[NEWS] HPI Mini Trophy 1/12 4WD Desert Truck

HPI Racing teams up with TSA Motorsports – In the name of Fun!

HPI RACING [Radio Controlled Vehicle Manufacturer] IS TEAMING UP WITH TSA MOTORSPORTS [1:1 Scale Off-Road Team]

Just when you think it’s about time for HPI Racing to announce a new 1/10-scale 4WD Blitz or maybe a Full-Size short course racing program… well, HPI likes to do things a little differently. And you better believe there is going to be some FUN involved. It’s in our motto, “Creating Fun Since 1986!”

HPI Racing is teaming up with TSA Motorsports’ Dallas Luttrell and Bill “Wild Bill” Billington for their efforts in going back to the roots of Off-Road competition – THE DESERT!

Dallas and Bill are the creative minds behind TSA Motorsports. Their approach to desert racing is a reflection of that creativity, very calculated, yet executed plain and simple. TSA’s newly developed truck is different than most, breaking the proverbial mold! Dallas and Bill are not just grasping at shooting stars… they have been studying and watching desert Off-Road racing and most interestingly, the global Off-Road scene with events such as the Dakar rally. They have studied how the Dakar Rally type vehicles differ when compared to the USA’s Trophy Trucks and how these vehicles handle the various terrain. They also studied the race strategies of different teams for these different types of terrain. For side-notes, they have studied the history books with a nod to Ivan Stewart for inspiration as well. Why all of these studies? Because TSA intends to learn their way to the top of the sport, to be a part of those few individuals who wish to try things differently. There are those who just want to go big and fast and follow the same “big trucks rule in the desert” theme. And there are those whose perseverance and dreams will fuel the passion for racing for a long time to come. TSA is here to stay!

The last couple of years, Dallas and Wild Bill have been whooping it across the desert in the SNORE Series in what some people call a “Pre-Runner” or even a desert capable street truck. For the sideline enthusiast, they saw what could be achieved with off-the-shelf retail parts in a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. TSA’s efforts landed them four Top-5 finishes in the 7200-class of the 2009 SNORE Off-Road Series. While the TSA team did not break any records or secure any major championships, for TSA, it had a lot more to do with mentality: the mental game and the approach with equipment. Adding to the facts, the Tacoma truck is not wildly different from any other desert truck. The TSA Tacoma is more like every truck sitting in the spectator parking lot. The Tacoma itself was its own experiment to learn from, but with a much larger plan brewing in the background.

TSA built a new truck and HPI Racing built a new truck…

Enter 2010 and lots of things happening in the background. The TSA Motorsports camp has been very secretive, quiet and very busy! Luttrell and Billington took the time while racing the Toyota Tacoma in 2009 to build an experimental chassis. With numerous test-design sessions, early 2010 they built another Chassis and tested more and finished up the creative design concept all while conspiring with HPI RACING.

Same time, HPI Racing was busy developing too, as HPI Racing’s USA based designer Hidekazu “Ito” Nishine has a passion for all things “truck!” Ito is the designer of the Nitro MT Series, the Wheely King/Crawler King Series and the HPI Savage Monster Truck, world famous for its brutal durability. Ito wanted to add a desert truck to his design milestones.

PROJECT MINI-TROPHY 4WD DESERT TRUCK

With TSA and HPI working on parallel Mini-Trophy desert projects, the highlight is TSA utilizing an independent suspension design base for their new 1:1 desert truck. Ito was thinking independent suspension as well and while normal for R/C, independent suspension is not so normal in the 1:1 off road race vehicles, especially with trucks. TSA is building this new truck to race in the 7200-class, basically a scaled down version of a trophy truck, more like a mini-truck that was once a 4-cylinder pick up truck. Most “mini-trucks” these days are not so “mini” and come with 6-cylinders, but compared to a 6,000+ lbs / 800 horsepower Trophy Truck, the 7200-Class is simply a “Mini-Trophy.” TSA is using an in-line Ford 6-cylinder HESCO built engine. HPI also likes the “Mini-Trophy” moniker and named this new [1:12 scale] 4WD desert truck accordingly. Stay tuned to your favorite RC news site or 1 to 1 motorsports news outlets for more information.

www.hpiracing.com
www.tsamotorsports.com

Sponsors:

HPI Racing - HESCO - Red Olive - Summit Machine - Lightforce Performance - SPARCO - RCP Race Car Prototypes - The Gravel Crew

About TSA Motorsports:

TSA is one of the most exciting teams in Off-Road motorsports. This team is rather unique with the subdued yet intense personality of Dallas Luttrell and the outrageous and competitive spirit of Bill “Wild Bill” Billington. Together these teammates have brought together two different worlds and with over 20 years of Off-Road racing experience, created a winning combination. With their roots in professional rock crawling (Budweiser Team Shark Attack), they excelled in both the sport as well as marketing themselves, their sponsors and the sport of rock crawling. This passion and spirit is what they will be drawing upon for their efforts in desert racing.

TSA Marketing Contact: ScottG / GravelCrew: Bajascribe@yahoo.com 714.280.7392 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              714.280.7392      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 714.280.7392 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

About HPI RACING:

Established in 1986 in Southern California, HPI Racing (Hobby Products International) of Foothill Ranch, California, USA is a global leader in the radio controlled racing car section of the hobby industry. The HPI Group includes: HPI Racing, Foothill Ranch, CA; HPI Japan, Hammamatsu, Japan; and HPI Europe in the United Kingdom. HPI Group also produces collector diecast models, Hot Bodies (R/C competition specialties), R/C airplanes (456MB) and R/C robots. HPI USA currently operates out a 45,000 square foot facility in Foothill Ranch, California and oversees manufacturing operations there as well as in Japan and Taiwan. HPI has licensing agreements in place with GM, Ford, Lamborghini, DaimlerChrysler, Lotus, Honda, Porsche and all major American, European and Japanese automakers; as well as equipment manufacturer brands such as Sparco, Maxxis, Falken, Bilstein, Motul, Hankook, Yokohama and Eibach Springs. HPI Racing’s global footprint includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Lebanon, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand and the United States. www.hpiracing.com

About SNORE:

SNORE or Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts is a family of off road desert racers helping to promote desert racing in and around the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Formed in 1969 for fun, friends and family, we have grown to be a premier force in the southwest racing arena. We are the oldest sanctioned off road racing organization in the world. From stock Volkswagen beetles to buggies, pickup trucks and even high-end unlimited vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, SNORE has a spot for anyone to race with us. We offer races from 250 to 400 miles and varied landscapes from the greasewood bushed hills of southern Nevada, to the pine tree dotted coolness of central Nevada, all the way to the decomposed granite boulder country of southern California. Safety of our racers and responsibility to the desert environment and its wildlife are paramount to our success. We feel it’s our duty to continue to provide safe, fun, challenging courses for our members, now and into the future. Here’s to the next 40 years of racing! So, come race with us! We are SNORE…First in the desert since 1969.

For the off-road racing enthusiast, this is the perfect truck! It's a marriage of scale realism, HPI durability, drivability and most importantly - FUN!

SCALE REALISM

It's no secret that scale realism is what everyone wants and HPI Racing delivers this in a package influenced by the relationship with a full-size off-road desert race team - TSA Motorsports. An interesting note about this particularly "special project" is the fact that TSA used the body styling from HPI Racing and shaped the TSA full-size 7200 class truck to look like the HPI Mini-Trophy Truck. Yes, the HPI Mini-Trophy came first!

HPI durability

The HPI Mini-Trophy Truck uses nothing but the finest grade, high-impact nylon plastic on the most critical areas of the truck - from the bumpers to the super beefy arms and everything in between. HPI's industry known strength and durability makes the MINI-TROPHY friendly for all, and most of all - FUN!

DRIVABILITY

With a four wheel drive system, driving is made easy. Drivability testing has rendered extremely impressive results. Add more power with a brushless system and the stability and control is still there! The truck simply drives really well in the loose dirt. When traction breaks loose and the rear end of the vehicle is swung out and on-throttle, the truck remains controllable. Bottom line, this 4WD technical feature adds to the overall fun factor.

HISTORY OF FUN

At HPI Racing, our motto is, "Creating Fun Since 1986." We keep that passion and driving force at the forefront and when projects like this are developed, we are especially excited with both the R/C vehicle replica and the relationship with the full-size race vehicle! HPI's passion for R/C is a reflection of our enthusiasm for motorsports.

RTR Ready-To-RUN = FUN!

Desert Truck Body

Realistic looking three piece body with 1:1 replica race team graphics with windows to show driver figure set

Shaft drive 4WD

4WD for high grip on any surface and the durability of shaft drive

Metal Gear Differentials

Tough metal gears for strength and durability

Steel Dogbones

Tough Steel Dogbones on all four corners

Aluminum Suspension Uprights

High strength aluminum front and rear uprights

Aluminum Hubs

Greater strength and durability

Realistic Desert Racing Tires

Officially Licensed Yokohama Geolandar Tires

4 Wheel Independent Suspension

Soaks up the ruts and bumps of desert terrain

Oil filled shocks

Oil filled shocks for smooth suspension dampening

Threaded Shock Bodies

Easily adjustable threaded shocks for quick ride height changes

Realistic Spare Tires

Two lightweight faux-spare wheels/tires are mounted in the truck bed for realistic desert truck looks

Realistic Interior with Two Driver figure set

Featuring an interior that includes a driver and navigator for the ultimate in realism.

Say hello to our two friends!

Adjustable Slipper Clutch

The included slipper clutch protects the drivetrain and can be adjusted to suit track conditions

Complete Ball Bearings

A complete set of ball bearings is included for drivetrain efficiency and low maintenance

Skid Plate Bumpers

Front and rear skid plate bumpers for realistic looks and crash protection

Adjustable Body Mounts

Adjustable body mounts to help fine tune the body height and width

Tough Chassis

High strength nylon tub chassis for durability

Roll Cage

Complete interior roll cage for scale looks and crash protection

Compatible Wheels

1.9" wheels with 12mm hex hubs allow you to use a wide variety of aftermarket wheels

12mm Hex Hubs

Industry standard for compatibility with a wide variety of optional wheels

Desert Truck Suspension

Realistic looking desert truck suspension arms for high grip and scale looks

Brushless Capable

Strong gearbox to allow Brushless upgrades

Window box to show the scale appearance

Specifications:
Length: 21" - 533.4mm
Width: 9 3/16" - 233mm
Wheelbase: 12 9/32" - 312mm
Height: 6 3/8" - 162mm

#103034 RTR MINI-TROPHY w/DT-1 BODY - $390










































































SOURCES
http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=259862
http://www.hpiminitrophyforum.com/showthread.php?t=4

Il a l' air vraiment sympa et j' aime bien les arceaux ça le fait...

il n'y a pas de pont rigide, mais il y a quand même des bras tirés sur lesquels se fixent les amortos, à l'arrière

J'ai épluché les photos qui sont là: http://www.hpiminitrophyforum.com/showthread.php?t=9
Ce nouveau HPI est un vrai beau chassis maquette, aussi sympa dans son genre que le Tamiya XC, j'ai l'impression avec cet HPI de revenir à l'époque où les chassis n'étaient pas encore des clones les uns des autres à qq détails près comme c'est le cas aujourd'hui
Après le m-chassis 4x4 (cup racer), le chassis de F1, je trouve que HPI se lache sur les belles choses en ce moment

Par contre, que de plastique, mais alors que de plastique, seules les fusées sont en alu, ça c'est dommage, ça mériterait un peu plus de matériau noble un engin pareil

Terrible!!

Je le veux !!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Blitz, tu vas sortir...

C'est vrai qu'il est débordant de réalisme

Il fait un peu plastique mais avec quelques options alu, il doit pouvoir en impressionner plus d'un

En tout cas je l'aime bien

Bah moi aui ai fais du scale, je crois que je vais me lancer tenter...

Déjà vu sur le forum du HMT, un peut déçu du manque de débattement par rapport au 1:1... MAIS IL EST MONSTRUEUX !!!!!