ABC Hobby Genetic Honda CR-X (4WD M-chassis)

Hi everyone,

about a year ago we acquired an ABC Hobby Genetic kit when StreetRevoRC was selling them off. After more than a year we finally managed to complete the build.


Click on images to view a larger version

The Genetic seems to be no longer in production. It is an M-chassis 1/12th scale touring chassis with a fixed wheelbase of 210 mm. i.e. the same as the S (small) Tamiya M-chassis wheelbase. The chassis is shaft driven 4WD.



The chassis was factory pre-assembled, but the body shell uncut and unpainted. Therein also lies my main gripe with the kit: The factory assembly was horrendous. Everything had so much play and slop, much worse than a TT01 or M05 out of the box. Given that the original sticker price of this kit was S$ 270, I found that pretty poor. We had to strip and rebuild the chassis completely, shimming the arms and adjusting all joints.



The body shell is very nice. It is on the flimsy side, but the details of the molding are exquisite. The decals are photo-realistic compared to the cartoon-ish style of Tamiya. ABC Hobby has an accessory kit with mirrors, wipers and exhausts for sale that matches their body shells.



The stock rims were white and very soft, so we opted to use bling-bling Tamiya gold rims we had left over from another M-chassis build. The tires that came with the kit have a very good, soft feel, but are only 55 mm in diameter. 60 mm wheels would fit the body better in our opinion.



The body shell can be built with three different head lamp designs, corresponding to different model years of the CR-X. We went with the simplest fully enclosed style. For this style no decals are included, so we used PS55 Flat Clear to give the head lamps a more realistic look.



The body shell also comes with light buckets, which fit extremely well. The license plates did not come with the kit; we printed our own based on images found on the Internet.



It was very enjoyable to build this shell. Even masking the lower half for the dark grey color was easy to do. The decal sheet came with red and black version of the side and bumper stripes.



The chassis is a double-deck FRP construction. The front and rear gearbox are identical and house a ball bearing differential. There were no electronics whatsoever included in the kit.



The shocks are made from transparent plastic and have a decorative aluminum cap. The spring are on the stiff side; this chassis is clearly designed for flat race surfaces.



The drive train uses 48p gears and supports a wide range of gear ratios. The metal motor mount is stock and uses an excenter to adjust gear mesh.



Due to the translucent nature of Tamiya PS2 Red, we had to shield the inside of the light buckets to prevent ugly light leaks through the body.

If you are looking for a similar kit, have a look at the BSR M.Rage, currently available from HobbyKing. The Genetic and the M.Rage are of very similar design.
A better alternative may be the HPI Cup Racer. Tai Sing still has a few left in stock for S$ 200. It is a better design than the Genetic, comes with lots of build options (stand-up or lay-down shocks, stand-up or flat servo ...) and an equally nice body shell (Datsun 510 or 240Z in stock as of Feb 2016).

Can't wait to go out with this puppy for a spin!

Wow.... a very scale build. Thanks for sharing.

Nice build and write up!

Thanks for sharing!