Kyosho L.A.V. - Half 8
J.G.S.D.F. Light Armored Vehicle
This truck is modeled after the
Komatsu LAV, first produced in 2002, by Komatsu Ltd. Defense
Systems Division in Komatsu, Ishikawa, Japan. It is used
exclusively by the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces, and has
seen use in the Iraq War. It is a good looking truck and a
great RC for the army vehicle enthusiast. The truck uses the
same chassis as the Mini Inferno ST. This has been a very
successful chassis based on the larger Inferno chassis. The
truck come in two colors the dessert camo as seen in my example
and a green camo similar to the pictures of the real trucks.
The body comes
as seen here, prepainted but without all the trim pieces
attached. The trim pieces need to be cut from a small plastic
tree, an X-acto knife works very well for this. Once they are
cut out you glue them into predrilled holes on the body with a
CA glue and the body is complete.
Now you have a very
nicely detailed body that looks very similar to the real thing.
The truck is made to look like it has grenade launches on both
rear sides and a hatch in the roof for a machine gunner to stand
in during an attack.
As mentioned the chassis is
the wonderful little 1/16 scale version of the Inferno. In fact
the only differences in this chassis from the Mini Inferno ST
are the two tan colored body mounts that are required to mount
this taller body to this chassis. Otherwise you get all the
great features of this chassis.
It comes with 4 wheel
independent suspension with 4 coil over, oil filled shocks that
really dampen the terrain and allow the truck to move with ease
over some large (for its scale) bumps. The shock springs
are adjustable with spacers that are included that allow for the
adjustment of the ride height and the spring tension. Long
suspension arms which allow for easier movement of the wheels
and longer suspension travel. The chassis ride height can
also be set using set screw stops that are located in the arms.
Parts are also included to adjust the front camber from the
stock 20 degrees to 22 degrees, this can change the way the
truck handles bumps and the way it turns and rear toe-in can be
changed from 1 degree to 2 to 3 degrees, this can change how
loose the rear of the truck is while exiting a corner.
This truck even has a small slipper clutch which will help keep
the motor cooler and running longer
The radio that is supplied
with the kit is a PERFEX 2 channel wheel type radio, it requires
8 AA type batteries. The Radio was comfortable in my hand but
it would have been great if it had a selector to move the
neutral point of the trigger, this allows a smaller or larger
hand to work the controller and both be able to be comfortable.
The radio has adjustments for steering trim and throttle trim
located on two knobs to the right of the wheel. It also has a
steering dual rate trim which can increase or decrease that
amount the front wheels turn when you turn the steering wheel.
This is very helpful if the surfaces you drive on are different,
or if the track or space is tight and narrow or wide and fast.
But I did have a problem with where this trim was located. The
dial is located right where my left thumb would rest, I like to
drive with a lot of steering but I found myself moving this
little by little with my thumb unintentionally. The radio also
has normal or reverse switches for both the throttle and the
steering, if you ever change servos, and they work backwards
this switch in invaluable.
The one thing I didn't like
right away, and it has no impact on the drivability or the
performance of the truck were the wheels. Most racing wheels in
this hobby are brightly colored and although the wheel caps look
really good, they do not cover up the bright yellow entirely,
and make for a strange eye catching mistake on an otherwise
beautiful truck. Also, the caps add rotating weight, weight in
the wheels or tires make the engine work harder during
acceleration and braking. I know it is for cost concerns but a
new wheel with the cap built in would have looked really nice.
I have been
driving RC cars for a long time, even have raced off-road for a
few years in there as well. So I quickly attached all the
scale pieces and made the truck look great, that way the truck
looks good when all the neighborhood kids come down to see it,
and headed out to my front yard which happened to be all dug up.
The truck was quick on the pavement and exhibited a slight under
steer, but I wasn't concerned as this truck is made for the
dirt, so I turned into the yard and began making runs through
the torn up yard. At first I wasn't impressed but then I
thought about it and these little 2 inch ruts were like hitting
a 32 inch tall wall of dirt for a real truck. The truck
seemed a little under powered but was handling this rough yard
and taking some nice smooth jumps off the curb.
So to give
this truck a fair chance I headed to the elementary school and
its ball field with a dirt infield. This is when the truck
really began to shine. The suspension handled this
smoother field just fine, there were still plenty of bumps and
even a quickly made jump, and the truck would just glide
right over them. The steering took some getting used to
after driving mostly 2 wheel drive cars, but once comfortable
with it I was doing 4 wheel power slides around corners, and
hitting my line very well.
Now these
trucks are definitely too small to run in a grassy field but if
there is a dirt field or race track nearby, or even if you want
to drive it on the street, they are a great little truck.
Kyosho offers many hop up parts for this chassis and the list is
included. I would immediately consider the rechargeable
battery pack. The truck takes 6 AA batteries to run where
as the rechargeable pack is an 8 cell pack. The 8 cell
design will give you that much more power and speed, and will
really bring this truck to life, and in the long run save you
quite a bit on the cost of the batteries. Also depending
on the type of surface you are running the truck on, a different
set of wheels and tires might be a good idea.
Lastly the
manual is very detailed and extremely through, it even provides
a full exploded view of every piece on the truck. This is
very useful if you ever need to change or repair something.
If you are
new to the hobby or looking for a small scale off-road truck,
especially something that looks a little better than the average
truck, look no further. You get everything you need to go
out and run, and rip up that dirt.
Thanks to Kyosho for the car to review.
MikeG