How this little blue dune buggy was taken out of hands and designed to tear through the sand.

HPI Racing, the CA-based leading manufacturer of radio control (RC) cars, trucks and monster trucks, revamped a company staple when it introduced the Baja 5B 2.0 1/5-scale desert buggy that can reach more than 40 mph.  

HPI’s Senior Designer Akira Kogawa, the 5B’s creator, didn’t want to build an ordinary, ready to run (RTR) 1/5-scale buggy. He wanted the Baja to stand out from anything that the large scale market had seen — the small scale market consists of 1/8 and 1/10-scale high-performance cars and trucks.

“Among the many challenges [I encountered] when designing the original Baja 5B, was that at this time, 1/5-scale vehicles were a very niche market and were not cheap by any means,” Kogawa says. “Obtaining parts for the vehicles was difficult, and almost none of them were offered in RTR form.” Ready to run refers to the buggy’s ability to hit the dirt track right out of the box, all the user needs is some AA batteries and gas to fire it up. 

Kogawa was charged with finding a way to design the 5B to appeal to the masses with a reasonable price tag and parts support. He knew that producing an off-road buggy would have high customer expectations and incur some serious user punishment.

“The vehicle had to be able to withstand the harshest of abuse in every situation,” Kogawa says. “The buggy would incur some serious punishment and we wanted the Baja to live up to that. It’s what the HPI nameplate is all about.”

He set out to incorporate many of the features found on smaller, 1/8 and 1/10-scale high performance cars and trucks. He wanted the car to be as adjustable and full featured as anything else on the market without sacrificing aesthetic value.

“This thing had to look proper,” Kogawa says. “It needed to be able to draw people from afar with its realistic looks. In the end I was, and still am, very happy with the final Baja product; and so are the customers. The Baja created its own market.”

The success of the 5B led to the development of the 5B 2.0.

Durability

The Baja 2.0 evolution is the result of a demand for a newer, updated buggy that could meet higher performance standards. One of the most notable enhancements to the new 2.0 was the addition of heavy-duty front and rear shocks as well as heavy-duty drive shafts. Such upgrades, once optional, were now standard. Kogawa also added new rear shock mounts and an upgraded alloy differential case to work in conjunction to create a “bulletproof and nearly indestructible beast.”

Kogawa picked the polycarbonate Lexan as the material for the buggy body. “Lexan is the industry standard for making body shells for many different reasons. It’s pretty inexpensive, which works out well for the consumers due to the fact that they like to change them often. It is offered in various thicknesses determined by the size and use of the vehicle and Lexan is transparent, which allows completely custom graphics to be applied, in either screen print form by the manufacturer, or hand painted by the user.”

In every component decision, Kogawa kept one thing in mind, the Baja had to perform in virtually any condition. The new suspension design plays a major role in how well the Baja performs.

“We are by no means new to producing machines that handle some unreal terrain,” Kogawa attests. “This was the same thing, just larger. This is when the smallest angle, the proper webbing and flex, as well as thicknesses, play the largest factors.”

An E-clip was implemented to hold a portion of the front suspension together. The E-clip was used to save the buggy during extreme impacts that would normally destroy a vehicle. During a collision or impact, the clip will pop off and prevent the suspension from “disintegrating,” as Kogawa describes it.

More Power

Now that the Baja had evolved into a more durable machine, Kogawa wanted to deliver what every customer wants in every propelled object, more power.

With the addition of a new, high-revving Fuelie 2.0 engine, Kogawa also addded a high flow muffler and a high response 8,000 RPM clutch.

“The 23cc engine is very similar to what is used in weed whackers and such, which means that they are tried and true power plants that offer reliability without constant tuning,” says Kogawa. “Our Fuelie engines now offer runtimes from 30 to 45 minutes on a single tank of gas.”

All components and conceptions are designed in house at HPI racing. Rapid prototypes are also made in house to allow Kogawa to see the project in real form rather than as an image on the screen.

After he puts the concept on paper, Kogawa draws it out in SolidWorks. He then rapid prototypes the part to allow him to see just how each part will mate together — this process also allows his team to run the concept lightly before they make any additional tweaks or changes in preparation for pre-production.

Once the rapid prototype pieces are given the final go ahead, the production pieces are manufactured in various overseas locations on a per project basis.

“The very beginning stages start out with our imaginations,” says Kogawa. “Here at HPI, we are able to use our own creativity and passion to come up with product ideas. Just about all of the designers here are not only big into RC, but also in other hobbies such as full-sized racing cars and bikes, just to name a few. A lot of times we will see something very cool on one of these [side projects] and try to incorporate it into our smaller, RC world.”

Kogawa also makes a point to ensure that he does not duplicate anything he has designed in the past.

“I have been designing RC cars and trucks since the 1980s, and I strive to always build something better than the last,” he says.

What About The Remote?

The controller communicates with the Baja 5B 2.0 buggy via radio frequencies sent to a receiver unit that is securely housed and mounted in a sealed box on the chassis.

The box also houses a new 3,000 mAh rechargeable Ni-MH receiver pack that supplies power to the receiver as well as the servos.

“With the Baja line of vehicles being so massive and powerful, we opted to use a higher FM-type radio system over an AM radio system,” says HPI Racing’s Senior Designer Akira Kogawa.

The Baja comes with a pistol grip transmitter with a trigger to control the throttle servo modulation and a steering wheel to control direction. The systems are fully proportional and allow the user to control the desired speed and handling.