BOOCAKE4U

more of a lurker than a member but whaddaya gonna do? (south florida)

yes, the GT-30 two speed kit includes another dogbone with it (has a ring around the shaft and is slightly shorter than the stock front dogbone)...you are supposed to put the new dogbone up front and the old front dogbone in the rear

indeed not sure how he did that but it was apparently an old exploit that ebay has since fixed

the ones from this guy are a bit older, but still quite entertaining http://feedback.ebay.com/ws1/eBayISAPI.dll...&item=-1&de=off

never owned one, but have seen a few come and go on ebay...this picture came from one of those auctions, and it seems to be a little older than yours (judging by the box, note the "peerless" logo)...i once read they were the company who actually manufactured it, but the reverse may be true (peerless may have just been the US importer at the time) regardless, certainly a very cool vehicle and a great find...hope to see lots more pictures when you receive it (some amphibious video would be cool too...hehe)

you are very welcome, i am a big fan of the 1:8 cars (if that wasn't obvious...ehehe)

on the kyosho timeline, the MP-5 came between the original inferno (1991) and the MP-6 (1998), as it was introduced in 1995...the MP-7.5 followed the MP-6 in 2000 and will supposedly be replaced this year... the MP-5 was a good car, very rugged and durable...the MP-6 was not much different as it was an evolution of the MP-5, main differences being a slightly longer chassis/wheelbase, and some changes in the rear suspension...due to the shorter wheelbase, the MP-5 may actually handle better than either the MP-6 or 7.5 on smaller/tighter tracks... parts are still readily available, at least in the US (from tower) so if that is the case there, and the shop is offering it for a good price, i think it would be a very good car to start out with (and still be very competitive with any of the newer cars if you choose to race it) things to check: make sure it has front universals (not dogbones) and if it has a plastic spur gear you may want to upgrade it to a steel one later (though it is not absolutely necessary)

very welcome, good luck with whatever you decide to get!

the 7.5 RTR does actually include an all new engine (the GX-21) which replaces the old GS-21...its said to be fairly punchy, probably about on par with the average ~2hp sport engine...dunno if it is ABC or ABN but i suspect the latter i would still recommend the standard kit, i am anti-RTR for a variety of reasons...hehe uninteresting side note: i actually have an example of each of the 3 incarnations of the GS-21...the original blocky head, the blue head version, and the newest version (black, orange or gold head)

nice collection there it appears to be a mazda rx-3 body, but i have no idea who might have made it...is it mounted on an M series chassis or does it just have the mini rims on it?

quick comparison of sports/rtr and regular: 2.5mm chassis vs. 3mm chassis plastic spur gear vs. steel spur gear aluminum drive gears vs. steel drive gears 2 small gears in the diffs vs. 4 small gears in the diffs the older blue shocks vs. the newer silver shocks all dogbones vs. front universals motor mounts integrated in the engine vs. separate universal engine mounts there are a few other differences, but those are the most important ones (and the most expensive to upgrade)...you will need to get the engine, pipe and manifold separately (and other misc. stuff like shock & diff oils etc) but that is better in the long run since you aren't forced to buy stuff you don't really want (like the ho-hum engine included with the sports/rtr)

i think its a safe bet you would be far happier with the kyosho over the duratrax axis (aka flying point zircon)...well worth the extra cash i would recommend the standard 7.5 kit at a minimum if you are buying new (avoid the sports/rtr)

kyosho.com now has a twin force page and a couple of movies of it in action http://kyosho.com/cars/kyoc0103.html comparison to mad force (stuff you might not notice looking at the kyosho page/pictures): it includes plastic shocks instead of the nice aluminum ones (BSW-73) that were included with the mad force...also includes the new wheels and tires (with foams included this time) pictured as well as aluminum adapters to allow the use of the 14mm e/t-maxx rims, and plastic adapters that slide on over those to allow use of the 19mm rims...pretty neat idea

i think those are more like 2.2"/56mm (but i could be wrong) tower says 55mm not sure if i have seen anything in the proper size that could pass for panasports...most of the aftermarket wheels are more "modern"

yah, the same style wheels are pictured with the 1:10 kit...i think the mini wheels might be a little small to look right though...i have a set of the those i can measure for you if need be, but i know they are smaller than 2"/50.8mm edit: got curious so i dug them out and measured...mini wheels are 42mm, would definitely look silly on a 1:10 non-mini sized car