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 FLUX 4WD DESERT TRUCK
With TSA and HPI working on parallel Mini-Trophy FLUX 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 Jeep 6-cylinder HESCO built engine. HPI also likes the "Mini-Trophy" moniker and named this new 4WD desert truck accordingly. Stay tuned to your favorite RC news site or 1 to 1 motorsports news outlets for more information.
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
