hsw21

Guys...
I was racing with Tamiya about 2 decades ago (1/10 buggy), and won several race.
Now I'm coming back to the RC scene, but dont see Tamiya buggy on the race anymore.
Also read a lot of thing saying they can not compete with other brand name like Losi, Associated, etc.
Is this true or people just dont use Tamiya for other reason (maybe Tamiya was not doing promotion enough, or people just know other brands, etc) ?
I read an article on the RC magazine (I forgot which one) which a guy ask if he can use his Duratrax buggy for racing, and the mags say yes.
Any answer for this before I buy any RC yet ?
Thank you

hsw21

Tolano

i dont know anything about tamiya cars, but from what i see the main contenders are losi and associated.

aero528

My Feedback: (9)

well, i have alwasy thought of tamiya as a great plastic modle maker. i have no experiance with there rc products but i think of them as more of a toy rc producer(even though they have some good cars and trucks) idk why i think of them as this. i really lik their tnx, though. just a thought.

co_alpine

My Feedback: (35)

I am new to the RC car world, but a good friend of mine that has a hobby store had been dragging me in. from what he told me Tamiya just dose not have the options (hop up parts) that you can find as easily for cars like X-ray, Team Assos., ect...
from what I found there is nothing really !QUOT!wrong!QUOT! with them, just not may part to stay competitive.

drevil

My Feedback: (5)

For the most part Tamiya cars tend to be more user friendly and newbie friendly but again for the most part aren't made for racing. For a while Tamiya was a pretty good contender when the electric touring car craze was starting out but it seems as though they have been left in the dust by HPI, Associated, etc.
If i were to get an r/c for a newbie that wanted to put their own kit together i would definately go with a Tamiya kit, but as for racing most of their stuff...especially the offroad buggy stuff....can't compete.

Tigger N. Bennie

I like my Tamiya.



It also appears that Tamiya took 1st & 2nd, as well as TQ'd, the Monster Madness Race
[link=http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=48]TNX Wins the 2004 Monster Madness Race[/link]

hsw21

Yeah, thats what I wanna know, why they cant compete ?
Just beacuse the hop up parts are not widely available like other brands ?
Or because of the performance ? (I mean maybe even with full hop ups, still sucks).
Or people just never think of Tamiya when they race 1/10 buggy?
Or people just not brave enough to use it (if it actually can win like other brand) ?
I even email Tamiya directly, but of course they will not have the "right" answer for this, so they just didnt reply to me.

Let say I show up on the track (1/10 buggy) with Tamiya buggy to race, what will happen ?
People will laugh at me ? And when we race, I WILL be lose for sure ?

Thx guys,
Im trying to make a scene here, just really looking for an answer because Im a Tamiya lover and trying to make a come back to RC buggy scene. Of course if all the answer are reasonable and make sense, I will not hesitate to switch to other brand that people normally use for this kind of race.

hsw21

Gizmo420

I like Tamiyas. However for a company that made Bruisers/Sandrail back in the day you would think that they would be more on top of it these days. Why did they rerelease the Clod w/o upgrading and modernizing it(bearings & real oil shocks at the very least)[sm=confused.gif]. I wish I was the head of the rc division at Tamiya sometimes. [:@]

HighGs

My Feedback: (1)

I was sorta in the same boat a little while ago. I had raced every now and then in the 90's and wanted to get back into the sport. I'm partial to Kyosho buggies (loved the old Optima Mid series), so of course I wanted to go with a Kyosho buggy. I ended up getting a Kyosho Ultima Type R buggie. I love the way it looks, and the way it handles (it's also nice to show up to a track with something besides a Losi or Associated)

BUT.......

It is really difficult to find parts if something breaks on it. The track carries parts for the Losi's and Associated's, but if I need a part, it's a special order to get the new part. Not only that, but the parts are more expensive than the Losi or Associated. Unless I keep a bundle of parts with me at all times (which is expensive) if I do wreck, I'm done for the night. What I'm doing now is racing in the stock class, so that if I do wreck, since I'm not going so fast, (hopefully) I won't break anything.

On the other hand, I have seen some hop up parts for Tamiya buggies (shocks, differentials, etc) that Tamiya makes.

It's true that Tamiya buggies don't have the adjustment capabilities that the other makes do, but you can still have fun racing them! A buddy of mine just bought a Tamiya Dirt Thrasher off of eBay. We went to the track to practice and I tell you what, he had a blast! He let me take a turn at the wheel and even though the tires were practically bald, it was a TON of fun!!! Another plus about the Tamiyas is that they are durable-all that heavy plastic comes in handy for something. That Dirt Thrasher took some huge hits against the wall and was uninjured.

In my opinion, if you want the convenience of being able to get replacement parts and other hop-up parts easily, your best bet would probably be to go with a Losi or Associated buggy.

If you go with the Tamiya brand (like I did with the big K) more power to you. As long as you're having fun in the sport, that's all that really matters!

Good luck with your decision!!!

Selfdestruct

My Feedback: (2)

i think tamiya got away from building the smaller scale offroad racing platforms. they are however a top contender in 1/10 scale touring car with their TRF-415 and EVO IV models winning races in europe & asia.

rc car CRAZY

nothings wrong with them. too sum them up in 1 word. basic.
no camber ajustments and stuff like that.

ben

Tigger N. Bennie

Try the F1 if you want adjustments. However, I'd replace the stock linkages to make it a little easier.

odawg

not competative... no adjustment... can anyone say trf415?

EdsWords

Tamiya seems to be focused on the 1/10 scale electric on road cars and the TXT? nitro monster truck. Their electric off road offerings are great for the back yard but not much for the track.

If you are going to be racing just get the Losi or Associated vehicles. They are currently the state of the art when it comes to electric off road racing.

Tigger N. Bennie

See Post 6 for the link to the "TNX" winning the 2004 Monster Madness Race.

Savage_Dias

The TNX isn't a typical Tamiya product. The Terra Crusher was closer to what Tamiya usually puts out but it wasn't the best of choices IMO for racing. I took a long look at a TNX at our LHS several weeks ago & I was impressed but for racing, I would've quickly chosen a MGT or Revo over the TNX. Tamiya is the best at building scale looking R/Cs. They're decently tough but most of their R/Cs aren't built for racing.

zericon

I For one love all Tamiya cars and trucks... You will have a hard time killing any of there current models. As for racing, i've tried before to race a king cab with a rc10t2 the king cab one but was/is highly modified. and the off road track was pretty short.I'm sure i could never win on a long track against an rc10t4...