HAIBOXING 18856 1/18 Brushed RC Buggy Car with 2 Batteries

This seems to be a reissue - 6 years ago there was a Haiboxing 18856 Ratchet that looked very similar and was fairly popular; this one, called the Storm 5, has several upgrades such as metal driveshafts and LiPo batteries. The car feels solid and heavily built, it weighs 705g and the chassis is made from plastic with steel drive shafts; it's fitted with an 850mAh 2S 25C LiPo with 'T' connector and the battery has a hard plastic surround case - a spare battery is also included. The construction is well thought out, most of the suspension parts are plastic (CNC metal upgrade parts are available). The shocks are adjustable but there's no oil in them which is par for this price level. Internally there's a 380 sized brushed motor (with heatsink), a combined receiver and ESC, and the battery sits tightly in it's own bay, held in by a Velcro strap. The transmitter is basic but functional with a single 2-color LED that indicates power and connection status. There's front and rear facing white LED strips that are positioned high and these are supposed to be controlled from the transmitter but I couldn't get that to work, they were just on all the time. There's a small on/off button that sits neatly just behind the front left wheel which is covered by the shell giving protection, good looks, and easy access. In addition to the excellent multi-language instruction manual, there's some decals and an information card that gives details on Haiboxing's 3-month parts warranty - impressive. I charged the LiPo batteries (I used a high end LiPo charger but a small USB charger is provided), fitted 2 x AA batteries (not included) into the transmitter and tried it out; the radio was already bound and the setup was pretty good with only a minor tweak needed to the steering trim to get it going in a straight line. On the slow speed setting, driving it was unexciting but suitable for an inexperienced driver or kid. In the higher speed setting it was a lot quicker, easy to get it spinning donuts but not insane wheelie-pulling; the low center of gravity helps in cornering where it was more likely to skid sideways than flip over. I like that there's just 2 body clips, both at the front and how the body lifts up on hinges. The body itself is pretty strong, the tires are good - glued and with a good tread pattern but it's not a standard hex wheel fitting so spare tires may be limited in selection. This car meets the advertised specification. Sure, for a bit more money you could get a 1:12 or even 1:10 size brushless car that goes a lot faster but maybe not as well built and maybe harder to find spare parts for. When discounted, I would recommend this car, especially for beginners and back yard bashers. I was on the fence for 5 stars, I'd rate it 4.6 but I decided to round up because it's sturdy and reasonably fun to drive.

This is a very quick and agile rc car. The speeds are manageable for a beginner, but it is still fun for more experienced drivers. My 10 year old was having a blast with this until it went down the storm drain on the street. I took out the manhole cover, and I was surprised that it was really deep - more than 15 ft. With a flashlight I saw that the wing broke off, but I couldn’t see the car. I wasn’t going to climb down into the drain because I wasn’t sure if I could climb back out. Instead, I got an extension pole that was 16 ft long and rigged up a hook in hopes that I could snag the car in the pipe. No luck, and I decided it was a total loss. I ended up ordering another one because it was a reasonable price for how much fun we had. I wish I could give this thing six stars because of what happened next. A few days later it rained really hard, I was curious if the rain pushed the car out such that I could find it in the outlet by the nearby creek. This is a couple hundred yards from the storm drain, and sure enough, there it was! It was sticking out of a pile of leaves. I rinsed everything off and let it dry out. I put the spare battery in, and everything worked! And it still works a day later too. This car survived a 15 ft fall, and only the wing broke off (unfortunately I couldn’t retrieve it from the bottom of the storm drain). Then it got washed out of the pipe a couple hundred yards away, and it still works! I’m very impressed with the durability and survivability of this car.