FG Marder

[mr_lister999.]

Has anybody got one and if so what are they like? I am interested in getting one but would like some peoples view on real life experience. What is the sound like compared to 2 stroke nitro? Is the engine 2 or 4 stroke? Uses normal unleaded doesnt it? What is their top speed and acceleration like? Finally, and most importantly, are they fun?

[Bibbo]

You need to contact a friend of mine. His name is Koenc and he is a member of this club.

He has one of these cars and knows all about them.

If you search in the showrooms under Kyosho you should find his display of mini-z's. Then you can contact him if he does'nt see this thread first.

[mr_lister999.]

thank sbibbo, i will give it a few days 1st then. Cheers mate.

[Mooplea]

i have one, its not been used for about 3 years tho, i think i wiped a rear arm off on a lamp post... still not fixed it.

they are real fun, noisey!... i did find i needed a very large area to really enjoy it, i took mine to a local high school and ragged round the field and running track..

[gunpowder17]

They are excellent.UKSTYLE and myself had one each and we had hours of fun with them.Superb jumps,excellent engine.Non of this glo plug ****,just pull the cord and off it goes!

[rc-martin]

I've just witnessed one in the flesh today, and must confess that i am now definatley thinking about one myself. Like Gunpowder says np more messing with glowplugs, they do tear the ground up so the local golf club's out!!!

Run em' till you wreck em'

[mr_lister999.]

no glow plug? Do they use spark plugs like a normal car then?

[Bibbo]

quote:Originally posted by mr_lister999.

no glow plug? Do they use spark plugs like a normal car then?

---

id="quote">id="quote">

Basically have a tuned strimer engine.

So a spark plug it is!!... LOL

[Mooplea]

anyone round me want one? im in huddersfield west yorks.. it has a big servo for the steering but nothing else radio wise.. oh, i think it has the receiver battery (sub C cells!)

its got the rear suspension arm broken and i think thats all, should be everything else there, basically sat unloved since being rammed into a lamp post...

very heavily used and not that pretty, good runner before the lamp post incident..

if youre livin round me swap anything for it (best swap gets it!) as i dont want it anymore.

[gunpowder17]

D.oh

All this talk of Marders has made me go out and buy another one....**** you Purplebugsy!!!!!!!![]

As if you need further convincing,i just started the new dry engine with only 3 pulls.

[PurpleBugsy]

Mr-lister999,[] as far as the FG Marder is concerned it is an absolute "BEAST",[!] there is no stopping them !!!!

I swear that when you start to drive it the devil ([}]) takes over and you just have unlimited controllable power that leaves you stunned [xx(]

the engine is a Zenoah 23cc two stroke petrol engine which runs on unleaded and 2 stroke oil mix at 25 to 1, two to three pulls and she's off.

Sorry Andrew for showing you the pics of mine and you "HAD" to go out and buy another one !!!![] so I do apologise in advance.

See ya all at Snetterton, Cheers, Bugsy []

PS, as Moosey said "shinpads and earplugs" are standard[]

[volksrod68]

so how many fg's will there be at snetterton?

got mine running and im impressed, the car has been sat in a garage for 3 years and started up straight away with fresh fuel and a new spark plug.

needs a few parts replacing to make great but i am happy with it.

thanks mooplea []

cant wait till monday, im off to the B&Q car park to get some serious speed!

just hope that failsafe works as i set it to.....

purplebugsy, cheers for introducing me to this wonderful world of fg's, i think mine is due for another respray, i wana make it a bit more 'street racer' style.

[gunpowder17]

Bugsy makes me laugh,he says unstoppable.Has he told you about it knocking him off of his feet?![]

You wanna see how fast they stop with disc brakes.Everyone watch out for the front hubs.The thread strips at the drop of a hat!

Dunno how many will be there,but ive raced with 3 others and it gets a bit scary.Tell me bugsy,does it hurt when they hit your shins??!![]

[volksrod68]

gunpowder, ive just had a great experience, racing mine against 3 others aswell!

one of the best moments was when i was running just mine, and went flat out and turned full lock into a dusty corner, and showered a woman with dust!

she wasnt happy, shouted sumthing out but forgot what it was.

serves her right for standing there.......

i love the sound of them at full throttle shooting past you, i could even feel the vibrations on the car i was leaning against.

prices of spares is ridiculous though, i have just spent 77 quid on 2 tires, a gear, and some plastic suspension parts and a rear wing.

[gunpowder17]

Its true,two or more marders sound great.I now what you mean about the stones and stuff they kick up.Spectators soon lose interest when they get covered in muck!!

[rc-martin]

I believe she said "excuse me!!! do you mind?!" about a minute before she turned up i showered their car in muck, there was a patch of grass about 5cm square sat on their roof! Don't think the people in the caravan next to us were impressed either, didn't take long for them to pack up and move.

[gunpowder17]

[^][][] Some people have no sense of humour do they!![]

[DanielSchenstrom]

"Has anybody got one and if so what are they like? I am interested in getting one but would like some peoples view on real life experience. What is the sound like compared to 2 stroke nitro? Is the engine 2 or 4 stroke? Uses normal unleaded doesnt it? What is their top speed and acceleration like? Finally, and most importantly, are they fun?"

I got one at home right now, a try-before I buy kind of thing. Me and my brother took it out for two runs, one on gravel and one on asphalt.

The sound? Well this one came with a zenoah engine (there's also a solo engine available) and it makes the same noise as say a lawnmower, a scooter or similar. Compared to the nitro engines I've heard the sound is much lower. It's 2-stroke engine. It uses normal unleaded gas, yes, with some oil. (Not having a real car I don't know if oil comes standard in a normal car.)

Top speed for this motor, with no hop ups is about 50 miles/hour or 80 km/h. It accelerates really quickly. It was so fast that neither I or my brother ever dared to make it go at max speed.

It came equipped with what looks to be two twin mounted steering servos. (I couldn't take it apart until the deal is done.)

Needless to say I'm getting it.

How much I'm paying for mine? 100-200 Euro. Now be envious

[PurpleBugsy]

OK, OK, so they are stoppable when you are showing-off[]

I was down at the Pimp (woods near me) when I noticed I had a spectator and started to show off a little []

The jumps got higher and higher as the devil took over my driving and the young lad looked on in amazement []

Then I got a little too adventerous and went for a stonking jump flat out !!!!![!]

On the approach I hit a tiny tree root in the floor and the car changed direction and there was not a lot I could do [:0] and the Marder hit me just above the ankle [] and took me off my feet and down in to the mud.

Needless to say I was very embarresed and in pain and not a happy bunny [V] and the kid rode off on his bike pi$%&*ng him self laughing at my expense [8)]

Well boys there's my story that Andrew finds amusing but you can all have a laugh now, see ya all soon Bugsy :0)

[koenc]

Hi ,

I allready had 4 of them. Now I have the Marder and the Leopard.

The Marder has a mODDIEfied engine and the latest SAMBA exhaust . Approx 4,5 HP now. It is hard to stop the car making wheelies.

Is it fast . . . . well, I've clocked it at +/- 140 kmph = +/- 85 mph. Offcourse with onroad tyres and other gears on.

They are incredibly strong also. If you leave them untuned, the only thing that can break are the front an rear upper arms. (12 Euros a piece)

Problems :

1) VERY expensive. The Samba exhaust = NIB TA04 pro + options.

So this fun doesn't come for free.

2) Brakes are not fantastic and again , upgraded brakes kost $$$$.

Advantage : put onroad tyres on it and it handles like an onroad car

They are so diverse you can do everthing you can think of with them.

So big Fun, yeah ! with a capital F !

greetings

Koen

[miramar]

Well, I don't quite agree that the Marder is such a great model. [:I] Before moving to Germany three years ago, I sold, built and serviced FG models. The majority of the models were buggies (Beetle and Marder). I don't know much about the improved New Beetle version as it was launched after I quit, but out of the box, the Marder and the Beetle leave a lot to be desired:

The radio plate is much too flexible, making for a "sloppy driving feeling".

Suspension arms break quite easily.

Brake is too weak.

The aluminum ring around the diff is easily destroyed be small stones if the model is used off-road.

The original pinion and spur gear are not up to the job.

Generally the drive train is badly protected against stones and debris.

Compared to a good 1/10 or 1/8 buggy, handling is terrible - TERRIBLE. Because the model is so big, it's quite stable, so to newbies it may give the impression of good handling, but it's really not much fun driving it around a track if you're used to topnotch race buggies. During my time having to deal with FG models, we tried countless setups to improve the handling with the help from some of the best drivers in the country, and it got somewhat better, but FG simply didn't try to construct a good buggy, and regardless what you do, the result is....well.....moderate. Set up for onroad with shorter harder springs and slicks and suspension adapted for tarmac, handling is still meager.

Sorry, I don't intend to offend anyone and I think everyone should be allowed to have their own meaning, but I just don't think the FG buggies are any good. If the quality had been better, I would have called it a good toy, but it wouldn't have made it a good racer as FG hardly did think one single second about handling. However, maybe the New Beetle is better? []

[volksrod68]

the only bad things i can say about them are the lack of gear guards, single disk brake, and the price!

i decided to go all the way and buy new wheels/tires for it, and use the old ones for tarmac.

well, just the wheels/tires cost 120 pounds, then a small metal gear cost 13, and bought a few other parts, all coming to a nice 170 quid.

might aswell just buy a full new kit for spares.......

the good things......... 2 wheel drive, speed, donuts, and the sound.

cant wait for clumber again this weekend, it looks totally different now, all black, rear wing, and new wheels/tires.

engine needs a re-tune to get the maximum performance out of it and the brake doesnt work.........so that might get fixed.

cheers

[koenc]

Miramar.

YOU ARE RIGHT ALL THE WAY !

You're head on, on the technical failures.

But this week-end I kept up with an 1/8 th scale nitro buggy on our track. I demands a specific driving techique. (no breaking because all the weight is in the back making it very unstable, only full throtlle on the straight (after tuning), ...)

Setups to improve handling. After spending over 750 Euros on options it simply does not make it alot better.

The new beetle or the Leopard . . . Is even worser than the Marder. The body is too high so it rolls alot and by lengthening the wheelbase they tried to improve traction on the front wheels making it flip over , over it's front wheels !

BUT,

you can't compare it with an 1/8th scale screamer or an Losi XXX

We drive em against each other and that's where the fun starts.

What concerns the price : Here we pay 695 euros for the car (naked) which is acceptable. But this is Belgium, where you pay for the Merc TL-01 239 Euros . . . or 1375 Euros for the latest Kyosho MP7.5 !

Do not look at it at a competition monster but as a plain hobby car. that's what it is built for in my opinion.

greetings

Koen

[mr_lister999.]

quote:Here we pay 695 euros for the car (naked)

id="quote">id="quote">

You are forced to by rc stuff in the nude??? Must mean sales are non existant in the winter [] Plus, out of interest, where do you put the change [8)]

Seriously though, thanks for all your advice guys.

[Sonic]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a Terra Crusher so i could keep up with Blondiniboy's and Volksrod's Nitros when we all meet at Clumber Park (which you are all welcome to come along and join in at, All was fine until one Sunday Morning when Purplebugsy decided to come along and bring his FG (Yes' Paul its all your fault[!]), after a hour or so of seeing the Marder strut its stuff we all decided we all must have one, so we did, well when i say everyone that don't include me [].

So if there is anyone out there who has one for sale/swop then let me know.

Please help me to keep up with the big boys[].

Lee.