Former World Champion Robert Batlle has announced his much anticipated departure from Mugen, a combination that triumphed at the 2012 IFMAR 1:8 Buggy World Championships in Argentina. The Spaniard’s announcement ends a lengthy and fruitful 12-year stint with the Japanese manufacturer. Batlle made the announcement on his Facebook page in an open message to Mugen.
Read Batlle ‘Letter to Mugen’ here
Yokomo is now offering their successful BD11 in a new American-spec chassis kit equipped with a new hard aluminium main chassis. The 2mm-thick high-strength aluminium main chassis is a solid spec, with no cutting of any parts to reduce weight. The strength of the chassis improves stability and lowers the centre of gravity, making it ideal for the ultra high-grip surfaces found in American indoor racing. It optimises steering response for smooth driving and prevents high-sides caused by over-grip. The US aluminium chassis version also features suspension tuning to match the rigidity of the main chassis, with 2.1-2.4 progressive springs installed in the front and 1.3mm front and rear sway bars made of a new material. In addition, a new rear belt tensioner has been installed to prevent the belt from jumping teeth during sudden acceleration, making it possible to be fully prepared for driving on high-grip surfaces.
Following the recent launch of their much applauded new GT1, a car that was conceived as starting point for bringing new people into RC racing, Yokomo is now offering some lightweight graphite parts for the simple 1:12 chassis. By replacing the standard FRP plates with carbon ones, the car’s weight can be reduced and the rigidity can be increased. Offering a lower chassis, upper chassis, rear bulkhead plate and body mount plate, they will dramatically increase the performance of the car, and at the same time, will give the car a racing look. The main chassis is made of 2.4mm thick material to increase pitching rigidity while minimising roll rigidity for easy manoeuvrability. The side slits, which serve as the rear suspension, are also longer than standard to provide supple suspension operation.
R1 Wurks has released a new lay-down transmission for their DC1 Drag Car. The transmission is made in house at R1 Wurks HQ in California and is machined out from 7075 Aluminium. The lightweight lay-down transmission, features a low centre of gravity design, weighing in a 69.28grams. R1 Wurks have eliminated the shock-tower mount and adapter and they have removed the camber link mount and created a direct connection to the transmission itself. This kit includes the new shock-tower that mounts directly to the back of the transmission. This new transmission mounts seamlessly to the existing DC1 Chassis with no modification required. The kit includes transmission, shock tower, shim kit, 3mm, 8mm, & 14mm screws.
Following the recent release of the Bull Dog tyre for 1:8 Buggy and Truggy, VP Pro has added a Monster Truck tyre to the range aimed at the recreational user. VP-1107 is produced from medium compound long wear rubber making it perfect for RTR and Bashers. Paired with a durable closed cell inserts, the pre-glued tyre is available mounted on black or white rims and comes as a bag of four ready to use tyres.
Source: VP Pro [vp-racing.com]
Ruddog Products has released the RSS65, a versatile soldering station for avid RC hobbyists. With its wide input power range it is ideally suited for international travel racers. Thanks to 65 W of power, an adjustable temperature range from 180 °C to 480 °C and changeable tips, it is equally capable of high-precision and power hungry soldering tasks. The large easy to read display and ergonomic grip ensure comfortable working conditions.
Shepherd have released an optional High Traction radioplate for their Velox V8.2 1:8 nitro onroad chassis. The extra stiff radioplate is milled from premium carbon fibre and increases the stiffness at the front of the car. Especially at tracks with ultra high traction, the radioplate helps to make the car easier to drive.
Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]
