Vanquish
Model Number: 58076

Top Force Racer

The Vanquish was the plastic version of the original Avante. As such, most upgrades for the Avante were a direct fit on the Vanquish. Both shared the same suspension design and identical drivetrains, although the Vanquish did not come fully equiped with ball bearings. Other differences between the two were its use of an ABS plastic tub chassis, the reliance on plastic in the suspension arms and towers, the use of CVA plastic shocks, a standard RS-540SH motor, and one-piece wheels. The standard drivetrain, consisted of front and rear gear differentials and a center ball differential. Each gear diff contained 6 gears (4 steel planetary gears supported by 2 brass ring gears). The ball diff was supported by six 5/32 diff balls. The drivetrain required the use of odd-sized ball bearings such as the 620 and 830. Over-engineering is evident in the oversized 4mm front and rear tunbuckles. Every connection, except for the steering, ended in large captured balls and secured with a 3mm machine screws and 3mm steel nuts. Front and rear sway (anti-roll) bars were included, but the rear sway bar was so skimpy, it was mostly of cosmetic value. The also Vanquish inherited the Avante's woefully short front suspension. This was later addressed in the Egress and Avante 2001 whose front suspention travel was increased. A quick look at Tamiya's 2003 Radio Controlled Handbook shows that Tamiya recommens landing on the rear wheels after every jump. This practice may have dictated Tamiya engineers to deliberately incorporate the short front suspension travel. However, if we examine more closely at the design of the Avante-class of buggies, we can see technologies that were revisited, most recently by Associated's TC3 and Tamiya's TB-01 touring cars--namely the in-line mounted motors and batteries, and shaft drive. These cars, despite being off-roaders, were the true grandfathers of some of today's most successful touring cars.