IXLR8

While browsing the web for something unrelated, I happened upon these 32mm wide slicks by Kawada so I ordered a couple sets. They have essentially the same dimensions as Tamiya's 50547 32mm slick but they are much softer. With the included foam inserts (unfortunately, also cut from sheet stock making the tire a PITA to install on the wheel without wadding the insert inside the tire ), the tires do have a fairly high center crown making the OD appear larger than the Tamiya equivalent. However, I'm guessing with the full weight of the car pressing the tire flat, the roll-out distance will be close to that of the Tamiya tire - if not exactly the same. Anyway, I haven't tried them yet so I can't comment on performance. So far, I've been running the hard Tamiya slicks without glue but these Kawada's will definitely need to be glued to the wheel. Oh, and they offer a treaded version as well. Apparently, these don't include inserts so they could be hard rubber - but they certainly look nice and scale.

Thanks so much for posting such detailed wheel info. I'm looking forward to trying the BBX wheels on a couple trail trucks. I think they'll look great.

That's a very good point. I'm stating the obvious here but the bottom line is the hobby is about having fun so buy what makes you happy. I have crawlers because I appreciate the scale accuracy that many of them offer not because I enjoy rock crawling. I don't "bash" because I hate fixing broken RC's - that makes me very unhappy. That said, if you enjoy bashing but purchase a crawler because it's ultimately less expensive, at some point you will be disappointed.

I agree on all counts. Most of my crawlers cost much more than other RC's I have. I think it's probably due to the quantity of metal vs plastic parts - crawlers typically use a lot of metal. Metal tooling (stamping, forming and casting dies) are often more costly to make and maintain than plastic molds so the part prices reflect that fact. One noteworthy except is the cheap and cheerful HG P407 "Bruiser Clone" which is almost entirely metal. However, I don't believe a little company like HG has actually commissioned the tooling for that truck. I think the tooling was borrowed from Tamiya's suppliers. I have no evidence to offer, it's just a hunch.

Capitalism provides employment and rewards innovation and hard work. Without it, we'd all be slaves to the government.

Perhaps one exception worth noting; the ECX Torment RTR is in direct competition with the Slash yet it costs around $50 less. In many ways, Tamiya has hit upon the perfect formula; a wide range of kits (on and off-road, cars, trucks, buggies, crawlers, etc.) available just about everywhere in the world in a wide price range. A basic TT-02 kit still costs a little over $100. Kits are better suited to new entries into the hobby because they offer a learning experience which is key to maintaining and repairing the vehicle. I convinced my neighbor to buy his 11 year old son his first hobby grade RC and he selected the 1/16 E-Revo RTR. He managed to break the chassis on the first day so I offered to repair the truck for them because they had no clue how it was assembled. If they had built the truck from a kit, they could have repaired it themselves. Anyway, some companies have undercut their market-leading competitors on price for some of their models but I reckon there are only a few examples.

Hi "@Truck Norris", I'm shopping for a spare body and wing for my GT2 and I found your post from a few years ago. I wasn't aware these were packaged as set AND with an undrilled body - that's AWESOME. Do you recall the part number and do you know if these are still available?

Well, the TA01 chassis arrived today and the rear arms are reversed but the wheelbase is still about 8 - 10mm too long for the F-150 and Prerunner bodies. So, I could replace the chassis tub and prop shaft to make it shorter but I may have a better idea. The TA01 chassis is in very good condition considering the age and it still has the original MSC with resistor and a couple vintage Sanwa servos. Everything appears to be intact, assembled per the manual, and in good shape so I think I'll clean it up and fit it with a BMW M3 body to keep it somewhat original. TBG makes a re-pop body and MCI offers the complete reproduction decal set. The correct wheels and tires should be easy to find -- in fact, I might already have those wheels. I think it will look nice setting on the shelf next to the Porsche's.

I believe you are correct about the RSR -- I have one sitting in front of me at the moment and next to the 934 and GT2. I'm guessing the RSR's overall scale was increased slightly to fit the longer TT-02 wheelbase. Anyway, if standard touring car wheels look a bit small on an RSR (I think they do), it's probably because the body is large. I'm giving serious thought to modeling a set of Fuchs wheels and having them printed at a slightly larger scale to better match the body - but where would I find tires to fit them? By the way, I've been looking closely at that Tamiya GT2 body and comparing dimension to a full scale 3d model and it's almost a perfect 1/10 rendition. Maybe a tiny bit wide but otherwise it's perfect. Anyway, back to junkmunki's question. I have a few 1/6 RTR RC's which are a hoot to drive. I like to build and collect the more common 1/10 scale versions.

Hey, thank you so much for commenting and posting pics. Those are very nice looking tires but they certainly won't fit ordinary touring car wheels without some ugly surgery. The Protoform tires and wheels appear to be similar - just more spokes. I couldn't help noticing the HPI Racing lettering on the sidewalls. It's probably no accident that the font they've chosen looks very much like the Hoosier logo.

I've taken another look at the HPI website and among the on-road tires we've discussed so far, these three don't appear to require special VTA wheels so I'm guessing they are compatible with generic wide touring wheels: 116537 (31mm) Ken Block treaded for touring wheels - 69mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9:) I.D. 109158 (31mm) Falken slicks for touring wheels - 65mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9") I.D. 160208 (31mm) treaded K compound for touring wheels - ? O,D. x 49mm (1.9:) I.D. However, I've checked both Michaels and Liquid and they don't carry these tires - only those for VTA wheels. For those HPI tires that require VTA wheels, from this image, the difference is slight but it appears that the inner diameter is larger than outer. Maybe the inner is 49mm and the outer is a few mm smaller. I understand the goal here is to look "vintage trans-am" but I can't see these wheels on a Porsche. They look like Bullet wheels from a Mustang.

Yes, that's correct. I'm looking for wide tires to fit Tamiya touring car wheels (49mm diameter). When I first posted my question, I wasn't aware that there were other wheel diameters available for on-road.

You could be correct. I thought "vintage" referred to the wheel diameter but I could be wrong about that.

Thank you for mentioning HPI - they don't ever seem to be on my radar for some reason. Using the links you've provided, I've done some research on HPI's on-road tires. They do offer a nice selection and at least a couple on-line sellers (Michaels and Liquid) have them in stock. 102994 (31mm) treaded and fit vintage style wheels - 65mm O.D. x 42mm (1.6") I.D. 116537 (31mm) Ken Block treaded for touring wheels - 69mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9:) I.D. 109158 (31mm) Falken slicks for touring wheels - 65mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9") I.D. 160208 (31mm) treaded K compound for touring wheels - ? O,D. x 49mm (1.9:) I.D. This leaves the two tires that are of most interest to me: 4792 (31mm) slicks D compound for vintage racing - 64mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9") I.D. (the I.D. is from Liquid website but could be 42mm since HPI lists it as "vintage"). 4797 (31mm) treaded D compound for touring wheels - 64mm O.D. x 49mm (1.9:) I.D. (Michaels also provides this note: "Note: Because of the special sidewall construction, these tires must be used on HPI Vintage Wheels.") I have Tamiya's touring car wheels so I'm not sure if either of these tires will fit my wheels. Also, these websites appear to use the terms "vintage" and "touring" interchangeably so it's confusing.

I've had a look at the Protoform tires on Pro-Line's website and they look quite nice. Apparently these are only available pre-mounted on VTA style wheels. $28.99 pair Also, the website doesn't list spec's other than width so not sure if they would fit Tamiya or other manufacturers touring car wheels (49mm dia.).