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58441 Rough Rider "Buggy Champ" Re-release

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Forgive my (maybe) ignorance but how can something at the Tamiya end make the UK price 40 quid when the Japanese retail price converts to 22 quid and not 40 quid?
Lets assume it costs £15 for the Hobby Company to buy it from Tamiya. They then have to ship it to the UK and pay around 5% duty on it. So that brings the cost up to around £18-20. Now add on Hobby Companys costs (say another £2) plus 28% corporation tax on the profits they make, and add on the retailers costs would bring it to around £28. As 15%vat has to taken off the retail price (that's £5.21!) that leaves £7 to be shared between the distributor and the retailer.

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is it sad that I wanted to get a spare body in case I break my original body ...that's before I open the kit box even ....

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Hi Alstair

I've used both the XL5 and XL10 on my Slash's.

The braking works really well.

There is 3 different settings for the esc. Trainer which is 50% forward and reverse and 100% brakes, sport mode is 100% everything (brakes, forward & reverse) and race mode is 100% forward and 100% reverse - no brakes.

To get from forward to reverse you do need to stop at neutral first. Brakes is just straight across.

I can run the Slash fast forward and then slam on the brakes and turn the steering and she will do a 180 degree turn and stop perfectly.

Hope this helps

ya sure?

stock Slashes here... they can barely stop! :lol:

sometimes gotta doubletap into reverse for more stoppage,

the brakes won't even lockup the rears on wooden floor

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ya sure?

stock Slashes here... they can barely stop! :lol:

sometimes gotta doubletap into reverse for more stoppage,

the brakes won't even lockup the rears on wooden floor

That sounds more like the basic ESC's of the various brands that I know LOL. Only the powerful forwards only controls like the GT7 can stop trucks properly I imagine, and also maybe reversible ESC's with a very high rating in the circuits like the GT7 has so the reverse / motor short circuit can create the braking power needed I think. If anyone knows of one that is also double tap, I'd love to get one. Must admit I was suprised when the guy mentioned about how such a cheap controller can stop a heavy truck! But I've never seen a stock Slash.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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Ah mark ups! In a previous life I used to be in purchasing and nothing surprises me. But people have to make a living, and by the time most things have gone through an importer, a wholesaler and then the retailer, twice the ex-works price to the end user is not unusual. I used to pay £100 each for shock absorbers until I found who actually made them and then paid £20 from their wholesaler. One of the biggest mark-ups is of course with watches, but that’s another story.

Well, I managed to do some driving of the Buggy Champ with the new set up (Novak GTX esc + Orion Method 19x2 motor) and thought I would report back.

On the whole it’s pretty good, at least compared to how it was. The power seems more than enough (for this driver) and keeping it down / managing the wheel spin means that to make the thing drivable I have to limit the throttle to about 60%. At full throttle with the 6.5 to 1 taller gearing option the motor will rev to 26,000+ RPM (4,000 at the axle - no load). So it might pull perhaps 35+ given enough room.

The big gain of course and almost worth the effort, is with the braking. The drag brake option in particular (throttle Profile 6 drag brake set at 40%) make the car respond like a classically tuned performance car (with no turbo). In that when you take your foot, er finger off the throttle the speed is instantly hauled down. It is a great contrast to the standard esc supplied, and goes a long way to removing the need for reverse (at least outside).

Unfortunately, the down side is that the GTX has to work harder at keeping the speed down. And because of the small heat sink fitted in combination with a closed electronics box means that I am back to the overheating problems experienced with the Tamiya esc! :unsure:

(I would be interested to hear from other UK BC users if they have been getting thermal shut downs with the 7.2 V battery packs - and if not why not!)

Disappointing this as I had hoped that something with a rated current of 150 amps would hardly notice having to keep the Orion motor going at around 15. And again I am having to think up ways of getting rid of heat without loosing environmental protection. Novak don’t seem to make an ad-on fan for the GTX so I am a bit stuck at the moment. I am reluctant to cut holes in the nice Tamiya electronics box but I am now beginning to see why later models didn’t bother with it.

Cheers,

T

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My GT7 after run with my 12 double (boy was it fast) was not even slightly warm, whereas motor was hot but not too hot. ESC is in the original plastic case as shown on the front of the GT7 box, no heatsink came with it, but then I did get it 2nd hand. This was by running it in my Top Force, which is a flat pan non-enclosed chassis with a hole cut to make the built in air scoop in the TF shell actually work.

Believe me, I need the brakes with a 2.2 Kg SRB, when running down our steep hill that I live on :unsure:

Cheers,

ARG

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Hey I just noticed you're running a GTX not a GT7 like mine :unsure: ! What an idiot I am today LOL. No wonder there's a difference.

What is the GTX rated at for fwds and braking?

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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Ahh I see yours is rated much lower and needs a heatsink, whereas the GT7 doesn't even get warm with my 12 double!! Never mind needing a heatsink!

My advice would be to grab a GT7 from the bay, like Jim and I did. Don't pay more than about 40 quid! Mine was 20!

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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My 2 SRB re-release rear cages turned up from a UK seller and I just compared them to the original on my F150 XLT and the parts look absolutely identical to me.

Same material, same moulding marks, same color . Cool. I paid 5.75 quid for them and 2 quid shipping for the pair!

Also thought that it would be interesting to show some prices for the SRB spare parts from back in the day. This scan comes from Radio Race Car magazine , issue no. 3 of Spring 1981 (it seems), page 23.

I bought my original Tamiya hump packs NIB off the bay from USA for around 14 GBP each plus shipping only a few years ago, RR body price hasn't changed much in 30 years if you get it from Jason, interestingly the Scorcher body was a bit more than the RR back in the day, although it is a more complex moulding, wheels and tyres prices have only gone up slightly, front bumper was 11 quid from UK seller, rear guard was 5.75 quid from UK seller, my 5 original NIP shock sets were 26 quid off the bay a few years ago, and my RR complete body box set was around 20 quid plus postage from Japan!

I know you have to account for inflation somewhere but just thought it was interesting nonetheless!

Cheers,

Alistair G.

post-6936-1254432265_thumb.jpg

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is it ok running a sport tuned in a buggy champ ?i know its quickish as is but want a little more speed ?

No problemo bro' !!

As long you refer to Tamiya Black 540 sport tuned motor

Badboy

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No problemo bro' !!

As long you refer to Tamiya Black 540 sport tuned motor

Badboy

i do indeed right then wheres that spare one gone !!!cheers !!!

this is it running silver can lol

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Right, further to the overheating problems with my Novak GTX running on part throttle settings in the BC (for just cruising about - see previous posts etc), I have at last hopefully sorted this out.

Unfortunately Novak don’t seem to provide an add on fan for this lately discontinued racing esc, and what is available would seem to be too large and not easily fitted. A fan anyway would to some extent reduce the running time, and so I thought about fitting some extra heat sinking similar to that fitted to my now defunct Tamiya TEU-101BK.

After rummaging about in my box of junk PC boards I found an old chip cooler with some nice long figures on it. This I cut down to fit the limited space available in the BC electrics box. I knew there was a reason that I had not put back the on/off switch in the box lid as the heat sink could now extend into this area.

My modified new heat sink was simply glued with heat conducting epoxy to the top of the existing GTX heat sink, not pretty but functional.

GTXFront.jpg

GTXSide.jpg

GTXFrontCover.jpg

The end result being that I can now cruse around on resistive surfaces such as grass for periods of 20 minutes or more without the esc temperature rising much above 60Deg C. Before addition of the new heat sink it was reaching 85Deg after 10 minutes. :)

Cheers

T

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Anyone noticed the box change on the second batch?

The stock we had in from the first shipment all had a large "30 years since the Rough Rider" sticker on the bottom right of the box lid.

New stock from the second (supposedly final?) shipment doesn't have this sticker.

Makes the 1st issue box more collectable in my opinion.

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Anyone noticed the box change on the second batch?

The stock we had in from the first shipment all had a large "30 years since the Rough Rider" sticker on the bottom right of the box lid.

New stock from the second (supposedly final?) shipment doesn't have this sticker.

Makes the 1st issue box more collectable in my opinion.

Nope! THREE boxes!!!

#1 had incl, T-shirt sticker

#2 had 30th aniversary

#3 got noting on it

(I'm not shure about witch came fisrt of #1 & #2)

Badboy

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Anyone noticed the box change on the second batch?

The stock we had in from the first shipment all had a large "30 years since the Rough Rider" sticker on the bottom right of the box lid.

New stock from the second (supposedly final?) shipment doesn't have this sticker.

Makes the 1st issue box more collectable in my opinion.

BUM BOWWWWW!

My shiny new (3rd issue?) buggy champ that turned up from stella TODAY :lol: has the 30th anniversary sticker on it :)

so god knows what the go is...

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Is there a thread somewhere to discuss the Sand Scorcher re-re?

look a little further down page 'sand scorcher 2009' now 2010 thread i have mine on pre order!

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i cant believe the BC is already being discountinued...the dood at tamiya said they well be around for the long haul...the brat isn't even discountinued yet...WTH?

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who told ya RR has been discontinued?

makes sense to put all resources into making the SS i guess...

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Tamiyausa and towerhobbies list it as discontinued. With SS coming out RR demand will drop significantly. Tamiya is smart to discontinue it. Body parts set will probably be available.. So if you want to make an RR it will be easy peasy!

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who told ya RR has been discontinued?

makes sense to put all resources into making the SS i guess...

Tamiyausa and towerhobbies list it as discontinued. With SS coming out RR demand will drop significantly. Tamiya is smart to discontinue it. Body parts set will probably be available.. So if you want to make an RR it will be easy peasy!

yep..tamiyausa :blink:

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Tamiyausa and towerhobbies list it as discontinued. With SS coming out RR demand will drop significantly. Tamiya is smart to discontinue it. Body parts set will probably be available.. So if you want to make an RR it will be easy peasy!

I just was on towerhobbies and it shows in stock not discontinued.

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