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Torquey! The included BTD141 impact driver seems strong; rated at 1,330 in.lbs of torque, it translates to about 40 ft-lbs of torque, easily sufficient for a wide variety of needs. The BTD141 is powerful enough to handle brake jobs, lugnuts, and other jobs where you would normally want to use a breaker bar to loosen the bolts. In other words, most work you would need to do at home on your automobile.

Torque can't be set to a specific number, so the BTD141 is no replacement for a torque wrench. However, torque is variable, based on how hard you pull the trigger. I would definitely not use the BTD141 for final tightening of any bolts or nuts on vehicles or engines (keep your torque wrench handy for that), but use it on computer server racks without hesitation. It drives bolts in very quickly and battery life seems to hold up well.

Convenience The BTD141 impact wrench is surprisingly light, very compact (fits nicely into very tight spaces), and packs a punch. Like the BHP452, the driver includes an integrated LED which does not replace your regular work light, but does allow you to work in tight spaces in a pinch where work lights would be cumbersome or impossible.

Optimum Charger

The Optimum Charger charges the batteries very quickly; its stated time is 30 minutes, but for a deep cycle seems to be closer to 20. One thing about this charger is it includes a fan to cool the 3.0Ah batteries via the cooling vent during the charging process, and communicates with the battery pack's monitoring circuit to track temperature and voltage, and varies the charging rate accordingly. After a full charge the batteries are barely warm, whereas Makita's older NiCD system results in hot battery packs after a full charge.

By implementing this cooling, the lifetime of Li-Ion based batteries will be greatly extended, so this is a great engineering choice on Makita's part.

However, the charger is quite large, given the need to accomodate cooling fans and resultant internal ductwork. The charging process is quiet though; the fans are noticeable but only slightly more so than your typical PC. The charger by default does notify you by sound when the charging process is complete, and the tone is user-configurable, or you can disable the sound altogether.

The Cons

I can't find much negative to say about the tools. Here is what I find issue with:

BHP452Z Cons

* A magnesium or titanium case would have been nice. However having had no issues with the plastic construction of my almost-20-year-old 6095D, this is a really minor nitpick.
* An on-board bracket for at least one driver or drill bit would have been nice.

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I bought this set to replace two old 3/8' 9.6V Makita drills and I have to say I am impressed. My old 9.6V drill (model 6095D) has been going strong for almost 20 years, but it's time for new battery packs and I won't spend money on NiCd Batteries any more because the self-discharge rate is far too high, plus I needed a higher torque drill. Soo, the time came to buy a replacement. I was comparing Makita to Milwaukee, but my old Makita served me well and has seen plenty of heavy use with no failures, so I decided to go Makita.

My observation "chattering" when the unit slows down:

This is because the motors feature an electric brake which brings the unit to a slower speed or a stop much more quickly than simply freewheeling. It is intended to be a safety device, such that if you are drilling and bump yourself or someone else, you can limit injury by bringing to a stop more quickly rather than letting it freewheel until normal friction takes its course, or if you are drilling a precision hole or driving a screw into soft material, the drill will slow down more quickly than older models. The review I read on here where the user complained about the chattering didn't bother to read the specs nor the manual, otherwise he would have known it is normal operation and does not indicate a faulty motor, but an operational brake.

The pros:

BHP452 Drill

The BHP452 1/2" drill is solidly built and the transmission has a very clear detent when switching between clutched screwdriver, hammer drill, and drill modes. Contrary to what many have told me about Makita tools, construction quality seems to have improved since the early '90s; It does take two hands to shift modes but I consider this a pro, and is no different than having to use both hands to adjust the clutch on my older Makita drills.

Not counting the battery pack, the BHP452 is actually as compact as my smaller 9.6V makita drill and is about the same weight as either of my old drills. What makes this surprising is that the new drill is so much more powerful than my old 6095D drill. I found it was possible to stall the old drills by grabbing on to the chuck even in low speed/high torque mode. I cannot make the BHP452 stall even in high speed/low torque mode at half speed. This drill is rated at 450 in-lbs, or 37.5 ft-lbs of torque, which is enough for all but the largest hole-cutting jobs. I have only had a few opportunities to use it so far but it held up on a single charge for an hour of steady intermittent use, and when I put the battery on the charger, it was topped up within 5 minutes.

Sound level between the BHP452 and the 5095D is very comparable - within 2 dB on a sound meter at equivalent distance. The apparent loudness is slightly higher for the BHP452, but it's due to the higher pitch.

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11/01/2012

The Optimum Charger charges the batteries very quickly

The BHP452 1/2" drill is solidly built and the transmission