Product Spotlight – Model Aero Drifter

While at E-Fest a few weeks ago we walked by the Model Aero booth and their Drifter caught out attention. The Drifter is certainly something different than what we normally drive, so we picked one up.

The Model Aero Drifter is made mostly from 6 mm Depron foam and takes a couple of evenings to glue together. It is just a chassis, so you will need to supply all electronics to get it going. We ended up using a Hitec HS-81MG for steering, a Castle Talon 90 ESC, a SuperTigre 1250kV outrunner brushless motor, a Traxxas 3S 1400mAh LiPo, and a APC 7×7 prop. The Drifter went together well for us even though we are used to putting together cars not foam aircrafts/boats.

Driving the Drifter was a completely new experience for us. The first big surprise was how fast it was. We were expecting it to barely get around, but it was actually about as fast as a normal short course truck. The second big surprise was – no brakes. This took some getting used to, but once you remember the only “brakes” you have is the friction on the bottom of the boat, you start to plan accordingly. Oh, there was one more big surprise, the Drifter turned really well. We expected it to push like a freight train, but it could literally turn on a dime. However, there was one caveat to turning, you had to be on the gas producing a lot of air for it to turn.

We had an absolute blast driving the Drifter. It was fast and loads of fun to drive on grass and water. On pavement the added friction took out some of the fun, as did bumpy areas that would sometimes let air get under the boat and cause it to flip over. We did break the boat a couple of time after roll overs, but we were always able to repair it with some foam safe CA glue.

The Model Aero Drifter chassis comes in at a very affordable $44 and we highly recommend it if you are looking for something fast and different. To get more information on the Drifter, simply Click This Link.

Want more reviews? Click Here for more reviews on BigSquidRC.