I have the SCX24, TRX4M, Ascent 18 and now this HPI Venture 18. The others may have been $150-190, but they did not have full light kits with turn signals and brake lights. They did not have a brushless setup, 6 channel remote, two speed transmission, or metal gears.
Out of the box the detail is impressive, and other than the wheels it's quite scale. turning it on, low gear lets you crawl so dang slow. High gear has no business being as fast as it is, and I have only ran 2S so far. Is it the best crawler out of the box no, but dang with that high gear it makes a really nice trail truck with the speed to pull away from you at a walking pace. With the torque I do not expect the plastic driveshafts to last, but I hope I am surprised.
The only big negative I had with this truck (V2) is with the brushless setup the DIN switches on the remote for the drag brake do not do anything, nor can you add the Bluetooth module of the V1. You need a program card for the Hobbywing ESC. With the drag brake set as factory the truck is barely drivable. Do yourself a favor and make sure you buy a program card with it and turn down the drag brake. I assure you, in high gear with the drag brake set as factory when you let off the throttle the truck flips end over end. Turning down its activation made it so much more drivable.
The remote feels quality and solid compared to other RTR remotes in the class, my only complaint is the button locations. I constantly bump the light channel button changing the setting. The remote even comes with a thumbsteer lever to install if you want.
I loved this for the BTTF look, but the performance has me wanting a second to fully mod out.
