by sunny on April 23, 2013
Team Associated has announced a new mini-touring car for RC fans enamored with miniature racers. Called the Qualifier Series APEX Mini Touring, it's a 1:18-scale electric racer aimed at novice drivers.
As the name indicates, it's part of the new Qualifier Series, which consists of RTR vehicles that are affordable and easy to use, making them ideal entry points for beginners to the RC scene. While we doubt this can stand toe-to-toe with old reliables in the tracks, it still makes for a nice backup vehicle, especially for those looking to race just for fun.
The Qualifier Series APEX Mini Touring comes fully-assembled, with all paint and decals applied. It comes in two colors, blue and yellow, so you can start your own little fleet at home. Details of the 4WD touring car include a Super 370 motor, XPS micro ECS, XP 2.4GHz radio system with XP micro servo, coil-over adjustable shocks, symmetrical lower suspension arms, full precision ball bearing, seven-spoke wheels, and treaded high-grip racing tires. It's compatible with many existing parts and accessories for 1:18 racers, so you can tweak it to your heart's content if you end up outgrowing the stock configuration.
No MSRP is available, but it will hit your favorite stores in May.
[Team Associated]
Specifications
Power Source: Electric
Terrain: On-Road
Body Style: Touring Car
Scale Size: 1:18 Scale
Assembly Level: Ready-To-Run*
Length: 206mm (8.11in)
Width: 140mm (5.51in)
Wheelbase: 154mm (6.06in)
Weight: 590g (1.3lbs)
Drive: 4WD
by sunny on February 22, 2013
When I was a little kid, I wanted my first car to be a funny car. After watching them race on TV, how can you not? They ran incredibly fast right out the gates and looked downright ridiculous with those tiny front tires. Of course, getting a funny car in real life never happened, but I'd gladly settle for the Traxxas NHRA Funny Car.
Four models are available, all of them from the 17-time champion John Force Racing team: Courtney Force, Mike Neff, Robert Hight and John Force. And these don't just replicate the cars' funny looks -- they perform like them, too, boasting lots of power and crazy speed right out of the starting line (it comes with a wheelie bar to help transfer weight to the rear during launch).
The Traxxas NHRA Funny Car is a 1/8-scale racer that really takes it up a notch in the realism department, with tilt-up bodies, tube-style chassis, sticky belted slicks and accurate detailing. Want to hold your own races in the backyard track you built? Sure. Combine it with the DTS-1 Drag Timing System and the Traxxas Link application on the TQi docking base to stage your full-on accurate drag race simulations up to distances of 330 feet. While the replicas won't quite run with the same 8,000 horsepower engines of real funny cars, the ET-2400 brushless motor and ET-3s power system aren't too shabby either, powering the vehicle to a whopping 70+ mph.
You can pick up the Traxxas NHRA Funny Car now, priced at $529.
[Traxxas]
SPECS
Length: 27.24 inches (692mm)
Front Track: 9 inches (229mm)
Rear Track: 9.17 inches (233mm)
Center Ground Clearance: 0.47 inches (12mm)
Weight: 4.4 lbs (2.0 kg) (w/o battery)
Height (overall): 8 inches (203mm)
Wheelbase: 15.31 inches (389mm)
Front Shock Length: 1.08 inches (27.5mm)
Rear Shock Length: 1.89 inches (48mm)
Front Tires (pre-glued): Race Replica Front Tires (2.6" x 0.65")
Rear Tires (pre-glued): Belted Slick Rear (4.29" x 2")
Front Wheels: 2" Drag Race Replica Narrow 5-Spoke
(mirror-chrome)
Rear Wheels: 3.3" Drag Race Replica Dish 5-Spoke
(mirror-chrome)
Speed Control Type: Traxxas ET-3s Electronic Speed Control
Forward/Staging/Reverse/Brake
Motor (electric): Traxxas ET-2400 Brushless (2400 Kv)
Transmission: Single-Speed
Overall Drive Ratio: 4.86 (stock, out-of-box)
by sunny on January 30, 2013
The next stage of Serpent's 411 platform is here. It comes in the form of the Serpent 411 Eryx 2.0, a touring car the company touts as packing "great features" and "top quality materials."
A competition level 1/10-scale touring car, it boasts a carbon fiber chassis and top deck, ensuring it's as light as it is durable. It comes with coded anti-roll bars front and rear, ensuring stable runs along your favorite tracks.
Most notable of the upgrades from the last generation include a lighter gear differential for less rotating mass and smoother runs, a lowered steering system for a more direct feel, an innovative floating servo-holder to minimize flex influence, lowered shock towers, improved shock action, and a new chassis plate. Suspension has been particularly improved, using separately-mounted suspension brackets on both front and rear, split type inner brackets, and mirror-type split suspension blocks. It also features easily recognizable number indicator for the suspension settings used, allowing drivers to easily review and adjust depending on what you need.
Sold as a kit, the Serpent 411 Eryx 2.0 comes without body, tires, spur gear or electronics, all of which you can purchase separately to build your ideal racing machine. It's available now.
[Serpent]
Specifications
Class: 1/10th scale 190mm Electric
Purpose: 190mm Competition touring car
Chassis: 2.25mm carbon fibre, CNC machined
Suspension: Front C-Hub suspension system
Rear axle: Rear gear- differential v2 with composite gears
Front axle: Front spool
Drive system: 4wd through 2 kevlar reinforced timing belts
Shock absorbers: Super-Short RCM shock absorbers
Wheel base: 254mm +/- 4mm
Track-width front: 190mm /- 6mm
Track-width rear: 190mm /- 6mm
Adjustability: Camber, Caster, Down-stops, Up-stops, Toe-in, Track width & Roll centres
by sunny on November 6, 2012
On the hunt for a serious on-road racing kit? You might want to watch out for Team Associated's RC10R5.1 Factory Team Kit, which bring some serious performance to fans of 1/10-scale World GT roadburners.
Taking design cues and notes from the company's highly-successful 1/12-scale on-road platform, the smaller vehicle boasts the best performance among Team Associated's previous kits in the class. And if you're familiar with the company's 35-year long racing experience in the category, you better believe this ride brings something special.
Sporting a much-improved chassis, the RC10R5.1 Factory Team Kit uses ultra-rigid 2.5mm thick carbon fiber on its backbone, with chassis-stiffening nails to ensure it holds up during the most brutal races. Features include a Dynamic Strut front suspension (which, Team Associated claims, is arguably the best in the land), an updated motor mount for increased durability, a 3-point upper pod plate optimized for brushless motors, aluminum side spring retainers for more accurate adjustments, an innovative through-shaft center shock, side damper tubes that help improve roll and a pivot ball rear pod design that stays hooked up even going past the imperfections of the tracks.
If you want maximum lap times in your next 1/10-scale World GT race, it's going to be hard to go wrong with the Team Associated RC10R5.1 Factory Team Kit. It's available now.
[Team Associated]
SPECIFICATIONS
Power Source: Electric
Terrain: On-Road
Body Style: Other
Scale Size: 1:10 Scale
Assembly Level: Kit*
Length: varies
Width: varies
Wheelbase: 259mm (10.2in)
Weight: varies
Drive: 2WD
by sunny on April 9, 2012
I've always found NHRA drag racing to be a rare treat, with cars that run both mind-blowingly fast and ridiculously odd at the same time. If you feel the same way, you can now bring the same unique entertainment to the local tracks with these Traxxas NHRA Funny Car RC replicas.
Rigged to do wheelies and accelerate at furious paces, the 1/8-scale racers will burn through tracks the exact same way as the full-throttle hot rods they've been modeled after. Four licensed tilt-up bodies (yes, they flip upwards) are available -- Courtney Force, Mike Neff, Robert Hight and John Force -- each one cut and decaled to mimic the actual ride.
The Traxxas 1/8 NHRA Funny Car features a realistic "tube-style" chassis, complete with a dummy fuel tank and a driver's roll cage to accurately recreate the original versions. It comes with a wheelie bar built-in, allowing it to transfer weight straight to the rear wheels right out of the starting line.
While it won't get anywhere near real funny cars' ridiculous 8,000-hp engines, the vehicle does pack an ET-3s brushless power system that can push the ride at speeds of over 70 mph. To make the funny car experience even more realistic, Traxxas is also selling a separate DTS-1 Drag Timing System, which lets you set up a realistic drag strip complete with dual-beam staging, speed traps and high-intensity LED lighting displays.
No exact release date is available, but the Traxxas 1/8-Scale NHRA Funny Cars will be priced at $499 when they do hit stores.
[Traxxas]
by sunny on December 5, 2011
The selling point for the Traxxas XO-1 is dead simple: "100+ MPH out of the box." Seriously, do you need anything else to make RC fans drool?
Measuring 27 inches long, this isn't a compact racer for leisurely racing around your local tracks. Heck, no. Designed strictly for expert RC drivers, this is a serious piece of equipment that performs like a real car. Only smaller.
The Traxxas XO-1 can hit 100 mph in as little as five seconds, going from 0 to 60 in just 2.3 ticks. You don't need to tweak any part of the vehicle to reach those speeds, although Traxxas requires you to tune it using a downloadable iPhone app (called Traxxas Link) that can dock into the all-new Traxxas TQI radio system. With the app, you get a full-color graphical UI that lets you optimize the radio to achieve the downright ridiculous numbers.
Specs include a 1650 Kv Big Block brushless motor, Castle Mamba ESC, shaft-driven 4WD, bellcrank steering and sealed hardened steel bevel differential. Notable features include numerous machined aluminum parts, SS dual-CV driveshafts, onboard air-management system and the patent-pending Cush Drive for absorbing drivetrain shocks.
Billed as the world's fastest "ready-to-race" supercar, the Traxxas XO-1 will retail for $1099.99.
SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 27 inches (686mm)
Front Track: 11.61 inches (295mm)
Rear Track: 11.81 inches (300mm)
Center Ground Clearance: 0.59 inches (15mm)
Weight: 8.6 lbs (3.9 kg) (w/o batteries)
10.3 lbs (4.67 kg) (with batteries)
Height (overall): 5 inches (127.5mm)
Wheelbase: 15.91 inches (404mm)
Front Shock Length: 3.27 inches (83mm)
Rear Shock Length: 3.39 inches (86mm)
Front Tires (pre-glued): Belted Slick Front (4.29" x 1.7")
Rear Tires (pre-glued): Belted Slick Rear (4.29" x 2")
Front Wheels: 3.3" Split-Spoke™ (black-chrome)
with 17mm splined hex
Rear Wheels: 3.3" Split-Spoke™ (black-chrome)
with 17mm splined hex
[Traxxas]
by sunny on June 22, 2011
We love Tamiya's RC releases of Japanese street cars and this sexy beast from 1978 rightfully makes me just a little giddy. I know, that's a stupid thing to say about radio-controlled cars, but the Mazda RX-7 is one of my favorite Japanese machines ever.
The Tamiya Mazda RX-7 is a 1/10-scale model, available in kit form. While you won't exactly be putting together a front mid-engine rotary engine (since it's, you know, a model toy), we reckon you can still geek out assembling this.
The dual-seater coupe body (polycarbonate, with a full set of stickers for the trim) is mounted on an M-06 mini chassis, with a rear wheel drive and a long wheelbase configuration. You get a 4-wheel double wishbone suspension, dog-bone driveshafts, transmission gear differential and oil-filled CVA plastic damper shock units.
Tamiya 540-J brushed motor and ESC are included, but you'll have to buy the radio gear and batteries (it's compatible with NiCad, NiMh, LiPo and LiFe) separately. It uses 60D Radial tires in front and 60D Super Grip Radial tires in the rear.
While this isn't the first time Tamiya released a Mazda RX-7 model, this is the first one I remember with the very first one in the line. It should be available in your local hobby stores now, priced at around $235.
[TamiyaUSA]
Want to drive Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s championship-winning drifter? While that's a dream that isn't likely to happen, you can mimic the thrills with this 1/10-scale recreation: the HPI Monster Energy/Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang E10 Drift RTR.
A detailed reproduction of the original, this ready-to-run model features a finished body with full Monster Energy/Falken Tire graphics, HRE wheels and Falken Zenis T-Drift tires, all officially licensed from the original manufacturers. While specifically designed for drifting, a few tweaks on existing parts (no additions needed) will let you easily convert it into a street touring machine, effectively extending the enjoyment you can get out of it (you'll need to move the motor and radio equipment to optimize weight balance, though).
The HPI Monster Energy/Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang E10 Drift RTR features a full-time 4WD, independent suspension and a large foam bumper to aid in your drifting adventures across paved parking lot surfaces. Providing muscle is a Saturn 27T electric motor, paired with a SC-15WP electronic speed control. The pre-assembled chassis and frame uses standard mounting points, so you can also replace the included Ford Mustang body with different shells currently available from HPI Racing -- an excellent option if you're thinking of using the ride as a touring machine at some point.
All in all, the HPI Monster Energy/Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang E10 Drift RTR offers one of the easiest ways to get into the drifting scene. You literally just pop it out of the box, charge and hit the pavement. Price sounds sweet, too, at $349.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Length: 14.8" (375mm)
Width: Adjustable 7.32", 7.56", 7.80" (186, 192, 198mm)
Wheelbase: 10" (255mm)
Weight: 2.8lbs. w/o body (1280g)
Drive System: Shaft Drive 4WD
Drive Ratio: 7.48:1
