March 3, 2011

Genius FR 1/5th Formula one car

Genius FR 1/5th Formula one car

The French importers of the Italian made Genius range of 1/5th scale cars was in contact to tell us about the new Genius FR Formula one car. Made using the best materials, all aluminium parts are made in ergal, it is the first 1/5 F1 designed with real front wing and rear diffuser such as those seen on a real car. Designed to be easy to maintain, you can quickly dismantle the rear differential, change the gear transmission and adjust the shocks. The suspension arms feature a uniball which through the use of plates tightened between the ball and arm allow for easy adjustment of the front and rear camber as well as rear toe. The car is also very lightweight for this class, weighing in at only 11kg.

View more images of the car here


February 25, 2011

Capricorn LAB-C01 Limited edition

Capricorn LAB-C01 Limited edition

Italian company Capricorn RC have released a special limited edition LAB-C01 chassis to commemerate their winning of last year’s European Championships in Sweden. Limited to just 100 pieces, the kit includes kevlar pulleys, plastic bumper plate & lateral brace, in place of carbon, a front sway bar kit, long life belt, red shock springs and HLD diff pins. Available now.

Source: Capricorn [capricornrc.com]


February 14, 2011

KM HK-1 Evolution chassis

KM HK-1 Evolution chassis

KM Racing have released the HK-1 Evolution, the full optional version of their 1/10th scale 200mm chassis. KM have released a lot of aftermarket parts for this car in the past and the Evolution looks to include all of them such as aluminium hard coated pulleys, Teflon coated aluminium front & rear shocks, titanium 64Ti turnbuckle and middle shaft and front spring steel universal shafts.

View the full list of included optionals here


February 7, 2011

Team Magic 200mm Prototype chassis

Team Magic 200mm Prototype chassis

During the Toy Fair we sat down with Italian Raimondo Gilletti, the man charged with working on the new Team Magic touring car for the Taiwanese company. Having just come back from working in Taiwan for the past few months we were shown the results of that collaboration in the form of these CAD images of the prototype which they are planning to produce. A change in direction for TM in terms of the look of the car, it is now much more conventional in its styling and configuration, which is not a bad thing. As with everything on the car, with the exception of the shock absorbers, the geometry is also completely new and that is ‘inspired’ by the current market leaders in order to give the car a solid base from which to develop further in the future. This design will go into the prototype phase by features and specifications may change before the car hits production. We were also told that the competition brand for Team Magic will become K-Factory, which this car will fall under.

View more images here


February 3, 2011

Xray RX8 1/8th scale on road chassis

Xray RX8 1/8th scale on road chassis

Xray have released information on their all new RX8 1/8th scale platform. We have talked with the guys on the Xray stand here in Nuremberg, played with the car and taken our own photos but as we write that story, here are the release photos and features list of the new car.

View more images and information here


February 1, 2011

Xray Column – RX8 The Making of Part II

Xray Column – RX8 The Making of Part II

The 50th installment in the Xray column from Xray owner and chief designer Juraj Hudy is now online. In this months column, Juraj goes further in depth into the design, prototype and production of the new RX8 1/8th scale chassis which is expect to be officially unveiled on Thursday of this week.

Early in 2009 I started with a ‘blank sheet’ in the computer, but with a very clear idea what I wanted to achieve. First of all I did not want to design anything revolutionary; in high performance model racing car design if you want to have a competitive car there is unfortunately no space for something different or revolutionary.

Read the full column here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


February 1, 2011

Shepherd Velox V10 ‘eleven’ chassis

Shepherd Velox V10 'eleven' chassis

Having brought you information about the upgraded Velox V8 ‘eleven’ a few days ago, Shepherd have today released information about the Velox V10 ‘eleven’. The kit will basically remain the same but they added some optional parts as well as some updated parts to increase the performance, some of which were used by Marc Rheinard to finish on the podium at the World Championship in Houston last year. As requested by many drivers the new kit will be shipped with the extra hard chassis plate which is CNC-machined from the finest high strength 7075 aircraft grade material. It features some additional mounting holes for the optional brass battery plate mounts which allows the use of up to five of them to reach the necessary minimum weight and lower the centre of gravity at once. In the front the eccenters have been updated for a higher position of the differential. The driveshafts will be more parallel to the ground which creates more steering especially in fast corners. The diff outdrives are strategically lightened to reduce the rotating mass with the weight saving compared to the standard ones more than 27% for all outdrives. Additionally the hard servo saver spring and a full set of aluminum wheel axles is included. The hard coated aluminum axles are more than 67% lighter than the stock ones but the wear is a little bit higher due to the softer material. The harder servo saver spring is an option for a stiffer servo saver setup. The new kit is expected to be available at the end of February.

View the new included parts here


January 20, 2011

Serpent 733 Evo 1/10th 200mm chassis

Serpent 733 Evo 1/10th 200mm chassis

Having just announced the Evo version of their 966 Serpent have today introduced the 733 Evo. Essentially with the same updates as its bigger brother, the Serpent Flex Control rear end allows the brackets holding the 2-speed shaft and the brackets holding the rear diff to be connected with either aluminium inserts, rubber inserts or left in full flex mode. The car now also comes with the company’s direct link system that transfers the suspension pressure from one side, through a link system to the other side, creating even more rear end grip and making the 733 even easier to driver. Also the 2-speed shaft bearings and rear anti-roll bar ball-bearings are now set in delrin bushings to insulate from vibrations and the kit now includes a monoblock engine mount and steel ventilated brake disk as standard.

View more images of the 733 Evo here