New from Team Associated come Factory Team anti-roll bar kits for the B5 and B5M buggy. Included in each kit are three specific swaybar wires, blue colour aluminium hardware and the needed composite ball cups. The wires are colour-coded for easy identification and the kits are designed to stiffen the rear suspension in corners for a better handling especially in high-grip conditions.
Click here to view the anti-roll bar set for the B5M
Serpent have released first information and images on their electric-powered Viper 977-e 1/8th electric on-road car. Making use of the proven 977 suspension the kit will feature a newly designed 5mm carbon fibre chassis and topdeck, carbon fibre battery mounts and protectors as well as a carbon fibre speed controller tray. The drivetrain makes use of dual 5mm belts with large diameter pulleys and ball-raced belt tensioners. The motor mount and middle layshaft bracket are machined from 7075 aluminium for maximum precision and durability. Designed to be run with an 1/8th scale speed controller, a 2000kv brushless motor and dual 3S LiPo battery packs, first testing showed similar or even faster lap times compared to the nitro-powered counterpart with runtimes of more than 5 minutes being no problem. Final testing is in full swing at the moment with a production start being expected soon. In the future there may also be a conversion kit for 977 owners allowing to run the electric variant indoor during Winter time for example.
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Available from mid-July is Yokomo’s lightweight conversion kit for the B-Max4 III 4WD buggy. Featuring a new lightweight aluminium main chassis plate, new plastic side pods, updated composite gearboxes and miscellaneous other parts, the kit is designed to use a 2S shorty battery pack with the motor sitting in the rear compartment, a setup that is especially useful on high grip surfaces. The kit allows to run saddle packs and a front-mounted motor though, giving added versatility when conditions call for a layout change.
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During this weekend’s 3rd round of the Euro Nitro Series, run at the famous Hockenheimring in Germany, Mugen are on site with the prototype of the forthcoming MTX-6 200mm nitro car. The recently crowned ETS champion Ronald Volker is in attendance using a car he borrowed from fellow countryman and good friend Robert Pietsch. The big news, though, comes from the fact that the car he is running is a 99% stage prototype of the new 200mm car from Mugen Seiki which will be called MTX-6. We spoke to Ronald and Robert, who talked us through the main new features. First of all there are a bunch of reinforced parts, such as the chassis, the differential mounts, the rear arms and their mounting brackets, the rear differential plastic parts and the front turnbuckles. The second gear has also being reinforced, the spur and the pinion now being both 1mm wider, which together with the new carbon fibre stiffeners should help solve the problems that some customers had on the MTX-5 with their second gear. Staying on the rear end, the braking system is moved on the gear shaft, and its improved linkage provides more power. The front end also features new differential mounts that allow faster access and a new servo saver with interchangeable ackermann plates, while on both front and rear the car also sports lower shock towers.
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Bittydesign announce the soon release of the Striker-SR 3.0 190mm touring car bodyshell. With the current Striker-SR 2.0 being quite a unique body with an aggressively shaped hood section and a short rear overhang the follow-up version again is expected to be Bittydesign’s most agile body with the Nardo and MC10 being the more conservative in terms of front end grip and overall body length. We bring you more information on the body as soon as they become available.
Source: Bittydesign [bittydesign.net]
GForce introduce the Hyper Booster capacitor units for 1S and 2S usage. Coming in a black or blue anodised aluminium case for looks, protection and added cooling surface the add-on modules offer a capacity of 250,000µF, they measure 38×22.1x11mm and weight in at 18g.
Source: GForce [gforce-hobby.jp]
New from Spec-R come these branded industry standard LiPo battery safety bags. Available in red or black colour and coming with a printed Spec-R logo the bags are ideal when charging, discharging or storing 1S to 4S LiPo battery packs. They are made from fire-resistant fabric and minimise the harm to your pit table and surrounding areas in case a LiPo pack goes boom for whatever reason.
Click here to view the other new bag
Axial have new 1.9″ crawler tyres as well as 1.9″ and 2.2″ rims available. Starting with the tyres, first up are the BFGoodrich Krawler T/A tyres, a scaled down version of the full-size rock-crawling championship winning tyre. They are moulded from R35 rubber and come with standard foams included. Also new is the Falken WildPeak M/T mud terrain tyre. Like the BFGoodrich the Falken resembles its full scale counterpart, it is made from R35 rubber, comes with inserts and it is designed for 1.9″ wheels.
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