Kyosho Ultima 2019

[Jesse James 12]

On 11/7/2019 at 7:58 AM, OOZZEE said:

I picked up an early release from my LHS, apparently 2 came into Australia from the pre production batch, dint come with Diff or Shock oil, was a pretty easy build except for the shock's they suck - the seal is a PIA to get over the collar, 1 X shock leaked overnight onto my tool bench. its a lot heavier than my Super Astute

Cheers for the build update and comments. If it's not too much trouble, do you know how much heavier it is than the astute? And where in your opinion is the weight coming from, ie the chassis or the gearbox components etc thanks again

[OOZZEE 30]

11 hours ago, Superluminal said:

The prebuilt shocks on the Outlaw were leaking so badly out of the box that the front suspension lower arm had filled up with oil. The plastic damper body on these was very soft and twists / deforms when tightening the top cap. Which is a shame as the rest of the truck is epic.

The red dampers on my Javelin leak too and this has only sat on a shelf. I found the very thin plastic gasket almost impossible to fit without crinkling or tearing (fortunately there are spares) but the leak seems to be around the piston area so I can only assume the designed tolerances for the piston to the o-rings is too loose? Havent had this problem on CVAs or Hicaps on the Egress.

Over christmas I might rebuild them with sone Tamiya red silicone o rings and see if this helps.

 

I ended up using red rings, green slim and a small amount of plumbers tape around the threads of on the bottom cap, along with the plastic gasket. no problems so far but I have only driven it up and down the road, id say it would be different after going over a few jumps and crashes.

 

[OOZZEE 30]

JJ I will weigh them tonight, chassis and gear box are the 2 main areas of weight

[Hobbimaster 144]

You definitely have to give some thought as to wiring on this buggy. The body shell is a real pain to remove if you want to get to the inside, its nothing like the Scorpion series of cars. I used a Hobbywing XR10 Justock esc, which mounts perfectly to the underside of the top plate using the longer screws Kyosho supplies. The battery leads are a little short on this ESC, so instead of adding more wire, I just made a cut out to reach the battery directly. As for the shock seals, they are the same ones used on the Scorpion re-releases. I learned after building a few kits to chase the seal down the threads using my thumb nail. Its a pain for sure, but you want to be patient and make sure no to stretch or deform this seal. Also making sure enough oil is removed from the assembled shocks is critical in preventing leaking shocks. There are no bladders in these sort of shocks, so there will be virtually no rebound, and the shaft must be able to move up in the body without pressure build up. 

[Reedydriver 145]

Lunsford titanium turnbuckles for the Ultima .

Also shock tower and steering looks different compared to the re release.

[Reedydriver 145]

Is the top plate different as well?

[Reedydriver 145]

[Hobbimaster 144]

1 hour ago, Reedydriver said:

Is the top plate different as well?

Yes, the towers and top plate are a composite now, would have liked at least fiberglass plates. The steering bellcranks are secured through the top plate now.

[Jesse James 12]

On 11/13/2019 at 6:09 AM, OOZZEE said:

JJ I will weigh them tonight, chassis and gear box are the 2 main areas of weight

Legend, thanks

[GTodd 906]

Very nice!! But I'm walking for a Mid,/Lazer Rere!!!

[Reedydriver 145]

Yes, ordered the Ultima right now .  I am really happy to see my buggy family growing!

[Reedydriver 145]

Has anyone driven the Ultima yet? What are the first impressions? I get my Ultima next week. Can't wait!

[Reedydriver 145]

Finally built the Ultima. With platinium rear shocks that I have bought when I was young

[CoolHands 570]

very nice. Are there any other cheaper than the kyosho gold option shocks (OTW128 & 9) that can be fitted and don't leak and look good?

[Reedydriver 145]

Here's a possibility I've noticed. However, I know nothing about its quality.

[Reedydriver 145]

Out of curiosity I weighed a few buggies (with motor, controller, receiver, without lipo). The Ultima isn't that heavy:
Ultima 1290g
RC10 gold 6 gear 1245g
Top Cat 1236g
RC10 graphite stealth transmission 1124g.
The lipo makes a difference, of course, since I drive most buggies with lcg shorty, which is unfortunately not possible in the Ultima.

[Barnoid 71]

They're pretty good! A little more bronze-y than the originals, But they're cheap, smooth as anything and they don't leak. What's not to love? :-)

[slimleeroy 228]

On 1/4/2020 at 5:31 PM, Reedydriver said:

Here's a possibility I've noticed. However, I know nothing about its quality.

I've got three sets of these and can vouch for their quality. Very difficult to tell the difference between the real things. Not quite the same quality but very nearly so.

[CoolHands 570]

I’m undecided if I should get this ultima, or wait until they bring out turbo ultima or even perhaps ultima pro? 

[slimleeroy 228]

Will the re re steering setup fit the original turbo Ultima?  Thanks

[unixphreak 50]

So when is someone going to come out with an aftermarket carbon or graphite flattened chassis?

[Champ85 490]

Are the shock towers on the re-release Ultima the same basic size/shape and hole pattern as the original?   I want to know if a set of carbon fiber shock towers for the original Ultima will fit the re-release.

Edit:  In my stash I found a set of brand new Turbo Ultima front and rear bulkheads that the shock towers mount to and the mounting holes of the re-re Ultima shock towers line up perfectly.  This means shock towers designed for the vintage Ultima should fit the re-re fine.  The opposite is not true, however.  The re-re front shock tower is not flat at the bottom and a lip in the vintage front bulkhead mount would prevent the re-re tower from being used on a vintage chassis without adding some washers for spacing or shaving off the re-re tower to make it flat to avoid the lip on the mount.

 

Front shock tower mounting holes line up with vintage Turbo Ultima front bulkhead mount (It looks like the holes are not aligned, but they are - camera perspective is fooling you):

 

Rear shock tower mounting holes line up with vintage Turbo Ultima rear bulkhead mount (It looks like it is not aligned but it is camera perspective - all 4 mounting holes line up):

 

Oddly, the top of the front shock tower on the re-release Ultima is wider than the Turbo Ultima shock tower by a few millimeters.  I do not know if the original Ultima shock tower is the same as the Turbo Ultima - I assume it is.

[Champ85 490]

Here is a picture showing an original Turbo Ultima front bulkhead where the front shock tower mounts to and the re-release Ultima front shock tower above it.   You can see the lip on the bulkhead and the non-flat bottom tower, marked in picture.  This is why using a re-release front shock tower on a vintage chassis won't fit without some work.

[NitroStar 2]

I've had my Ultima running for a while. Much fun but it doesn't turn well on any sort of throttle input. It also spins out too easily on loose surfaces in straight line when pulling throttle. I built the diff up with 3k diff fluid. I noticed afterward that the manual says to use 5k to 30k! I'm very experienced with ball diffs every since the RC10 Championship edition with the 1st stealth trans and all the Losi LXT through triple X series. The Ultima's gear diff feels super smooth and free but the turn in is not even comparable to my 30 year old RC10. What should I try next? Thicker diff fluid? What weight? Thanks

Edited May 10, 2020 by NitroStar
Added spin out in loose dirt details

[Reedydriver 145]

I am also more familiar with ball diffs and didn't want to have a smooth diff in the Ultima, so I used 60k.  It runs super straight, even on gravel.  I mounted pin tires in the front.  This way, it also runs in curves like on rails. I highly appreciate the Ultima, the RC10, however, will stay my favourite buggy!