Advantage Racing Products is now offering high quality air filters for many popular 1/8 Off-Road Buggies and Truggies. After several months of testing in a variety of conditions, they are very happy with the final product. These Air Filters provide an excellent balance of protection, performance, and cost. They come Pre-Oiled for the ultimate in convenience, and are also available dry for those who prefer to use their oil of choice. Available in packs of 4, 9, and 18 filters they are now available for the Losi 8ight/8ight-T, Serpent S811/S811T, Kyosho MP9 TKI2, Hot Bodies D8/D8T, Durango DNX408 and Mugen MBX6/MBX6T. They are currently working on filters for additional models and expect to have more available this spring.

Source: Advantage RP [advantageracingproducts.com]

We were taken into a quiet room and shown the new line of competition .21 engines from Salvatore Schepis called Bliss. Available as a 5 port version called F5 Buggy and a 7 port circuit motor called F7 Onroad with lightened and balanced crankshaft, the main new element of this engine is the CLC system. This patented design use a conical shim, similar to that used for mounting a flywheel, which allows for a quick and easy adjustment, or removal, of the carburetor by simply loosening two screws from the top. We can expect a release in March/April with a .12 on road engine to follow in the future.

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Austrian Novarossi distributor Hoeco have released a limited edition 9 port .21 on road engine called the ‘Volksmotor’. This engine comes with a sub €200 price range and features a 14mm lightened crankshaft, 8mm venturi as per EFRA rules and a 9 port liner for lots of top end power. Expect it to be available by the end of February.

Technical data:
Housing: Black with laser printing
Crankshaft: 14mm with silicon
Ball bearing: 25.4mm
Ports: 9
Piston: Die cast
Glow plug: 8TGH
Carburetor: 8mm insert (according to new EFRA rule)
Cooling head: 50mm with ‘Volksmotor’ laser engraved

Source: Hoeco [hoeco.at]

RB distributor RMV Deutschland have released information on the RB Blast V2 limited edition set. The square stroke engine features a 7+3 port ABC liner, multi-exhaust system, 9mm composite carburettor with 7mm venture insert, turbo glow plug and a 13mm nitride hardened and coated crankshaft. The 3.5cc engine is designed for competition use in both 1/8 scale buggies and truggies and comes including an engine protection kit and EFRA 2045 exhaust.

Source: Area52 [area52.cc]

The Buku Speed Tune clutch is the world’s first and only clutch for nitro RC vehicles that lets you independently tune the spring tension for each shoe without removing the motor or clutch bell. There is no need any more for pulling out the engine, breaking down your clutch, and picking a spring for each shoe. Each clutch shoe is equipped with a special Aramid fibre pad that is extremely wear resistant and that causes virtually no wear to the clutch bell. The extremely low wear rate and uniform friction characteristics of the Komposite fibre pads with no wear to the clutch bell create a very consistent and reliably performing clutch.

Source: Buku [bukupower.com]

JP Gimar and Brazilian importer ImpactRC have signed 2011 Brazillian Buggy  Brazillian GT national Champion Francisco Alcantara and 2011 Republic GP Champion Joao Paulo Fortes. Both driver will be running the JP Gimar Mig Dirt X and alongside their regional and national campaigns will also compete at the IFMAR World Championships later in the year in neighboring Argentina.

Source: ImpactRC [impactautomodelismo.blogspot.com]

BZM Micro have released their next level of engine innovation and tech, the 28.5TT (Torque Tune) which has been developed for the requirements of the new 4×4 Largescale cars now available. With the extra weight of the 4×4s you need more punch to get you going so they have moved the port diagram slightly to promote the engines torque lower down the rev range. They have also introduced a dome piston to the TT variant. They have also produced a Losi exhaust system which has been designed in association with VRC to their specification and which has some neat features exclusively available to to BZM Micro.

Source: BZM Micro [bzm-micro.com]

For the 2012 1/10-scale on-road season, the Orcan GT3 .12 engine from Germany’s SMI Motorsport is available in two specifications. The GT3-S MH is perfect for short or medium tracks, while the GT3-C MH is for medium and fast circuits. The S-spec engine offers enormous torque at low and medium revs, especially when the Orcan pipes 1915 or 1910 Plus are used. Both pipes are specially developed for the GT3 engine platform and have proven their performance over the years. Furthermore, the combination of GT3-S and these Orcan pipes gives really low fuel consumption, a race-winning factor in the 1/10-scale nitro racing category. The Orcan GT3-S, as usual hand-tuned by Michael Heinrich (MH), comes with a nine-ball steel bearing and an optimised carburetor with an integrated thermo socket. It offers an excellent value for money.

The C-spec engine is a high-end competition power unit with an immense amount of torque and a wide RPM range up to high revs. Especially when used in combination with the Orcan pipes 1915 or 1910 Plus, is perfectly suited to medium and big tracks, when lots of torque and maximum high speed is needed. To achieve high revs and maximum speed the GT3-C is equipped with a high-quality nine-ball ceramic bearing. The Orcan GT3-C MH, also hand-tuned by Michael Heinrich, comes with the optimised carburetor with an integrated thermo socket like the GT3-S, which guarantees easy adjustments and a steady run at all conditions.

The GT3 engine of Orcan, a product line of SMI Motorsport, has been launched one year ago as a replacement of the LR3. This .12 engine platform has been extremely successful over the years collecting numerous titles and victories, i.e. winning two European Championships, and is well-known for its superb driveability, low fuel consumption and long live-span.

Both engines, exclusively produced by Novarossi for SMI Motorsport, will be delivered in a handy Orcan multifunction bag and are already available.

Source: SMI [smi-motorsport.de]

A year after the release of BT5 engine from Orcan the .21 off-road engine has undergone further development and will be offered in an optimised version called BT5 Plus. Beside a couple of detailed improvements, the most important step comes from a new carburetor. A special idle needle screw makes the adjustment easier and also creates better response characteristics especially at low revs which is a very important aspect in off-road racing. Featuring five ports it comes with a combustion chamber for turbo plugs. As usual for Orcan engines, which are exclusively produced by Novarossi for SMI Motorsport, the BT5 Plus power plant comes in a handy Orcan multifunction bag.

Source: SMI [smi-motorsport.de]

After the introduction of the B-218 in 2011, Bullitt engines are happy to introduce the new B-216 to the range for 2012. The B-216 offers level of performance that we believe can’t be matched at anything close to this price point in the market. Tested extensively by the Bullitt team drivers, performance, economy and reliability of the B-216 have proven to be the equal, or better than engines costing far more. Of course quality is of the highest priority and by using the same world leading Japanese engine manufacturer, the B-216 gives nothing away to its big brother the B-218.

Source: Bullitt [nemoracing.com]