Coming from Schumacher is the Contact Oval engine for 1/8th scale oval stock cars. Made in collaboration with legendary nitro engine manufacturer Picco the engine was specially designed to meet with the requirements of 1/8th stock car racing with a lot of bottom end torque and power with relatively low RPM. The new Contact engine achieves that with this engine due in part to its low exhaust port.
View more images and the specifications here
JConcepts have introduced the Aero front scoop for Team Associated B5-series buggies. Usable on all buggies with flat front arm tower setup, the option part is a simple yet effective way to gain some response in the front-end in high-speed situations. The scoop provides a more neutral feel low-speed and tends to numb out the steering in 180 degree corners while providing great holding power in high-speed sweeping corners typically associated with larger track layouts and conditions. Cut lines are included for easy trimming while dimples are located on the wing itself to indicate where to mount to the front shock tower. The wing uses 2x8mm screws for mounting but the needed screw holes need to be drilled by yourself.
Available from May is Radtec’s new aluminium main chassis for the Xray T4’16. Featuring a very common design with herringbone-shaped cut-outs under the battery and electronics compartments the symmetrical chassis is machined from 7075-T6 aluminium and it comes black anodised and with silver edge details. As with all alloy chassis it is intended for the use on high-bite tracks as it offers less torsional flex than a carbon fibre chassis, making the car easier to drive.
Source: Radtec [radtec-rc.com]
Coming soon from Yokomo is the YD-2 rear wheel drive drift car chassis kit. Specially designed for RWD drifting the car features a specially designed chassis with an unique transmission and motor layout that reminds of 2WD mid motor dirt buggies with its high layshaft position. The somewhat higher centre of gravity makes for improved chassis roll during cornering while the front suspension parts allow for the high steering angles needed for drifting. Available as composite or carbon fibre chassis variant the car allows to use standard or shorty LiPo battery packs, it utilises new rear YD-2 hub carriers, YD-4 parts fit as a setup option, and the kit comes with a large rear diffusor. The YD-2 is set for a release this Spring.
German company Absima have introduced a range of 1/10th buggy rims for vehicles with 12mm or 14mm hex wheel adapters. Coming in four specifications including 12mm hex 2WD front, 4WD front, and a general rear variant as well as 14mm 4WD front and 4WD rear variants the rims are moulded from lightweight yet durable Pro Flexlight material and they are available in a range of colours including white, yellow, green and orange and in sets of two rims.
Horizon Hobby have introduced the new Losi Baja Rey 1/10th scale 4WD ready-to-run desert truck. The vehicle builds on a Baja-inspired 4WD chassis with long-travel suspension. The foundation consists of a 3mm, hard-anodised aluminium chassis plate that is integrated with a realistic roll cage made of super-tough composite material. To this it adds a long-travel, independent front suspension and 4-link live rear axle that look and function exactly like their full-scale counterparts. The long-travel shocks are soaking up the energy from big bumps and jumps and they also feature threaded shock bodies with adjustment collars to fine-tune the pre-load settings of the coil-over springs. External bump stops provide plush landings on the hardest surfaces.
Coming from HRC Racing are the 8mm long M4 droop screws with delrin insert. They add to HRC Racing’s already existing short-style droop screws and not only protect the chassis from becoming damaged, as it can occur with standard grub screws, but they also allow for more precise settings. The new longer variants come in handy when running high arm mount settings or highly angled lower arms.
Team C have introduced new aluminium shock mounts for the GT8 range of 1/8th on-road cars. Usable on the GT8, GT8L and GT8LE the brackets fit into the original shock mounting position on the lower A-arms and make for a more angled shock position in order to fine-tune the suspension geometry. The shock mounts come anodised orange and in sets of two.
