Team Associated have announced the release of some new parts for the RC8 and RC8T. Starting with these big bore shocks, they are available for both the front and rear of the car and come with hard anodized, threaded 16mm aluminum shock bodies. Extra-large shock bladders allow full volume compensation, while together with the heavy-duty 4mm stainless steel shafts the shocks provide increased stability in rough sections as well as providing softer landings on big jumps. Also new are some handy tools which will make your 16mm Big Bore shock adjustments a snap. Finally for both cars are these new clutch shoes made from durable and hard 2024 alloy that claim to extend the life of your clutch. The harder material will last longer between rebuilds and maintenance, which equates to more time on the track.
Features
- The aluminium shock body is precision CNC-machined on the world’s most precise German long-turn CNC machine and every piece is robotically-inspected and measured to ensure maximum precision and tolerance. This is especially important with the inner diameter of the shock body to ensure that each one has an identical inner diameter to guarantee ultra-free shock piston movement.
- The aluminium shock body is machined from exclusive Swiss 7075 T6 aluminium ensuring maximum strength and rigidity. The shock bodies are black hard coated using Xray’s own fully robotic colour coating line with purpose-mixed colour fluids, ensuring a very even layer of colour coating is applied to each shock body. After the coating process, every shock body is manually checked with high-precision callipers to ensure that the inner diameter of each shock body is exactly within the very stringent tolerances.
- The shock cartridge has been designed for self-centring shim(s) to hold silicone O-rings, guaranteeing perfect alignment in the shock body. A finely-threaded aluminium shock lower cap secures the silicone O-rings and shims in the shock body.- Finely-threaded spring pre load collars are used to make ride height quick and easy. Even in very dirty conditions it is still possible to very precisely adjust ride height.
- The upper aluminium cap features a small vent hole which makes shock assembly very predictable and easy, since excess shock oil will escape through this vent hole ensuring that the proper amount of the oil remains inside the shock assembly. A super-soft silicone membrane – supported by a miniature foam pad (inserted inside the membrane) – provides proper dampening characteristics.
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Yokomo is preparing a new touring car for the Worlds in August 2008 in Thailand. The Yokomo team has already made some runs with a couple of prototypes. Shown on the picture above is the most recent touring car prototype from Yokomo. This prototype has a new top-deck, rear hubs, steering rack, arms and suspension mounts. Masami had run this car recently at the Reedy Race of Champions in the invitational class and finished second.
Team Azarashi have announced that they have become the worldwide distributor for the new MID44 conversion set, available for Team Associated B44. Created by Olivier Langlet, the set is designed to make the car smoother to drive with the motor now mounted further forward and the batteries not so far to the rear. The kit mainly consists of a new chassis plate and the 2 upper plates, and by switching the front and rear CVA’s, all the other parts are re used from the stock car.
Xray have released some 10° alu caster blocks for the XB808, which are CNC-machined from premium Swiss 7075 T6 aluminum and hard coated for extra durability and long life. Ultra-strong construction provides very long life and durability in even the most extreme racing conditions. These lightweight blocks feature ‘zero kingpin’ suspension geometry and the pre-set 10° caster block is integrated and non-adjustable. Combined with the XB808 front kick-up of 10° this block gives a total caster angle of 20° for increased steering and precision.
Central RC have announced the release of these 2 new GP touring car wings from East, makers of the East Civic released a short while ago. The R-spec wing comes in 2 versions with spec 1 being better at high speeds and in fast corners, this very rigid wing also helps on corner exit. The spec 2 wing (seen above) gives better corner entry and offers more grip and stability on corner exit.
The JConcepts J82 Challenge will take place as an exhibition class at the ROAR Offroad Electric Nats at Hot Rod Hobbies in California this summer. If you think you can really wheel an RC Car, JConcepts wants you to win big, J82 big! You could win the big prize! Drivers are invited to enter the J82 class at the Nationals, August 13-17, 2008, to compete in the exhibition 1/8th Electric 2wd class, the winner will receive an American Express gift card courtesy of JConcepts.
Tamiya introduces the next generation of the high performance shaft driven car. The TB Evolution V MS is an evolved and updated version of the Evo V. It has some parts similar to the the belt driven TRF416 and also some new parts like the aluminum rear bulkhead. The Evo V MS won't replace the current TRF416. The Evo V MS is specially made for the stock class. The shaft drive gives direct torque, instant power and less drag. This is perfect for the stock class, but can give you some torque steer with the Modified technology.
Caster Racing have officially announced the first production electric powered 1/8 scale buggy. Shown on this site a number of weeks ago, the Fusion EX-1R was entirely designed in the United States by fellow racers and engineers. The goal of Caster Racing was to be able to incorporate as many existing parts from the ZX-1R Nitro version so that it would simplify ordering parts for customers and the ability for hobby stores to carry less skus. The expected release date is June 5th for the sport version, that will be almost ready to run, while the team kit version will be available shortly afterwards with a truggy version following.
The vision of Caster Racing is to bring affordable, race competitive 1/8 scale products to market. With the rising costs of fuel, the slow world wide conversion to green environmentalism and simplicity of new electronic technology, the Caster Fusion line meets all these goals and we hope that as a result we can help bring additional customers to our hobby. Expected street price will be around $400.
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Tamiya have announced the upcoming release of a new thicker chassis plate for their TRF416 touring car. Made from 2.5mm thick carbon fibre, it is super stiff and ideal for high grip condition such as carpet racing. The chassis also features Tamiya’s air duct system for cooling the motor. Available at the end of June.
Merging the design philosophies of real world GP race bikes and RC models, the GPV-1 represents Venom Group’s most ambitious project in its seven year company history. After passing Venom’s intensive design and development program, the bike hits the market featuring a combination of scale realism with composite materials and high performance handling not usually found in a ready to run model of this size or price category. Venom designed the GPV-1 around a hybrid carbon glass chassis structure that offers fine tuning of suspension while lending a compact low centre of gravity for easy handling. With the Venom VR3T 3-Channel radio transmitter in hand, experts and beginners alike are able to immediately take control of the motorcycle and drive it with confidence
To me, gluing tires is about as much fun as going in the backyard and picking up Buster poo. For a few of you, it's a Zen-like experience that's very calming. To you, I say NUTZ! Over time, and watching the pros glue tires, I've discovered ways to prep tires and rims to make the art of gluing tires easier. Since that boss editor of mine has asked me to share what I've learned, I'm biting the bullet and heading out to the shop to give you tips on wheel gluing and prep. But first, let me do my other favorite thing and head out to the backyard!
Alien Power have released a range of matched EP4600 cells, suitable for all racing applications. Voltage enhanced using their proprietary voltage increasing system that permanently alters the internal structure of the cell, resulting in increased voltage and lower internal resistance. The cycling and matching is done on the latest state of the art computerized equipment that is continuously monitored and calibrated at scheduled intervals to ensure that you are receiving the most accurately matched cells available.
