Monster Truck Madness – The Kyosho USA-1 Returns

Hello monster truck faithful and welcome to another week of MTM.

I’m excited as this week I get to take in a full scale monster truck show as the Monster Jam tour heads to St. Louis, MO. It’s going to be really nice to take in a full-on stadium show, especially after a year of not being able to attend anything. Things are slowly starting to feel like they are heading towards normal.

Let’s talk about the big monster truck news of the week – the Kyosho USA-1 returns!

Yep, in further proof that r/c solid axle monster trucking is one of the hottest segments of the hobby, now Kyosho has (re) entered the ring. This rig joins the Losi LMT, Axial SMT10, Tamiya Clod Buster, RC4WD Carbon Assault and others in an area that’s becoming rapidly competitive.

So while the USA-1 sounds like a re-release of the classic Kyosho USA-1, it is actually not. While the body may be similar, this one is based on an updated version of the Mad Force chassis, so it’s a modern monster under the late ’80’s lexan.

But boy, does that late ’80’s lexan look sweet. The classic USA-1 look has been replicated and updated to fit this platform, and so many of the little touches are nice. The carbs sticking out of the hood. The light bar. Those beautiful Goodyear Terra inspired wheels/tires. It’s a looker.

The question is whether or not it’ll be a driver. As mentioned earlier, this is a very competitive niche of the hobby these days with lots of companies looking to take your dollar. This is the one platform that I can’t give much of an opinion on as somehow it’s always eluded me.

I want to change that. I’m hoping to do a review of the USA-1, and eventually do a big comparison write-up on how these trucks compare to each other.

Actually, you know what would be REALLY cool? It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of our famous shoot-outs! The market is now crowded enough with heavy hitters to where one is warranted, isn’t it? I’d say keep it shaft trucks only. SMT10 vs. USA-1 vs. Carbon Assault vs. LMT. Sign me up!

I’ll go to the boss man about it. Would you like to see this shoot-out? E-mail me at doug@bigsquidrc.com!