June 21, 2009

Team Magic G4RS 09 of Raimondo Gilletti

Team Magic G4II of Raimondo Gilleti

Back in February we brought you the first photographs of the new G4RS 2009 edition (formerly dubbed the G4II) from Team Magic, when we were shown Dario Balestri’s prototype car at the Toy Fair in Germany. Last month we showed you a video of that car testing at Gubbio, host of this years European Championship, at the hands of the double European Champion and now we have photos of the final G4RS 09 of Italian TM/Novarossi team driver Raimondo Gilletti. Basically in its production form, the car is very similar to the prototype with the exception of some different materials, such as the plastic front upper suspension brackets, aluminium chassis stiffeners in place of carbon and plastic rear lower suspension brackets. The prototype plastics have of course all been replaced with the final molded versions and overall the car looks complete. The car has some nice touches such as the super small diameter front and rear gear differentials, the low centre of gravity and centralised weight, the large scope for adjustment and the ability to change between a blade or wire type front ant-roll bar. Having been tested extensively by the Italian TM team of Balestri, Gilleti and Mario Spiniello, the car is expected to hit the market at the end of June, 3 weeks before it will attempt to defend its European title.

Click here to see the rest of the photos


June 13, 2009

Scooby Horton Edition Scalpel conversion

Scooby Horton Edition Scalpel conversion

Designed by Javier ‘Scooby’ Horton, produced in cooperation with Skyrocket Racing and Brown Engineering, the Scooby Horton Signature Edition Scalpel claims to be a game changer. It brings the stability and predictability of a 1/12 scale pan car to the 1/18 scale direct drive world. This conversion kit consists of a new 6 cell chassis that extends the wheelbase to 150mm, a larger more consistent center shock, custom side dampening tubes, a redesigned upper pod plate, angled servo mounts and redesigned fiberglass t-bars, this conversion provides a comprehensive performance increase to an already potent micro pan car. The tunablility of this kit makes it at home on asphalt or high bite ozite. Running Skyrocket batteries Scooby used the pre-production version of this kit to take the Micro Great Lakes Challenge Pan Car stock class at Hobby Stop West in Toledo Ohio, by a whopping 3 laps. There are 3 versions the 6 cell chassis, and the Oval chassis, both of which are available now. The Lipo chassis version shown in the photos is in the final stages of testing and will be debuting very soon.

Click here to see the LiPo version


June 12, 2009

Exclusive – Serpent 733 First pictures

Exclusive - Serpent 733 First pictures

Last weekend, we showed you the first photo of the all new Serpent 733, but while we were waiting for the track to dry during practice for the Bumod GP, the car’s designer Michael Salven walked us through the car and allowed us to take photos based on the promise we would release them at a later date. Well today is that day and following the release earlier this week of information and CAD images of the new car, you should be all aware of the functions and features of this great looking car. Some things that stand out are the front ball raced wire type anti-roll bar, the wide open rear end, tiny universal differentials, engine blocks with integrated chassis stiffeners, super low layout, awesome front bumper, radio box and entire radio plate assembly, not to mention the upgraded geometry which we were told makes the car very balanced. Note that some of the parts on this car are still prototype material.

Click here to see the other photos


June 10, 2009

Greyscale Racing MRCG1.1 pan chassis

Greyscale Racing MRCG1.1 pan chassis

Greyscale Racing have released their new 1/28 competition pan chassis, the MRCG1.1. The MRCG1.1 is the highly-anticipated successor to the original MRCG, a car that helped revolutionize the 1/28 racing scene. Built on the same proven layout as the original car, the 1.1 features a 1.5mm woven graphite chassis, geometry updates throughout the car and a refined version of the original Virtual centre Pivot rear suspension that makes the car even stronger, faster, and easier to drive and tune.

Click here for more information and photos


June 8, 2009

Serpent 733 1/10th scale CAD Images

Serpent 733 1/10th scale CAD Images

Having taken the first photos of the car last weekend at the Bumod GP in Turkey, Serpent have released CAD images and details about their new 1/10th scale 200mm, given the name 733. To cope with the growing amounts of horsepower and to translate that to superb grip on the tarmac, the car is a completely new design, carrying very few parts across from the current 720 series. It performed well on its race debut, with some bad luck for Jilles Groskamp denying a certain TQ and taking him out of a leading position in the main final. Expected for release in July, there will be a limited run in time for drivers competing at the European Championships in Gubbio, Italy.

Click here for the full feature list and more images


June 4, 2009

Bumod GP – Serpent 7XX first photo

Serpent 7xx radio tray

Red RC are at the rain affected Bumod GP in Bursa, Turkey and we were given an in depth look at the new Serpent 7xx 1/10th scale 200mm chassis. While we were able to take photos of the car, Serpent have asked us not to show them until a later time, allowing us only a photo of the bottom of the radio tray, just one of the very nice features of this well thought out car. Other new items at the event, that has attracted international racers from as far afield as Thailand and the USA, is a new Audi 200mm shell from German brand Orcan promising lots of steering and stability through the corners. Racing will begin as soon as the weather clears up, which looks to happen later this evening, given the racers a chance to run under the flood lights at the fabulous facility.

Check out our full coverage and image gallery here.


June 3, 2009

Team Durango DEX410 Ultimate & Race spec

Team Durango DEX410 Ultimate & Race spec

Team Durango have released further details about the new DEX410 buggy together with the release date and pricing. According to Durango, the buggy was originally conceived pre ‘credit-crunch’ and is a no-compromise specification with a huge number of new features for the class, all of which is reflected in the price. Team Durango considered not launching this high spec car and launching a dumbed-down version instead, however racer interest has been so high, and running costs seem to be much lower than current cars out there, that Team Durango will push forward with the ultimate spec as the launch car. The company will however later release the buggy in a more cost friendly version, called the DEX410R which is expected to launch around September with a standard specification and perhaps even the class standard ball differentials. Expect the DEX410R to have a street price of around $390 (€306, £270), while the ultimate launch spec DEX410, expected to be released in late June, will be around $650 in the shops, which is around €510 or £450 in Europe when sales taxes are added.

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June 3, 2009

Associated MGT LE Flag body RTRs

Associated MGT LE Flag body RTRs

Associated have released a pair of MGT Limited Edition Flag body RTRs. Available on both the MGT 4.6 and the MGT 8.0, these limited edition red, white and blue trucks not only look good, they deliver the ground pounding power and torque that you have come to expect from a Team Associated MGT. Based on the original MGT design, with the addition of an AE 8.0cc engine, the MGT 8.0 is the company’s most powerful truck to date. Reinforced to handle the massive power the engine delivers, this car comes factory assembled with the all new XP3D FM Computerized Digital Radio, the Pro-Start engine starting system, a 2-speed automatic transmission with reverse, eight coil-over oil filled shocks, full precision ball bearings, specially designed Team Associated all terrain tires and with a flag body design. The MGT 4.60 SE sports the AE 4.60 engine which has increased displacement of 33%, making this car deliver more horsepower and stump-pulling torque. The rugged extruded aluminium chassis, oil filled shocks, and huge mounted all-terrain tires give the MGT 4.60 SE over 4 inches of ground clearance, letting you take that power over almost any obstacle.

Click here to see the MGT 4.60 SE