Finally got an Avante

[Pablo68 1049]

Thanks for the replies/advice guys, I was wondering if there was a locked (solid) version I could put in there.

My next stop on this car will be the shocks/springs. It bounces a little bit (not much but a lot compared to something more modern, or even say, an OG Ultima).

 

[Pablo68 1049]

Ok, so reassembled the car, buttoned it down, and it went whissssjht again immediately. Faaaaaaaaa!!
Quickly stripped again, ok then centre diff is getting tightened down beyond reason. Put back together, goes now, for a good ten mins of light bashing. Good enough.

So all up what do I think about the Avante. It's pretty much everything that people have been saying it is for years now. It's an odd design from a time when designs for buggies in general wasn't pared down all the way to just a couple of chassis formats. It's strange to think this came out at the same time as the Optima Mid, which is arguably more conventional.

My one drove ....ok. It's kind of tetchy, likes to turn quick. That 2011 motor gets it moving quick. It can handle rough terrain (in this case dirt and poorly kept grass) ok. An Ultima from the same era handled that kind of thing smoother. I think that's a result of the short suspension travel, at leas up front, though as I said before, the suspension feels stiffer than I'd like. Perhaps a heavyier battery or weights would help.

I think it's like that girlfriend that is really bad for you that none of your friends or family like. Pretty, doesn't treat you well, frequently lets you down and is expensive to boot, but you just can't stop seeing her...... Ok, that's possibly a bit personal, and I'm sure I pinched that from someone else.

On balance I like it.

 

eta: It's a pig to work on! It's not a Fox, but not far off. And that is terrible for a supposed racing buggy.

 

[Willy iine 18804]

9 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

Thanks for the replies/advice guys, I was wondering if there was a locked (solid) version I could put in there.

My next stop on this car will be the shocks/springs. It bounces a little bit (not much but a lot compared to something more modern, or even say, an OG Ultima).

 

I am assuming the Egress drive gear on step11 is a drop in replacement.  The one on right is fully locked.  I have the one on left in my Egress which is the one way I mentioned earlier.  On the Egress both options are included in the kit.  You will also need the PB7 and PG3, associated bearings and hardware shown.  

If I did not want to spend the money and was certain I want that gear locked, I would replace the balls with short screws, thrust bearings with a star lock washer and snug tight the diff all together.  Once you confirmed it locked, go back and drop thread lock red on the screw thread and allow it to cure overnight.  

 

I'd shelf the Avante unless for casual driving  and get an Egress if you're wanting to actually drive this car at its limits.  As you said, there were many cars that were better performing than the Avante.. the Avante for me is a collection / conversation piece just owning part of Tamiya's history for fun.  ..as with my rere HotShot and Egress.  

For bashing outdoors I just take my TT02B.   

[Pablo68 1049]

1 hour ago, Willy iine said:

I am assuming the Egress drive gear on step11 is a drop in replacement.  The one on right is fully locked.  I have the one on left in my Egress which is the one way I mentioned earlier.  On the Egress both options are included in the kit.  You will also need the PB7 and PG3, associated bearings and hardware shown.  

If I did not want to spend the money and was certain I want that gear locked, I would replace the balls with short screws, thrust bearings with a star lock washer and snug tight the diff all together.  Once you confirmed it locked, go back and drop thread lock red on the screw thread and allow it to cure overnight.  

 

I'd shelf the Avante unless for casual driving  and get an Egress if you're wanting to actually drive this car at its limits.  As you said, there were many cars that were better performing than the Avante.. the Avante for me is a collection / conversation piece just owning part of Tamiya's history for fun.  ..as with my rere HotShot and Egress.  

For bashing outdoors I just take my TT02B.   

I think I've inadvertently bought that very part/s you have pointed out. Yeah the Avante won't be driven often and not full on bashed or anything. I did want to see what it was like though.
It's nothing if not intriguing.

[Pablo68 1049]

Self bump!

I finally got the parts together to replace the dodgy center diff and put in a one way/solid unit.
I just want to reiterate that the Avante might just be the worst platform to work on. I mean, they meant people to race these things?

[Willy iine 18804]

@Pablo68 Sounds good!   

Well, I am sure it all looked good on paper.    

[94eg! 834]

On 5/17/2022 at 5:12 AM, Pablo68 said:

I just want to reiterate that the Avante might just be the worst platform to work on. I mean, they meant people to race these things?

The Avante was "engineered" to race. Unfortunately the ideas engineers come up with don't always work out in real life.  In an effort to iron out the mess and make the Avante competitive, team TRF was born.  The development team set out with all the factory upgrades (essentially an egress) and went to work making custom changes. The result was half way to the Top Force (an egress with more conventional suspension). Top Force and its belt-drive cousin the TRF411X were Tamiya's first actual real world team-developed 4wD buggies.

[T-StudioWorks 218]

On 2/26/2022 at 3:28 PM, Pablo68 said:

I never really wanted one before. I know how many people over the decades would have crawled across broken glass for one, but I checked them out and thought meh.
 

Recently however I thought, I think I might want one, and started looking. I found the one in the pics and picked it up for about 242 of your great British pounds, which from what I've been seeing lately is a good score.

Not entirely sure which edition it is though. The steering is the original set up, the motor is from the 2011 version, everything else could be from just about any edition really. I may eventually change the steering to the later set-up, seems to have less links in it.

Body is good, wing is beat up but it should be fine for occasional running.

Luv the colour!  Hope you have had fun running it.  🙂

[Pablo68 1049]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:29 AM, T-StudioWorks said:

Luv the colour!  Hope you have had fun running it.  🙂

Thx. Yeah I've run it several times. Changed out the centre diff for a solid unit. It goes well, I've only given it light runs though. I don't want to break it.