TOPIC:

 

The "VERDIKT" from HSP.

Bought at PowerToys here in Sweden for slightly above 4000 kr as an RTR with a good enough radio but a rather ugly painted body (there is a clear unpainted body availabe). This 8-scale rock racer looks alot like the old YETI from Axial. HSP also made a 10-scale version, though in a simpler design without the swaybar.

It's really well built, good feel and quality, from plastics and body / cage, to electronics and all. What little I manually 'added' was greasing knuckles, gears, checked the rear diff for grease, and adjusted camber slightly of the front wheels. Oh and I also washed the tires as they had some white powder on them.

I've been running it since yesterday and it drives very well. Some more pics for you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did compare the rear links length with my SCORE (Yeti) Trophy Truck, and they're about 10mm longer, 150 mm compared to the Yeti type 14mm. So I was wondering if I maybe could use upgrades for the Axial Yeti for my Verdikt.

I just picked up that unpainted body for my Verdikt. I ordered it yesterday, they're very quick at Powertoys. I need something else to look at, that original paint scheme kind of makes me ill. Somehow it reminds me of my friend's mom's hair-rag back in the 80's, nice people and all, just not on my car please.

 

 

And I also took some time to shoot the chassis of the Verdikt and my Yeti Trophy Truck together, comaring them visually.

 


A closer look at the linking and rear axle. Very similar. One difference is that the diff sits in the middle on the Verdikt axle. The Yeti TT has it on the truck's left side.

 

.. I wonder if I could use parts from the Yeti for my Verdikt. Like those rear trail-arms and maybe a metal rear axle?

I'm kind of puzzled, how did HSP manufacture and sell the "Verdikt"? As it is very similar to both the original Yeti and Yeti XL, without any legal trouble from Axial?

I've made a little comparison here so that we can see the similarity between them. And it's not just the body that looks about the same, it's the chassi and setup with trailing arms and all.

 

Ofcourse there were several rc-cars of this type back then, was it 10-11 years ago, like the Twin Hammers and Losi's Rock Rey. I remember the comparison already then about which one was 'best'. But none of them were as spot-on as the Verdikt. It's like they took the Yeti, made it simpler and cheaper, and put a YetiXL body on it. And it drives awesome, and the quality is very good, well built and with super radio gear; a 2-channel transmitter "80300 B", and 3-channel receiver "03020".
 

.. and! it seems it was only sold in the nordic countries, and Germany. There's very little about the Verdikt on the web, I've only found a few clips on youtube, some boring dark winter videos, and also a few german clips. Any one knows anything more about the awesome clone-RC .. ??

.. and here seems to be an austrailan clip of the smaller (1/10) brother, also "Verdikt":



He also comments on that HSP don't use pictures of the car in it. Why? To hide something? Why is this becoming an exciting mystery? 

My LHS (Elefun, Norway) sold loads of HSP when I worked for them in 2014.
I`m pretty sure that was one of them.
Just checked and now they has very limited options from HSP, mostly drifing cars it seems.

Not really a fan of Yeti type vehicle, but I do miss my 1. gen Wraith that I sadly sold to later found it was parted out.
My Wraith climbed about 70 degrees, my best vertical climb of all my vehicles.
Unlike many other I didn`t fit heavy alloy parts on it.
Just lowered it with long Traxxas shocks. good servo 55t motor, RC4WD 2.2 Baja Claw TTC tires.

And I agree with you on the paint. Did not low my Wraith paint job so I wrapped it, my first as such.

The Verdikt Rally!

 

Got myself one "Raptor 6S" from REELY, bought from Computersalg.se here in the north for about SEK5300. This one goes under several names which I guess is due to it being a popular model;  DR8 from FTX, and also ATOM from FS Racing. There's alot about this car on youtube. 

 
It's a pretty regular 8-scale buggy with independent suspension all over, no solid rear axle like Axial's Yeti, though it greatly resembles the Yeti. And because I'm a sucker for these types of vehicles I keep buying whatever reminds me of the Yeti. Like the 8-scale Verdikt. So let's compare these two here. Raptor to the left, Verdikt right:

 
About the same size, Raptor slightly wider but with a significantly more rigid construction and thickness in material, to endure the heavier weight. Wheels are 17mil, contra the Verdikt's 12mil hex, and even though the wheels are about the same size the Raptor uses true 8-scale beefier wheels with that enlarged tire diameter on the inside, opposed to the Verdikt's 10-scale measures.

I'd say these cars are equally durable within their own conditions, the difference in weight makes the Verdikt more prone to catch wind, if at comparable speed. Also the motors and power-specs are very different. As the Raptor is beefier it needs more of everything, ".. 6S" isn't just a name. Here it's without the spare wheel at the rear, making it balanced and more drivable.

 

I will be rolling these, both cars, at some point soon. I only need to fit the proper batteryplug on the Raptor.

Meanwhile enjoy the bulky anatomy of the Raptor, they should've named it Bulldog or Pitbull, or  something. It's like a tank, it could be used as a pretty deadly weapon.
 

Nice review! I’ve got the 1/10 version, and yeah, it’s simpler but still fun for the price. The plastics and cage strength really surprised me too. The Axial Yeti upgrades should mostly fit, though you might have to tweak the mounting points a bit.

"The Axial Yeti upgrades should mostly fit, though you might have to tweak the mounting points a bit."

- Yes, that's what I'm counting on. The Yeti rear trailing arms are about 1 cm shorter than on the Verdikt (1/8), but this shouldn't affect the vehicle profile too much. The joints attach the same, only the balls need some bushing / spacing to sit well on the Verdikt. Most generic parts, like the rear axle, shaft, dampers etc should be cross compatible here. The wheels are a bit different on the Yeti chassi with the hub spacers, but I remember seeing option wheels for the Yeti.

Last month I also bought the truck version (of the Verdikt) - the Invader. It has the same chassi though it came with a somewhat beefier motor and battery (also they share the same box-art). The Verdikt has a 3000mah NIMH with a 3000kv motor, where the Invader has a 3500mah LIPO with a 3300kv motor and also smaller wheels which will surely make the Invader more of a ripper compared to the Verdikt, which on the other hand should be more capable in harsher terrain.

Below is a comparison between the Invader and my Yeti TT.



The HSP Invader with the painted body, and Axial's Yeti SCORE TT with clear body.

 

Watching these two along side like this makes me realize that HSP, or whoever copied the Axial chassi, did a clever job improving several things as well as optimizing the construction, basically making it cheaper. The body, however ugly, also seems to be blessed with a dash of adaptive bashing resistance, unlike the ultra scale and beautiful SCORE TT body by Axial.

I noticed that I haven't gone into sufficient detail with the chassi yet. So with some more coffee we will explore it now.

A few more pictures then. The HSP chassi with black wheels, and the Axial chassi with orange wheels.

Note that the battery on the HSP chassi does have a battery tray front mount option for alternative weight distribution.


Rear view




And top view



Besides some previously installed metal upgrades on my Yeti chassi I instinctively note that Axial has put more effort in every detail. HSP has had an easy time mearly copying and eliminating unnecessary stuff, optimizing and in some case hopefully improving the design. The motor mount and gears are layed out in completely different ways, as is the steering mechanism. Everything on the HSP is better accessible but at the cost of protection and integration, like the gear protection on the Yeti. The main chassi plate on HSP is a simpler one piece and battery access with holder simpler and more practical (cheaper).

The Yeti is more complex in every way, which also makes it less suitable to modify / frankenstein. And "complex" is not often a good thing in RC unless it's a scale model.

This far we know only what we see and ofcourse there's more to it than looks, like the material quality and composition of plastics. I haven't weighed the two, but simple touch and managing feels pretty similar. Arms and rods are weaker on the HSP but being a clone it's only natural that some things get resized. It should hold for the type of driving I do anyway, which excludes any harmful bashing. I don't even jump my cars. Though for a proper conclusion there would need to be a hard enduro / bash test to see which one breaks first, and how.

I love them both, they're brothers and equally interesting, even more because of their differences. And in short of an original Yeti, the 'rock racer' because the SCORE truck has too fragile body, I am very happy finding the Verdikt / Invader as an alternative. I have bought a couple of clear bodys for the Verdikt and one clear body for the Invader so I can paint them as I like. I'm a bit shamed because I haven't painted my SCORE truck yet, mostly to keep my options due to hesitation in what style to use. 

I now have another thing coming in, a surprise. A 'third brother', it will fint well in here. And I bet on one here has heard or seen it yet because it's such an obscure and .. maybe illegal clone. Chinese ofcourse 

I think my Verdikt-thread sits in a less appropriate section   Can I somehow move the thread to maybe "Others ..." -section?