I’m thinking of getting one for me and my lad to mess about with.

Are they any good or will it break inside 30 minutes.

What sort of battery life do you get?

Starter bundle

I had a Tamils mud blaster 20 yrs ago, which shared the same chassis. In fact I swooped some parts from an old grasshopper chassis onto my truck. Not sure if it still the same, but the chassis were like a bolted together frame construction, with the guts inside, rather than being a tub type chassis.

They were well made back in the day, although I remember the car shells used to take a beating. The chassis was much better made than the likes of other models from the era, like the hornet.

Probably not the most mature of advice, but I would say get one!

Not a grasshopper but i ve got 2 Tamiya madbulls for me and the lad. He is nearly 8 and loves it.
Were getting about half an hour play from a 3000mah battery.
He manages to trash his quite a lot mainly through hard crashes but they’re pretty cheap to fix and all parts can be had easily.
Not getting much use now, 6 months on, but we thrashed them most nights through winter.

My memory of them, way back in the day, was that they were barely controllable. All speed and wheel spin and either going a straight line of doing donuts. The 4WD ones like the Boomerang actually went where you pointed them.

I’ve got an origonal one form the 80’s complete other than shell, I put a bigger engine in and it goes like the clappers but the battery doesn’t last long, so it wants a better battery

I’d sell it if your interested its only gathering dust

My memory of them, way back in the day, was that they were barely controllable.

The Grasshopper? It only had the little 380 motor, you had to upgrade to a 540 for that to happen…

I’m thinking of getting one for me and my lad to mess about with.

Are they any good or will it break inside 30 minutes.

Remember mine being great fun, and fun to build too. And as you’ve built it yourself you’ll have a much better idea at how to fix stuff as well. Most breakages were cosmetic IIRC, I don’t remember many serious problems. I’d say go for it!

Do get a speed controller and not the horrific variable adjuster it used to come with…

The four wheel drive ones were the envy of all the other kids. Very well engineered and looking back, they were probably the precursor to Audi ownership. I.E. we are rude about them when we can’t have one, but really wouldn’t mind one of those pimped Quattro things. I remember a model called an Avanti looking like the mutt’s nuts.

Agree most breakages cosmetic. I think he batteries are better these days, used to get at best 18 minutes with a 540 motor. If you want proper uncontrollable comedy, they make a new version of the Wild Willy.

Probably worth having for the nostalgia, if you had a Grasshopper back in the day, but they were pretty basic. A mate of mine had one and it want great.

You can probably get something better for rye same money.

What voltage is the battery/ IIRC the original ones were 6V.

That’s how it all starts 🙂 rc cars are great especially if raced, but it gets very expensive.
Makes MTB’s feel inexpensive.

@harry – if you want it just buy, dont try and hide behind the “it’s for me son” – thisnisninenof the joys of fatherhood – buying the toys you wanted 🙂

Fwiw I didn’t have the rc cars but am a fan of the models which were (are) high quality. Was bought an indoor rc helicopter for my 50th – it’s great fun

I had a Boomerang 4WD and it was great fun. The only problem was the front bumper/wing which would snap every time I let someone else drive it. I bought an aftermarket bumper/wing which was much more flexible.
I’m sure battery tech has moved on in the last 20 years but I would still get a second battery and a quick charger as 10 minutes of manic hooning around is never enough!

Can’t wait till my jr is old enough to enjoy this sort of thing. Still got my hotshot in a box in my parents loft. Reckon a grasshopper would be a great place to start.

Oh I was looking at vanessa’s lunch box the other day and it took me straight back to being a kid.

If I had the cash I would of bought it on the spot.!

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?product_id=23143

I personally would not go for a Tamiya Grasshopper. The shocks are not oil filled, giving poor handling, it will bounce around. The speed controller is pretty rubbish making it hard to control acceleration and braking, not to mention the poor motor is comes with. I expect the servo’s are pretty slow too as they give you a shitty motor.

I swear the only reason these things sell is due to nostalgia.

The only thing going for these is the parts are cheap… But then most decent quality RC parts are also cheap.

Oooh just seen the re-issued fox on that site too 🙂

Jes says crazy expensive, Milkie says cheap 😕

I have a Tamiya Astute, it was much more fun to build than to drive, battery would last about 8 mins, very tricky to drive but it did donut brilliantly.

I would love something electric that would go for about 20 mins but dont think it is possible.

The “petrol” ones are to noisy and how long does an engine last when it revs like that? 😆

Budget is £150 for everything and I want a kit that me and the lad can build, fix and understand. Getting something that is ready to go out of the box won’t teach him (or me) anything.

Not too fussed about performance as we won’t be racing it. We’ll just be messing about with it in the garden and on the park.

I have one with the 540 motor, it’s powerslidetastic and great fun to play with. I also have a hornet which is identical but with a polcarbonate rather than hard shell, so it’s more fragile but a bit quicker.

Takes me back!

I had a 4wd on e (wasn’t a grasshopper but very similar) and used to go racing at a local club. Awesome fun as a nipper 🙂

I always wanted one of these

Rare as hens teeth now, and when they come up on fleaBay they Costa Fortuna!

Talking of expensive:

If i ever won the lottery…… 😀

I had a Grasshopper in the 80s, managed to fit two 540s to it by having one in on the other side of the gearing – not sure if that really achieved anything!

2wd isn’t difficult. I used to race a heavily modified Falcon and win. I actually got thrown out if one club I tried to joined after winning ALL the races on the first (free) meet. I don’t think they liked it.

Luckily my son is 4 – 2 years older and I would have bought that kit and re-entered the fray!

Have you tried this place in Rawtenstall?

Rossendale Models.

As a soon to be step-grandfather (not for me, oh no etc), I’ve been checking this out recently.

They were very friendly and helpful.

Still have my Manta Ray, I was even looking at the gearbox the other day to try and rescue it due to the ally sprocket eating the drive gear.

Had a Grasshopper when I was a kid, loved it and it started a 3 year love affair when I took up racing every Sunday. I quickly discovered how slow it was (even with 540 motor and 13T pinion gear and moved on to a Kyosho Optima (and won trophies with it)

The nice thing with Tamiyas is they’re easy to get spares for and easy to fix cheaply.

Might be worth buying some extra front end components up front (bumpers, wishbones etc) as they’re the most likely to break and you can have it up and running again in minutes

You can also change the gearing to reduce speed (and extend battery time) which is good for little ones enjoyment and patience.

HTH

this thread got our office remembering the old days. I do now need to go and buy one as i never managed to save enough as a yoof.

Incidentally, there’s been a few threads on this lately.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tamiya

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/for-tamiya-fansthis-is-awesome-

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-remote-control-car

Some useful info there, the first thread especially.

(Must. Not. Visit. Rossendale. Models. Drove past it only last week.)

Why wait?

Bought a contemporary one from JE Models as they did international shipping.

Relatively simple to build and pretty robust (assumes your child has mechanical sympathy – we hide it when cousins are visiting…)

Chose the digital radio and ESC option (had one 20yrs ago with a variable resistor…), I also replaced the plastic bushes with metal bearings from eBay (Hong Kong seller) – runs a bit smoother, so presumably more play-time

Battery is good for 20 minutes or so and is 7.2V Ni-Cad, if memory serves me right. Buy 2 or 3 for extended play.

(Must. Not. Visit. Rossendale. Models. Drove past it only last week.)

I walk past it every day when I’m at work 😀

Magnetic, that shop.

They recommended one of these:

FTX Vantage.

The one with the faster, brushless motor is £200, ready built.

If you could buy one as a kit, I think I might have succumbed already.

The “petrol” ones are to noisy and how long does an engine last when it revs like that?

Those engines are amazing, the only moving parts are the piston, con rod and crankshaft that’s it. That’s how they can rev so fast – that and the fact that the piston weighs a few grammes!

If you could buy one as a kit, I think I might have succumbed already.

Yeah. For me, I had more fun building my old Tamiya than I ever did driving it. I quite fancy another but I’ve zero interest in a ready-made model.

those were the days, Tamiya Boomerang (shaft Drive 4wd), PB Mustang, PB Maxima (1x belt), Schmacher Cat (3x belts) , RC10, Kyosho Optima (chain drive 4WD)

racing stack of NiCADs and a car battery in a box to charge them off in a field..

Harry,

the tamiya RC car i got from my parents as a crimbo present was probably the greatest present ever.

As a dad dont expect to be part of teh build process. My dad is still gutted that i`d pretty much built it before he got chance to have a look in. (thanks nan and uncle for your most timely visits – sorry i didnt see you)

mine sits pride of place in the garage and is excellent fun on the pump track… just need another to race…

Well,

Inspired by this and the earlier threads, I’ve now got a NiCad on charge and cleaned out all the dead cells and leaked acid from a transmitter. Give me 20 minutes, and it’ll (hopefully) be the first time my Madcap’s run in about two decades.

There’s a great BMX track at Queens Park in Heywood that’d be perfect for RC cars.

Always Lee Quarry or Burnley pump tracks too.

Hmm, let’s practice:
‘What, this old thing? I’ve had it for YEARS. Cleaned up nicely hasn’t it?’

In fact,

Given that I’ve just found my guide book and tallied it up with the list here, the car’s 1993 vintage so “two decades” is pretty much on the money.

Because it always cornered like a bag of nails, I bought a hop-up suspension kit from eBay a couple of years back. Fitted the new shocks but at the time couldn’t find the bag with all the controllers and gubbins in. I’m suddenly quite excited about this, juts hope the NiCad isn’t deader than tank tops.

Hey I wear Tank Tops 😡

i use ni cads for my home brew night riding lights. i`ve got a few high capacity ones…

i find if they are too high capacity they take too long to re-charge between bursts of flat out fun.

i need to get a more efficient speed controller and maybe a mre efficient motor as mines still stock, and maybe bearings…… must.resist.