CR-01 in action at ECC
 

I brought the CR-01 to the East Coast Championships to run it on the comp courses and see how it'd do.

Both shots by rbl.

I didn't expect it to keep pace with the comp rigs, but I did expect it to be fairly capable. After seeing how the 11" wheelbase would've killed it on the comp courses I just drove it around and let others drive it as well.

This first shot is on a huge rock that several of the guys were playing on with the 2.2 and Super comp rigs. This is a steep incline. No camera tricks here...look at my feet/legs in relation to the truck. Remember, this is a stock CR-01 climbing this steep of a grade with a stick pack mounted on the chassis. With some axle-mounted batteries (or lowered battery placement) and a tad stiffer spring/thicker damper oil in the rear end it would have made the climb.

But for a bone stock rig with an 11 inch wheelbase, it didn't do too bad there.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...55_CPX8q-L.jpg

This next shot is of a smooth, steep little rock that I was playing on. I drove up to it, eased into the throttle, and it crawled right up with just a slight hint of wheelspin. Someone made the comment that a bunch of the comp rigs did nothing but spin tires trying to get up that same rock.

So I wet the tires (soaked'm) and hit it again. Same result. The little CR-01 inched right up. A couple of guys brought their comp rigs over and tried the rock (one had claws, the other badlands) and spun tires. :lol: With a burst of throttle one of'm shot up it, but they just couldn't creep up the rock like the CR-01. Interesting.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...03_zQfNy-L.jpg

I let several people drive the little truck, all of them were impressed with the thing. The torsion bars do cause it to load/unload at odd times, resulting in a rollover, but once you learn how it handles it's a fun, capable truck. Everyone kept commenting on how smooth it was, how long it ran (ran it for a long time on a 3800 Ni-MH), and how the axles weren't as bulky and wide as they had thought.

A few folks actually commented that "I wasn't going to get one, but after seeing it, I'm ordering one when I get home." :lol:

Very impressive stuff! Very interesting results Jason. "thumbsup"

Thanks for sharing, makes me feel better about ordering one! Now I wish it would get here quicker ;)

That is pretty damn cool and the pics are awesome too. I want one of these just for a play truck, just to see what it is capable of out of the box. I figured it would have crazy long run times since you can just throw a 6 cell stick in there. Thanks for all this.

Lou

Go Tamiya!, Go Tamiya!, Go Tamiya!!

any videos taken of the comp?

Nice write up Jason, makes the wait for mine even more unbearable:-(, btw how's the fj coming along, any progress?

The Tamiya FJ body?

Which FJ? :lol:

We are talking about the cr 01 right?;-), yes JIA the tamiya fj body:)

If the Hobbytown in Dallas has one next week, my wife is going to be pissed.:lol:

I was one of the guys Jason let drive the CR-01. It was pretty cool of him to let someone you never even seen before drive an unreleased rig, thanks agian "thumbsup"

But like he said, it crawls pretty good for a bone stock rig. And the tires are way better than I thought they would be. It crawled up that copper rock like nothin. My comp rig climbed it after a few trys, but after we wet the tires it was really struggling (and I run claws). Plus those copper rocks were very very very slick. They were like glass!

Tamiya definately did it agian. I allready wanted one.......now I need one :!:

I am so waiting for these to be released.

Thank you for the mini review of how it performs "thumbsup" Makes me want one even more.

No problem driving it, I took it along so that anyone that wanted to drive it could do so.

The Grappler body was put on it to preserve the FJ bod...didn't want to abuse it yet. :lol:

For those that will be here in town for the Scale comp on the 19th...you'll get to drive it then as well. "thumbsup"

I also drove this rig (thanks Jason) It is very capable for a stock rig..With a little adjusting like Jason said this thing would kick but in a scale comp :shock:

Yeah, it actually comes with a softer spring set for the rear.

That kind of makes sense since the weight of the battery is placed up front but when on a steep incline the weight shifts to the rear as the front ascends.

Can't wait to see how they do next month at scale nats."thumbsup"

Sounds like Tamiya got it right and that will tesult in big sales I'm sure.

Yeah, I think I was driving it the first time we soaked the tires in water then put it back on the slick rock. :shock: I dont know what it is but several of the comp rigs didnt make it up it without wheel speed. And yes I was just easing on the throttle. :shock: You could hear the tires barking. :lol: Jason, can I get some measurements on those tires? ;-)

Jason, did you notice that the front driveshaft has a bit more play/shaky than the rear driveshaft? Also, is your front driveshaft extended way more than the rear? I have a feeling that I may have done something wrong during the build period...