MadAnt

Don't be too cautious, if you need certain things it might be wise to buy it now rather than wait, because prices will be going up again.

I don't have any DT03 axles, but I could try the shorter TG10 axles and an hex drive axle from my vintage Monster Beetle and see if putting on the hubs is an issue. I then could try TL01 and TT02 uprights. If anyone owns an ORV chassis car with dogbone shafts and a Hornet EVO, I ask if they can check the swap ability of the outer drive axles.

So I've been experimenting and trying to figure out how to fit other hubs on the rear axles without binding. This is an issue I've found out(and others have found out too) trying to use the original old style hubs and other hex hubs. It seems kind of silly that the only hubs that fit well are the ones that came in the kit. The best solution would be to have a new revised axle with the pin hole drilled offset maybe 1mm out. This is the kind of stuff those YouTubers who got to review these cars extra early did not catch, and we who just got the cars in December have too. I can't even use my aluminum hex hub adapters which is sold by Tamiya as an Hopup option for the Hoppers, Hornets, Frog and other ORV cars, I've tried and the bearings bind when the wheel is tightened. As of right now, I have one sloppy solution after trying multiple things like spacers in-between the bearings that only contact the inner race to messing with shims and whatnot. This sloppy solution is tape in the pin slot of the hub, just keep adding tape until it rotates good. If anyone who has some leverage at Tamiya reads these forums should listen and fix the issue. I'm sure other people here would agree.

Turning radius is ok, but the tires will rub the ladder bars if you don't dial back the EPA.

I sometimes have the habit of calling out misinformation or unclear statements that could potentially misguid the reader or listener. It's my curse, but it may also come from being an automotive technician.

That does look cool.

🤔Hmmm... I'll have to give this green slime a go in the future.

I suggested solutions to pick. I have no idea what surfaces you are limited too. If option A does not work, move on to option B and so on. Or you can continue the process you currently go through now. Also my sarcastic response was me being a joker. Why should I continue arguing with someone who makes false claims and then responds like nothing else matters? I'll just leave my joke and that's it. Really, I don't care what anyone does with their RC, if someone explains an issue I'll make a suggestion sometimes, but really take or not, it does not matter. The beauty of this hobby is all possibilities you can take and doing whatever you want.

It snowed, so I had to plow it.

Done a little bit of preparation in my spare time. I now have a template for the frame just incase the new chassis doesn't come I can cut it out of 3mm ABS. I measured the distance from screw hole to screw hole, then in MS Word I enlarged the picture from the manual until it was the correct size. Yes, lol, I used MS Word Office, we'll see how it goes.

Hey you know what? Fine! That's all we need because 4-5 minute racing heats is what everyone does with their rc cars. No one does crawling and spends hours on the trails for leisure or competition, that's just silly. How about those bash sessions with friends, no one does those. Thanks for pointing out that I misunderstood how this hobby works.🙄

Well don't run it it on the grass or gear it down. Is 1500mah the same as 5000mah? NOPE! The higher the amp hour rating, the longer run time you get. Usually the higher amp packs are a little larger, Lipo's get much larger after 5000mah usually, I have an 8000mah 2s battery that I call the brick, but it's weight and stupidly long run time makes it perfect for my SCX 10 crawler.

4000-5000mah. I run LiPo batteries in my Hotshot II, run time is plenty.

If you plan on buying more of the "classic" Tamiya kits in the future and maybe some multiple front wheels sets for the Hornet, buy 5x11x4 rubber sealed bearings in bulk, packs of 10 or more.

Part 3. This has been a pretty good kit to build, even though there are a few things that need minor tweaking, it all stuff that can be easily addressed during assembly. @markbt73 brought up putting O-rings in the inboard drive cups, which is something I will recommend that people do with this kit, because with enough flex in the suspension components and the in and out travel of the dog bone shafts might cause the pin of the dog bone shaft to just slip out of the outboard axle cup. Use the O-ring to take up the space an prevent the shaft from sliding too far. Another thing I want to point out is the CC01 dog bone shafts just about fit, but may bottom out in the cups if you want more negative camber. Anyway, moving on to the body. It's a good thing I got a head start with this and painted the body last month, because it's freezing cold outside now where I am. I tried my best to put the decals on as straight as possible and despite using tape to align things I got the "Anytime Baby!" decal on slightly crooked. Meh... oh well. I do have to say, I'm glad I went with gunmetal gray for the paint, because with the decals on the body it looks freaking awesome.

The kit comes with metal shielded ball bearings. Trust me, I know.

Body clips, lots of body clips.

That's cool! I'd love to find a local-ish place to race monster trucks.

Update! I have the dogbone shafts now, I'm just waiting on some other parts, like wheels and stock chassis plates. I have 4 RPM Revolver rims, but the plastic is too thick by the axle hole and would require some material to be removed to work. After I'm done building my Hornet EVO and done with the holidays I'll resume this build.

The chassis is still the same ABS and has the >ABS< marking on the chassis. For some reason the chassis part number is the same as the Hornet and Grasshopper re-release. This might be a good or a bad thing depending on one of two possible circumstances. It could be that all new Hornet/Grasshopper chassis will be updated with the improved EVO chassis, or it could be the bad possibility and the only way to get the EVO chassis is to buy the Hornet EVO kit. As of right now Tamiya has no chassis in stock and is possible that they are trying to sell off the remaining stock of Hornet and Grasshopper kits, which just so happens it looks like they are selling all the stock during the holidays. That's good planning, or perfect timing, or both.

You are gonna have fun, trust me. Stay tuned, I have the Hornet EVO pretty much finished, I just need to take some pictures.

I've dealt with them in the past and wish it was easy, but I'm sure you know how it is. I'll deal with it later or the next year coming up.

Your local hobby shop should be getting your order any day now if they pre ordered the Hornet EVO a month or so ago, because stock would have been allocated for that order. If they tried ordering it in December or late November, you are SOL. You can still pick up a decently good RC car that is in stock, or wait just a little bit more and find out what's going on with your order.

A few quirks and features and other things to point out: 🙂The kit comes with metal shielded ball bearings. 😃Almost all the coated hardware has a dark color finish, which is a nice touch and looks better in my opinion. 😐There is some up and down play with the steering knuckles in the C hubs, just use a washer to take up the gap. 🙂The long and not long gulwing suspension arms may seem like an interesting design choice, but that design allows for the use of Tamiya's pre-existing choices of shocks without having to design more new parts and allows for a good amount of suspension travel. 🤨The rear body mount bracket is mounted where the resistor would be on the original Hornet. 😐You will definitely need to make adjustments to the front toe angles and the draglink length, which the manual covers just incase. (I was also too lazy to cul the ball connectors down to the desired size, so really, it's fine.) 🤔The rear springs seem a bit soft. 🙂It looks weird with the wide front track until you put the body on it, then it kind of looks cool. 🙂The rear width is about the same as the regular Hornet.