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Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review

The 1/8 Scale 4WD Brushless motor on the MT4.18BL allows this compact RC to hit 30+ mph and it’s also LiPo compatible. The smaller scale truck makes portability very easy and this thing moves for lots of convenient fun that won’t break the bank.

The MT4.18BL monster truck features fast 4WD action on both pavement and other surfaces. It’s Ready-to-Run (RTR) out of the box and comes with everything you need to charge up and start driving. It can handle the pavement with stability and speed while the 4WD power allows you to power over low grass, wood chips, snow and more. The Dromida MT4.18BL gives a very enjoyable experience and my young kids think it’s just about the coolest thing in the world right now.

The MT4.18BL truck is waterproof so you don’t have to worry about puddles, get it dirty! While the truck isn’t able to achieve 30 mph on more granular surfaces it can make it’s way over many obstacles without too much trouble. It can get bogged down in very loose sand, deep wood chips or high dense grass but for the most part you can take it over most any terrain you come across. Dromida has provided the MT4.18BL as a courtesy so that we could provide first hand review coverage to our readers.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18 BL with the top down

Setup

The included instructions are easy to follow and there isn’t much set up involved if you are going with the Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery. Charge it up for 4-6 hours, upwards of 11hours or overnight the first charge is recommended by Hobbico support.

Insert battery into the harness, use the supplied pins to secure the battery to the chassis and plug the battery in. Again use the supplied pins to secure the polycarbonate truck body on, turn on the D100 RC controller and then sneak your finger under the right of the truck body just in front of the right-rear passenger side and flip the power on.

The pin fasteners are tiny and easy to lose. We’ve already lost and found them several times, not that this has anything to do with Hobbico but it would be great if there was a way to have the pins attached so that when you disengage them, they would just hang.

The wall charger described in the manual is different from what you receive as it has been swapped out for a newer charger. There is no battery level indicator so you’re going to have to charge based on time to ensure you are starting with a full battery. There is however a small LED on the D100 remote that indicates the battery level in the remote.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL 5300kV Brushless Motor

Specs

The 1/18 Scale MT4.18BL comes with an efficient 5300kV brushless motor that keeps much cooler than a brushed motor after prolonged driving. The truck also comes equipped with a waterproof 25A ESC, receiver and mini steering servo. The truck weighs approx 4.7 lbs and measures 16.9 x 13.2 x 6 inches.

Included are 4 AA batteries for the remote control, 7.2V Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) 1300mAh Battery, Wall charger and the MT4.18BL RC Truck. The pre-mounted tires feature foam inserts for better resiliency.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL D100 Remote Controller

The D100 2-channel radio communicates with the truck over 2.4GHz frequency and features adjustable throttle, steering trims as well as dual rates for both steering and throttle if your driving skills are up to par.

Equipped with fully functional and adjustable Big Bore oil shocks the truck has a good amount of travel for good balanced dampening over less than smooth terrain. A Servo saver spring mechanism is designed into the chassis and does well to add a little extra bumper to protect your gears.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck

Driving Experience

Out of the box we had a very pleasant experience with the RC truck. The MT4.18BL is easy to drive and you’re able to achieve a full sprint of approximately 30mph on smooth dry pavement without getting squirly. The straight line power is smooth and stable.

The low profile tires are nice and grippy and work very well. It was designed to drive optimally on pavement but does very well off-road as well. It’s able to do pretty well over relatively deep wood chips and low grass and very well in hard pack dirt.

On looser terrain we’re able to do controlled slides and drifting the truck with predictability. You can also turn down the sensitivity of the throttle as well as turn response for less experienced drivers.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RTR

The learning curve on the MT4.18BL is fairly low. Just make sure you drive in an open area first to get used to it before you start weaving in and out of people, bikes, kids etc. Throttle response (even though you want to gun it every time you take it out) is very easy to run at moderate speeds by simply pulling the trigger less. Pushing forward with your finger engages reverse drive.

We did seem to experience some radio control response issues, more so as we hit the latter 10 mins of drive time. The truck would sometimes become unresponsive after releasing the throttle or crashing; to re-engage drivetrain forward and backward and had to depress and release the trigger multiple times or adjust the trim settings before it would kick back in again. The steering seemed to always work with battery full or low.

There’s a bit of travel on the suspension system. The adjustable coilover oil shocks allow the truck to bottom out flush but with some wheel compression upon jump/landing can allow the truck chassis to travel a few centimeters beyond the bottom. Foam inserts in the wheels help to soften the compression unlike air filled wheels that can tend to fold over much easier.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL Battery Cage and Clips with NiMH

LiPo battery & Upgrades

If you find that your driving skills begin to exceed the ability of the truck, you can easily tweak some more power out of it by installing a LiPo battery and adjusting the firmware to accommodate the extra power. Keep in mind that the truck is dialed in for fast stable street performance, once you start going with the LiPo setup, it’ll get a bit squirly on you and you may find that you’ll need to trim off some acceleration.

Installing a LiPo battery does require some reprogramming of the Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) but it doesn’t take too much effort but does require some thought and a moment to go through the ESC programming ritual. The LiPo battery is slightly smaller than the NiMH so you’ll have a small gap when it’s seated, but the clips are able to hold the LiPo without any problem.

Instructions for ESC reprogramming are included on the instruction sheet and include a combination of pressing and waiting for beeps/tones. A lever based conversion action would have been appreciated here. If you go for the LiPo battery you’ll need the proper output LiPo battery charger.

There’s also an Aluminum Drive Train Kit for $29.99 and Aluminum Shock Kit for $69.99 that makes for a fun Father Son project to decrease weight and improve sturdiness.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review
Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck and D100 Remote Controller

Dromida MT4.18 Brushless 4WD RC Truck

The Dromida MT4.18BL RC Truck from Hobbico is an inexpensive and fun way to get into RC vehicles and less stressful than flying a quadcopter. You don’t need to register or have a license to drive one. It’s fast, rugged and stable enough for the first time driver up to the experienced RC driver to handle. The brushless motor, waterproof design and 1/18 scale dimension make the MT4.18BL easy to take with you anywhere. As with any RC, we recommend you pick up multiple NiMH or LiPo batteries for extended play without the long downtime along with a few cans of compressed air to blow off the dirt and dust after a drive.

Dromida MT4.18BL 4WD RC Truck Review $149.99 $109.99
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