HPI

HPI

HPI Racing is an RC brand that innovates a broad catalog of radio-controlled vehicles, including drift cars, monster trucks, and buggy and stadium trucks. The HPI lineup includes products for both beginners and experts, includes RTR models as well as kits, and ranges from electric to nitro options. In addition to RC cars, you’ll find a wide selection of RC parts that you can use to maintain and customize your rides.

HPI stands for Hobby Products International, and HPI Racing is a California-based company that got its start in the RC world back in 1986. The brand initially focused on graphite RC parts for existing RC cars and trucks but soon branched out into its own designs. Some notable models include:

• RS4: among the first electric racing touring cars.
• Savage: helped popularize 1:8-scale monster trucks.
• Baja Q32: the first micro-scale car with Real Steer.

HPI Racing makes both RTR models and RC kits. RTR stands for ready to race or roll, and it indicates that an RC car, truck, or buggy is usable right out of the box with no to very little assembly. An RC kit, on the other hand, consists of the parts needed to build the vehicle, and you are required to assemble it. RTR models are intended to offer convenience, and RC kits offer greater control over the process.

This brand has an eclectic catalog and tends to have at least one option available in any of the popular RC genres. You’ll find officially licensed vehicles, such as the Ken Block Ford Fiesta, which uses a monster truck chassis, and original designs, such as the Trophy Truggy and Buggy, which are designed for competitive short-course action. The brand’s categories include:

• Electric off-road and on-road
• Nitro off-road and on-road
• Gas off-road and on-road

A nitro RC engine uses a fuel mix of methanol and nitromethane, and a glow plug serves as the ignition system. Gas engines use the same fuel you put in your car, and these engines can often be started with an electric starter. An industry consensus is that gas engines are easier to tune, maintain, and start, but the fuel is a potential hazard, and nitro tends to be more widespread due to the safety element.

No. Most options are quite different. Many on-road RC car designs may emphasize acceleration and top-end speed, but one tuned for drift may focus on precision control. The 4x4 truck designs offer torque for rock crawling and off-roading in open spaces, but the squatter frame of a stadium truck or Baja buggy is more suited to navigating prepared off-road courses.