Product review: 1:32 scale ERGOFLY LT832B micro buggy ..a LOSI Micro-T Clone

About

A month ago i was browsing around the GearBest.com store looking for some updates on what's new or maybe something cool and cheap models for me to purchase with less budget to cough out to keep me busy for upcoming holiday until i suddenly spotted something familiar in the R/C car inventory what seems to be about $30 price range of 1:32 scale series buggy, truggy and SCT model but what trigger my interest was seeing its suspension arm somewhat kept me pondering a while seem familiar as if it was something from 2WD LOSI MICRO-T model but hidden under some ugly lexan body topping yet unsure.  It keep me wondering for weeks of curiousity what's under the body shell because the vendor doesn't reveal much about the chassis internal layout nor any review nor forum pop-up around talking about this model the LT832B (Buggy), LT832T (Truggy) and LT832S (Short Course Truck) and only little short video clip by the vendor show some sales dude playing around with what seems handled like toyish characteristic that led me almost turn off and look away for a while...not until someone at the Rcgroups forum shows up and unveiled that it was indeed the LT832 model was 100% based or cloned version of the famous LOSI MICRO-T chassis that was originally introduced 10 years ago....its was my favorite unobtainable r/c model now made available widely and cheaply in my region! Yay!!!! LOSI MICRO-T FTW!!!  Of course at the price of just around $30 i can smell something fishy about it else maybe manufacturer put dubious radio electronics...in the past original LOSI Micro-T usually would fetch about $80 with good hobby grade electronics.  LT832 is a go! ..unfortunately my pocket was full of holes no thanks to my expenditure on my usual projects. Fortunately by sheer luck a week later GearBest.com reps emailed to offer me to review their FPV racing quad costs around $150 but i decline and said i had my feeling for the LT832B (Buggy) unit that they have in their inventory and ask them if i could review that instead of flipping and hugging trees with that FPV quad...to be honest i'd rather FPV into the clouds than flipping around 5 minutes few inch from the ground.  2 days later GearBest says ok and yes they sent me ERGOFLY 1:32 scale LT832B  buggy!!!...my first LOSI MICRO-T!!!!......a cloned but no shame about that hehehe!!. (Btw some refute it was JJRC brand but the box printed otherwise don't know which is correct?).  My guts tell me this little guy will give me whole new potential to keep me busy with mods, fun racing/bashing and more social time with owners of Micro-T enthusiasts!  Plus Losi Micro-T have been around for 10 years now and surely they have lots of cool and compatible parts like spare, hop-up parts from ATOMIC, GPM Racing, INTEGY and much more.  So we got some blings! and easy to make indoor tracks too.  

 
Specification (as describe by vendor/manufacturer)

Package included:

1x 1:32 scale 832B buggy
1x Plastic jumping ramp
1x Bags consist of hex tool, driving cone, USB Nimh battery charger and screw driver
1x Manual sheet

Quality and builds.

So we know this model is base on or should we say its an actual replica/cloned of the legendary 1:36 scale 2WD LOSI MICRO-T (clone box says 1:32) so no doubt this chassis is like golden nugget for all those micro R/C enthusiast...micro bashers favorite!  Plastic construction as usual like any normal plastic quality you get from china manufacturing style grade so it means you'll need to screw in carefully not to strip off any plastic threads.  Other parts which seems robust is that the differential cup, dog-bones/drive shaft and motor mount mount seems to be made from durable steel which is good. Motor pinion gear is made from usual brass metal while the spur gear seems to be made from quality Delrin plastic which mounted through adjustable slipper clutch which is a great news for avid basher and racer to minimized torque feedback from damaging the drivetrains when doing jumps or over torgue-ing the wheels.  There's some bearings inside the gear box but on the outer wheel knuckle and rear wheel knuckle near the hub is just plastic bushing which you can easily replaced or optional if you wanted to; the front required wheels requires 4x bearings and rear requires 2x. The chassis somehow looks as if longer than original first generation Micro-T or more likely based on the LOSI Micro-DT (Desert Truck) chassis version.  The lexan molding top body shell is ultimately f'ugly.. no style at all!.. and so the rest of its series but thats an easy fix for me via scale mods later.

On the down side of this out of box RTR unit is that it came with low grade electronics which in our point of view not worthy to be used for racing around track or something that required precision steering and throttle control.  The radio control are indeed proportional in both throttle and steering, however if observer carefully in my attached video the steering seems to have 'steppy' non-smooth control or somehow lagged when moving left and right.  As shown side by side between the controller and the model steering column they sometime doesn't synchronized with every hand steering movement i made and the steering throw is not consistent.  Steering trims are very vague and its done mechanically by moving the sensor pot inside the controller rather that 'digitally' trim like any normal even basic radio controller.  So what ever you've done trimmed on the controller upon switching 'Off' and back 'On' again the buggy model the steering will return back to non-trimmed position even your controller trim knob remain at previous trimmed position, in short you've lost your trimmed....that's akward!  Btw the throttle also uses 'mechanical' trimming too.  To run the 832B buggy you'll need to turn on the buggy first before the radio controller unit constantly and always/repeatedly...i guess it need to go re-bind procedure every time you start the models, lame!  As predicted when playing inside my room and outdoor its steering control is somewhat unpredictable and the speed is utterly super slow.  Yes its powered via 4.8V 150mah Nimh pack...slooowwwww!!!

For stock out of box they are good enough for kiddies to bash around outdoor or in small open skate park where the steering and handling flaw doesn't look obvious but on proper mini R/C race track its hard to control as if it has lags on the steering or can't aim straight where you want drive despite being proportional.  Ok i guess we shouldn't complained much about sub $30 R/C buggy but look on the bright side the chassis is a LOSI MICRO-T clone which in original form costs more, twice or triple to get one. So assume what you're looking at was intended to buy the chassis kit and dump the so called 'extra' electronics.  Enough with the sad thoughts, the good news is that all these flaws can be easily fix with extra $12 investment....read on!

Immediate electronic modification & some 'handsome' scale mods.

After testing and driving the buggy in stock original electronics that came with it immediate came to my sense that steering control, throttle and every handing characteristics that govern by the onboard electronics was a huge turn off for me for not going any further to enjoy the 832B buggy as it is and immediately the word 'junk' started to pop in my minds. iIt doesn't do much justice to have this junky radio unit onboard on such fine grade micro buggy chassis but lets do some sensible math; for $30 package its worth salvaging the buggy chassis and throw the radio/electronics straight away into the bin and spend extra $12 dollar fix using affordable hobby grade electronics from WL-TOYS A212 radio parts to replace it.   Original LOSI MICRO-T costs about $80 so on clone version with extra cash fixing/improving it wouldn't consider 'cost loss' but more like extra gain than paying twice for the original ones. When i say $12 worth of fix on the radio and electronics unit i meant just purchase the integrated receiver + esc  board and EMAX micro servo and assume you already have WL-TOYS radio transmitter in hand which i do...but if you don't have it you'll need to add additional $30 for WL-TOYS compatible controller which i have what looked like cloned version of digital FUTABA 4PL unit with FLYSKY screen interface which allow more tuning, ABS, EPA, EXPO than just ordinary sad looking el-cheapo controller. With the A212 boards it requires 2S li-po pack to powered it via balance port on the pcb board, i uses EACHINE E013 2x 1S 260mah li-po pack which fits perfectly under the chassis battery bay without much struggle to put the chassis battery cover back on.   Below are picture summary how i connect those wiring port on WL-TOYS A212 board including listing of electronics replacement required.

DIY electronics replacement:

• Radio tx: WLtoys 10428 2.4G Transmitter LCD Screen 3CH 1/10 K949-112
• Receiver + ESC integrated board: Wltoys 1/24 RC Car Spare Parts Receiver Box A202-84
• Micro servo: Emax ES08A II Mini Plastic Gear Analog Servo 1.8kg/sec for RC Models
• Li-po battery + USB charger: 5PCS Eachine E010 E010C E011 E011C E013 3.7V 260MAH 45C Lipo Battery USB Charger Sets

Wiring/Attachment points:

 The replacement of the stock electronics from WL-Toys parts took me about average 30 minutes to complete the assembly which include removing the stock electronics and servo, removing A212's plastic case, removing some plugs, wire trimming  and soldering to make it more compact and lightweight. First the top part of the chassis where it has screw mounting to mount the original electronic board must be cut and trimmed flat using a pen knife so that the naked WL-Toys A212 electronics pcb board can be stick on top the top chassis via 3M double sticky tape.  My final work replacing all the required electronics was impressive and pure master piece!...looks more professional outlook and felt like having a Kyosho Mini-z grade models than TOMY Takara like ChoroQ model, lol.  Additional note that the stock motor on LT832 series are excellent and can handle 2S li-po no problem. I also tighten stiffen the servo saver to have minimal amount of slack to avoid wonky side steering under hard acceleration but if you're into pure precision racing carpet racer best to ditch the servo saver and go direct. Having new compact and flat electronics setup on top of the chassis provide excellent placeholder for putting a 1:32 scale TAMIYA MINI-4WD plastic body shell on top to make it more aesthetically appealing, scaled and cool as if it was a replica of an original TAMIYA buggy...i decided to put my all time favorite TAMIYA HOTSHOT buggy body shell!  I  just need to cut few corner of the TAMIYA body plastic to fit it nicely above the LT832B chassis and use 3M sticky tape to keep it intact rather than use the body post snap pins....btw it held solid and very durable during skate bashing outdoors with jumps and crashes.  With slender looks of TAMIYA buggy body shell no one knows it was actually had LOSI MICRO-T under the hood...look far cooler and professional than stock appearance itself, lol.  Immediately the community in the forum took interest and i was right all along that LT832 buggy have huge potential for exciting potential mods and scale works! Nice!!!

Performance and handling (after mods).

The performance of 832B buggy after replacing the electronics with proper hobby grade radio unit; WL-TOYS integrated electronic board (receiver + ESC) and servo was simply AMAZING!!!! No words to describe how much improve the driving experience was as if you're buying high grade micro R/C racer.   The nearest performance similarity of R/C model i known is the KYOSHO MINI-Z handling on race circuit and also like 1:8 buggy when i see it jumps over the skate ramp...this LT832B is wickedly awesome and fun to drive now! Finally!  As shown in attached video i've tested the handling on corners and slalom around the rails post showing off the improve and smooth steering at various rate and condition proven that its was worth to upgrade at little cost.  The speed has been improve to almost twice or triple the thanks to 2S li-po battery power, even after 20 minutes of bashing around the motor are at warm temperature. Stock motor provide good amount of torque when launching off the ramps and also when at perfect timing it can wheelie at times needed...in short it give power on demand.  Using the WL-Toys digital radio i can easily tune my LT832B handling characteristic like EPA, EXPO, dual rate adjustment and also ABS braking much like any pro level radio controller does, it really add more confident when racing around tights tracks.  Despite using friction style shocks the stock suspension did awesome job keeping the buggy from over rebound and boing too much during jumps and landing on the ground.. i can hear the undercarriage body slamming on ground surface but that is pretty much the same characteristic of what we used to have on 1:8 buggy after landing and body slammed on the ground designed efficiently to dissipate stress impact throughout the chassis than straining solely on all 4x suspension wishbone itself.   Jumping on LT832 aka Losi Micro-T is breath taking and jaw dropping because with 2S li-po power and torque the buggy nicely leveled in the air like and landed all four perfectly...ultra precision flight!  Even if you crash on any side the buggy would bounce back on its feet and even it is not at least it wouldn't wreck any parts of the chassis because the plastic are very impact resistant and also the steering comes with 'servo saver' to protect servo from gear stripping which is good!  Since i'm using my custom add-on TAMIYA HOTSHOT body shell attached only via double sticky tape it held well throughout the bashing activity on all 360! hehehe!  Runtime with EACHINE E103 2x 1s 260mah li-po on LT832B took about 20~25 minutes with mixed throttle, motor stayed warm and the WL-Toys A212 board have build in voltage cut-off protection to avoid li-po pack from draining per-cell since its connected via balance power port.  After the bash session i've i reviewed back the condition of the buggy and it seems that only minors scraps on the rear motor skids and front bumper skid since i did lots of jumps, just 1x screw that holding the front skid bumper was loose. No visible damage or dented found anywhere around the chassis.  Even after 5 cycle of battery the pinion gear and spur gear looks mint inside the gear box and also same goes to the differential out drive cups and dogbones too....nice! Seems to me that the buggy held well even with lots of big air over the ramps.  Even at home indoor with 5x3 meter space the LT832B can handle tight places, precision high speed cornering and brake on time before it hits the wall...this is awesome!..the handling more predictable after the mods. I guess this micro buggy give more fun that any other mini/micro models i have in my collection....except the 1:35 ORLANDOO micro crawler its has it own parallel universe, lol.

Videos/Medias
Here are sample of video of  i posted on my Youtube channel contain test review on 1:32 scale LT832B micro buggy.

• Product gallery: 1/32 ERGOFLY LT832B micro buggy ..a LOSI Micro-T clone
  • Video:  1:32 LT 832B micro buggy ..a Losi Micro-T platform + modification

Vendor/seller

Here are list of reputable vendor/seller which i bought from and also verified by community forum discussion groups. Also i've experienced buying from these places that have good support and services:
1. Seller GearBest.com:  JJRC LT832 1/32 RTR Buggy Stadium Buggy
2. Seller GearBest.com:  JJRC LT832 1/32 RTR Truggy Truck
3. Seller GearBest.com:  JJRC LT832 1/32 RTR Stadium Short Course Truck

 
Support group:

Places where you can find help and resources related to this product:
Topic: Rcgroups.com - JJRC LT832 1/32 RTR Buggy Stadium Truck & Short Course Truck
Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Losi_Micro_T

Summary

Do not underestimate the power of this little buggy despite dictated by its cheap price ,small tiny size and what looked like kiddy toys because this R/C critter is bag of fun especially when you don't have much commitment to spent time on bigger R/C models.  Coming from the legendary and hobby grade platform the LOSI MICRO-T no doubt it provide the same R/C driving quality and performance as real scale R/C models with minimal resources.....*after you do that electronic replacement mods. Of course with little cheap DIY replacement on the electronics as shown through my modification inside the video it will make the buggy more fun to drive, race precision handling and could be driven at small enclosure or even doing big bashes at the skate park.  After excited seeing how it performed and marvel with how much nice mods you can put into LT832B especially with DIY, after market hop-ups and also being portable little racer i have already ordered my second set of buggy which is already on its way as we speak with additional WL-Toys A212 electronics and EMAX servo for improvement. Btw i would likely go till fourth models seriously....you guys know my style...*hint: remember my SUBOTECH?   Along the way i've also decided planning to create my indoor race track for this model this month so hopefully i could document into an article how i build my own track on my porch soon.....so the LT832 extended project got me all excited and thrill making my R/C hobby more interesting.  Glad i found LT832 aka Losi Micro-T on the right time else i wouldn't get too bored at home with slomo ORLANDOO, lol.  So to sum up everything; if you like fast serious micro racer and don't mind to spend half hour on mods this Losi Micro-T clone is a must have or should i say..getting this micro is a 'passage of rites' for all R/C enthusiast especially you all 2wd'er.  So drool on for my next incoming mods! hehehe!