Big Squid RC » Tamiya

Tamiya Agrios 4×4 TXT-2 Monster Truck Kit

Tim Mohr — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:39:56 +0000

Tamiya has a long history of putting out monster trucks for the bashing crowd, their latest is the Agrios 4×4 TXT-2. The Agrios is a twin motored, 4×4 monster truck that comes as a kit, allowing you to build it properly and install your own electronics. You can even add a second servo to the rear axle for 4 wheel steering, just like full scale monster trucks have. Four link suspension and solid axles give it a true monster truck appeal.

Part number for the Agrios is #58549, street price is $499, and they are expected to start hitting hobby shop shelves in late May. Hit up THIS LINK for more information on the Agrios on the official Tamiya website.

How about reading more Tamiya news? Check out THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Tamiya 14th Scale Mercedes-Benz Actros 1851 GigaSpace Kit

Tim Mohr — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:34:03 +0000

Here is a unique new kit from Tamiya, the 14th Scale Mercedes Benz Actros 1851 GigaSpace. To go for the most detailed body possible, Tamiya molded the body out of ABS plastic. Another cool feature of the GigaSPace is its 3 speed transmission. This rig will not only look trick pulling your other rc cars around, but more than one BSRC bash crew member has already started planning on mounting up monster truck and/or crawling tires on it. Some of its other features and specifications include-

* Scale: 1/14 scale
* Construction type: Kit
* Drive-train: 2-axle semi
* Drive type: gearbox
* Drive line: solid axle
* Differential type: gear
* Suspension: leaf spring
* Steering mechanism: bell-crank
* Shock damper: friction damper
* Shock damper material: aluminum
* Tire type: rubber
* Body material: ABS Plastic
* Chassis material: plastic
* LED Light buckets: yes
* LED lights: no
* Motor: 540-brushless type
* Bearings: metal bushings
* Fixed- Camber, toe, wheelbase, shock angles
* Adjustable gear ratio: 3-speed transmission
* Special feature 1: Length: 458mm, Width: 195mm, Height: 305mm.
* Special feature 2: Ladder frame chassis can be linked with a semi-trailer via coupler.
* Special feature 3: Highly-realistic suspension recreated with metal leaf springs and friction dampers.
* Special feature 4: Built-in differential gears enable smooth cornering.
* Special feature 5: LEDs can be used to accurately recreate the truck’s front and rear lights. (Sold Separately)
* Special feature 6: Float-mounted die-cast front axle and reinforced resin rear axle.
* Requires: Battery, charger, 4 channel radio, ESC, tools, and paint
* Part #56335

Retail price is listed at $660 and they are due to hit hobby shops later this month. Hit up the official Tamiya Website for more information.

Looking for even more Tamiya news? BigSquidRC has more right HERE.

Tamiya Volkswagen Golf Mk.1 Racing Group 2

Tim Mohr — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:03:33 +0000

Tamiya is re-releasing another fan favorite, the Volkswagen Golf Mk.1 GR 2 (part #84316). First available in the early 80′s, the latest Golf version comes with their M-05 chassis. The M-05 is a front wheel drive chassis that will certainly make driving the latest Tamiya a blast. We have not received any word on a price point or a release date here in the states, but check out the official Tamiya Website for more information on their other fine products.

Can’t get enough Tamiya news? Check out THIS link right here on BigSquidRC.

Tamiya Booth Toy Fair 2013

Tim Mohr — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:30:25 +0000

The crew at Tamiya had a large booth at the 2013 Nuremberg Toy Fair to showcase all their rc products. From Ferrari F1 cars to their new Farm King Wheelie tractor, Tamiya has something for everyone. Igor shot a bunch of pictures of their booth, take a look at them in the gallery below.

Check out the official Tamiya Website for more information, and hit THIS link to view all our Nuremberg show coverage right here on BigSquidRC.

Tamiya Formula 1 Ferrari F2012 – F104 Kit

Tim Mohr — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:47:47 +0000

So what if Alonzo came up a little short in the title chase last year. So what if the hardcore Ferrari fans (tifosi) deemed the stepped nosed F2012 one of the ugliest F1 cars of all time.

It’s not often that you can get your hands on such a wonderfully done scale replica of last years Ferrari F1 car, complete with Alonzo behind the wheel. Thanks to the good folks at Tamiya, their new Ferrari F2012 F1 car will not only be amazingly fast at the local bash spot, but it will make you stop and marvel at its striking looks every time you walk by it in the garage. I am personally a huge Ferrari fan (so is Cubby), so I can see a couple of these sitting in the BigSquidRC offices Really soon!

* Scale: 1/10th
* Construction type: kit
* Terrain use: on-road
* Drive-train: 2WD RWD
* Drive type: pinion to spur gear
* Drive line: solid axle
* Differential type: ball pressure plate
* Suspension: independent front/solid axle rear
* Steering mechanism: direct servo
* Shock damper: friction damper, plastic bodies
* Tire type: rubber, slick tread
* Body material: Clear Polycarbonate
* Motor type: 540-brushed type
* Bearings: metal bushings
* Chassis material: FRP
* Adjustable camber: yes
* Adjustable toe angles: front only
* Adjustable ride height: yes
* Adjustable gear ratio: yes
* Fixed: wheelbase, width, and shock angle
* Requires: 7.2 battery, charger, paint, esc, radio gear, servo
* Part ##58559

This Ferrari only packs an MSRP of $320, and its expected release date is mid-February. For more information, hit THIS link for the official Tamiya USA website.

Looking for more Tamiya news on BigSquidRC? Check it out right HERE.

New- Tamiya Farm King Wheelie Kit (WR-02)

Tim Mohr — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:30:48 +0000

Looking for something a bit different? Are you a big fan of popping wheelies? Maybe you are into farm implements? The very latest from the crew over at Tamiya is their Farm King Wheelie kit. This is an electric 2wd that is based off the popular WR-02 platform that was first introduced on the Wild Willy 2. Some of the key features and specs for the Farm King include-

* Scale: 1/10th
* Construction type: assembly kit
* Terrain use: multi-purpose
* Drive-train: 2WD RWD
* Drive line: dog bone
* Differential type: gear
* Suspension: fully independent double wishbone
* Shock damper: friction damper, plastic bodies
* Tire type: rubber chevron
* Body material: polycarbonate
* ESC: included, TEU-105BK
* Motor type: 540-brushed type
* Bearings: plastic bushing
* Chassis material: plastic
* Adjustable toe angles: front only
* Adjustable ride height: yes
* Fixed- gear ratio, wheelbase, width, shock angle, camber
* Special features: Includes wheelie bar and driver figure, pre-assembled gearbox
* Requires: radio gear, servo, receiver, paint, battery, charger
* Part #58556

The Farm King has an MSRP of $250 with an expected release date of sometime in February. Check out the official Tamiya Website for more information.

We have more Tamiya news right HERE on BigSquidRC.

Tamiya RC Soccer Video

Tim Mohr — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:50:21 +0000

Playing rc soccer is a popular way of bashing with your buddies here in the states, but from this video it looks like the Tamiya guys have taken it to a whole new level overseas. As seen in this video, goals with actual nets are used, and the field itself looks in pristine condition. Now if we can just get Brian to put a field like that in one of our back offices.

Want more information on all of Tamiya’s fine products? Hit up their official website right HERE. Looking for more Tamiya news here on BigSquidRC? THIS is the link you want.

Tamiya Fighter Buggy SV – DT02

Tim Mohr — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:28:02 +0000

The crew over at Tamiya have recently announced their new entry level off-road buggy, the Fighter Buggy SV – DT02. This 2wd electric 10th scale buggy isn’t some high end race machine, rather it is intended for entry level drivers or general bashing. Some of the features and specs include-

* Kit that requires assembly
* Gear differential
* Fully independent double wishbone suspension
* Bell crank steering
* Plastic bodied oil filled shocks
* Clear polycarbonate body
* TEU-105BK ESC
* 540-brushed type motor
* Shielded ball bearings
* Composite chassis
* Adjustable camber
* Adjustable front toe
* Adjustable ride height
* Adjustable shock angle
* Requires: 7.2 battery & charger, radio gear, servo, receiver, polycarbonate paint
* Part #58553

Expect a street price of about $150 with an availability date of November. For more information click THIS link for the official Tamiya USA website.

Looking for even more Tamiya news? THIS is the link you want.

Tamiya New Releases for the TT-01 Platform

Manny — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 03:38:44 +0000

Tamiya has had good success with its TT-01 Shaft Driven 4WD system and they are pushing out some nice new body combos.

XB Subaru Impreza WRX STI

Subaru BRZ

Subaru BRZ R&D Sport

Volkswagen Golf 24

The kits usually require a Radio and a Servo but can be usually had for nicely under 200 bucks so you can build it the way you want. I am thinking we need to pick up a bunch of these and start a spec class running a 17.5 or 13.5 motor/esc combo?

Tamiya… Tamiya… Tamiya…. Tamiya…

ASK Cub Reporter, 09.06.2012, Version: Me BS’n My Way Through Your Questions

Cubby — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:09:54 +0000

I’m not bashing your test in fact I found it very interesting. But I’m curious why in the weight test the lightest battery was given the better score. In general I’ve found the heavier battery with similar Mah almost always is the better performer. Your overall test results seem to bear this out.

Thanks Scott

Cubby- Yo what’s up Scott and thanks for taking the time to shoot us an email.

I’ve answered this question a couple other times, but it has been a while since I’ve done it, so here’s the scoop-age.

Why is the lightest battery given the highest score in the weight category of our Lipo battery shootouts? To really, really, really boil it down- before we did our first shootout I went back and forth with a number of lithium battery industry guru’s about criteria to use be used in the shootouts. To help determine the criteria we posed this question amongst ourselves, “If we were to be given a blank sheet of paper and could design the ultimate battery pack from the ground up, what factors would we consider important?”. After literally months of emails, weight was deemed one of those “important” factors, and therefore it became a category in our shootouts.

Personally, if I were designing a new “ultimate” pack from the ground up I’d want it to put out more voltage than any other pack on the market, AND I’d want it to be the lightest. This gives the best possible power to weight ratio, and if you are racing, this would allow you put extra weight at a different spot on the chassis for better handling.

Now, to get back to the real world, often times the Lipo batteries that put out the highest voltages are heavier than those that put out less power. This is due to the pack interns being beefier, thus allowing better electron flow and less internal resistance. But, and there is always a but, that is NOT always the case. For example, in our Lipo Shootout #4, the Orion pack was the third lightest out of the seven packs tested, yet it put out higher voltage under a 60 amp load than any other pack in our shootout. So… if we were to change and award maximum points to the heaviest pack in the weight category, it is entirely possible that the heaviest pack could have poor voltage under load, thus resulting in a piss poor power to weight ratio. A heavy and slow pack is not the type of pack we want finishing well in one of our shootouts, we want the “ultimate” type of pack to excel- fast AND light. Yes, we want to have our cake and eat it too.

Hey Cubby
Does it mean where I race rc has made the big time if one of our layouts was placed into VRC video game/ race simulator???
P.S. Racing is held on Thursday and Saturday, free bashing during rest of the week,,LOL! Keep up the good work
Thanks
Doug B.
Dallas TX

Cubby- Good for you and your local track. I tried VRC at a trade show years ago, it was quite horrible at the time, but I’ve been a bit intrigued to give it another try since they added short course trucks to their mix.

So has the place you race at made the “big time”? I am gonna say no, mainly because I have no idea what track you race at. Regardless, shoot Brian your snail mail so you can go blasting around your local track with some new BigSquidRC stickers on your rig.

Hey,
I just signed the petition for the next evolution of monster truck (TXT-2) and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name. Our goal is to reach 2,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here: (URL omitted by me- Cubby)
Thanks!
Darryl M.

Cubby- So…. you are wanting me to sign a petition in an attempt to get Tamiya to fix all the little issues on the TXT? Seriously?

First off- isn’t mod’n out a TXT and fixing all its issues part of its appeal?

Secondly- why not petition Tamiya to bust out an all new, precisely scaled, solid axle, fully licensed monster truck? I was quite disappointed when Traxxas started putting out licensed monster trucks on their 2WD Stampede platform. I mean, I want to buy an old school Stampede about as much as I want Area 955 to start playing “Call Me Maybe” 24/7. But… I would totally buy a perfectly scaled Tamiya solid axle monster truck (as would a LOT of people).

Anywhos, good luck with your petition, you are gonna need it.

That’s it for this week ya bunch of juggalos, shoot me your emails, queries, pasties, and old baby teeth to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com. If your letter makes the big time on the front page you’ll get free stickers, if I pick yours as letter of the month you get a totally uber Asian knock-off BSRC t-shirt.

YOUR Cub Reporter