Kyosho re-releasing Turbo Optima!!!!

[soze]

I am all over this one!

Kyosho To Re-Release The Turbo Optima Buggy « Big Squid RC – RC Car and Truck News, Reviews, Videos, and More!

[HumboldtEF]

Nice! I love to see these old RC's coming back, This is the era of RC that really interested me but I never had the pleasure of owning one at the time, I just had the cheapo radio shack models that were enjoyed for a short while and soon after thrown away.

[soze]

I've picked up all the Kyosho re-re's except for the Scorpion (I have the Turbo one) and the Javelin. I'm really hoping for a Turbo Optima Mid in the near future.

Picking these up is all about nostalgia for me. Never had a chance to own these nice buggies, and now I do.

[HumboldtEF]

I picked up the Turbo Scorpion as well. I really like the old terrible steering and suspension, its truly fun to drive due to its completely different feel. Its nothing like a new fast RC with modern suspension geometry. It loves to understeer and the rear has gobs of grip, kind of like what I assume and old 911 would be like with old tires. I put a spare ROC412 motor in it with an old Mamba max pro ESC and it rips! They're tough little things and I'm not easy on it its no shelf queen, you can bend them but breaking them is tough.

You can see from the pics that I haven't gone easy on it, its held up great and has taken the brushless power well.



The Turbo Optima looks like it has much better front suspension and steering setup though, it should be fun to rip around and good at it

[RadioFlyer]

Originally Posted by soze

I am all over this one!

Oh hell yeah!

Like you I've started picking up all the Kyosho re-res. I have a bunch of kits still NIB that I thought I was going to get through this winter but sofar I've only built a Tomahawk.

I really want one of these.

[soze]

Originally Posted by RadioFlyer

Oh hell yeah!

Like you I've started picking up all the Kyosho re-res. I have a bunch of kits still NIB that I thought I was going to get through this winter but sofar I've only built a Tomahawk.

I really want one of these.

That's better than me! I haven't built any of them yet! LOL

I will eventually, but I just have a hard time deciding which kits to build first. I actually wanted to build my Baja Beetle first.

[JatoTheRipper]

I saw this and it looks awesome. I still prefer the look of the OG Optima which is already available. Are there any performance advantages with the Turbo or is it all cosmetic?

I did buy a Kyosho Scorpion re-release and while it looked great, the performance left me bored so I sold it.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by soze

I am all over this one!

Kyosho To Re-Release The Turbo Optima Buggy « Big Squid RC – RC Car and Truck News, Reviews, Videos, and More!

Wow, that is awesome! The Turbo Optima was my very first REAL buggy that I had. Bought it in 1988 I believe. Had the gold chassis, gold shocks, and chain drive. It was amazing! Even won a few races with it in the 4WD Stock class at our local track.

Glad to see it coming back!

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I saw this and it looks awesome. I still prefer the look of the OG Optima which is already available. Are there any performance advantages with the Turbo or is it all cosmetic?

I did buy a Kyosho Scorpion re-release and while it looked great, the performance left me bored so I sold it.

I get that. Sometimes I jones for a Tamiya Grasshopper or Hornet re-issue, but I know that, once I get it running, the performance is going to be underwhelming.

[RadioFlyer]

Originally Posted by soze

That's better than me! I haven't built any of them yet! LOL

I will eventually, but I just have a hard time deciding which kits to build first. I actually wanted to build my Baja Beetle first.

When I was shopping last fall I couldn't find a Scorpion so I bought two Beetles and all the parts to turn one into a Scorpion. Now Scorpions are available again.
Oh well, I also kind of went nuts with the Kyosho option parts for the Scorpion, the CNC and the carbon fiber bits, like, all of them. I'm going to make a full-retard shelf-queen build with it all.

Right now I'm deciding on whether to grab a Javelin or an original Optima (and a Scorpion) while they are still available.

Decisions decisions...

[RadioFlyer]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I saw this and it looks awesome. I still prefer the look of the OG Optima which is already available. Are there any performance advantages with the Turbo or is it all cosmetic?

I did buy a Kyosho Scorpion re-release and while it looked great, the performance left me bored so I sold it.

The Turbo Scorpion has bigger wheels (2.2s that fit the better tires) and longer wheelbase. Also has hex drives instead of the friction hubs of the OG Scorpion. All this to make the TS a better RC racer. The OG Scorpion is truer to the 1:1 buggy it was modeled after, especially the first gen one.

Originally Posted by skinnyj

I get that. Sometimes I jones for a Tamiya Grasshopper or Hornet re-issue, but I know that, once I get it running, the performance is going to be underwhelming.

The performance isn't quite there with all these old-tech RCs but some of us just like to look at them.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by RadioFlyer

The performance isn't quite there with all these old-tech RCs but some of us just like to look at them.

And let's be honest, most of us are getting long in the tooth and we don't perform like we used to either!

[RadioFlyer]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

And let's be honest, most of us are getting long in the tooth and we don't perform like we used to either!

True dat

[RadioFlyer]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

And let's be honest, most of us are getting long in the tooth and we don't perform like we used to either!

I was reminded of this August 4th last year. I was at a trail ride with some friends and since my KTM 525EXC wasn't running my buddy lent me his. So he's 160lbs soaking wet, I'm like 240. Oh and his rear brake caliper was seized so there were no rear brakes. No problem, it's just a friendly trail ride, no heroes.

And for the first couple hours that's what it was, a bunch of guys of all ages who can ride pretty good.
And then, the young guys started riding a bit harder and faster.
Now you have to understand that I can ride pretty good. In fact I can (ok used to) ride good enough to make top five in Vet Expert at any off-road race in Ontario or Quebec. Below is me on the 3rd step and Rob Martin (Kitchener fire chief, muti-time Vet Exp enduro and XC champion) on the top step. Never mind I had him dead-to-rights that day if not for one lap on hell. But I digress...



Anyway, I was hanging with the young guns and we come over the crest of a hill and it's a minefield of boulders on the backside going down. I was coming in way too hot and started downshifting to keep the rear in line and using as little front brake as possible. That's when the rear bottomed out hard as I may have grabbed too much front brake and the bike spit me off over the bars. Landed on my right shoulder and tore the ligaments at the sterno-clavicular joint (how I wish the collarbone would have just snapped... ) and then to add insult and more injury, the bike flopped over and the rear wheel broadsided me in the left ribs, still spinning at 50mph. The brake disc sliced through my jersey my Core Saver and my skin, the tire rashed out a huge circular pattern from my shoulder/armpit down to my waist, and the axle nut found a rib beneath the only part of my body not protected by my riding gear and gave me my first ever broken rib, my first ever broken bone in fact, in my entire life. My body cushioned the blow so perfectly there wasn't a scratch on the bike.
I knew my shoulder was wonky as I couldn't get the bike off me and I figured the collarbone was broken but the broken rib had knocked the wind out of me. I knew I had to ride the bike out and also knew I had about 15 minutes of adrenaline before the pain kicked in. Unfortunately we were 30 minutes in the bush.

Anyway, I think I learned that I'm starting to get a bit too old to be chasing down guys half my age on dirtbikes...maybe.

I have only ridden twice since August 4th 2018, and only on the street, so I am having severe withdrawl symptoms. These toy cars and trucks are the only thing keeping me from going completely crazy.

[OSRC]

Might want to rethink your screen name. In that case, handlebar flyer sounds more accurate. Ouch, been there I've done a lot over the handlebars myself both on mountain and freestyle bikes. Scars aplenty, though nothing that bad.

Oh and that new Optima looks totally sick! I'd totally snag one if my budget would allow. Although my dream 4wd buggy was and always will be the Avante.