58742 Hornet Evo coming!

[Elbowloh 1235]

Another pic

[Jason1145 4683]

That’d be the only 2WD buggy I’d want 🥳

[nowinaminute 3328]

I doubt the OG is going anywhere, so it's not like it's RIP to the classic version.

The hopping obviously has a lot of charm, but it can get old sometimes, too.

That's why I was so eager to put 4 link on the back of my Lunchbox. It might lack the crude charm of the original, but there's something incredibly satisfying about making it handle half decently, too. I get a real kick just out of watching slow motion videos of the rear end actually moving around.

I love my Grasshopper (And Nikko F10 and other similar platforms) but sometimes, I do long for a combination of the looks but rear suspension that actually works and less of tendency to flip over. Can't even plant the throttle in a straight line with the hopper sometimes without the back end suddenly bouncing a few degrees off centre and sending the whole thing into a tumble, it's like it trips over it's own feet.

I always felt one of the appeals of RC was to customise and modify stuff, too.

Obviously from a pro racer's perspective, the idea of trying to make something like a Hornet perform  better is an illogical exercise in futility, but it's not done out of logic. 

[nowinaminute 3328]

Anyone else on Facebook and noticed how incapable people are of reading?

ThAt'S it!?! SoMe NeW sTiCkErS?? PaSs

[Elbowloh 1235]

So clearly, the motor moving right to the back will change the handling massively also, but this doesn't seem to be an issue with many other 2wd Tamiya buggies?

[cloverhill 8]

Looks like all of our doublewishbones have been granted!

[nowinaminute 3328]

22 minutes ago, cloverhill said:

Looks like all of our doublewishbones have been granted!

[JimBear 862]

I wonder if the Grasshopper body would look okay on this chassis - the motor is so far back. But otherwise, yes, anytime baby. Bring it on, but we need a decent price on it.

I was going to write that the OG Hornet is hard to find below 125 euros and then I just looked at Tamico, and their price is down to 99 euros.

[tamiya3speed 505]

What a nice surprise!  I like what they did, interesting updates to an undeniable classic.  Will definitely order one eventually.

[Pintopower 1492]

LOL! 3 years too late Tamiya....spend all that time fixing the steering? The battery door gonna fall off still? I see they totally did a rookie mistake on the front suspension. The Tower is too low and the arms have the mounting point through the axis instead of what they did on the super hornet. Glad to see my jabs finally *******ed them off enough to do something. 

 

[ruebiracer 1173]

2 hours ago, Rinskie said:

I am completely unsure how I feel bout this. I like the idea but the looks seems slightly off. If I am honest, I am not sure why I'd pick this over a DT02 or a classic Hornet. 

Because you get both, the performance of a DT02/03 with the classic look of the Hornet.

[Re-Bugged 11297]

What’s not to like about 80’s Flame stickers, I’m in 👍🏻

SRB Fighting Buggy Flames next please Mr Tamiya 😎

[ThunderDragonCy 8127]

This is really cool. I like that tamiya are finally doing some handling upgrades on the swing axle stuff. 

[BuggyDad 5394]

I think this is cool too. Of all the hoppers it's the Hornet that captures my imagination. Is the 40 a reference to 40 years since the original's release? I think it might be. 

[lentner3 328]

I’m not feeling this one at all. I think I love the original too much. The flames especially look bad. Had they changed the box art more I might have been ok with it. I’d have much rather seen a super hornet with a new rear box and suspension. 

[manny 102]

I hope they do an updated Grasshopper as well.  It will be more accurate to the original box art that had rear independent suspension. 

[markbt73 5700]

1 hour ago, lentner3 said:

Had they changed the box art more I might have been ok with it.

It's facing the other way; what more do you want?

[SlideWRX 901]

One of my to-dos was to get a Rising Fighter or similar and modify it the way I wanted to- "If I remade the Hornet, this is what I would do..."  I feel like a lot of people did this, especially because of the poor handling.  There is some charm to the original, but the original is still there - how many million have been produced? It won't disappear.  The appeal for an EVO would be to fundamentally update/improve performance.  I love that they used a DT-02/03 gearbox, although I wish that gear box would get updated with more pinion options - other gearboxes have 5 or 6 sets of holes for a larger range of pinion adjustment.

Re-using the tub, re-using the body is great stuff, although the bump for the speed control servo doesn't need to be there.

The Gearbox is already designed/tooled, the body/tub is carry-over, The body, the wheels too, so this is likely only one sprue that they had to design to do the new suspension arms and the adapter for the gearbox.

Just thinking about this, I have a set of Hornet stickers because one of the first things I wanted to do when I got back into the hobby four years ago was to put a Hornet body on my DT-03...

[Juggular 5081]

lol... does @Pintopower know how to pour cold water on us... I was like, "oh, wow..." and then I got to Pintopower's reply and "oh, right..."  That was like breaking a spell.  I'd have been excited if Tamiya did this 15 years ago.  DT-02 is already about 20 years old.  Slapping it on the 1980s' chassis fixes only half the problems.  

To sell an "Evolved" version in 2024, I feel it requires a bit more effort.  I like the gearbox of DT-02, it's simple and foolproof.  But all of us have done/seen a Grasshopper/Hornet spilling its gut and dragging the battery after a jump.  That's as nostalgic as my dad smoking after dinner (even he quit it).  It's easy enough, I hope they managed to fixed it.  

Bump steer is regrettable.  

All you need is a bar (blue) across the chassis and a couple of tie rods and some ball ends.  There is room for it.  (Pinto's chassis have 2 tie rods per side to mimic an A-arm's narrow end. But I'm sure Tamiya could design a new C-hub that takes just one?)  I must have seen half a dozen mods like this over the years.  And I'm in the small minority, but the Hornet's nose is so light, it really doesn't need shocks. O-rings supplying friction is just about enough for me (just give me shorter springs). But I suppose Tamiya wanted the bling-factor from having shocks.  I wonder how much suspension travel they sacrificed.   

In all, this one is "wait and see if the reviews convince me."  Who knows, Tamiya might have a really clever battery door design that would make me buy the Hornet Evo, just for that. 

 

[Ferruz 12616]

I think the wider front track looks great with the original wheels 

[Mokei Kagaku 2916]

Grahoo in 2007: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=60259&id=418

[Kowalski86 4076]

11 hours ago, Elbowloh said:

So clearly, the motor moving right to the back will change the handling massively also.

On paper the rear motor setup/shorter wheelbase will mean more grip in the dirt, slightly twitchier handling, and a front end that will basically weight nothing. The Hornet Evo might even do wheelies with enough power and a LiPO.

 I'd like to see this same treatment done to the ORV chassis and Wild One next, those could really use a more robust gearbox/axles.

[scoobybooster 288]

1 hour ago, Kowalski86 said:

On paper the rear motor setup/shorter wheelbase will mean more grip in the dirt, slightly twitchier handling, and a front end that will basically weight nothing. The Hornet Evo might even do wheelies with enough power and a LiPO.

 I'd like to see this same treatment done to the ORV chassis and Wild One next, those could really use a more robust gearbox/axles.

This is a nice euphemism for tail- heaviness. Anyway, that was exactly my first impression when I saw the chassis. Of course, weight on the drive axle is always good for traction, but rear-heavy handling is not what I really like. 
I hope Tamiya proves me wrong  with this...

[Wheel_Nut 365]

Somebody wished for it.   I wonder who it was??

https://tamiyablog.com/2023/12/guesses-and-wishes-for-tamiya-2024-releases/#comment-8523

[scoobybooster 288]

Tamiya is quick !
First impressions of it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW7nQbbl7WA