1/10-SCALE 4WD ELECTRIC RTR MONSTER TRUCKDriven WORDS MARK RONGE PHOTOS WALTER SIDAS

56 RC DRIVER

AT A GLANCEWHO MAKES IT: Helion

WHO IT’S FOR: Everyone

HOW MUCH: $290

BUILD TYPE: RTR

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RC DRIVER JUNE 2013 57

HELION Fully-equipped monstertruck at its finest!

he brand

new Helion

Invictus

10MT is the

hottest new 1/10-scale

basher on the market,

packed with tons of

great design features and

topnotch electronics in a

completely RTR package.

This beefy 4WD monster

truck can go places most

can’t thanks to a special-

ly designed HGC (High

Ground Clearance) chas-

sis and a large wheel/tire

combo. If you could build

your own dream machine

with custom compo-

nents, the Invictus would

be just that with a

2.4GHz radio system, big

brushless power, water-

proof electronics all

around and choice alu-

minum parts for durabili-

ty. Read on to find out

why you need this truck!

T

Invictus10MTInvictus

HELION INVICTUS 10MT

RC DRIVER JUNE 2013 59

PROS Waterproof electronics

High ground clearance

Fully RTR packaging including 8-cell, 9.6V NiMH battery pack

Powerful 3500Kv brushless motor

Electronics are LiPo compatible

Stout, 4WD drivetrain

ITEMS USED

The Helion Invictus is the ultimateRTR basher package in the 1/10-scale electric segment of thehobby. You won’t find a morecomplete package on the markettoday at such a competitive price.

CONS Speed control cooling fan is noisy

Standard Molex connectors are not great for brushless power

The molded plastic chassis of theInvictus is built very tough andplenty of reinforcement alsomakes it ultra stiff. The chassisrises up between the front and rearwheels to give the truck plenty ofground clearance and the metalskid plates take all of the force ifthe truck bottoms out, preventingmore serious damage. The chassislayout is also very clean and allowsroom for large battery packs.

Waterproof electronics allaround ensure a trouble-free bash-ing experience in all conditions.The servo and speed control arecompletely waterproof and thereceiver box is sealed in a waterresistant box. While you shouldn’trun the truck completely underwa-ter, the Invictus can handle roughconditions and occasional puddleswith ease. The included servo ismore than capable of turning thelarge monster truck wheels so youwill have no need to upgrade inthe future.

The Radient brushlessmotor/speed control combo isquite impressive. It features a3500Kv motor paired with a water-proof 45amp speed control. Thespeed control is fully programma-ble, including LiPo cutoff settings,using the included manu-al. An optional program-ming card is availableseparately for on-the-flychanges. A fan, which Ifound to be a little noisy,is powered through the 8-cell battery pack andmounted on top of thespeed control forincreased cooling. At3500Kv, the motor is aperfect balance betweentorque and top-end speedand works well with allsorts of battery combos.

The Invictus is truly acomplete package. An 8-cell, 9.6V NiMH battery is included where most other trucks in thiscategory only include a 6-cell, 7.2V or 7-cell, 8.4V battery if you arelucky. There is an included wall charger which charges the battery in

about five to six hours. During our testing, thebattery lasted for about eight to ten minutes ofbashing on a full charge. The speed control andbattery are included with Molex (Tamiya-style)connectors, which seem to work okay in stockform. Consider upgrading to high current connec-tors if you switch to LiPo battery power.

The motor’s pinion and the spur gear are cov-ered by a clear plastic cover which keeps dirt andpebbles out. We ran the Invictus in some pretty

rough conditions and when we inspected the spur gear afterwards itlooked as clean as when it left the factory. The 4WD drivetrain is ashaft driven system that powers two gear differentials, both of whichcontain steel gears for increased durability.

FACTS

58 RC DRIVER

REVIEWER’S OPINION ★★★★★

The Invictus is a very well equipped RTR. Everything you need toget up and running is included. The 8-cell, 9.6V, NiMH battery is anice touch. Other similarly priced models aren’t as generous.

Check out the massive ground clearance thanks to the specially designed chassiswhich increases the clearance in between the wheels.

The Helion Invictus has no problem turning the largemonster truck tires with the included, high powerservo. This is not something you will ever need toupgrade. The servo is also completely waterproof toprotect it from the elements.

This monster truck was designed with durability inmind. The skid plates are metal and can handle quitethe beating. This is a strong point in the chassis andhad no problem absorbing all-out jumps and mishapsthroughout the course of our testing.

A very powerful RadientReaktor 3500Kv brushlessmotor provides plenty of tireshredding torque and has animpressive top end as well. Aclear plastic cover is includedto keep all the dirt and peb-bles out.

(4) MaxAmps.com “AA” Alkaline batteries

THE LAST WORDThe Helion Invictus 10MT scoredhigh marks in every category andproved to be the ultimate 1/10-scalemonster truck basher. It performedlike an upgraded RTR truck, withall high-end components and astrengthened drivetrain. This is oneof the few pre-built packages on themarket that will impress you moreand more as you drive it. There’sno need to sink in extra money buthop-ups are available for addedbling and performance gains.

LinksHelion helionrc.com, 402-434-5385

HobbyTown USA hobbytown.com

MaxAmps maxamps.com, 888-654-4450

Radient radient-rc.com, 402-434-5385

For more information, please see oursource guide on page 145.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

HELION INVICTUS 10MT

60 RC DRIVER

ACCELERATION Poor Fair Good VERY GOOD ExcellentWhen I first powered up the Invictus, I took it to the street to do a quick speed run with the included 8-cell,9.6V NiMH battery pack. I thought the speed was sufficient for a monster truck, but I really wanted to bringthis rig off-road. I was blown away by the truck’s speed off the street. It ran along moderately level grass justas if it were the pavement. There was literally no speed difference between the road and grass. This broughta huge smile to my face and I had a blast until the battery ran out. I thought the 1800mAh battery would onlylast a few minutes but I was averaging a respectable nine minutes per run. If you have any LiPos, I stronglyrecommend you try them in this truck. Even though the resting voltage is lower, a 2-cell, 7.4V LiPo pack pow-ered the truck along quite well. I quickly realized that a 3-cell LiPo battery is where it’s at. I should note that Idid swap out the standard Molex connectors for some high-current plugs as I was worried about the ampdraw through them when running with a LiPo battery pack. The Invictus just tore up my bashing field with the3-cell LiPo—it’s crazy fast! Since the Reaktor brushless speed control has a LiPo cutoff, it mates up perfectlyto LiPo power. It wheelies on demand and there is more than enough power than you would ever need.

BRAKING Poor Fair Good Very Good EXCELLENTBrakes are absolutely insane on the truck. I found myself doing front flips all the time if I wasn’t carefulenough to ease into the brakes. This is very reassuring as you can program the speed control to suit your spe-cific preferred braking feel and it is always better to have too much in the braking department than notenough.

HANDLING Poor Fair GOOD Very good ExcellentMonster trucks are always a handful in the steering department, but we were pleasantly surprised by the nim-bleness the Invictus exhibited at higher speeds. Low speed handling felt slightly clumsy and unresponsive,but when going at a full clip off-road, it handles similar to a smaller buggy. Be prepared to have plenty ofrollovers when running on paved roads or any other high grip situations—but these are outside the comfortzone of a monster truck anyway.

JUMPING Poor Fair Good VERY GOOD ExcellentSince the Invictus is a basher at heart, we took the truck off of plenty of jumps and noticed it had a tendencyto nose up on takeoff. Since the brakes are so powerful, bringing the nose down reliably takes some gettingused to, but is more than doable. If you lessen the brake power on the speed control, it will be even easier tocontrol in mid-air and it wasn’t long before we were nailing those awesome jumps over and over again. Theshocks are a respectable size for a 1/10-scale truck. The 10mm bore oil-filled setup helped prevent the Invictusfrom bottoming out on large jumps, and this was aided even further by the high ground clearance.

DURABILITY Poor Fair Good Very Good EXCELLENTI am happy to report that the Helion Invictus survived our thrashing unharmed. Massive jumps and terriblelandings were no problem whatsoever and this doesn’t surprise me with the beefy plastic components andaluminum parts. The drivetrain looks ultra-tough with the internals consisting of steel gears which wereessential when I was pushing LiPo power through it.