Review: Losi Micro Brushless Rally Car

Something that amazes me about the RC industry is the constant progression from year to year. I can understand larger scale vehicles getting upgraded with huge brushless setups, room for 3S or 4S LiPo batteries and 2.4GHz radio systems; there’s just room to fit all of that stuff! In the micro category, however, things don’t change. They don’t get bigger, there’s not more room to put fancy-pants electronics and I just can’t see them going much faster…until someone does it. Losi has taken pint-sized brushless and 2.4GHz goodies and crammed it down into the same general footprint as the older-generation equipment. Let’s see if, in this case, smaller is better.

AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT: Losi
WHO IT’S FOR: Everyone
HOW MUCH: $149.99
BUILD TYPE: RTR

FACTS
• One of the first things you’ll notice is the body and wheels. The previous brushed version had similar bodies, but gold spoked wheels. I wasn’t really feeling that. The new high-airflow Rally wheels included with the brushless version are awesome and really give a correct Rally look to this car.

• Pull the body off and you’ll see a chassis capped with a plastic cover. This cover helps protect Losi’s 2-in-1 brushless ESC/2.4GHz radio system combo. This combo system runs on a 4.8v 220mAh NiMH battery (included), but claims it can handle up to 11.1v! Really? That would be awesome to see but where are you going to FIT 11.1v?

• Providing the ponies to the Micro Rally is a tiny 8750Kv brushless motor. This motor is only tiny in size, not it power. With only 4.8v running to it, it’s quite impressive!

• The included battery should be charged for about an hour every time you use it per the instructions. It also stated in the instructions that “Battery charged for over 1 hour may cause an overcharge.” That statement led me to believe that the charger does not have peak detection, so PLEASE pay attention to that 1-hour charge time. One way to tell if it’s close is its temperature; once it starts warming up you know it’s close.

• The 1/24-scale suspension does a good job of keeping this 5.3oz Rally in check. As you’d expect, large jumps, large rocks or even grass can buck or slow down the Rally,but you have to keep things in perspective. Do you see Sebastien Loeb rock crawling in his WRC car? I think not, so don’t expect this car to be any different. Keep it on normal terrain and you’ll have a good time.

• The soft, micro-rally tires have decent grip on dirt and gravel. They seem to be much more at home on asphalt and concrete, but beware; this will quickly wear them out.

• One feature I really liked was the installation of the battery from the bottom of the chassis. You don’t have to take the body off to replace the battery; just pop the door open, pull the old pack out, drop the new pack in, plug it in and replace the door.

• The 2.4GHz transmitter is based off of Losi’s Spektrum 2.4GHz DSM technology. This is the same technology found in some of their super high-end systems. Features like function reversing switches, dual rate and trims are all standard.

PROS
+ The Micro Brushless Rally comes with an 8750Kv brushless motor. Yahoo!
+ Power is supplied by a 220mAh 4.8v NiMH pack.
+ Losi’s 2-in-1 brush less ESC/2.4GHz receiver combo unit is trick! This system works flawlessly!
+ To counter the different terrain you’ll be running on, Losi includes a full set of threaded shocks for easy ride height adjustments.
+ The shaft-drive system is almost completely sealed from the elements.
+ Soft rally-style tires are included and work pretty good on most terrain.
+ The new high-airflow Rally wheels complete the whole Rally package.

CONS
– Comes with a TON of front toe-out and no way to adjust it.
– Not really a problem, but I wish it had a bigger mAh battery for longer run times.

ON THE TRACK
I wanted to give the Brushless Micro Rally a test on several different surfaces around my house. The first location was a makeshift ‘indoor’ rally track in my kitchen and living room. The tile floor provided my drift ‘dirt’ area and the carpeted floor provided my high-bite ‘tarmac’ stage. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it as the massive front toe seems to make the Rally quite wandery. Once I had that managed, I could get through the track quite well. I could see that this version of the Rally could definitely benefit from a little more room, so it was off to my outside location for further testing.

On the harder surfaces (asphalt and concrete), the Losi Micro Rally is pretty fun. It’s zippy and ripped through my makeshift course quite easily. You will notice that the rear end will swing around a bit going into turns. While there are minimal tuning options on the Micro Rally, Losi has made sure to include the important ones. Soften the rear end up slightly by moving the upper shock mount in one hole. This will help calm the rear end. To mix things up a bit, I added a few mini-jumps and a small, dirt off road section. The Micro Rally tackles both without hesitation, but seemed a little bouncy. A quick shock oil change and we were back in business.

THE LAST WORD
If you’re looking for something fun to scoot around the house with, the Losi Micro Brushless Rally Car is the hot ticket. It comes with everything you need to get going, including a battery wall charger. The brushless setup is plenty fast and nets about 12 minutes of run-time depending on how you drive it. If you’re the tinkering type, there are just enough tuning options to allow you to tweak the Rally for the different stages of your track.

LINKS
Losi losi.com, 877-504-0233