Thursday Testimonials: Vaterra Glamis Uno 1:8 RTR buggy

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Vaterra Glamis Uno 1:8 RTR Buggy
www.vaterrarc.com
$399.99
 
During the summer time there is nothing better than grabbing your buddies, loading up the rig, and heading to the sand dunes for some fun. The dunes are full of offroad enthusiasts including everything from bikes, atvs, Jeeps, dune buggies, and now R/C cars! Vaterra R/C (a proprietary brand of Horizon Hobby) has been on the move lately releasing an entire lineup of new cars.

We got lucky, and found ourselves behind the wheel of the all-new Vaterra Glamis Uno 1:8 brushless LiPo powered ready-to-run buggy!

The Build
The Vaterra Glamis Unu is pre-built, and comes right out of the box with everything you need to get started…and we mean EVERYTHING. The Glamis Uno includes a Spektrum DX2L 2.4ghz radio system, pre-installed Dynamite FUZE brushless ESC and motor, Dynamite 3000mAh SpeedPack LiPo, and wall charger. The “build” of this buggy consisted of opening the box, charging up the battery, and hitting the track!
 

 
The Test
The Vaterra Glamis Uno is a unique buggy which is in a class of its own. It’s 1:8 scale size, combined with 2wd brushless power, and dune buggy styling make it one of a kind. If you are looking to go organized racing, the Glamis Uno doesn’t really qualify for any pre-existing race class (not to say that it won’t give birth to a new one however). The Glamis Uno is built for speed, for nearly any terrain, and most of all to have fun!

The buggy is equipped with pre-installed Dynamite FUZE brushless ESC and 3300 kV 4-pole brushless motor combo. The two work together to provide unreal amounts of power, with virtually no maintenance, setup, or hassle. On the streets, the Glamis Uno screeches the tires and even will lift the front end off the ground from time to time using the stock 2S LiPo pack. Throw in a 3S pack, and you are guaranteed a wheelie or two! Offroad the tremendous amount of power pushes the Glamis Uno through grass, dirt, gravel, and of course sand with ease.
 
Included with the buggy is the Dynamite 3000mAh Speedpack LiPo. This is a very lightweight battery which provides 10+ minutes of solid run-time, and works hand-in-hand with the FUZE system to provide excellent power. A wall charger is included as well to charge the LiPo pack, however, we found it to take too much of our playtime charging so we upgraded to using a competition charger for fasting charging.
  
The overall layout of the buggy is very unique. We are accustom to having to take the body on and off to take the battery in and out, like most race vehicles. We were disappointed to see that you have to remove six body clips just to take the body off, THEN we realized the body virtually never has to come off! The battery is stored in a compartment on the underside of the chassis, making it very simple to change and charge the battery. The ON/OFF switch is conveniently located on the driver’s left side and secured in place so not to fall off in a crash. With the body off you can access the steering servo, ESC, and receiver, however, other than just to take a peek we never once have HAD to remove the body.
 
The buggy is designed to have fun, and part of having fun is getting big air. The engineers at Vaterra made sure the buggy is equipped with “big air ready” oil-filled shocks, preload adjusters, and overall a very durable package. The plastic is flexible enough not to break on most impacts, yet hard enough to provide a smooth and fun handling car. To further enhance the durability and style, Vaterra provided beefed up driveshafts, extruded aluminum chassis, adjustable tie-rods, pre-installed race graphics and Viscous Torque Vectoring (VTV) diffs that are unique to this platform. The VTV differential makes this 2WD vehicle very controllable to drive and easy to put the power down. REAL beadlock style wheels (no tire gluing required) are the icing on the cake for the Glamis Uno.
 
Pros:

• Prebuilt and requires only charging the battery to get started.
• Includes EVERYTHING you need to get driving (radio system, ESC/motor, LiPo battery, and mini tools)
• Dynamite FUZE brushless system is wicked fast.
• Easy access to battery compartment without ever taking the body off.
• Real beadlock style wheels make changing tires a breeze.
• Heavy duty drivetrain parts and gear differential.
• Oil filled adjustable shocks.
• Very durable plastic components such as a-arms and shock towers.
• Real-life dune buggy styling with driver on board.

Cons:

• IF you’re looking to race, the Glamis Uno doesn’t currently fit in any pre-existing class.
• Wall charger works well, but takes a little more time than we would like, so we recommend upgrading LiPo chargers.

Conclusion:
Sometimes when you get SO involved in a sport or hobby such as R/C cars, you begin to lose sight of what it’s really all about. Each year there is only one World Championship winner, yet still thousands of people are involved in R/C. Why is this you ask? Simply because they want to have fun, and truly enjoy the hobby no matter whether they are on the track winning or in the backyard bashing. The Vaterra Glamis Uno brought back the fun factor in R/C for me personally. It didn’t take hours to build, it isn’t fragile like many race cars, everything you need is included, and it goes just about anywhere. You may not win a National Championship with the Glamis Uno, but we can almost guarantee that you will have a smile on your face each and every time you drive it…no matter where you are!

Beacon Rating: 5/5
It isn’t often that we reward a vehicle with a 5/5 score, however, this is among one of the best ready-to-run platforms we have seen. It is made up of quality parts, and is quality built with the durability, performance, horsepower, appearance, and fun factor that R/C enthusiasts of all skill levels are looking for.