French company RB Products have been busy in the lead up to the toy fair with what is essentially a completely revamped line of engines, most getting new names and others update looks, while there are also some completely new motors too. The buggy engines are getting a new cooling head that is 17% lighter than the previous versions, while for all sizes and types there is a competition and sports line.
Italian brand Sirio, and Andrea Rossi, were located in hall 7A and while the majority of their range stays the same, they have the newest evolution of their XXX S12 that TQ’d the World Championships in Portugal last summer. The motor has a new crankcase, updated timing and has the same lightened head as well as a new blue anodised carburettor venturi. It should be on the market in 3 months.
Max Power, the brand of Worlds and European top qualifer Massimo Fantini were located on the Serpent booth and he was showing his entire range of engines, only one of which was new for the show, having already covered his previously releases prior to the fair. The XXL3 .12 engine is claiming the first ever balanced crankshaft for an engine of this size and has been achieved by inserting a weight into the correct place of the crank bell and then further hard coating the final piece. Max were also showing off their new 2649 pipe for use with their touring engines, that has been optimised for use with the new EFRA rules that require the engines to be fitted with an INS box for the first time.
Japanese firm KO Propo had a stand here at the show, displaying their full range of radios and servos including their new releases. The company has 3 new intermediate level servos, the PDS 2345 ICS, PDS 2511 ICS & PDS 2512 ICS, the former being a high speed servo suitable for Toruing cars, and other similar applications, and features a metal and hybrid gear set, meaning one of the main gears is plastic with a metal centre, so it is lighter but the smallest gear that could be prone to stripping is much stronger. The 2511 and 2512 are semi low profile servos, with more torque than the 2345 and have full metal gears, meaning they are suitable for use in buggies.
Dutch manufacturer Corally had a number of new items on their stand, including the RDX Phi 09 (they scrapped the Phi 2 name), which we brought you the first pictures off back during the DHI Cup in Denmark at the beginning of January. The car has fully adjustable roll centres on both the top and bottom wishbones, a higher top deck and new bulkheads to allow the higher capacity LiPo packs to be easily fitted. Other new features include the stronger differential they released late last year, longer steering arms, new steering lever for better Ackermann. The car shown is the foam version, with a rubber version following soon and expect a number of current plastic items to be available in optional aluminium soon after the cars release at the end of March.
Seen on the stand of Swiss Team Magic distributor HRC was the new tentitively named G4 Two, a new platform based on the double European Championship winning G4. It features a lightweight transmission with super small diameter front and rear differentials, a new clutch and a new 2-speed system. This car has been developed in collaboration between the Italian distributors Electronic Dreams, who work closely with European Champion Dario Balestri, and Team Magic and this prototype is the result and we are told is in no way the final version.
World Champions Picco Micromotori are present, and are one of the only RC manufacturers to not be in the hall 7A. They are showing off their new .12 engine, the Evo 4, which has been completely revamped with a new crankcase, cranksahft, conrod and liner, with the liner having its ports raised by 0.2mm to help deliver more torque. The crankpin has also been modified to be smaller, which allows the conrod to have more material around the conrod bushing to improve durability.
Located on the Kyosho booth, as was the case last year, Team Orion have been displaying their latest and greatest wares. While the electric motors remain pretty much un altered from last year, their new engine line has been completely revamped with the new Alpha line joining the previous CRF engine to complete a formidible gas powered line up. On display is some of the new Alpha line including the ABI (Adrien Bertin Influenced) versions which will include the lighter cooling heads and some other extras.
