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I guess the real question I want answered is whether or not I can drop the upgrade motor for the MINI Z into the Palm Runner.

Like dgs says, Kyosho does offer a X-Speed for the PalmRunner. The packaging is different to the MiniZ one, and the wiring is different too – but I have no idea if the actual motors are the same inside.

Bodies/wheels are interchangeable.

That’s about it.

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… I figure they could be souped up a bit 😉

These were the rage in Oz at the 2002 Toy Show… however
it probably doesn’t lend itself to too many mods.

One fan/motor for lifting, one for drive. Rudder steering.
The thing seems to run OK as is, extra power in the motors
would only drain the batteries faster.

The electronic speed control might also need attention before
you do anything to the motors; no spareparts sold separately.

For that level of $$, one could just about build a swamp boat
from a scratch and invest in some more real RC equipment.

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Am i getting ripped off?

If you’re in US, check out Tower Hobbies for pricing on HPIs.

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Ok, I’m not affiliated with “RCV.com” or whatever they call
themselves… but that page’s ad looks dodgy-as… 🙁

The car they describe… heck, you can’t even tell what
they’re trying to sell you there… its all a mishmash!!

1) from the description “9V Battery for Controller”…
this suggests the HPI Dash chassis.

Note this is a VERY BASIC, BEGINNER “RTR” toy!!

Moreover, the RRP on this thing is only US$100!! :shock::shock:

2) the HPI Dash doesn’t come with Merc body…
and all Dash comes painted from HPI – no Paint-It-Yourself choice.

3) the HPI Dash uses a 380 motor, not 540.

Here, check it yourself… HPI Dash

Personally imho the DASH is meant for kiddies, if you know
anything about RC I’d steer clear from this one, even for $100.

Go for the HPI SPRINT instead, at least this one is a real ‘hobby’
RC car, with decent radio gear, battery and ESC all factory-built
and RTR… all for about US$200 on the streets. A decent buy.

Lookie here: HPI SPRINT

Most important… the Sprint’s TX *don’t* use 9V battery!!! :blush:

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A better idea… Tamiya makes a little working model of the Honda Dream solarcar about 4″ long, its not very expensive (vs buying the solar cells alone).

Why not try graft your BCG’s mechanics to make the Dream into an RC model instead? 🙂

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What % of total car’s mass is the std heatsink?

If the original is hefty steel, an aluminium one might be lighter. The Bit Racer also has a skimpier one too, less material on it.

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Looks like he’s selling LXX stuff.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3519619414&category=223

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Maybe you can go to their front door instead of mail order since they are located in Melbourne.

No can do. They’re mailorder only, as uA confirms.

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When’s the last time you played your BCG, Aaron? 👿

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…a bit like Robot Soccer 😉

Me actually silly enough to attend the international Aibo soccer
tournament when it was held in Melbourne few yrs ago. :blush::blush:

(forget propellor-heads, these were real gas-turbine turbo-fans!!)

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Anyway,Is it difficult to add LIGHT on the car?

What kind of light?

headlight
taillight
brakelight
high brakelight
indicators
KnightRider KITT scanner
policecar lights

If *all* of the above… check out
Mike’s Mods

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I think Ofna is one of those that get called different names depending on where you are. Down here its either HoBao or Eureka or one of those.

They’re a relatively newcomer to the scene but there’s not much to separate the 1/8 buggies these days. The general design is pretty well-established so any one just looks like a clone of another… mainly of Kyosho. :blush:

Quality of parts & manual, and quality of aftersales service & parts backup at your Local Hobby Store are worth assessing to differentiate between the brands.

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Some years ago, McDonalds US even got Mattel to make them some custom HotWheels cars to put in their HappyMeals.

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There are lots of “custom” PRs out there, think companies could order them for promotional use etc, perhaps Tonka was one of them. If you order enough they can make any body for you. 🙂

Then there are the “limited edition” ones, last one I saw was the Harry Potter blue Anglia.

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You might wanna visit Dicko’s, they sell small photovoltaic cells for only a few bux. Might need one size of a creditcard to give you any noticeable improvement.

(probably kills your handling though)

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They’re not “Penny Racers”, are they?

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There is a good range of these hpi cars, and they’re really fast right?

Fast?

Out of the box they’re “ok”. A bit slow if you only use the
4-cell holder and stock motor; 6-cell nicad should be better.
Lots of motor option available. Also heaps of hopups!!

Range? HPI has quite a few body styles, and the chassis comes
in 2 wheelbase lengths 140 or 150mm. You can swap between the
2 if you buy a spare drivebelt in the other length.

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All of the cars have great detail.

Detail? Its just molded lexan…

Stickers are “precut”… good if you’re lazy, bad if you’re not.
Their cutting machine cuts very wide around the stickers, so
each one has a lot of extra material around it which looks
very amateurish.

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The roller has a geared reduction unit underneath it, Jamie… :smiley16:

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Try HobbyCo too, you lucky Sydney fellas.
They’ve supposedly got $12 bullets and $15 tincans.

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Don’t forget the Trueno AE86, and Proline also makes several others as well including Modena 360.

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Streetprice is about US$99-110 or about A$220-280 is “fair” if buying locally. This is for the car kit (chassis & body) & kit motor, you’ll need to BYO radiogear and ESC.

Good thing about this 1/18 car is that it can take “standard” sized RC gear, don’t need special or micro sized gear like the 1/24 and 1/28s.

All the guys I know who’ve got them here just use ‘recycled’ RC gear, I’m sure everyone has lots of those once you’ve been playing the game for a while and upgrade your race steed.

The mRS4 is still a very innovative design and I love just looking at it. Tiny yet still belt-driven 4WD, looks like it will handle well. Not cheap but it does come with full ballbearings.

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Its actually not too expensive compared to real RC, as long as you’ve got the willpower to stay clear from the aftermarket options list. Otherwise the consequences can be tragic! 🙂

Thought you wanted to try a MiniZ before?? :D:D

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Efarel, the cycle computer I used, it is able to be set to ANY wheel circumference from 5mm to 4000mm. It is very versatile.
That makes it usable for just about any speed measuring project so long as you know the circumference of the wheel being measured.

I might have to go buy meself one of those things real soon too… was thinking of taping a magnet to the tailshaft and using that to check the roadspeed. Might be a tad more accurate than a 50yo moving-magnet-in-a-steel-cage speedo (you both know what for :smiley2:).

Either that or am real tempted to buy meself a K-band doppler radar gun… I’d just point it at a stationary passing tree, eh? But these are still a little outside the justifiable pricerange. :blush:

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hey panda, the reason that i mentioned the wheel size earlier is that i looked at several bike computers that would fit only 2 different tire sizes. so not all bike computers are variable tire size.:sad:

Wierd!! They must have cut costs even further now… blackeye:
Last one I looked at was a Cateye or something like that.
Quite a flashy one but it was just A$45 or so.

Yeah, guess you gotta check what is the possible settings on the machine you do buy. But I swear you’ll be getting wierd looks when you ask for something that does 10mm wheels… :smiley2:

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What happened panda?
Is it what i think it is?

Dunno what your thoughts were of, but yeah I got word at about 1pm they turned off the machines. :sad::sad:

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