HYPER 8.5 PRO UK

I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with the Hyper 8 Pro, mainly because Dan wrestled it from me and I only lost that bout through the shock of seeing his wrestling leotard and matching face mask. Yet when the Hyper 8.5 came in I spirited it away before he had the chance to get changed because as the old proverb says, “a man in Lycra should be accompanied by a bicycle and a helmet”, and I could clearly see that this was not the case, well, I didn’t see a bicycle!

The Hyper 8.5 Pro UK is actually a superior car to the Hyper 8 Pro UK as it’s now had a makeover in order to make it more user-friendly and is built specifically to suit the grippy grass, dirt and astro tracks we have in the UK. I’m sure Robert Batlle is very friendly with his as it saw him crowned 2007 European Rallycross Champion recently, thus proving that the Hobao is now a really competitive contender in the swelling market of 1:8 scale buggies. I’m obviously chuffed to bits as I can not only use the buggy of a champion, I can install an Axe Rossi engine too - albeit he has the full race version - just don’t burst my bubble.

PEAS IN A POD
It may look very much the same as a Hyper 8 Pro, but inside the black and red box is a 90% pre-built rolling chassis that simply requires the shocks to be built, the installation of some radio gear, an engine and the tyres gluing onto the white dished rims

Gone are all the super shiny bling parts that shone like a mirror to be replaced by a distinctive grey anodised theme. Parts like the front and rear aluminium chassis braces that both still have double capture points with the rear attaching to the chassis and a matching centre diff brace, the 5mm thick shock towers, the front and rear suspension holders and the steering plate are all now a sleek grey colour.

Changes have been made to items like the front upper plate (this was made of carbon fibre on the Hyper 8 but is now an aluminium part), and the shock absorbers are now splendid aluminium bodied big bore units so the oil inside them won’t go off as quickly in long finals and also to give a smoother ride, aided further by the FR2 chassis which has been extended by 2mm at both the front and rear. In a nutshell this extension makes it more stable over the bumps and jumps whilst simultaneously attaining better handling abilities all round.

Then as the old saying goes “to go faster, add lightness”, so it now features a lightweight machined flywheel, vented 14t clutch bell and CNC wheel hubs with titanium turnbuckles.

More changes are evident in the radio box; the top of this is now secured on via three 2mm hex-headed screws as the previous version had a tendency to pop off on exceptionally bumpy terrain, and one of the more complicated set-up options of the track adjustable rear hubs are replaced with the standard two-hole height adjustable rear hubs so you can adjust the roll centre in the rear diff to give you more rear grip (lower hole) or less (upper hole, standard setting). The five-hole wheels and Fire tyres have been replaced too, the 8.5 now sports a set of nicely trued white dished wheels and one of the very best tyres for grass racing, Hobao Angle spikes.

Other items like the CNC clutch shoes, an in-line tuned pipe, five available anti-roll bars (two of which are already fitted), air filter support, CNC dust-proof wheel nuts and an aluminium servo arm make this kit stand out, although the servo arm is only good for a Futaba spline and because of the new bigger shocks, it seems that there are only two choices of springs to choose from until a new shipment arrives. In the meantime, I switched my white springs to a set of Hong Nor red big bore springs as recommended by CML sponsored driver, Liam Galvin, because they fit a treat and also eliminate that little bit of front end sag that I discovered with the originals after filling them with the supplied 30wt oil.

TOP TIP
When building shocks it’s a good idea to use some AE green slime on the shock O-rings and on the threaded part of the shock shaft. This makes the action of the shock a lot smoother and stops the threaded part of the shaft picking up on the O-rings.