Review: ABC Hobby Genetic Mini
ABC Hobby Genetic Mini
My first experience with ABC Hobby and the “Genetic” Mini was about 3 or 4 years ago. I had attended a 1:1 scale import car show for, of course, the cars, but also because HPI was putting on a drift demo there. While cruising the pits, I came across a small booth with a gorgeous M-scale BRE Datsun 510 kit. ABC Hobby was the company name, and they were bringing these little gems over to the US for sale. I ordered my 510 and when I received it, I painted the body with the nostalgic BRE red-white-and blue paint scheme and set it on the shelf.
ABC Hobby recently sent RC Driver a M-scale Genetic Toyota Corolla Levin TE27 for review. I was lucky enough to get my hands on it and, after some inspection, realized this mini-sized basher includes a lot of racer-ready features! How did I miss all that on my 510 shelf queen?? Well, I won’t miss it this time as I take the Levin out for some serious road testing.
AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT ABC Hobby
WHO IT’S FOR Everyone
HOW FAST 21.3mph
PART NO. 24009
HOW MUCH $299.99
WHAT WE LIKED
• Pre-assembled
• The body, decals and wheels look amazing!
• Numerous racer-features included
• Attention to detail in every area
• Quality of the parts is an added bonus!
WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED
• Hex screws would be nice
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you’re looking for a shelf queen or something to bash around with, this car is for you. Great looks, lots of detail and handles great. If you are looking for a track star, well, this car is ALSO for you. Everybody’s a winner!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The ABC Mini comes fully assembled out of the box. Before tearing up the neighborhood, you will still need to install your electronics, glue up the tires and paint the body.
• The chassis is made from a thick 3mm black fiberglass. Both the top deck and battery strap are made of the same black fiberglass, but reduced to 2mm in thickness.
• The suspension is a dual-pillow ball design; rather unconventional for small scale applications. It works great and makes adjusting the camber a breeze. Simply insert your allen wrench through the wheel spokes (into the pillow ball) and adjust. Front and rear toe are adjusted using a short threaded link.
• Another standard suspension adjustment is droop. Short setscrews in the arms allow you to adjust this, but the ‘cool’ feature is the small plastic ‘stopper’ that attaches to the bottom of the setscrew. This stopper hits the chassis before the metal setscrew. This keeps the droop settings more consistent as it leaves your chassis unmarked and undamaged after numerous adjustments.
• The Mini includes a full set of super-smooth, pre-built shocks. The shock bodies are made of a clear plastic and are topped off with gunmetal anodized aluminum caps. One great feature is that they already come filled with oil! One less messy job to do during a build!
• The drive train is also impressive. A high-quality ball-diff resides in each gearbox. The diff halves are plastic for less weight, but include aluminum diff saver rings to help prevent them from breaking. A full set of CVDs transfers power to all four ball-bearing supported wheels. In fact, the entire drivetrain rolls on a set of high-quality, shielded ball bearings! An aluminum spur gear mount attaches to a shiny aluminum driveshaft that runs down the spine of the Mini.
• The motor attaches to a cam-style machined aluminum motor mount. This system works great and is easy to adjust when you change the gearing on the car.
• The wheels are a beautiful example of the ‘back in the day’ MiniLite wheels. Wrapped around them are soft compound slicks with an open-cell foam insert.
• There are quite a few old school bodies to choose from for the ABC Mini. These include this Corolla Levin, a Celica 1600GT, a Suzuki Swift, a Mitsubishi Colt and my two favorites, a BRE Datsun 510 and 240Z! All have incredible detail and look fantastic!
NEEDED TO COMPLETE
Transmitter, receiver, steering servo, ESC, battery pack, paint for the body, charger
WHAT WE USED
• Futaba T2PH Radio with Receiver and S3003 Servo—Item no. FUTJ13**, $47.99
• LRP Ai Digital Speed Control—Item no. TT1093, $139.99
• Peak Racing Power Plant 5000—Item no. PEK00503, $14.99
HARDWARE TYPE
Phillips & Hex Screws
ABC Genetic Mini
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 11.6 in. (294mm)
WIDTH 6.2 in. (157mm)
WHEELBASE 8.2 in. (208mm)
TUNING OPTIONS
SUSPENSION
• Camber—front and rear pillow-ball adjustment
• Front Toe—adjustable link
• Rear Toe—adjustable link
• Front springs—standard
• Rear springs—standard
• Bump-steer—add or subtract shims under the steering ball stud
• Droop—droop screws in the suspension arms
DRIVETRAIN
• Gear Ratio—replaceable spur and pinion gears
• Differential—adjustable
TOOLS
Included
L-wrenches and box wrench
Needed
Curved Lexan scissors, CA glue
RECOMMENDED ACCESSORIES
• Main Carbon Fiber Chassis—24187
• Carbon Fiber Top Plate—US24804
• Threaded Aluminum Shocks—24100
• Adjustable Turnbuckles—24119
• Shock Spring Set—24171
• Anti-Roll Bar Set—24167
• Front Spool (Locked Differential)—24177
• Front One-Way Differential—24121
TIPS
• Use a very small amount of spray adhesive to glue the strip-style tire inserts together. This will prevent them from bunching up while driving.
• Since the spur and pinion gears are exposed, be mindful of the terrain you drive on. Debris can easily get stuck in the gears and ruin them.
• I would suggest removing the screws that hold the aluminum motor mount in place and re-installing with a dab of threadlock. This will prevent them from working their way out while driving.
COMPETITORS INCLUDE
HPI Cup Racer, Tamiya M Series
PERFORMANCE SCORECARD
Test Venue: Secret Test Location – Codename: Topaz
Conditions: Freshly paved, slightly dusty parking lot
STEERING Understeer Neutral Oversteer
The Genetic Mini has surprisingly good steering for a 4wd car. At low and high speeds, I could put it anywhere I wanted to on the test track. It was quick in the chicane section of the track, and held its ground well on the sweeper. To confirm my assessment, I handed the controls over to my dad (who was there helping me with the test drive). He took a couple laps and also mentioned that, not only did the Mini seem to steer really well, it was very quick when changing directions. Both are good points when on the track or racing your friends in the street.
ACCELERATION Poor Fair Good Excellent
Acceleration is one of the areas where 4wd vehicles really excel. The combination of the LRP Ai Super Reverse ESC, Team Orion Rocket Pack and the MJGTC motor, this little Mini got up and going in no time! While not mind-blowing, the MJGTC motor has pretty good pop off the line. Top speeds were decent, too, but the real hero was the run times. With the 4000mah Rocket Pack fully charged, I shut down the Mini after about 25 minutes of blasting around the track (I’ll bet it still had another 5 or so minutes left in it, too!).
BRAKING Poor Fair Good Excellent
The LRP Ai Super Reverse ESC has a super-smooth, proportional braking profile programmed in. Unfortunately, combined with the MJGTC motor the brakes were not as strong as they could be. I would have liked to try a faster, rebuildable motor as these have extremely strong magnets in them that really affect braking and acceleration. Because the MJGTC magnets aren’t as strong, the brakes always felt a little soft.
SUSPENSION Poor Fair Good Excellent
I have to admit, I didn’t think the ABC Mini was going to have a stellar suspension setup. In fact, I didn’t think it would be very good at all. I admit that because I would like to stand corrected and say that, even on the dusty parking lot surface, the suspension was excellent! As mentioned before, the steering was fantastic with zero hint of understeer or oversteer. I could fling the car around the track and it would stay composed the whole time. As hard as I tried I could not get the car to slide or get out of shape. Even my dad was amazed and how easy it was to drive (and has now commandeered the ABC Mini as his!). I think the suspension is a bit soft for high-bite tracks, but that is a simple oil change or spring change. In stock form, the suspension is spot on!
DURABILITY Poor Fair Good Excellent
After a couple battery packs, the only signs of wear or breakage was some scratches on the bottom of the chassis, a little road rash on the body and some serious dust inside the car! Since it is not sealed, there are plenty of chances for debris to jam up the spur/pinion gears. Other than a little bit of dirt, the gears looked absolutely great. Tires were a little worn, but that could have been my constant J-turns (Google is your friend here) which, by the way, the Mini does great!
THE LAST WORD
When I first received the ABC Mini, I figured it would be a decent entry level car with a cool looking body. After all, there are quite a few awesome old school bodies available mounted on the same chassis. But, after digging deeper, ABC has included quite a few features that will attract the racer crowd, too! Ball differentials, CVD’s and a full set of ball bearings are standard equipment. Drop in some good electronics and you have yourself a pretty impressive performance machine. So check out ABC’s site and all the memorable cars from the past. You just might end up buying two or three of them!
Links
ABC Hobby, www.abchobbyusa.com
Futaba, www.futaba-rc.com
LRP (distributed by Team Associated), www.RC10.com
Peak Racing, www.peakrcracing.com
[as seen in: RC Driver Magazine]
