All I can do here is pass on what I have seen from this new Japanese manufacturer…
Looks like a heavier front bulkhead for the Kyosho Ultima RB-5. Made of aluminium rather than a really heavy metal, it has 27.5 degrees caster.
Source: www.cliff-rc.com
This is great news for electric RC - and great news for RC in general.
Guess what Traxxas’ fastest car will be soon? A nitro-powered Jato? A nitro-powered Revo?
No! An ELECTRIC-powered Rustler VXL.
Traxxas are releasing brushless versions of their 1/10th trucks and buggies. Top speed? 70mph+ (on 11.1V LiPo and optional gearing. Out of the box expect 35mph+).
The brushless speedo looks like it can handle brushed, sensored and sensorless motors. The Traxxas motor itself is sensorless. I hope they have the driveability right.
This is great. Instead of the beginners who crave speed buying a smelly, unreliable nitro car, they’ll be buying clean, user-friendly electric cars instead. Fingers crossed this will keep people in the hobby for more than just one frustrating afternoon trying to break-in a nitro engine.
The beginning of the end for nitro’s reign of pain in beginner RC? I think so.
Source: www.traxxas.com
Futaba’s new MC850C ESC, pictured with the USB programmer adaptor for connection to your computer. Mentioned previously on this blog - http://www.sosidge.com/2007/04/10/new-futaba-mc850c-programmable-competition-esc/
Futaba MC601C ESC - a budget version of the above, which looks to have a 10T motor limit so very handy. Price unknown to me right now.
Here is something totally new - BRUSHLESS servos from Futaba! Seem to be equivalent to the S9351 (which is a 1/8th servo) and the S9451 (a 1/10th servo). Remains to be seen what performance advantage they give, if any. Or what price they will be.
Futaba also showed a few 2.4GHz and synthesised FM parts too. FM is on the way out though, innit? Suits me, means I’ll have fewer crystal clashes on 40MHz!
Source: www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp
…from the Shizuoka hobby show, which opened today.
Mmmmm yummy! New TA05MS top-line tourer from Tamiya. Read on…
Ah-ha! This picture seems to prove that the TA05MS has the motor in a different position to the TA05. Looks like the centreline of the motor is midway between a 415 and a normal ‘05. So the MS is not a TA05 - AT ALL! Time will tell whether it is the replacement for the 415 or just another platform to experiment with.
Hop-up aluminium bulkhead for the TA05. Any point putting it on a plastic chassis car? Not in my opinion.
TA05-IFS (Inboard Front Suspension). Looks cool but it’s only to lower the front end for the Japan GT body. I doubt very much whether it will be faster than a conventional shock car, I’m sure a few people will try it out though.
The Rough Rider returns. Only on a micro Tamtech Gear Chassis though. New name of GB-02 because of the trailing arm front suspension. The whole SRB thing passed me by, they were released before my time, so not really bothered about a re-release of the original.
Close up of the GB-02 front suspension.
Now this is more like my kind of thing. One of my buggies as a youth was the Avante 2001. Yes, I know it was a mid-range plastic version of the Avante, not very interesting to collectors, but it went a lot better than the original since it was more like an Egress. This is the Avante Mk.II on a DF-03 chassis, a lot of people have been dissing it but to me it looks LUSH! I quite fancy picking one up and seeing what a few sensible hop-ups can turn it into.
Now a little earlier - http://www.sosidge.com/2007/05/12/sneak-preview-of-the-tamiya-hotshot-re-release/ - I speculated whether the Hotshot re-release would be on a modified DF-03 chassis. Turns out I was wrong and it is pretty faithful to the original. Back in the 80’s I had a Super Sabre which was based on it. Even at the age of 12 I could tell it wasn’t a brilliant racing machine…
Last shot - the new hop-up wing for the DF-03. That’s one big mutha! The DF-03 looks very trick with all the blue bits on too, eh?
Source: www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp
The most unexpected RC release of 2007? Definitely.
Kyosho Spada - a 1/12th scale 4wd nitro pan car. .09 Sirio power and almost no suspension. Need I say more?
Well, I will say a little more. Kyosho (and a few other Japanese manufacturers) experimented with 4wd 1/12th cars in the 80’s. Soon became apparent that they were not as quick as their 2wd brothers. But I never thought the concept would be reborn quite like this!
Source: http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/rc/detail.html?product_id=102180
Due for release in July 2007…
Kyosho’s Lazer ZX-5 Readyset - comes with the natty blue/yellow shell above (#30861T2), or the chic grey/red shell below (#30861T1).
As far as I can make out it includes everything except a 7.2V pack and charger for the car and AA’s for the transmitter. A ”G20″ stock motor and ESC are all included.
Although there are no official release photos under the hood, I am pretty certain it will look just like a full-spec Lazer ZX-5 with the exception of plastic body shocks, no anti-roll bar and I think fixed 4wd with 2 diffs (no one-way). It even includes the slipper clutch and a full set of bearings!
Best thing though (potentially) is the price. Kyosho’s Japanese retail is Y29,400, convert that to pounds and add VAT and you could be looking at just £160! Even accounting for the long journey from Japan I think these should be less than £200 by the time they hit the shelves.
In comparison, the full spec Lazer is listed at Y42,000 and that had an original UK price of about £250.
Source: www.kyosho.com/jpn
This is the car that Kyosho SHOULD have released a year ago!
Due for release in July 2007 is the TF-5 Stallion Shin - “Shin” refers to Shinnosuke Adachi, Kyosho’s star turn in electric racing. It looks like this car has a few developments - from what I can make out this includes a new, narrower chassis with optimised weight distribution, shorter rear arms and refined steering geometry.
More to the point it actually includes all the alloy and carbon that people expect of a top of the range car, quite why Kyosho released the first version Stallion with so many plastic parts is beyond me, it just made the car look cheap compared to the prototypes (and the Stallion was NOT cheap on initial release).
Also the new rear suspension must reflect the testing Adachi-san has been doing with HPI/HB rear arms at recent events.
Should be a good car - and if Kyosho get the price right (needs to be under £350 UK retail, ideally under £300) it deserves to be a common sight at the tracks.
Source: http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/rc/detail.html?product_id=102176
Picture found at www.tamiyablog.com…
I believe it is from a modelling contest, but looks a little bit too “factory” to be home made, look especially at the wheels which are a non-standard colour but done very well, and at the neat integration of the Hotshot-style chassis with the DF-03 front end. You can even see the anti-roll bar mounts peeking through. Also, there is a very modern-yet-retro heatsink placement at the rear.
This is sure to add fuel to the rumours that #58391 will be DF-03 based.
Now on sale in the Far East, coming to the UK when? If ever?
This looks like Futabas own design of controller this time around, not a rebadged LRP.
What seems interesting in the manual - Futaba MC850C Manual - is that the ESC can only be programmed with an optional lead and a PC, and that those programs include data logging of voltage and current, as well as a low voltage cut-off for Lipos.
Other points of interest - the motor limit is 5-turns brushed, the size is 28.7 x 26.2 x 14.5 mm and the weight is 17.5 grams.