settles down I’ll dig up some spare cash to get a ‘bare’ Mini-Z body and spray it properly – probably the first ‘official’ ausmicro.com shell.

A.

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Site Owner Guy.

[Shypo]

I knew it:D
no hiding that from us…

[barto_85]

excellent, can’t wait to see the ausmicro shell.

[Aaron]

Well here’s a better shot of the paints ability to shift colour… This is the rear end after a single coat…

The colour is called ‘Beam’. There’s some more pics in the General discussion thread about my Mugshot!

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Site Owner Guy.

[barto_85]

That looks great aaron, good choice of colour.

[Prowler3]

There is a monaro, Ive seen em in the shops. I think i saw em for $35. They look like they chew up batteries real fast, though. Ive never been a fan of v8’s:angry:

[Author]

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