To celebrate the 80th anniversary of their company, Japanese nitro engine makers O.S. have introduced the Speed 21 XZ-B Spec.II Gold Edition engine. Based on the standard Spec.II the limited edition engine features a gold-anodised cooling head with black-colour lettering. Limited to 100 pieces World-wide the Gold Edition engine is available separately or including a Japan-made EFRA 2042 T-2060SC pipe.
Source: O.S. Engines [os-engines.co.jp]
Coming from Arrowmax are limited edition 7th anniversary tools in a special bi-colour anodising. Based on the company’s popular Honeycomb tools the wrenches sport black and gold anodised handles to make them stand out from the crowd. Hardened and specially anodised tool tips reduce wear with the range including 1.5mm to 3.0mm hex wrenches, 2.0mm and 2.5mm ball hex wrenches, 5.5mm and 7.0mm nut drivers as well as a body reamer and the multi shock clamp V2. A limited edition run the tools are available only as 10-piece combo set including a zipped, reinforced tool bag.
Horizon Hobby have introduced an ultra light bodyshell for the TLR 22 3.0 2WD buggy. Moulded from thinner polycarbonate material than the standard kit item the body is meant to scrub a good amount of weight for improved performance especially in Stock classes while the overall lower centre of gravity can also be beneficial when running on high-bite surfaces. Included in the set are the pre-cut body and rear wing, an add-on rear fin as well as mounting hardware, pre-cut window masks and a decal sheet.
Source: TLR [tlracing.com]
Coming from Roche and made for their Rapide F1-16 formula car are an aluminium main chassis and lower pod plate. Both parts are machined from 7075-T6 aluminium, they come gun metal anodised and are made to reduce the chassis flex for improved performance and a more stable and easier to drive car on medium to high-bite tracks. Both parts are available separately and they become available by end of April.
For those that are running Xray’s XB2 Dirt Edition 2WD off-road buggy in less-than-ideal conditions, Bezerk RC have introduced two new option parts to fine-tune the buggy for lower grip and bumper track conditions. First up is a 2.5mm carbon fibre chassis that provides a healthy weight saving for Stock racers coming in at 87g while providing some extra flex if track conditions call for it. Also new is a lower tower to add much needed droop to the rear. This increases rear cornering grip and aids in bump handling ability. The tower has been lowered 5mm and geometry corrected so the shock angles remain the same. Made from 4.0mm carbon fibre the tower also looks good while adding strength at the same time. Other heights are also available for those that are in need of in-between sizing.
View the rear shock tower here
Spec-R have two new carbon fibre upper decks for the Xray T4’16 available. Coming in a stiffer 2.0mm and more flexible 1.5mm variant the top decks help to fine-tune the flex characteristics of the car especially when running an aluminium main chassis. The separately available top plates are cut from high-quality carbon fibre and a direct replacement for the stock parts.
Source: Spec-R [spec-r.com]
Coming from Samix and made for Tamiya’s TRF418 and TRF419 touring cars is a floating steering system. The design revolves around a redesigned floating servo mount that also houses the steering bellcrank posts for improved flex of the chassis’ front section. Removing the steering posts from the chassis also erases chassis influences on the steering angle in corners, making for a more consistent steering feeling, an easier to drive car and more on-power steering. Included in the set come servo mount parts, new blue anodised alloy steering posts, servo mounting washers and mounting hardware.
Japanse company SMJ have released first official images of their forthcoming CX11 1/10th electric touring car kit. Based on a “Coke bottle”-shaped 2.25mm carbon fibre main chassis for optimised flex characteristics the design also uses a minimum of screws to reduce the overall weight and make for easy maintenance and setup. Different from today’s touring cars the CX11 features bulkhead-mounted suspension holders to minimise tweak issues and to make for a more natural flex of the chassis. Composite inserts allow for toe and anti-squat adjustments and the kit furthermore features an integrated steering and floating servo mount, dual joint front driveshafts, short big bore shock absorbers, hard compound A-arms and hubs, a specially shaped front bumper ideal for Protoform’s LTC-R bodyshell and the kit is rounded out by a genuine Axon TCS 64 pitch 112T spur gear. The kit is meant to kit stores this Spring.
