Here's why they went plastic composite. They were asked by a lot of racers to do so. Many have also tried to get them to switch back on the 503. I prefer the Alu chassis, but too many people have complained about them bending. I have a 211XM, and the way the car is balanced and so on, I think the composite chassis is perfect for it. It has just enough flex to not crack, and it is super stiff and strong when it needs to be. A lot of the billet stuff out there is kind of for show, rather than go.
There's a lot of brand romance with Tamiya for kids that grew up on Grasshoppers. I had one too as it was the cheapest 'real' hobbyist RC car you could buy back in the day. Sadly, though, here in the UK Tamyia's TRF off-road offerings don't seem to be distributed anymore, which is a shame as we're pretty well served by all the other major brands.
The Tamiya Grasshopper was my first hobby-grade R/C car also. My dad got it for me for Christmas back in 1986. I had a ton of fun with it over the years. Great video! Looks like it will be a pretty awesome buggy once it's built.
Very nice kit. Took mine for a quick drive at the local track first time today. Works very well right out of the box. Balance and handling is very good.
Yeah Tamiya seem to have only changed a handful of parts in this kit (chassis included). Not sure what their rationale was. The basic platform is still a 201xmw. Myself I tend to look at the 201 as Tamiyas metric B4.
Great video as always! I will keep a lookout for rhe build video! I happen to be in the market for a new buggy! Although I have a ton of 12mm hex wheels and tires though. Looking at the YZ2 pretty hard!
For $400 it needs a aluminum chassis since the sponsors are. Even LOSI gives aluminum chassis. And for mid motor looks like it would flex around a lot in mod class.
Then that adds to the cost of the kit...then you have the majority of People who don't have the needed tools and skills to make a accurate chassis then your gonna need to 3d print sidebraces. Then you enter another world of 3d designing...
+JAMMIN RC Not really, it's actually STIFFER than the aluminum chassis they had in the 201XM & 201XMW(& they were offering it around the same time TLR did with the TLR22). I believe the reason for the plastic is the sponsored Tamiya guys found the alum. chassis had a tendency to tweak too easily, & some even made their own carbon fiber braces to stiffen it, but they've all mentioned that the new chassis is noticably stiffer, & it's believed that it will not tweak easily. Plus, it's a LOT lighter with it, gives MANY options to set up weight wherever you need to to balance the car.
