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Fighting Buggy - What's it really like to run?

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1 hour ago, Kol__ said:

Absolutely love the photo, and the retro-ness! However, it always looks like one car stuck on top of another to me.

A bit like this does...

d5rugpn.jpeg

...I'll get my coat...🧥

You're just not thinking outside the box ;)

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  • Haha 1

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10 hours ago, Kol__ said:

Totally agree about the chassis, it's a one of a kind. Not quite my thing... yet, but will likely have one at some point in the future. Needless to say it would have the Sand Scorcher body on it!😂

What bothers me about the BB-01 is the front suspension. As a relatively realistic racing buggy, the double wishbone front suspension in combination with rear trailing arms places it in the ‘90’s as that was a typical suspension setup for 1:1 scale racing buggies at that time. I would have preferred double front trailing arms instead for a proper ‘70’s/’80’s look. The GB-02 front suspension is pretty good, so if Tamiya had just enlarged it for 1/10 scale, they could have had double front trailing arms on the BB-01 without having to design it from scratch.

 Also, I think the BBX should have included a (dummy) exhaust and a better driver figure and not just the recycled Fox driver. Also, it would have been nice if Tamiya had made it possible to fit an extra set of (dummy) dampers in the rear for a more scale look.

 Apart from that, judging by the photos and footage available so far, I think the design is spot on .

 As the wheelbase is 283mm, the Sand Scorcher body will surely be a poor fit, so I literally expect of Tamiya to release a new baja bug body for the BB-01.

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12 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I'm in the same boat. I was amazed at how much better the Scorpion was compared to the SRBs when I finally got to drive one. It was easy to see how it was possible to hang with the first RC10s in the right hands compared to the completely outclassed SRBs. Still, in the end, my SRBs see 10 times the amount of use than my Scorpion does.

A fellow countryman of mine, Eivind Loyd Pettersen, participated in the inofficial 1/10 buggy world championship arranged by NORRCA and/or ROAR (not IFMAR) in 1983 and 1984 at the Anaheim Convention Center, California. In 1983, he raced a heavily modified SRB just like many of the other participants, but didn't achieve good results. In 1984, he raced a moderately modified Scorpion built and set up by Nordic champion Jörgen Andersson who also travelled to the WC as Eivind's mechanic. By the way, Eivind's Scorpion had a fantastic body painted by the late IFMAR/EFRA president "Dallas" Mathiesen. Eivind won the WC with his Scorpion with RC10 prototypes coming in 2nd and 3rd (Jay Halsey and Gil Losi Jr., if I remember correctly). That's how good the Scorpion was with a few modifications, a reasonably good driver and an excellent mechanic.

When considering that the Scorpion was designed just a year or two after the SRB and even had parts carried over from the Kyosho Rally Sports series (primarily the gearbox and rear suspension), I think the SRB can be considered a relatively poor design even for its time.  At that time, Kyosho made RC-cars, whereas Tamiya made scale models suitable for RC and surely didn't have Kyosho's experience and expertise, and it shows.

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8 hours ago, GeeWings said:

You're just not thinking outside the box ;)

 IMG_4960-e1663846111711.jpg.2fb1ed423df00c530f0301046663b479.jpg

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Inside the box, outside the box, that thing is all box😂

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2 hours ago, Mokei Kagaku said:

As the wheelbase is 283mm, the Sand Scorcher body will surely be a poor fit, so I literally expect of Tamiya to release a new baja bug body for the BB-01.

I was talking about the SRB chassis bud, not the BB-01😉

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On 2/7/2023 at 1:45 AM, Mokei Kagaku said:

When considering that the Scorpion was designed just a year or two after the SRB and even had parts carried over from the Kyosho Rally Sports series (primarily the gearbox and rear suspension), I think the SRB can be considered a relatively poor design even for its time.

What do you think the factors were that led to the SRBs rampant popularity (at here in the States) compared to the Scorpion? The Scorpion never quite dominated or shifted thinking like the SRBs and later the RC10s did despite being superior performers to the SRBs. It was good, no doubt, but there were a lot of SRB racers and a large aftermarket built up around them. Was it because the SRBs came first? Was Tamiya more visible/dominant in hobby shops with their MRC distribution network? I didn't even know Kyosho made the Scorpion until years later. At the time, everyone knew it as the Cox Scorpion. IIRC, Gil Losi Jr was involved in racing Scorpions and they were decidedly west coast, whereas I hail from the east. Perhaps, if I lived in California, my viewpoint would be different. 

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anyone correct me if you feel I'm wrong but In my experience with Tamiya's vintage buggies is your expectations and experience determines your opinion on how they drive.

Specific characteristics have already been covered but it's worth pointing out that if you expect the same type of control and reaction to terrain a modern buggy has you'll be left wanting more. They do great bashing around yards and beaches but they tend to get squirrelly when jumping or trying to tear around a modern buggy track. They don't react as surely and they don't always want to turn in opting to plow. Some of it is tires, some of it is weight balance.

I built a hotshot this winter and I got some shakedown runs on it and it is kind of the same idea. It's more at home tearing up a ball field or dirt walking trail than it is really being sent big and fast.

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8 hours ago, OnTheTrail said:

That's just wrong on so many levels......

How can something so wrong feel so right? :D

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No surprise to hear I love this old Trojan !

Agree with all of @Saito2 initial comments 

And that the v2 diff will reduce constant retightening 

Its also largely unnecessary - even on sand 

The only bits worth upgrading / carrying spares for are the front and rear arms 

Both will snap if you’re having real fun and the period correct solutions in the US were frankly amazing 

Ugly as f but incredible for the time 👍

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On 2/7/2023 at 2:01 AM, Saito2 said:

What do you think the factors were that led to the SRBs rampant popularity (at here in the States) compared to the Scorpion? The Scorpion never quite dominated or shifted thinking like the SRBs and later the RC10s did despite being superior performers to the SRBs. It was good, no doubt, but there were a lot of SRB racers and a large aftermarket built up around them. Was it because the SRBs came first? Was Tamiya more visible/dominant in hobby shops with their MRC distribution network? I didn't even know Kyosho made the Scorpion until years later. At the time, everyone knew it as the Cox Scorpion. IIRC, Gil Losi Jr was involved in racing Scorpions and they were decidedly west coast, whereas I hail from the east. Perhaps, if I lived in California, my viewpoint would be different. 

I'd guess it was a distribution thing. From what I remember, Great Planes/Tower hadn't picked up Kyosho distribution yet in the Scorpion days, so it was strictly Cox for Kyosho cars in the US, more likely to be seen at Toys R Us than at "serious" hobby shops.

MRC/Tamiya was better established with hobby shops, and did an excellent job with promotion - the videos, the banners, the TV ads - which I think helped them a lot.

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