Tamiya Frog +TA04 =4WD Frog Awesomeness.

Many years ago when I was a kid I tried to make my Tamiya Blackfoot 4WD with parts from a Tamiya Hot Shot. I failed. I got the rear gearbox mounted but the front was outside my range of abilities. From my observations the front of the chassis could not support a front drivetrain. Little did I know that it was possible. Take a look at this article from a Japanese magazine. It shows that with the addition of Tamiya TA04 parts you can convert a Tamiya Frog (same chassis as the Blackfoot) to 4WD. I know this car won't win any races but the awesome factor is through the roof. Check it out.

UPDATE: There's a 4WD Hornet too!

3Racing does F1

During the off season I suffer from Formula 1 withdrawal. I think about F1 constantly but I know from experience that every season brings new challenges and it is ridiculous to speculate until the new cars hit the track.I wish RC F1 had the same following here in the US that it does in other parts of the world. I have actually figured out a way to increase its popularity. Money. Cold hard cash. If you off large cash prizes people will show up to compete. It has been an unwritten rule in RC racing that large cash prizes bring out the competition. Maybe its time for some real racing promoters to get into the RC scene and make racing fun and cool.

My plans for a snow bash part 2 were dashed with 15 inches of snow. Way too much to RC in.Maybe it will freeze over the weekend and my truck will be able to float on top of it. We'll see.

This F109 seems to be the best F1 car on the market right now. Looking at it now I would have to agree. The price is pretty good too. Check it out.

3RACING is one of the most famous RC optional parts manufacturers in the world. We have over 20 years of experience in the RC industry, that we are extremely familiar with the essential RC racing technologies. Today we like to announce the birth of our complete RC car kit - the ALL-NEW F109 1/10 Formula 1.

Formula 1 is the highest class of car racing in the world. We are very pleased to introduce the new 1/10 scale F1 kit, which is a high quality, durable, and extremely fast car offering the best possible handling at a highly competitive price.

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Tweaking System
The traditional T-Plate design has been given up on the F109. Instead, a special mechanism basing on ball joint is used as the tweaking system to make the chassis more durable and stable. The new rear chassis design deploys a composite of a pair of ball joints and central pivot ball, plus side spring and monoshock as absorber and buffer. The up-and-down rear movement can be controlled entirely through the high capacity central shock.

Motor Mount
The motor mount was built using high quality 6061-T6 aluminum with a very versatile design. The height of the rear wing is also adjustable V it can be adjusted with 3 different degrees of up-and-down movement using axle adaptor 0, 1 and 2. It is fully tunable for meeting the demands of the modern day racing environments.

Weight Centralized

The battery is centrally mounted through a special Quick Change feature, allowing fast and easy battery replacement without the need to struggle through the limited space. As the battery is centrally oriented, weight can be centralized to allow for better control of the car as a whole.

Suspension System
The front suspension system is highly flexible in that camber adjustment is fully allowed. Springs of different stiffness are included in the package so you may fine tune the system as you see fit without the need to shop for alternative shock absorbers from somewhere else.

Chassis
The chassis is built with 2.5mm fiber glass material which is strong and light-weight, and is much less costly when compared with its graphite counterpart. The car was tested with a high speed brushless system and the chassis was found to be of sufficient strength for sustaining the stress and load brought by the brushless horsepower.

Specification

Scale	1/10
Steering	Direct steering with servo saver.
Suspension	Front king ping coil spring. Central shock.
Shocks	Floating mono damper.
Transmission	Direct drive 2WD.
Gear Ratio	96/23
Length	450mm
Width	200mm
Height	110mm
Wheelbase	270mm
Tread (F)	167mm
Tread (R)	155mm
Tire Width	F 30mm; R 45mm
Tire Size	F 57mm; R 57mm
Overall Weight	610g
Shell Weight	42g
Net Weight	568g

HPI Makes A Lunchbox

The Scion XB isn't that attractive. Its a fwd refrigerator. From certain angles with the right upgrades it can almost look acceptable. The HPI Switch chassis is funky. It can be fwd or rwd adjustable wheelbase and Macpherson strut suspension. That type of suspension is terrible at controlling bump steer and camber changes. I would spend my money to tinker with this package if it were only a few dollars. It isn't so judge for yourselves.

HPI Savage Flux 2350 Video

Every RC hobbyist can appreciate stomping around with a big wheeled RC truck. Yes I said "stomping around", the Tamiya Blackfoot was my first RC. Anyhoot, This video is of the new Savage with some brushless motor from a Toyota Prius or something.

This morning I had to decide between going to work and shooting another snow video. I chose wrong. Tomorrow I will not make the same mistake. I'm putting batteries on charge tonight. The plan is to bring it into work and let my boss play with it after the video shoot. Then he may not notice how late I am.

This big ol' truck makes me want to finish my super trail truck. It's more like a redneck truck but that phrase is a bit prejudiced so I really don't want to use it. I need to find a new nickname for lifted big tire trucks. Watch the video and feel inspired.

The Fastest Touring Car In America: Top Racing Scythe

Maybe not the fastest, but so many people on the web use this car and kick butt at local tracks. I kind of want one but as everyone knows, I'm cheap. So we shall look at this one and drool.

My projects are coming along slowly. I have a scaler, a drifter, and a mini on the workbench. Of course now my job has ramped up to 64 hours a week so I have very little time to build. I've been thinking about keeping one in a drawer in my desk to tinker with but I want to keep my job. I am also in the air about the chassis for the mini. If I build it the way I want, it will be too wide. I am debating making it a frankenstein with slightly different parts. I just haven't had the time to experiment.

Rubber Tire Spec

Tech Racing Has Another F1 Chassis

This F1 car looks the business! I bought myself an F104 clone for Christmas and I still want one of these. I really want that Toyota body! I liked Toyota's F1 team and I was looking forward to their first win. The final pieces they needed were personnel. Timo Glock is pretty good but Jarno Trulli is nowhere near as fast as he thinks he is. Their qualifying pace was also very different than their race pace. I would still trade both HRT and Virgin to see them back on the grid though. That's enough about a nonexistent F1 team. If I get my hands on this body they will exist forever on my shelf and in parking lots.

This body will make you fast, it was Designed by Adrian Newey. (Red Bull)

This body will help you win both World Championships your first season. (Brawn)

This is the Toyota

They also do Mclaren and Ferrari

Serpent Does It Right

So you may have noticed the lack of nitro on this site. I have nitro and I like it but I like electric a little more. I have always been terrible at starting nitro engines. Electric is just plug and play, literally. When I saw this puppy here I thought to myself, "THIS CAR IS THE #$%#!!" (it's loud in there). I knew I had to bring it to you so you too can drool over this piece of art.

Serpent 733 Evo

1/10 scale 4wd gas powered onroad

Serpent introduces the Serpent 733-EVO

Main new features:

• Direct Link System
• SFC rear end; Serpent Flex Control rear end,
• The rear anti-roll bar ball-bearings are seated in delrin bushings to isloate vibrations
• The 2-speed shaft bearings are seated in delrin inserts for optimized fit and to isolate vibrations.
• Mono-type engine mount
• Mono-type ventilated brake-disk

Main new features:
Direct Link System included, this innovative rear end system transfers the suspension pressure from one side, through a link system to the other side as well, creating even more rear end grip and making the 733 even easier to driver. The system can be used with or without rear anti-roll bar, depending the conditions. The 733 can also be used without the DLS system, depending on the track and conditions.

- SFC rear end; Serpent Flex Control rear end, by which the brackets holding the 2-speed shaft and the brackets holding the rear diff, can be connected with either aluminium inserts, or rubber inserts, or leave in full flex mode. Track-conditions and personal preference will decide what to use. Its fast and easy to change it.

• more flex, no connection
• some flex: use the rubber connector
• limited flex: use the aluminium connector

• The rear anti-roll bar ball-bearings are seated in delrin bushings to isloate vibrations
• The 2-speed shaft bearings are seated in delrin inserts for optimized fit and to isolate vibrations.
• Mono-type engine mount in high quality 7075 T6 alu, with cooling-fins, for super-stable seating of the engine.
• Mono-type ventilated brake-disk in special steel, supersmooth braking

During 2010 season many small improvements have been effected already like better tank-seal, improved M-type composite suspension arms and improved 2-speed gears.

The supersmooth transmission system, superbly designed and manufactured 7075 T6 aluminium, carbon and spring steel components combined into a well balanced, extremely fast and easy handling racing car.

The Serpent 733-EVO, developed by Michael Salven, is a top level racing car, and the evolutions makes it even better than before. The many innovative solutions in the Serpent 733 concept sees a lot of following. With the DLS and SFC systems Serpent creates again the edge.

Available late january 2011.

#804000 Serpent 733-EVO 1/10 scale 4wd GP
Serpent The Racing Experience

Tech Racing Can Also Do F1

So RC F1 is warming up. It's not getting hot but it is warm. I think RC F1 would be really popular if they offered large cash prizes at the races. Nothing brings out competitors like money. F1 is the highest form of motorsport so RC F1 should have the highest payout. Pan car tech has evolved into a niche. Some get it some don't. RC F1 has the tuning curve of pan cars with the additional problems open wheel racing adds. Those issues combined make the class unattractive to casual weekend racers. I have a nice collection of Rc F1 cars from the Tamiya Road Wizard, to the Tamiya Tyrell F103, to the Tamiya F201, and Kyosho F1 (the cheesey one) and others. I don't drive them though, but I will soon since one of my friends picked up an F104 clone. I like these cars because they are inexpensive, fast, and scale (cool) looking. Now enjoy another one. The Tech Racing TF108. It looks similar to the Tamiya F103 but juicier. See for yourself.

HPI Does The GTR

I may be in the minority but I think the R35 GTR is ugly. I like seeing it in real life for the performance it represents but aesthetically, I think it's gross. I prefer the R33 as the best GTR. I know I'm in the minority with that opinion as well. If you like the new GTR and can't afford Tamiya's version this looks like a faithful replica that won't cost half as much as the kit you want to put it on.

HPI's 200mm body line-up now features the iconic Japanese supercar, the Nissan GT-R. This is the latest version of the legendary GT-R series of sports cars, code-named the R35. The GT-R models have always showcased the latest driving technologies that Nissan engineers could fit into a road-going car, and the GT-R continues this tradition with a twin-turbocharged 3.8 liter V6, four-wheel drive, rear-mounted transmission, a top speed over 310kph (193mph) and 0-60mph time under 3.8 seconds. This body is clear so you can paint it in your favorite colors. It fits 200mm touring cars and can also be used on 190mm touring cars with the use of wide offset wheels.

Included with the Nissan GT-R body is a large pre-cut decal sheet that includes logos, window lines, headlights, grilles, tail lights, official Nissan GT-R logos and much more, providing your touring car with a realistically finished product. Each body comes with a polycarbonate rear wing, as well as light buckets for the headlights and tail lights. An overspray film is included, as well as vinyl window masks to make painting quick and simple. An instruction sheet is included for the decals, and the body has dimple marks for body post drill locations.

• Photorealistic die-cut premium vinyl decals include window frames, headlight, tail lights and more, plus official logos!
• Headlight and tail light buckets
• Tinted window decals
• Polycarbonate rear wing
• Overspray film and pre-cut vinyl window masks make painting fast and simple
• A decal instruction sheet is included for decal placement
• The body has dimple marks for body post drill locations
• Molded from clear polycarbonate plastic for durability and long life

This is an officially licensed replica.