Features & Specifications
Kyosho is a big player in the RC industry and has a number of really cool RC cars and trucks that are available in the more traditional battery powered models and the more extreme nitro powered versions. The Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is a nitro powered RC vehicle that has a large 4.6cc GXR28 engine that produces plenty of speed and power.

If you have never run a nitro powered RC vehicle the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is a great place to start. This truck is way fast when compared to the battery powered cars you find at the toy store. Top speed for the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is around 50 mph, and I mean real mph not the scale stuff most cars quote. With that in mind this really isn’t a toy for kids, at the speeds the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is capable of a driver not able to control the vehicle could hurt someone seriously. The kinetic energy of a vehicle like this traveling at top speed could do serious damage to property and people.

One of the coolest things about this truck is that it has everything you need and it is pre-built and ready to run. The only thing you need to add to start bashing in your yard or racing at the track is nitro fuel and batteries. When Kyosho says ready to run they really mean it. Open the box pull the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set out of the box, add your batteries for the radio and servos on the truck, fuel it up and you are ready.

Starting, Tuning & Break In
Before you can tune the engine you have to start the little beast up. The GXR28 engine Kyosho uses in the truck uses a pull start like a chain saw, in fact the car sounds very much like a subdued chainsaw when running. To get the thing going you fuel the car up, put your finger over the exhaust and pull the starter cord a few times to get fuel to the carburetor of the engine. Then add a few drops to the carb directly with the air filter removed and replace the air filter. Starting the engine requires a glow plug heater, which is included.

The glow plug is a bit like the spark plug in your car in that it is the heat source used to ignite the fuel in the combustion chamber of the engine. Kyosho’s glow plug heater is powered by dual “D” cell batteries. To use it you simply place the heater onto the glow plug that is inside the recessed hole atop the engine. While pressing the glow plug heater down you rapidly pull the starter cord till the engine starts. Once stared the instruction manual recommends you keep the heater on the engine for about ten seconds. The process is easy to do and is actually much easier than it sounds.

Nitro engines require tuning to your environment which can be a bit tricky for the first time user such as me. Tuning is easy and amounts to turning a screw on the engine to richen or lean the mixture for ideal performance. As I found out running the engine either too lean or too rich can cause the vehicle to stall when taking off from a stop and cause the engine to bog down or stall when you open the throttle. Running too lean (not enough fuel mixed with oil getting to the engine) can even damage the engine due to lack of lubrication.

Following the instructions in the manual for tuning was easy and for a stark noob to nitro trucks like me took about a half hour to tune enough for trouble free running. There is also an adjustment screw for idle as well to keep the engine idling smoothly. The engine does require a break in period before you can run full throttle with less risk of engine damage. The manual recommends that you run two to three tanks of nitro fuel through it. This doesn’t take as long as you might think, the tank holds about 125cc of fuel. Speaking of fuel Steve Pond at Kyosho recommended Trinity Monster Horsepower blend, which is what I ran. It cost me about $25 for a gallon locally at the hobby shop; nitro fuel is much cheaper that buying batteries for the cheap RC cars I grew up on.

Radio
The radio that Kyosho uses in the Inferno ST US Sports is a nice one that uses AM frequencies and is made by Perfex as are the servos used on the vehicle. The radio has a LCD screen that allows you to see the battery life left and other radio settings. Buttons to control the steering adjustment and throttle are included as well. If you have more than one RC vehicle that uses the same frequency as this radio you can set up two vehicles with this radio with custom settings for each. The throttle adjustment is particularly important. You must be sure that it isn’t set at too high a level when you start the truck or else the truck will take off on its own. Setting a bit more throttle via this lever helps in starting the truck as well.

The Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set has a pre painted body that looks really nice. The shell is made out of a lexan material and is quite durable despite being lightweight and flexible. The shell was able to survive my bashing around the yard and my two-year old daughter making off with it, which is quite a feat in itself. The body is held onto the truck with cotter pins.

Tires & Brakes
The tires used on the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set are large and have knobby treads that help the truck get better traction off road. You can also run the truck on-road, which is great fun. The center of gravity is quite low in the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set which means that you can turn hard and do donuts with less chance of flipping the truck than you would see with a vehicle that had a higher center of gravity. Tires are not the only thing that helps the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set get good traction on and off road; the truck is four-wheel drive and uses drive shafts like real cars.

Most of the cheap RC cars I have used had no brakes save hitting reverse to slow down. With the speeds the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is capable of it requires a brake and has no reverse gear. The brakes work very well and make doing things like spin outs easy and if you need to stop from full speed the brakes allow you to do this over and over without fade.

Driving
Driving the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is simply a blast. The truck is so fast that if you are like me and have till now only used battery powered cars you will be very impressed. Seeing the truck scream by at full throttle with exhaust smoke bellowing out of the muffler is very cool. Rugged is a good word to describe the build quality of this vehicle as well. You can transition from on road to off without issues and the truck can jump very well. The cool part about jumping the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is that you can use the throttle and brakes to control the truck in the air. Hit the throttle in the air and the front of the truck raises, hit the brakes and the front of the truck lowers allowing you control over how the vehicle lands.

I ran into lots of stuff while learning to drive the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set from my mail box, to trees and roots even my fence a couple times and never broke anything on the truck. Sure if you plow into something while at wide open throttle you are going to break, but I was very happy with the durability of the truck. Steering works very well and the truck is quite agile, though it does have a larger turn radius. I found it more fun to use the throttle at times to change direction. If you want to turn around in a small space just turn the wheel all the way to the left or right and hit the gas. The powerful engine will spin the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set around with quickness.

Overall the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is a blast to play with. If you like RC trucks that have off-road abilities, can do stunts and you are ready to step up from the kids toys to your first nitro powered RC vehicle without having to build the truck or spend lots of cash the Kyosho Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set is an excellent option. Kyosho sells the Inferno ST US Sports Ready Set for $399 complete with everything you need to run except batteries and nitro fuel.