We just got word that the Anza LCG Chassis from the division of the Firelands RC guys is now shipping. We actually just saw it start to turn up at the local Hobby Town. So if you are drooling as much as we are, you might want to head over there and pick up a set!
Here are all the pics we posted before to give you a little reminder…
Head over to the ANZA RC website for more info.
You may remember a while back we handed out the Bash Vehicle of the Year award. Well it looks like The folks over at Thunder Tiger were pretty happy about it! Check out their awesome new ad! Click the ad for a larger version.
Congrats again to the Thunder Tiger folks on the MT4-G3! Want to get your hands on the Bash Vehicle of the Year? Ask your local shop, or head over to Tower Hobbies and type MT4 in the search box.
We get a LOT of emails asking when and where we are going to be, and even more saying ‘Aww man! If I knew you guys were gonna be there…’ So we thought we’d give everyone a heads up. This Saturday (Jan 28, 2012) Wrench, myself, and possibly 3DBill will be at the RaceWorld Raceway. My guess is we will arrive sometime after 4pm. We have a few things to test, and a a bunch of BigSquidRC stickers to give away, so if you are in the area, and feel like hanging out.. stop on by!
If Wrench and I aren’t cool enough for you, Cubby and uber Pro Driver Tim Mohr will be attending the St. Louis Auto Show also on Saturday (Jan 28, 2012). My guess is you will find them near the Ferrari’s or Booth babes. They plan on hanging out most of the day, and will get there early morning. I’ll see if I can talk Cubby into wearing a BSRC shirt to make him easier to spot.
Hope to see ya there! (comments on.. feel free to check in and let us know if you are planning on being in either spot.. or anywhere else doing RC)
New from Hitec is the X4-Eighty – Four Port Multicharger. The charger features four identical independent 80-watt power outputs. Each port is capable of charging all sorts of packs at up to 6 amps. So if you are looking to do LiPo or NiMH, and you need to charge a bunch of packs, this is the way to go.
Each output has a balancing port, the system has a twin fan cooling system, and is intended to be easy to use and program. Look for it to be available soon for around $170.
Make sure to hit the Hitec web site for more info.
New from Vampire Racing, based on their TYPE AB+ modified motors are their new BLOODLINE stock motors. They are available in 9.5T to 21.5T and are ready for action in offroad or onroad vehicles.
We haven’t tested any Vampire Racing products, but they sure win the coolest marketing/style award!
Check out the Vampire Racing website for more details.
shootouts
could you maybe do a 3s lipo shootout, possibly 5000mah? and could you do a newer lipo charger shootout? and then maybe a 2.8 monster truck tire shootout?
Johnathon E.
Cubby- For you readers out there, here’s just a sample of a typical “Would you please do an x/y/z shootout?” email. I’ll take a guess and say we receive 20 or so of these a week. Btw, we welcome each one of these, our shootouts are worthless if we are doing the wrong ones.
So John, could we do a 3S 5000, newer charger, and 2.8 Monster Truck shootout? Sure we “can”, but will we? Well… you’ll definitely be seeing a another Lipo shootout from us in the near future. I hear we are going to see how the Traxxas Lipo’s stack up to the comp this time which should make for some interesting reading. 
As far as another charger shootout… that one is still get’n pitched around the office, so I’ll give you a rock solid “maybe” on that one.
And lastly… while I’m not a Monster Trucker, a MT tire shootout sounds cool to me. Like… check’em to see which tire gives the best traction in mud, sand, pavement etc, and see which one lasts the longest etc. Sounds like a lot of fun to me, and hopefully very informative when finished, so who knows? Hit me back with a list of tires you’d like to see go head and head and we’ll see what we can pull off for ya.
hi guys i m from brasil,and my wife let me buy just one more rc….. i want this wiil be the best basher ,racer ,rtr. i think in this 3 models mt4 g3,hpi vorza,hpi savage flux. what do you think guys whats the better choice?
very thanks
Jonas T
Cubby- Thanks for the email Jonas, and I’m quite jealous you’re in Brazil this time of year.
First off, you wife doesn’t “let” you buy a new rc, you are a man therefore you go get what you want, when you want. When she comes home with with 3 pairs of new shoes you don’t complain, right? If she does have a problem with you buying a new rc car- come home with a new full size car the next time, that should help quiet her down a bit.
So you are gonna buy a new ride and your criteria are….
1. RTR
2. Best Basher/Racer’ between the Thunder Tiger MT4 G3, the HPI Vorza, and an HPI Savage Flux
This one is easy Jonas- While Thunder Tiger is the best basher of those three (IMO), the best basher/racer combined would have to go to the HPI Vorza. Why? The Vorza is a respectable bash machine, yet can throw down fast laps on the track. The Tiger Thunder owns the bashing arena, but would be several seconds a lap slower than the Vorza on the track. So go out and get yourself a new Vorza, it won’t disappoint. Put 4S in it if you are looking for really fast, go 6S if you are look’n for utterly stupid.
Very your welcome.
ECX Torment waterproofing
Hi, my name is Justin and i have an ECX Torment. My Torment is wonderful in every way but one. It isn’t waterproof. Now i know you guys do a lot of reviews and stuff but i was wondering if there was anyway to waterproof my truck. It isn’t very useful in the Chicago area in the winter because it would get wet and short circuit the esc and motor and other vital components. I was wondering if you could suggest anything that i could do to make it more waterproof. I really would like to drive it and not worry about it getting wet. Please email me back with idea’s or suggestions or solutions. Thank you
Justin F.
Cubby- Ya know Justin there are a lot of people in this predicament. Luckily Brian and Bill did a full write up on “Getting Ready for Winter Bashing”. Brian and Bill are both core bashers, so the article was written in a manner that (hopefully) everyone can easily understand and emulate. You can find this write-up in the HobbyTown USA on-line magazine called Hobby Outlook. HERE is the link, the article starts on page 18. If you follow the directions in our write-up your Torment will be ready for the worst conditions mother nature can throw at it.
But… personally I’d just run it without any prep. Why, LOL? Because it would give me the excuse to upgrade to new electronics as soon as the stock ones blow up. But that’s just the way I’m wired, LOL.
Either way, have fun with your Torment. Oh and Justin- I expect pics of your Torment buried in snow.
Your welcome.
YOUR Cub Reporter
So we finally got a chance to get some unboxing photo’s up of the Traxxas XO-1 supercar.
Sorry guys. Mandi wasn’t around for this one.
There are a TON more pictures after the break, so keep reading..
So I was just getting ready to take some pictures and unbox the new DuraTrax DXR8-E Buggy when a good friend of ours, Mandi stopped by the office. You may know her as she helps us out from time to time at events and stuff like that. It was perfect timing. I asked if she would mind ‘helping out’, but I’m not sure she knew I was just going to leave her out there. Sorry Mandi! Thanks for playing along though. As always.. everyone is always happy when you stop in the office to say hi!
Here are some pictures, and make sure to click the big video picture, or ‘read more’ to check out the full video and more pics!
Even more advanced that its predecessor, Schumacher’s Mi4CXL aims to be race winning and class leading. Durability has been improved over the Mi3 by using a tough Nickel-Teflon played shock bodies, an ultra lightweight front diff, and enlarged drive pins all around. A new sway-bar system keeps the “Soft Weave” carbon fibre chassis level, and many new 7075 aluminium parts keep overall weight incredibly low.
We’re only scratching the surface here. Check out the full list of specs on the Schumacher website!
If you’re into scale RC, then RC4WD probably sounds familiar to you. Their new Trail Finder 2 Kit offers some awesome features, such as a two-speed transmission, highly detailed bodywork and scale leaf spring suspension to name but a few. It comes with everything you need to get up and running, minus elecronics, including high-grip Mud Thrasher tires and a Mojave body kit. Being RC4WD, durable metal parts will last a lifetime, but a wide range of option and performance parts are also available.
Head over to the RC4WD Website for full details.
Losi Mini 8ight RTR Review
Dial King Squids phone,ring.. ring.. ring.. ring ring.. “This is Brian” “It’s 3DBill I’m at the field.. to windy to fly that tiny review plane.” Brian-”Hey I was gonna call you.. um you wanna review the Losi Mini 8ight?” Me – “Sure why not..” didnt have to twist my arm for that one. I’ve had the Losi Mini 8 since the first day it showed up at the shop! So how did it go? Let’s find out…
READ MORE
If you were lucky enough to attend the LA Supercross Saturday night you were treated to one heck of an EPIC 450 main event with Chad Reed lay’n down the smack on Dungey/Villopotto/Stewart. Reedy was on fire for the win, Dungey put in solid laps to finish second, RV2 crashed early but blasted through the pack to fourth, and Bubba has now crashed in all 3 main events of the 2012 season (but did end up 3rd on the podium).
Unfortunately… if you were at LA you also would have seen two of the sports finest riders get seriously injured (and some inappropriate behavior by Feld to keep the audience “pumped up” while the two downed riders were being carted off the track after the race was red flagged). On the first lap of the 450 main Ryan Morais and Trey Canard had a burly accident over the first triple, the worst I’ve ever seen at a Supercross. Ryan suffered fractures to his C1, C2, C6, C7, T1, jaw and ribs. Trey fractured his T10 and T12 and is said to be having surgery on Thursday. Both are reported to have feeling and movement in their extremities, but give’em a prayer if you can, they can use it. Injuries to those guys (and thousands of others each year) in full scale racing should also serve as a remind to all of us that we are indeed just racing toy cars and there is Never an instance to flip out on the drivers stand for ANY reason. If guys that put their lives on the line every time the gate drops can maintain their composure through rough days at the track, guys that have virtually nothing on the line should be all smiles and kittens, no matter how many times the local hack us out.
On a different note…
I heard Jeff’s 0/10 score on his RedCat review ignited some real “intense talk” on some of the message boards. Hey, that’s what the net is for, everybody expressing their opinion, good, bad, smart, dumb, or straight-up ugly. I haven’t read any of the threads dedicated to his review, heck, I have yet to read his review, LOL, all I know is what I heard about his testing around the office- the truck broke ALL THE FREAK’N time. Jeff would drive it, it would break, he’d wait for parts, then drive it a few more minutes and it would break again, and the ugly cycle would continue. I kept riding Jeff’s a$$ to post the review weeks ago after it broke the first few times, but Jeff insisted on giving it more time hoping the early breakage was just flukes (unfortunately they were not). Craig tested a couple RedCats that didn’t break a lot, but the unit Jeff performed like it was molded out of glass. BSRC doesn’t get paid a penny extra if a product is awesome or if it sucks, we are just here to report what happens when we drive’em, love it for hate it, that’s how it works around here.
Speaking of reviews… I hear this weeks Tuesday review is a recent Losi release, and that Brian, “Wrench” Bill and “3D” Bill absolutely, positively, gave it one of the most severe tests (read- unnecessary beatings) in the history of BSRC. Humm…. that should be fun to read, I am looking forward to that one myself.
I am not a fan of unboxing videos, most are simply way too long (read- BORING) and I just don’t have the time to waste. Brian isn’t a big fan of unboxing vids either, so that’s why we normally just do pics- you can view’em in a few seconds and get on with your day. Well… somebody (read- me!) came up with a wacky idea for an unboxing vid for the new Duratrax DXR8-E electric 8th scale “race” buggy. Look for it on Tues or Weds, LOL, it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
In product news….
Remember KO Propo? Ya, the company that used to put out popular high end transmitters? The KO name dipped out of the spotlight for a couple years, but they are back with an all new high end transmitter called the EX-1 K.I.Y. featuring a modular “customize it yourself” system. You can set the wheel high or low, you can adjust the angle of the display, there are both right and left hand versions, and you can even elect to use a stick for steering instead of a wheel. The styling is definitely for the Borg crowd, but I dig how it looks much better than their older EX-10 Eurus (which is looking quite dated now days). It’s sweet seeing some new competition for the uber transmitter crown, which at this point means going up against the Futaba 4PKS and Spektrum DX3R Pro. Also good to see I don’t have to attach my cell phone to it to use the uber features.
Speaking of cell phones on transmitters… Traxxas began shipping their XO-1 “supercar” to hobby shops last week. We’ll probably get ours sometime around October, that’s how much pull we have over at Traxxas, LOL. Does Traxxas just hate us that much, or do they know all we are going to do is jump it off the roof of the nearest 3 story building? Humm… I wonder…
Novak released info on some new rotors for their brushless motors that use Samarium Cobalt magnets instead of Neodymium. The Cobalt magnets can take higher temps than Neo, good news for you guys that like gearing your motors to the moon. If you are a basher the scoop is this- they are less prone to be damaged by heat, but aren’t quite as strong as the Neo units that typically come in brushless motors. If you are constantly overheating your motor and ruining your magnet/rotor, you’ll want to look into the new Novak rotors.
The good guys (and gals!) over at Pro Line announced Square Fuzzy tires are coming back with a vengeance ! Oh the sweet memories of races gone by where Square Fuzzies were absolutely glued to the track, can’t wait to lay my hands on some of the new ones.
Yes, that’s it for this week! Support your hobby, local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!
YOUR Cub Reporter
Traxxas has just announced some new aluminum hop up parts. These new parts are designed to add a little bling and durability to your Monster Jam Stampede Grave Digger Edition. The green aluminum parts will also fit many other Traxxas models like the Rustler, Stampede, Slash and Bandit. Parts include Caster blocks, Steering blocks, Stub Axle Carriers, Shock Caps and Axle nuts.
Hit the Traxxas site for more details.
Looking for even more green? Check out or recent Press from STRC, as they also just released a bunch of Green Aluminum hop-ups.
