After some scouring through the Gearbest website looking for bargains, I came across the HG P Series Rock Crawlers. I have been looking for a reasonably priced 1/10 scale rock crawler for years now, and finally my search has ended at GearBest.com....

HG P401 1/10 4x4 $82.79


HG P402 Ragtop 1/10 4x4 $82.79



HG P601 6x6 1/10 Crawler $95.99

I ended up settling on the HG P601, actually when I saw it I all but threw my money at the computer screen. I have been playing a lot of GTA V lately and crusing around in a 6x6 that looks just like the HG P601......

.....And what a great deal! Other websites sell the HG P601 for litterally hundreds of dollars more than on GearBest! Buying this was an absolute gimme especially when the HG P601 boasts features such as....

• 540 sized brushed motor
• 2s 1500mah Lipo included
• Wheels use 12mm hexes
• 2.4ghz raido gear
• Killer looking body with lots of mounts for LEDs
• Spare parts available from a handful of vendors, including metal upgrade parts.
• 6x6 I mean c'mon 6x6!
• 2 speed manually switchable gearbox
• Looks like it might be waterproof according to THIS VIDEO

My HG P601 arrived in good time and it was packaged well, incurring no damage. This is my second buy from GearBest now, and I am really happy with their service so far. So without further ado, lets get to my review!!!!!!

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Unboxing 10/10:

HG has don a fantastic job boxing up the HG P601, I cannot fault a single thing. Everything was firmly secured, the packaging was finished nicely, even the massive body was covered in a protective film. A little bag of spare parts and tools made a fantastic addition to the RTR package as a whole

Running 6/10:

Run time is around 10mins, and it's actually pretty capable of getting over obstacles, however the shock absorbers really let it down. Also the included Iipo doesn't provide much oomph for long, the voltage begins to sag after only a few seconds of full throttle. I haven't tempted fate and ran it in water yet, but if it proves to be water resistant I'd give it a 7 out of 10 for right out of the box running. Sounds bad, but with a new set of shocks, and a higher capacity, higher C rated Lipo will have the P601 running like a charm.

Build Quality 6/10:

The chassis is made of a really flexible plastic compound, the chassis seems to twist more than the appalling shock absorbers work. Also when the steering is fully locked the chassis twists quite a bit too, I think this reduces the effectiveness of the steering. There are bushes rather than bearings in the axle hubs, I have yet to crack open a diff but I bet there are bushings in there too. Also the rear wheels hit the rear bumper even over small obstacles. While the plastic compound is rather flexible the design of the chassis and suspension system is actually phenomenal, with the metal upgrade chassis rails I think this rig will really shine.

Transmitter 6/10:

I think it is a 3ch transmitter, with the 3rd channel for shifting the gears from high to low ratio or visa versa (with optional gear shifter kit). It has a steering trim and channel reversing, but there is where the features end. I find it quite awkward to hold as as well, but I have quite large hands.

Battery and Charger 6/10:

The battery works, and provides a 10min run time, however it suffers greatly from voltage sag under load. The included charger however is nothing to write home about, pretty standard fare. The combination is what you'd expect from an RTR package.

Motor 7/10:

Seems to be adequate enough for a crawler, on the high gear ratio it is quite quick more or less hitting the 20km/h advertised top speed. It does get a little warm though, keep an eye on it!

Servo 6/10:

OK, it does the job, but definitively needs to be upgraded for serious crawling

Shock Absorbers 1/10:

These would have to be the worst shock absorbers I have ever seen equipped to an RC vehicle. They are way too over damped, when you press the vehicle down it takes like 15 seconds for them to reset. Furthermore they are filled with a thick grease, and they don't seal tight enough to use proper silicone shock oil. Best course of action would be to just throw them out, and buy some real shocks to replace them.

Wheels and Tires 9/10:

True beadlock rims, 12mm hexes, foam tyre inserts, nice rubber compound and a stout tread pattern!

Value 10/10:

Yeah she needs a bit of work to be a serious contender, but as I previously mentioned for $100 at GearBest, you simply can't go wrong with the HG P601. At $100 RTR it is cheaper than my micro 1/24 crawlers, which needed work too!

*BONUS Points* Scale Appeal +15 Points:

Looking very much like a Mercedes G63 AMG or the Dubsta 6x6 off of GTA V the HG P601 has a lot of curb appeal. Also with the included LED mounts this rig is begging for a scale light kit.

Overall Rating 82/100:

With it's scale appeal, and upgrade potential you simply can't pass up the HG P601 6x6. Whether you want to make the mother of all mudders, a sand strangling dune basher or a blinged up DUB truck the P601 has you covered. There is not many other crawlers that even come close P601 for bang per buck value. Fun for everyone, looks great on the mantle piece, and is sure to turn heads where ever you go.


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reserved

HG P401, P402 & P601 - Super Simple Slipper Clutch (1 min 27 sec)

Bumper modification:

As anyone that has ever taken their P601 over rocks knows,,,,, the front bumper is a major pain, getting hung up on rocks, and blocking a good portion of usable front tyre. So I cut the lower wings clean off of the bumper....

Rear link setup:

I have moved the rear most rear links from the outside of the chassis, to the inside. I think this lessens the rear diff sway when the suspensions under load (the issues still there just not as pronounced now).

my build

I'm thinking, smoke generator, 6WS, scale light kit, metal chassis, larger lipo and perhaps a couple of scale subwoofers running tunes through an SD card decoder board



Metal upgrades
6 wheel steering
Wheels and tyres
Metal universal driveshafts
Waterproof light kit with 27 lights (...so far )
suspension
Slipper clutch
ESC - Hobbywing QuicRun 1060 60A Brushed Waterproof
Servos - High Torque Servo MG/BB W/Proof 12.8kg / 0.22sec / 58g
Motor

Amphibious...

Amphibious HG P601 - The Maiden Voyage (3 min 57 sec)

Wow 100$ for that??? That's awesome!!! I have been wanting a crawler for a long time but just couldnt justify 350-400+$ on one especially when I don't really have a place to take full advantage of them. But for 100$ it looks worth it. Do you know of a shock replacement??

I couldn't believe it either until it arrived at my door

I have ordered these shocks for it.....



... And this one for a replacement ESC (so I can run an ORX 3ch RX and my DX3C Spektrum transmitter )

Another rig I have been really looking at. I want a 6x6. I play GTA 5 also and have the dubsta 6x6 also.

Funny the first pic in your second post I thought you photo shopped because it looked off. Then I realized you had it on a glass table. Lol

I took my P601 for a good crawl through a creek today, turns out that it is water resistant I added a bigger better lipo and it really came to life, no more power loss under load and a massive run time.

After really putting it through its paces, I am more than impressed with this rig. It was handling almost impossible terrain with relative ease! Even the shocks loosened up a bit with a bit of creek water in them.

Wait 'till I get the footage uploaded

I just noticed that the price went up $18

Be sure to get yours while the price lasts

Here's my first running video...

HG P601 6X6 1/10 Crawler - Doctors Creek Raw Footage (6 min 58 sec)

In the video it is all stock apart from a better lipo, and as you can see it is a more than capable crawler even right out of the box. Honestly I didn't think it would go as well as it does, it handled just about every obstacle I put it up against. BEST $100 I HAVE EVER SPENT!!! I can't wait to see what it can do after some upgrades and modifications

Can we mod it to 8x8 stryker type of APC, always wanted that

Originally Posted by modelerchina

Can we mod it to 8x8 stryker type of APC, always wanted that

In the manual it says you can go up to 10x10......

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I just ordered all the metal upgrade parts including 3 metal front diffs to get my 6WS setup going, and I also got the optional gear shifter kit, YIPPEE!!!

I won't be able to sleep until the parts arrive now

oh, it is 100 buck shipping to canada. that would be more expensive than Banggood have offered.
At taobao there is an option to buy only the truck, no body and electronics, for US$150ish.

Guess I can wait....