Tamiya grasshopper, hornet or rising fighter?
Discussion
My 13yr old daughter was asking about my old rc optima mid and porsche 959 to race about so rather than destroy these old cars I thought sell them to buy a couple of new cars with readily available spares. I’m looking at buying a starter kit for my daughter to get the hang of and to have a bit of fun running it in the garden and park and possibly make it go faster. I’m looking at the venerable Tamiya Grasshopper with it’s small 380 motor and a holiday buggy for myself.
I like to modify so any pointers as to which model cars to go for with a limited budget from selling my old cars please.
Cheers Rob
I like to modify so any pointers as to which model cars to go for with a limited budget from selling my old cars please.
Cheers Rob
There are alot of options out there.
Take a look here https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/
And see what you can get. If you want to be able to tune then you will want to look at FTX, Traxxas, Tamiya, Axial I would suggest as there are alot of option parts, add ons, and when you break it parts are easy to get.
What you can get will really depend on budget. But my suggestions are always buy lipo 2s/3s as run times are much longer and potential for tuning is better.
Take a look here https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/
And see what you can get. If you want to be able to tune then you will want to look at FTX, Traxxas, Tamiya, Axial I would suggest as there are alot of option parts, add ons, and when you break it parts are easy to get.
What you can get will really depend on budget. But my suggestions are always buy lipo 2s/3s as run times are much longer and potential for tuning is better.
If it's just for bashing I wouldn't go for any of the Tamiya reissues. Great for a bit of nostalgia but things have moved on quite a bit since them days. I would go for something like an FTX Carnage Brushless. As per the title it has a brushless motor so can be pretty quick and also powerful enough to run on all sorts of terrain as well as having a Li-Po battery for long run times and quick charging. You can get a programming card for the ESC so you could dial back some of the settings (i.e. top speed) to make it more usable for your daughter.
That said I do hanker after a Frog kit as that was the car I had as a 12 year old though it spent more time broken than running!
That said I do hanker after a Frog kit as that was the car I had as a 12 year old though it spent more time broken than running!
Thank you for the replies, I think brushless Lipo power is something I would do but to get my daughter interested it would be a little extreme to begin with. She is a bit on the autistic spectrum so the car needs to be easy to control via the help of a 380 motor to begin with then a 540 and possibly a hop up 540. The bit of research I have done for the batteries shows 3300mah-5000mah 7.2v battery packs are available which will last a long time with a 380 motor. A tamiya electronic speed control won’t run lipo batteries but will allow use of tamiya modified brushed motors which are so cheap compared to the technigold days. In my head I’ve already built a fast rc car but my daughter needs a gentle introduction so she isn’t put off.
The tamiya kits are simple and easy to fix hence I’m drawn to those.
The cheaper kits don’t have oil filled dampers which I think are a good mod to fit once a bigger motor goes in.
The modified part is obviously for me
so just wondering if oil dampers are available for the cheaper tamiya kits?
The tamiya kits are simple and easy to fix hence I’m drawn to those.
The cheaper kits don’t have oil filled dampers which I think are a good mod to fit once a bigger motor goes in.
The modified part is obviously for me
so just wondering if oil dampers are available for the cheaper tamiya kits?IMO.
Save yourself money in the long run.
Get a TT02B chassis. You can buy many upgrades and spares easily and it is 4wd so so much more usable on different ground. If you are worried about speed you can buy a shorter gear for £10 and lower the top end, with the bonus of extra torque for getting out the bushes
If she takes to it you can upgrade the hell out of them.
I got back into having fun with them again a few years back when I bought a Neo Scorcher. After a few months it started to get up graded (heatsinks, gears, full turnbuckle, prop, steering, etc) now is like it is on steroids and looks it as I have fitted oversize shock units for £20 off Amazon. It is treated very badly - skate parks can be a blast if can get one to yourself for 10 minutes, slated into walls and many car on car accidents with nephew's one! Eventually I will strip the diff back and replace with metal gears before adding a brushless motor and going lipo. I have also added a Capri that has had all the 'right' bits hopped up, a stock (other than full ballrace) Super Clod buster and a Lancia Delta which I am building up at the minute with many extras
Whatever you buy you will know you need to ballrace it from day one as it improves so much, so easily, but is a b
h to retro fit unless you think she will appreciate the structure and step by step nature of a full rebuild
Other big improvements you could also add for little extra but big (imo) returns - 1) Steering, even if only in part -when it turns properly you also tend to crash into less things you didn't mean to!
& 2) lights £10 on Amazon (less if you dont mind the slow boat from China) bit of thought into mounting (I have made a basic brackets, bluetack and also used a glue gun before) and it can be used in the evenings even after the clocks go to GMT.
Save yourself money in the long run.
Get a TT02B chassis. You can buy many upgrades and spares easily and it is 4wd so so much more usable on different ground. If you are worried about speed you can buy a shorter gear for £10 and lower the top end, with the bonus of extra torque for getting out the bushes
If she takes to it you can upgrade the hell out of them.
I got back into having fun with them again a few years back when I bought a Neo Scorcher. After a few months it started to get up graded (heatsinks, gears, full turnbuckle, prop, steering, etc) now is like it is on steroids and looks it as I have fitted oversize shock units for £20 off Amazon. It is treated very badly - skate parks can be a blast if can get one to yourself for 10 minutes, slated into walls and many car on car accidents with nephew's one! Eventually I will strip the diff back and replace with metal gears before adding a brushless motor and going lipo. I have also added a Capri that has had all the 'right' bits hopped up, a stock (other than full ballrace) Super Clod buster and a Lancia Delta which I am building up at the minute with many extras
Whatever you buy you will know you need to ballrace it from day one as it improves so much, so easily, but is a b
h to retro fit unless you think she will appreciate the structure and step by step nature of a full rebuild Other big improvements you could also add for little extra but big (imo) returns - 1) Steering, even if only in part -when it turns properly you also tend to crash into less things you didn't mean to!
& 2) lights £10 on Amazon (less if you dont mind the slow boat from China) bit of thought into mounting (I have made a basic brackets, bluetack and also used a glue gun before) and it can be used in the evenings even after the clocks go to GMT.Edited by Rude-boy on Saturday 5th January 00:49
If it is an Original Kyosoho Optima Mid and a Tamiya Porsche 959 and they are both in good condition then I suspect you will find that your budget won't be very limited, OP!
I'm another one who might suggest that the Hornet family of cars may not be the best for someone who may be put off. I have a Hornet (amongst other things) and the handling is comically bad. I'd probably go with a TT-02B as well. Something like a Neo Scorcher seems little more than £100 for a new kit on eBay. You could then 'hold it back' either via the ESC, gearing, maybe even a 540>380 adapter (I bought one to run a brushless 380 in my 1/12 pan car as a sort of lightweight experiment).
Loads of scope for upgrades and will have far 'easier' handling, so perhaps be less offputting?
I'm another one who might suggest that the Hornet family of cars may not be the best for someone who may be put off. I have a Hornet (amongst other things) and the handling is comically bad. I'd probably go with a TT-02B as well. Something like a Neo Scorcher seems little more than £100 for a new kit on eBay. You could then 'hold it back' either via the ESC, gearing, maybe even a 540>380 adapter (I bought one to run a brushless 380 in my 1/12 pan car as a sort of lightweight experiment).
Loads of scope for upgrades and will have far 'easier' handling, so perhaps be less offputting?
I’ve not read all the replies, but id say I’m in a fairly good position to comment.
I personally advise all our customers to skip the Rising fighter and Grasshopper and spend another £30. This then normally brings the hornet into contention - which again I often tell to avoid unless of course you are looking to relive your youth with a hornet.
With these 3 out of the question you are typically left with more modern cars with a more modern chassis.
So the Neo Scorcher and dual ridge (which are the same apart from body) with the TT02B 4wd chassis or Neo fighter/ racing fighter with the dt03 2wd chassis.
Why? After a few upgrades to the rising fighter/grasshopper you’ll realise that it’s a limited platform and will look to change up. The TT02B in comparison has a lot of scope and potential - modify a bit further, grab a set of touring car wheels and you can have some run on road.
My choice would be the Neo Scorcher. On the TT02B you have half decent 4wd handling, a tough bathtub underside to the chassis with independent suspension all round. As for the motor and batteries you’ll find that running time is pretty good nowadays. Batteries hold charge well and our best selling Overlander 3300 will give you a good 15mins (possibly more) - whilst remaining good enough value to afford a few of them...
Pop me a message, happy to sort you out.
I personally advise all our customers to skip the Rising fighter and Grasshopper and spend another £30. This then normally brings the hornet into contention - which again I often tell to avoid unless of course you are looking to relive your youth with a hornet.
With these 3 out of the question you are typically left with more modern cars with a more modern chassis.
So the Neo Scorcher and dual ridge (which are the same apart from body) with the TT02B 4wd chassis or Neo fighter/ racing fighter with the dt03 2wd chassis.
Why? After a few upgrades to the rising fighter/grasshopper you’ll realise that it’s a limited platform and will look to change up. The TT02B in comparison has a lot of scope and potential - modify a bit further, grab a set of touring car wheels and you can have some run on road.
My choice would be the Neo Scorcher. On the TT02B you have half decent 4wd handling, a tough bathtub underside to the chassis with independent suspension all round. As for the motor and batteries you’ll find that running time is pretty good nowadays. Batteries hold charge well and our best selling Overlander 3300 will give you a good 15mins (possibly more) - whilst remaining good enough value to afford a few of them...
Pop me a message, happy to sort you out.
Thank you again for the replies. I think the 4wd buggy as a starter is the best bet for ease of control for my daughter. She asked this morning if I have ordered a car yet
I think I’ll have the hard to control 2wd as that’s what I used to enjoy most. My beginnings started with a grasshopper, with it eventually modified from paper-round funds to a hump back 8.4v battery,ball raced with a Parma k-stock motor and hot shot wheels and tyres. I bought the 4wd optima mid as the upgrade and it was too stable and easy to control so I removed the front drive shafts to make it rwd. That car was also 8.4v, ball raced but with a Parma cyclone 2 motor, which I recently found in a box in my mums loft. That car needs a new shell, wheels and tyres and front drive shafts to sell. The tamiya porsche 959 needs front wishbones as the front roll bar attachment has broken off. That has a near perfect metallic red bodyshell and a scruffy yellow painted shell. Also have a kyosho double dare in very good condition I bought when I first started work many years ago. That is as they say a shelf queen now.
I’ll post pictures of them if anyone is interested?
I think I’ll have the hard to control 2wd as that’s what I used to enjoy most. My beginnings started with a grasshopper, with it eventually modified from paper-round funds to a hump back 8.4v battery,ball raced with a Parma k-stock motor and hot shot wheels and tyres. I bought the 4wd optima mid as the upgrade and it was too stable and easy to control so I removed the front drive shafts to make it rwd. That car was also 8.4v, ball raced but with a Parma cyclone 2 motor, which I recently found in a box in my mums loft. That car needs a new shell, wheels and tyres and front drive shafts to sell. The tamiya porsche 959 needs front wishbones as the front roll bar attachment has broken off. That has a near perfect metallic red bodyshell and a scruffy yellow painted shell. Also have a kyosho double dare in very good condition I bought when I first started work many years ago. That is as they say a shelf queen now.
I’ll post pictures of them if anyone is interested?
Post pics up please, yes.
I reinvigorated a near 30 year old Hornet a few years ago. It was totally original but lasted 5 minutes in the hands of my young son (at the time) after putting in a NiMh battery pack for longer running time. It then got upgraded with ESC (much much better than a mechanical speed controller), new radio and servos, then a low turn 540 motor which proved way too much for it with the existing gearing. It just wheel span all of the time taking off like a stabbed rat. It would not (IMHO) opinion be OK with a brushless motor (and the Tamiya one is not exactly cheap).
Since then we have bought and bulit a Vanessa's Lunchbox, and played with upgrades. Great cars for a 2WD set up. We then got a Hotshot ReRe. Not cheap, great to build (though somewhat complicated), but pretty terrible stock suspension meaning it nosedives on braking. We then got am Kyosho Scorpion. Fabulous build quality with so much of it being metal, 2WD again, and it looks great.
In the mean time, I have done a complete nut and bolt restoration of a Tamiya Vanquish (Avante cousin) that caused me to get carried away and spend way too much time and money, but it is done (took years to find some of the parts on Ebay from across the world).
I echo the sentiments above. A current era 4WD kit will provide pleasure for the build experience and be a platform to customise further and/or get replacement parts. It should also be reasonably robust and you would not have to be too precious about it. You have more fun with a car that can get really battered rather than a shelf Queen.
I reinvigorated a near 30 year old Hornet a few years ago. It was totally original but lasted 5 minutes in the hands of my young son (at the time) after putting in a NiMh battery pack for longer running time. It then got upgraded with ESC (much much better than a mechanical speed controller), new radio and servos, then a low turn 540 motor which proved way too much for it with the existing gearing. It just wheel span all of the time taking off like a stabbed rat. It would not (IMHO) opinion be OK with a brushless motor (and the Tamiya one is not exactly cheap).
Since then we have bought and bulit a Vanessa's Lunchbox, and played with upgrades. Great cars for a 2WD set up. We then got a Hotshot ReRe. Not cheap, great to build (though somewhat complicated), but pretty terrible stock suspension meaning it nosedives on braking. We then got am Kyosho Scorpion. Fabulous build quality with so much of it being metal, 2WD again, and it looks great.
In the mean time, I have done a complete nut and bolt restoration of a Tamiya Vanquish (Avante cousin) that caused me to get carried away and spend way too much time and money, but it is done (took years to find some of the parts on Ebay from across the world).
I echo the sentiments above. A current era 4WD kit will provide pleasure for the build experience and be a platform to customise further and/or get replacement parts. It should also be reasonably robust and you would not have to be too precious about it. You have more fun with a car that can get really battered rather than a shelf Queen.
TUS373 said:
Very nice, especially in the red. I would have thought that would do well on Ebay if you should wish to part with it. There is a good market for classics like that.
Thank you I’ll get it all clean and fully working first, then try eBay. The idea is I get enough cash to buy two new cars to bash around and with readily available spares to repair as and whenI built up a Tamiya Supershot just before Christmas. Obviously it was for my 3 year old son!
It’s now run in and although it’s old school it goes well.
I couldn’t afford one in 1986 so itch scratched.
Build photos here although not updated since I painted it and now it’s in a used state!
https://www.flickr.com/gp/simes205/74W7it
It’s now run in and although it’s old school it goes well.
I couldn’t afford one in 1986 so itch scratched.
Build photos here although not updated since I painted it and now it’s in a used state!
https://www.flickr.com/gp/simes205/74W7it
Above is the kyosho optima mid custom. Missing it’s front drive shafts, needing new wheels and tyres and a new shell to smarten her up. The original motor I found fitted into a model rc boat.
The Parma motor has adjustable timing, unlike the standard motor.
Motor above is a kyosho upgrade also with adjustable timing. This one has an aluminium rear bearing housing which I remember using in another rc boat I had. Standard motor with plastic rear bearing holders used to melt with heat in that particular boat.
Anyway back to the optima. This is the other car to sell and raise cash towards the new stuff
RobXjcoupe said:
Above is the kyosho optima mid custom. Missing it’s front drive shafts, needing new wheels and tyres and a new shell to smarten her up. The original motor I found fitted into a model rc boat.
The Parma motor has adjustable timing, unlike the standard motor.
Motor above is a kyosho upgrade also with adjustable timing. This one has an aluminium rear bearing housing which I remember using in another rc boat I had. Standard motor with plastic rear bearing holders used to melt with heat in that particular boat.
Anyway back to the optima. This is the other car to sell and raise cash towards the new stuff
Love it.
Edited by Simes205 on Saturday 5th January 16:48
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