The opening round of this year’s Swiss Nitro On-road National Championship was held at the iconic Lostallo track recently. In the premier 1/8th on-road class it was IFMAR 1/8th World Champion, Simon Kurzbuch with the TQ and win from Silvio Hächler 2nd. Luca Martinelli in 3rd rounded out the podium result as Michael Henzi in 4th and Tobias Kerler in 5th completed the top 5.
Source: Novarossi [novarossi.it]
Coming from Vigor are new tweak-free battery mounts for the Yokomo DB8-2018 and Xray T4’18 touring car kits. Constructed from carbon fibre and aluminium the mounts do away with the need to use fibre-reinforced tape to secure the battery pack in favour of multi-piece battery locators and retainers that only slightly tough the pack, allowing the battery to “float” to some degree which will avoid unwanted chassis tweak. The design of the Yokomo mount allows to shift the battery pack forth and back while the offset alloy inserts of the Xray specific kit also allow for some left-right weight adjustment.
The first round of the Italian 1/8th Off-road regionals was at the Mariglianella track last weekend and it was Mugen’s Marco Natale who walked away with the win in the Nitro Buggy Expert category. Radiosistemi driver, Giuseppe Tescione came in 2nd as Raffaele Del Prete (Mugen) completed the top 3 podium result.
Source: Mugen Seiki [mugen.eu]
Schumacher have introduced the new Core RC 12mm slim battery tape. The fibre-reinforced, black colour tape is ideal to securely fasten the batteries of electric touring, LMP12, GT12 and Formula pan cars and it comes in convenient rolls of 25 metres. Due to being slimmer than standard tape it is easy to use with the tighter chassis slots of certain brands.
Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]
Tamiya have announced a range of new option parts for the TB-05 electric on-road kit. First up is an aluminium servo mount as a replacement for the standard plastic part. Using the stronger alloy frame will improve steering response thanks to the part being way less flexible. Next up are aluminium steering bell cranks made from aluminium. The parts are a replacement for the kit’s plastic cranks and like the above servo frame they will ensure a more precise and direct steering action due to their greatly reduced flexibility compared to the standard kit items. Another steering related item is an aluminium Ackermann plate that can be used alone or in combination with the above alloy parts. The steering plate comes with a set of shims to adjust the overall play and the part again greatly improves steering durability and precision. All aluminium parts are machined from high-grade aluminium and they come blue anodised to match the remainder of the car’s option parts. Last but mot least comes a 97-piece titanium screw kit for the TB-05 Pro that scrubs about 20g of weight. The replacements for the standard steel fasteners includes both countersunk and button head screws.
Yeah Racing have introduced their new camber link stiffener set for the Xray T4 touring car. The set replaces the standard upper camber link for a triangular assembly that braces the C-hub for less flex which can result in improved steering precision and response in high to very high bite track conditions. The set is a direct fit and includes new ball cups as well as all needed ball studs and turnbuckles.
RPM have introduced a new ESC cage for the #3355R version of the Traxxas VXL-3S speed controller. The mounting tabs have been reported to RPM as weak and this is why the RPM part eliminates the use of the two mounting tabs on the ESC in favour of a complete cage system that solidly locks the ESC in place. By completely surrounding and capturing the VXL-3S speedo, damage from broken tabs and ejection from the vehicle has been completely eliminated and the cage works perfectly even if one or both mounting tabs on the ESC have already been broken or cut off. Each RPM ESC cage, that is available in black or blue colour, is made from a strong, ultra lightweight blend of engineering grade nylons for exceptional durability.
Coming this June is Tamiya’s new TRF 103 1/10th formula competition kit. The vehicle builds on a carbon fibre main chassis and features a hybrid carbon fibre and aluminium front end assembly with graphite upper and lower A-arms that allow for easy caster and camber adjustments while the rear end is of a versatile design with a link-type suspension for high or a T-bar suspension for low-grip track conditions. Other features include a big bore centre shock and tube-type side dampers.
