Talk to me aboue the Falcon!

[cobalt]

Groing up i never really liked the looks of the Falcon, but today i took a second look and this little buggy is starting to grow on me!

The suspension seems well designed and the diff looks bulletproof!

Im sure TAMIYA will re-re this one!

So what do you gentlemen think about this odd box buggy?

[Percymon]

In a word , fragile !

You only have to look at the number of cars people have to buy to make one good one

[Max Power]

I find it appealing, but I don't own one, and I have never driven one, but I do have a bumper bar from one

I can say they have a very nice bumper

[Wez-li]

I find it appealing,

I find it appalling...

[HunterZero]

It's not appalling - but it is what it is, a basic entry level 2WD. It was designed as an entry level buggy, and it has a low parts count.

The suspension may look good. Indeed, the front suspension is great and the CVA dampers are decent - but the rear trailing arm suspension is not good. The geometry is all wrong. It's very difficult to get the rear dampers soft enough to work, but still have enough damping for the weight of the rear end of the car. Using the 4 large hole piston helps.

The rear driveshafts are plastic and a bit rubbish. They can pop out in a crash. The front end is too fragile. In frontal collisions, the front bulkhead breaks too easily. The body shell over the rear damper towers is a weak point. The wing can tear clean off in a crash. And the steering geometry doesn't give the car a lot of steering lock.

Almost all of the chassis parts except for the main tub are specific to the Falcon.

But it's not all bad - its simplicity means it's quite light, and the gearbox is very robust.

- James

[Wez-li]

It's not appalling - but it is what it is, a basic entry level 2WD. It was designed as an entry level buggy, and it has a low parts count.

The suspension may look good. Indeed, the front suspension is great and the CVA dampers are decent - but the rear trailing arm suspension is not good. The geometry is all wrong. It's very difficult to get the rear dampers soft enough to work, but still have enough damping for the weight of the rear end of the car. Using the 4 large hole piston helps.

The rear driveshafts are plastic and a bit rubbish. They can pop out in a crash. The front end is too fragile. In frontal collisions, the front bulkhead breaks too easily. The body shell over the rear damper towers is a weak point. The wing can tear clean off in a crash. And the steering geometry doesn't give the car a lot of steering lock.

Almost all of the chassis parts except for the main tub are specific to the Falcon.

But it's not all bad - its simplicity means it's quite light, and the gearbox is very robust.

- James

don't get me wrong, I know its an entry level buggy, and I quite like entry level buggies such as the grasshopper, hornet and even the bear hawk, I just don't really like the body or black/yellow scheme of the falcon.

[Max Rebo]

Hi,

See my showroom

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom.asp?id=26676

or Tamiya Falcon SIG

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/sig_member.asp?id=169

for some Tamiya Falcon Stuff

[europro975]

I would also add that new parts are getting very difficult to almost impossible to find.

Antony

[sgt.barnes]

I would also add that new parts are getting very difficult to almost impossible to find.

Antony

That's because I bought nearly all of them

And a loads of the thorpe and crp upgrades

Falcon mods 101 Click here

[matman]

I have always hated them , As well as the striker . But as i'm getting older i don't seem to mind the falcon & have 1/2 of one .

Will never get / own a striker . I think it comes down to choice , Or what you had when they came out by ya parents . On

that christmas day or birthday .

But the parts seem to be getting harder to get . But I'm sure that mr T will bring out the falcon at some stage . So then

the parts will be flowing . Good luck .

[tonysmini]

I love mine, it's fragile in places, (dogbones and cups, standard front end, CRP mods fix these), and takes some messing around with the rear shocks to get it to run smoothly, but it looks great and goes like stink.

The faults just make it more fun to drive.

[Wez-li]

I have always hated them , As well as the striker . But as i'm getting older i don't seem to mind the falcon & have 1/2 of one .

Will never get / own a striker.

I had a striker when I was young, I know it's rubbish but I'd like another one

[commiedoor]

like most here , i wasn't keen on the falcon , a mate had a new one but it broken a lot ! . now i have 2 restored shelf queens and one near restored runner . the old falcon is a bit like a wart ! it slowley grows on you !

[markbt73]

I had a Falcon the first time around, and I have one now because it was there and it was cheap. It's a decent basher with a little setup work; as mentioned, go as light as possible on the rear damping. I actually ran the rear dampers empty on my old one and it did OK; now I have 20wt oil and the big 4-hole pistons and it's not bad at all. And put a few mm of rubber tubing in the rear shocks to limit the down-travel to keep the dogbones from popping out. As for the claims of the front being fragile, well, I've never broken one. Maybe I just don't hit things as hard as other people do.

As a runner, it's reasonably quick, jumps well, and handles OK in the dirt. It understeers terribly on pavement, and even at low speeds the turning circle is awful. Not Hotshot awful, but bad nonetheless. And of course, it has bump-steer. I really wish they'd put a little more thought into steering linkages on these early designs.

My biggest issue with the Falcon is the body. I think it's ugly and fragile, and I can't come up with a decent alternative that fits well. Some people put Scorcher or Blitzer Beetle shells on them, but I think it sits awkwardly on there. It's an odd chassis shape to fit something to.

[Max Rebo]

That's because I bought nearly all of them

And a loads of the thorpe and crp upgrades

Falcon mods 101 Click here

I have a nice stock at home too!

I'm glad because I started my Falcon project 4 years ago... Spare parts was easy to find...

[Nugget]

I had one when they first came available, i even raced it at one of the Tamiya Beaties challenge in Liverpool (mardol gardens i think). There was a section with some drain pipes placed under some carpet for some off road effect and nearly everytime the mighty Falcon would **** one of its drive shafts out at the sight of said bumps! Happy days. I used to run a black sprint motor in mine, went well in a straight line!

[mtbkym01]

This thread needs pictures

[KalEl63]

This thread needs pictures

Like this

I have always liked the Falcon and it took me 20 odd years to get one as it was one kit I wanted as a kid.

[sgt.barnes]

This thread needs pictures

My Fighting Falcon <-------------- Clicky

Unbreakable !

[quincey]

I love my falcon, I swapped out the drive shafts to thorp ones and updated cup joints and I put a duratrax photon speed motor 20 single in it, just get rid of the STD rims and put wildone wheels on it and their ace you can even put 2.2" wheels on it,the gearbox is really strong but as it's been stated the shell is not very strong and the wing does nothing but fall off when you roll it,but there the best original basic 2wd tamiya did and it would be a shame to never have owned one I've had 5 and now I'm just down to 3.

[OldSchoolRunner]

I love the falcon! I have owned a lot of buggies over the years but this is the one that I have a lot of fond memories of. One day when I am finshed the SRBs on the bench I am going to tackle my Falcon project. The first thing that I am going to tackle is the front end. So many flaws with the front end. I have to get around to it. But like I said too many projects on the bench.

[HomerJHandley]

if it came as a RERE i would buy one tomorrow.

I have my old one in the parents loft, thorpe dogbones as well, but needs attention to get it, and nowhere to use it so best left there!

also have 2 original shells/ wings and decals in a box all waiting to be used when the time comes