The Backyard – The LMT 2.0 is Legit
Greetings all!
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Horizon Hobby Factory Tour stop, which took place at my local hobby shop- Mark Twain Hobby Center in St. Charles, MO. It was a lot of fun! The Horizon team had various vehicles on hand for hobbyists to try, and it was a great opportunity for both seasoned or prospective hobbyists to get wheel time in with types of vehicles they’d maybe never try otherwise.
The Horizon team is hitting up various hobby shops throughout the Spring, and if the tour is near you, I’d recommend stopping into your LHS to check it out.
But that’s not what I’m wanting to talk about today. At said event I was able to get in some wheel time with the new Losi LMT 2.0, and I’m excited to talk about it.
First off, the proportions- they really nailed the Monster Jam look. The LMT 1.0 looked good enough, but the 2.0 definitely has more refined cosmetics. The bigger tires (with proper 2.6 wheels!), the tweaked wheelbase and stance, the new scale shocks- it REALLY looks the part now.
This may sound a bit funny, but bare with me- the LMT 1.0 was more a 1/8 truck that was kind of playing around in the 1/10 scale space. The 2.0 is now firmly in 1/8 territory, and as such it’s a better platform. The only real downside I see here is that a myriad of aftermarket monster truck bodies won’t fit it as they are too small and too short. Hopefully we see some lexan releases in this new, slightly bigger size.
The steering is definitely improved over the OG RTR. This was the one area where someone needed to upgrade ASAP, but this unit (along with with new servo saver) feels a lot better. You’d want to upgrade if you were racing it, but for bashing it feels completely fine.
Ok, so let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The new Spektrum DRIVE freestyle/trick technology that’s included with it.
For those unaware, the LMT 2.0 is advertised as letting the driver easily pull off many two wheel tricks that full size monster trucks perform. Stoppies, wheelies, and bicycling to be more specific. More on these in a moment.
I’ll be honest, when I saw this announced, I figured it was a gimmick. Here’s the thing though- the tech actually works!
The truck handles as normal until you switch the radio into Freestyle mode. When you do, it’s ready to assist with tricks. When you put the truck into a wheelie, you can feel the throttle pulse to try and keep the truck balanced so the wheelie can keep going. This is the easiest trick and it’s one that isn’t that hard to do with any other high powered solid axle r/c monster truck, assuming you have a smooth throttle hand….but it’s still fun being able to do it much easier and more consistently, here.
Next up is the stoppie- you get up to speed and hit the brakes to where the rear starts to lift. Instead of toppling over though, you can feel the throttle start to pulse and it keeps the truck riding on the front wheels, assuming you are light on steering input. This is a mega-ton of fun, as doing this on a normal solid axle r/c monster truck with any sort of regularity is basically impossible.
The third trick is the bicycle, which is where a monster truck rides on two of its side tires. You have to turn hard at speed, but not too hard, for the truck to go up on its wheels without tumbling over. The DRIVE system then does its best to keep the truck balanced and moving. It’s fun, but this is much harder than wheelies or stoppies. Given the physics at play here, it’s remarkable to me that it can be done at all with any sort of regularity, even if it’s for short bursts. Another big W for the electronics.
It should be noted that high bite surfaces are best for the trick functions to work properly, as the onboard gyro can’t make the corrections it needs fast enough if you are driving on loose stuff.
I love it, and it’s not a case where the truck is driving for you, either. The driver very much has to the drive the truck, but it makes for a much easier time of pulling off stunts- especially wheelies and stoppies. Big fan of it.
And after an afternoon of bashing, I’m a big fan of the Losi LMT 2.0 in general! The original was and is a solid release, and is one of my favorite vehicles of all time. The 2.0 feels like a well thought-out refinement of the first design, and then you have the big addition with the DRIVE technology that I think many folks, new and experienced hobbyists alike, will really enjoy.
I’m looking forward to picking up my own to Rotten Apple-ify it.
That’s it for me this week. Happy Easter weekend!
Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!
