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Saito

The Worst Off-roader Ever

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Here's a bit of a fun topic. Which off-roader do you consider to be the worst (or one of the worst) ever made. It can be any car or truck from any manufacturer past or present as long as it was available in kit form. I remember the Royal Ripper (or Royal Ripoff) and Royal Crusher as being pretty bad for example. My bid for one of the saddest attempts at an off-roader goes to the Bolink Invader monster truck. When the racing truck boom hit after the arrival of the King Cab and JR-XT, everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Bolink litterally slaped some truck tires and body on one of their ON-road pan car chassis and promptly called it a racing truck. :lol: Even young kids saw right through Bolink's attempts. I wonder if anybody bought one?

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I kind of hope you don`t get any replies to this thread.

You just know some people will have whatever gets named and those cars will be loved by some people.

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Agree with Twisty. Besides I reckon cars that handle a bit badly can be more fun to drive than cars that never miss a beat and barely need help through the corners :lol:

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I kind of hope you don`t get any replies to this thread.

You just know some people will have whatever gets named and those cars will be loved by some people.

Surely though if you love a particular model for what it is, you don't really care about what anyone says about it?

Prime example - the Grasshopper and the Lunchbox are both very primitive off-road vehicles. Neither are really any good off-road. Any serious bumpy terrain and the Lunchbox turns over, while the Grasshopper turns about and heads off in a random direction. But that doesn't stop people from loving them - both cars have a huge following on TC and are among the most popular "First Kit RC" for many newcomers today.

I think it's an interesting thread idea - although for the most part I think the "worst" off-roaders will have been made by cheap lesser-known companies that not many of us can relate to :(

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I was aiming more at the off-brand cars with this topic. The topic is not nessesarily about poor handling cars, but ones of poor quality. Basically the ones that were put out there with the intention to making a quick buck and to capitalize on the RC boom. Mad-Ax was right on about Grasshopper and Lunch Box too. I had a Marui Land Cruiser. I loved it. The gearbox melted down in short order however. If someone else said the gearbox of that vehicle was lacking in the durability department I'd have to agree, but that wouldn't change the fact I really liked that vehicle. People constantly bash the Striker and Sonic Fighter but their followers likely couldn't care less. I'm not really out to bash cars in particular with this thread, just to remember some of the "cheaper" ones.

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Hi,

I have to agree with the earlier posts. I think that some cars even if they are poor quality have special memories for different people. Most people remember the first car they had and will always have a soft spot for it.

The point made about the Striker and Sonic Fighter is a good one. I have both in my showroom new built. One of them only cost 40 to build from parts. They are both generally unloved and of little value but personally I think they look great when made and are a must in my collection. They can be seen here:

Striker: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...37749&sid=4

Sonic Fighter: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...67731&sid=4

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One of my first cars was a Nikko something or other buggy. I remember it well, as it had a "turbo boost" dog leg forward that gave it a bit more top speed. It was totally pants but I loved it with a passion!

Then it got me to thinking- that's a bit of clever marketing. Find the speed of your RC car, Halve it then Add a "turbo booster" function to get it back up to top speed! Genius!

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Agree with Twisty. Besides I reckon cars that handle a bit badly can be more fun to drive than cars that never miss a beat and barely need help through the corners B)

yep

for example, the midnight pumpkin/lunch box. it's a challenge to make them go straight, it's hard as badword to hit a jumping board that"s not 4 time the width of the car, but it's a lot of fun to drive

tom4

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Well, when you say worst, for me it was when me and my brother worked all summer to buy a 3 speed hi-lux. The model looked great but handled really badly. The car was an over-enginnered over expensive mess. We were gutted :( Especially as we had sold all of the remaining RC gear (Holiday buggy) to get it.

Luckily things turned out ok, the modelshop owner took pity and he sold the car on to someone that wanted a pre-made one (the shell was painted by my cousin who was a graphic designer and it looked amazing). So we got a Ranger and another Holiday buggy with two sets of radio gear with the proceeds B)

I know some people love them, and I can understand why some do from a historic and technical standpoint but the 3 speeds always fill me with a sense of dread when I think about what a dissapointment it was to my brother and me.

The other dissapointing car I got was my first one, it was the Jag from the saint and I thought it would be a full frequency rc car but it was a crappy sonic one.. Oh well.

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One of my first cars was a Nikko something or other buggy. I remember it well, as it had a "turbo boost" dog leg forward that gave it a bit more top speed. It was totally pants but I loved it with a passion!

I think that was common on a few Nikko buggies. I had a Turbo Panther in red that I adored. I think it was 1:16 scale, and to my inexperienced hands it felt really quick. It was 2wd and had a switch on the rear diff cover for low and hi ratio; suspension was almost identical to the Grasshopper with springs all round but no attempt at shock absorbers. Was quite heavy too, but despite all that it went well on the dust outside my house, and was wicked fun on the polished floor of the local village hall which my parents used to rent for various occasions.

I kept it for years, even after I had various Tamiyas, but in the end I scrapped it after it fell off a wall and smashed the plastic rollcage.

I know what you mean about the marketting ploy too - I once told a schoolfriend that my Turbo Panther had a really fast "turbo boost" mode, and he said "Oh, mine doesn't have that, it just goes expletive-fast all the time!!"

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I think that was common on a few Nikko buggies. I had a Turbo Panther in red that I adored. I think it was 1:16 scale, and to my inexperienced hands it felt really quick. It was 2wd and had a switch on the rear diff cover for low and hi ratio; suspension was almost identical to the Grasshopper with springs all round but no attempt at shock absorbers. Was quite heavy too, but despite all that it went well on the dust outside my house, and was wicked fun on the polished floor of the local village hall which my parents used to rent for various occasions.

I still have my Nikko Ferrari F-40 that uses the same system. Quite a nice little car, and it did very decent off-road on hard packed earth too, for a car on slicks B) Came with an adapter that allowed you to charge the batteries while they still were in the car (there's a charging plug in the chassis).

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Today i bought a NIB Grass hopper ha ha ha,i have several Lunch boxes and Midnight Pumpkins,i don`t care,la la la la,i can`t hear you la la la

B)

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I would say the Sears (Nikko) Lobo II. It was a 2WD off road buggy with a similar style to the Hornet (though smaller). When I was about 10 years old, it would drive me crazy because the pistol grip radio only had a 15' range. I still have the battery from it to this day...

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I would have to say one of the worst "Off-Roaders" that I had the dubious honor of witnessing in action.

Would have to be the Taiyo 'Copy' of the Famous Grasshopper..

It came in Red or Black and was called the Jet Hopper.

I remember seeing some of my friends getting excited about getting one for their B'Day or X-Mas.

Even boasting about the "Turbo Boost" function.

On this it was achieved by a secondary weight to the return spring on the throttle.

and it only had 4 throttle positions.

Reverse, Stopped, Forwards, and (Turbo)

I never liked them, the steering wasn't proportional.

The Suspension was 'Suspect' at best.

and my Wild Willy was faster.

Strange fact is..

those Vintage Taiyo's seem to have been better built,

than the Toy R/C I see in Radio Shack/ Toys'R'Us these days.

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Hmmmm, well, I guess the worst "off-roader" ever, at least from my personal experience, would have to have been my first RC ever, called the Fire Fox (I can't remember who made it). The body was a knock off of the Tamiya Lamborghini Cheetah, with a cheap plasticky chassis and no real suspension to speak of. It was slow too, and had a very short range. It has a sentimental place in my heart since it was my first RC, but overall I have to admit, it was a total POS.

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Well im not sure if it was a kit or %90 pre built but it has to be the kyosho lazer 2000. What a total piece of rubbish. Lucky I only paid 20 pounds for it with a set of radio gear. It cant handle the slightest jump without somthing falling out. The bumper broke off on the first run when it hit a chair and i lost a drive shaft and it wasnt even a big crash, even a 959 would have lived. The suspension was so soft the chassis would hit the ground after a jump. It is very hard to change the belts when they break, and even harder to fit the motor without removing the spur gear. out of 10 i would say 1 or possibly 2 because it has a nice shell.

dazaa

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I will admit I was a bit miffed when I read the first responses to this topic. Others have derided models before from Bullheads to Strikers. Some even do so in the review section of this forum. After all, I wasn't even taking a swipe at anybody's favorite Tamiya. The topic was left open to the experiances of others.

And then I thought about it. I thought about it all day. To be honest, I was a bit blindsided by the idea that some may take offense to the topic. My love is Tamiyas and RC in general. I hope to see the hobby grow or at least stay relevant. My thoughtless topic post may indeed offend folks with an attachment to any car named in this thread. It was very foolish of me to go posting without thinking about the future hurt it could possibly cause an individual. I wouldn't want someone knocking my childhood memories and its stupid of me not to consider that it might bother others in this manner as well. Allowing people to bash a particular model by opening the door with this topic will do nothing constructive in furthering RC. I am deeply sorry for my carelessness and inconsideration. As a result of my actions (and what they might have done) I will try to not post new topics (of a non-technical nature) in an effort to not offend anyone. Once again I am sorry for my inconsideratness. I leave it up to the moderators to lock or end this topic to prevent any future harm.

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I would have to say one of the worst "Off-Roaders" that I had the dubious honor of witnessing in action.

Would have to be the Taiyo 'Copy' of the Famous Grasshopper..

It came in Red or Black and was called the Jet Hopper.

I remember seeing some of my friends getting excited about getting one for their B'Day or X-Mas.

Even boasting about the "Turbo Boost" function.

On this it was achieved by a secondary weight to the return spring on the throttle.

and it only had 4 throttle positions.

Reverse, Stopped, Forwards, and (Turbo)

I never liked them, the steering wasn't proportional.

The Suspension was 'Suspect' at best.

and my Wild Willy was faster.

Strange fact is..

those Vintage Taiyo's seem to have been better built,

than the Toy R/C I see in Radio Shack/ Toys'R'Us these days.

Ha! This became a Nikko/Taiyo thread :D

The Jet Hopper (aka Turbo Hopper) was the biggest selling R/C 'toy' of the 1980s (I have this as a quote in a recently published toy history book by FAO Schwarz, the big New York toy shop). I am not sure how it's sales figures compared to the hobby kits of the 80s and the mighty sales of the Tamiya Hornet/Frog/Grasshopper etc, but when it came to toy shop/department stores etc, the Turbo Hopper was an incredibly hot toy in 1986/1987. Which is why it spawned at least half a dozen sequels (Aero Hopper, etc) and even a slot car set.

Compared to today's toy shop R/C models, the Turbo Hopper was a wonderful little thing. It had genuine sponsor logos, a genuine spare tyre on the roof, realistic looks, a free set of little orange cones to drive around, and of course the undeniably cool "turbo" gimmick. What kid didn't love that?

No wonder NIB examples fetch over US$250 on eBay nowadays.

Hmmmm, well, I guess the worst "off-roader" ever, at least from my personal experience, would have to have been my first RC ever, called the Fire Fox (I can't remember who made it). The body was a knock off of the Tamiya Lamborghini Cheetah, with a cheap plasticky chassis and no real suspension to speak of. It was slow too, and had a very short range. It has a sentimental place in my heart since it was my first RC, but overall I have to admit, it was a total POS.

Aw. Well, FYI it was made by Shinsei. A Japanese company that made their R/C toys in Japan, beginning in the very early 80s I think, including the classic Dust Runner which was a Honda trike. Their products were (for the money) actually good quality, with decent digital proportional reception on most models.

Anyway, Saito - no offence intended mate, you always start great topics, including this one. :P I was only being pragmatic about what I thought would happen, and fully expected lots of cars to be criticized. I try to tread lightly here, focus on positives and not criticize too much - find that it keeps me out of bother. :D:D But I'm not saying everyone should do that.

cheers,

H.

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I will admit I was a bit miffed when I read the first responses to this topic. Others have derided models before from Bullheads to Strikers. Some even do so in the review section of this forum. After all, I wasn't even taking a swipe at anybody's favorite Tamiya. The topic was left open to the experiances of others.

And then I thought about it. I thought about it all day. To be honest, I was a bit blindsided by the idea that some may take offense to the topic. My love is Tamiyas and RC in general. I hope to see the hobby grow or at least stay relevant. My thoughtless topic post may indeed offend folks with an attachment to any car named in this thread. It was very foolish of me to go posting without thinking about the future hurt it could possibly cause an individual. I wouldn't want someone knocking my childhood memories and its stupid of me not to consider that it might bother others in this manner as well. Allowing people to bash a particular model by opening the door with this topic will do nothing constructive in furthering RC. I am deeply sorry for my carelessness and inconsideration. As a result of my actions (and what they might have done) I will try to not post new topics (of a non-technical nature) in an effort to not offend anyone. Once again I am sorry for my inconsideratness. I leave it up to the moderators to lock or end this topic to prevent any future harm.

I don`t think anyone would be too offended by your thread Saito,no need to beat your self up,it did provoke thought though! which is a good thing.

I am sorry for picking on you a bit,but i saw it as a bit of a negative thread and to be honest had been dealing with some things on another forum

that were much more negative and i had had enough ,but you copped for my blues.

Post away fella,no harm done.

:D

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Some good contenders here, but keeping in the "proper r/c" family (sorry Nikko fans), the Falcon was always pretty rubbish on rough terrain. Yep, my first and favourite Tamiya, but on rough ground, forget it. It was better than the Grasshopper and Hornet, but not much. Get it on loose or compacted dirt though and it was a different story. Very good.

Second up is my second "proper" r/c. Kyosho Optima. Seriously, this thing took half an hour of maintenance for every 5 minute run. A great concept but badly executed. The later "Mids" were hugely better. I still long for a nice original Optima though. And a Turbo. And a Pro. :)

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If you're interested this page here - http://classictamiyarc.com/tamcontact01.html has a list of all the major RC companies there has been over the years. It lists and talks about some of the worst and why they were so bad. Scroll down to the last quarter of the page.

Good read your webpage- Please finish the final bullet pointed companies!

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Good read your webpage- Please finish the final bullet pointed companies!

That's not his site - it belongs to a guy called Alex Jung, and last I checked it hadn't been updated for a few years.

cheers,

H.

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my first rc was in 1985. i think. cant remember the make but it said aero tuned on the side and was a white toy grade buggy. i took it off roading in my back garden and killed it within 10 minutes with just gentle driving.

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Poor handling?

The Tamiya Audi Quattro (580036) does handle like an high-rise on a skateboard - but I still like driving it! It is probably better than the Wild Willy, but at least the latter was called a stunt vehicle. Such a labeling at least imply you cannot expect great handling. The Audi did not prepare you for its poor handling before you entered the first corner... :D

In all fairness a stock FG monstertruck does not handle all that well either. I also know several Swedes who refer to the Kyosho Mad Force as the Soccerball, since turning at speed makes it cartwheel like a soccerball.

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