HPI Formula Ten – World Exclusive
Well, it all started in April 2009, when HPI released teaser shots of a car that set tongues wagging and message boards alight.
HPI built their company up in the 1990’s based on the business model of selling upgrades for various Tamiya cars at the time. One of these was the Tamiya F102, a rear wheel drive pan car with a realistic F1 bodyshell. In Japan, they were hugely popular, and after a while, HPI saw the potential of the market, and released their own design F1 chassis constructed from carbon fibre, alloy and graphite. It was successful when placed head-to-head with the other main race-spec F1 car, the Corally F1, but the class was dwindling with the rise of touring cars, and HPI abandoned the area.
However, Japanese race fans continued to run F1 cars, and Tamiya supplied their needs with the F103, and the four wheel drive F201, each with newer and newer bodies. Indeed, the latest incarnation, the F104 is the car to beat amongst all the small-volume manufacturers such as Cross, Tech Racing and more. These are all top-end racing kits that need high-grip and well prepp’d surfaces though, what about Jonny Beginner?
HPI’s return to the F1 class is with the Formula Ten, a plastic tubbed rear wheel drive chassis with a pan-car-style floating rear pod and T-bar. Up front, there are fixed length wishbones and sliding pin and block hubs, just like a 1/12th chassis. Drive is direct through a rear gear diff and 48dp pinion and spur gear. One of the main appeals of the chassis is the use of existing electronics – ‘normal’ 1/10th touring car ESC’s, motors, batteries and radiogear will drop straight in, although the appeal of lower voltages (to make the car easier to drive) is not lost, so the car comes with a 4 cell stick pack battery holder comes in the kit, to compliment a 6 cell one.
The Formula Ten was announced in April 09, but nothing more was heard until late July where the car was placed on a Hong Kong shop site (RC Mushroom), for the bargain price of around £60 ($99.99, shipping around £30). This seemed too good to be true, as Tamiya’s F104 runs at £230! A quick look on Modelsport UK, and they had it to pre-order for £99…..so, order placed with Mushroom.
That was Thursday night, and the car actually arrived on my doorstep Monday morning! Super fast shipping, and well worth the extra that EMS was.
After a quick poke through the box and the usual ”ooooohh…..ahhhh” noises associated with a new toy, it was on to the build.
I’d love to dish the dirty and say it was terrible, nothing fitted, and it broke at the sight of me, but that’d be lying. It was very straightforwards, and everything just plonked together without any fuss or protest. The manual was clear and concise, around half of it devoted to the build, and half to the maintenance of the car.
Its aimed at the low-cost racer, and the spec reflects this. The rear pod is made from plastic, as are the front wishbones, hubs, tub and wings. The rear axle is steel (with orange anodised alloy wheel adaptors), and the upper deck is FRP. Topping this off is a friction shock absorber and damper plates, just like a 1/12th pan car. And although the rear axle runs on flanged bearings, the rest of the rolling parts are bushing’ed. All of these mentioned parts can be replaced, with carbon fibre or orange anodised alloy, and a few tasteful choices may appear on mine at a later date………..bearings are already ordered.
The build time was around 4 hours, not including electrics or body. Speaking of which though, its a stunning mould. HPI are really hitting form with their bodies at the moment, and this a incredibly detailed, from the drivers cockpit to the sculptured exhaust areas. Topping and tailing it are the best looking F1 wings I’ve ever seen on an RC car, they aren’t adjustable so won’t confuse the driver when it comes to setup. They bolt on easily, so with new wings and body, it can be brought up to 2009 F1 spec without the need for a new kit. Mine will be finished in the Red Bull colours of Mark Webber.
I’m unsure what to put in it, electrics wise. Brushless and LiPo would be a riot, but I think it’ll be too much of a handful for my lame skills. Initial runs will be with a slow brushed motor (silver can probably), and 2S LiPo, but 1S and 10.5 will be where I’m looking to go.
Overall, it was a fun build, and a very cheap way of getting scale cars back in RC. Just like the Tamiya Mini class, this has the potential to be very popular.
See below for more images from the build, and if you have any questions, please comment on this article.
