Looking for your first 4wd off-road car, or maybe a starter car for your kids to get started on Nitro powered R/C? Or, maybe your local track does not allow 1/8 scale buggies and you are just dying for some 4wd action. Well take a look at what the folks at Kyosho have to offer in the Inferno TR-15 1/10 scale 4wd buggy. Let me first express an important point before going any further. If you are looking to race this buggy, chances are it's not going to happen. There is only one other car in the class (that being 4wd off-road 1/10 scale) and it's pretty doubtful that the 1/10 scale 2wd Truck and Buggy folks are gonna let you race with them very often, simply because you would have the obvious advantage of 4 wheel drive! On the other hand, if flat out fun, agility and speed in a 1/10 scale package are what you're after, then read on because Kyosho hit the nail on the head with this one! The coil over shocks keep it firmly planted on the ground while the .15 engine moves this little rocket at a very respectable speed.
First of all, this is not an RTR (ready to run) car, it comes from the factory partially pre-assembled. What Kyosho did was build and install the front and rear differentials as well as the center drive assembly. This is attached to the main chassis and is the pre-built part, everything else you have to put together. This is not a bad thing. If you run R/C often, then you're already aware that parts do get broken, therefore, if you build the kit from scratch then it will be much easier to figure out what you will need to take apart to fix and/or install replacement components. You will need the following accessories for your R/C which include a 2 channel radio with receiver and 2 servos, a glo-plug igniter, air filter oil, some after run oil, 12 AA batteries (8 for the radio and 4 for the car), and nitro fuel. You will also need paint for the body after you cut the body out. When I first started painting R/C bodies I thought it was going to be a real hassle, not so, it's actually kinda fun as you have the luxury of choosing your own color scheme and then get to take pride in the end result that is customized to your taste. I chose to paint it with a simple scheme, a solid color with a touch of the factory decals. This made it quick, clean and simple and I was pleased with the results.
The instruction manual included in the kit makes the assembly very hassle-free with the guidance of self-explanatory pictures. The parts for the car are mainly attached to individual plastic trees found inside numbered plastic bags. The instruction manual will explain and show you which parts you need and what bag or bags they come from for each step during assembly. Some people think that it's difficult to build one of these cars. Believe me, it's not. All you need is some time and patience and you'll discover how easily the parts come together. They are no harder to build than your average model car. Plus, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you put it together, especially when you're watching it haul butt around a track or just tearing up the backyard! Once you have everything out of the box, read through the instructions and lay out all the parts bags to make sure you have everything. The instructions will also show you what tools you will need in addition to the ones supplied in the kit, which are just your common variety hand tools. Now I am going to show you some of the assembly process as well as the parts that are needed in each step.
Once you get the suspension done and installed it's time to move on to building the steering components and the shocks. Again, the instructions are very helpful and show you exactly how and where to install the parts with the aid of detailed diagrams. The front bumper is also installed in this series of steps. Shock building is the worst part to me. You can make one heck of a nasty mess with the oil if you are not careful. Be prepared and have some paper towels handy for the excess.
Now that the shocks have been built and installed on the front and rear, it's time to attach the side guards to the chassis. Once this is finished you will proceed to install the fuel tank (and the optional fuel filter in my case) as well as the engine. Next comes the tuned pipe. The center diff and disk brakes were pre-assembled and installed on the buggy, so the only installation I encountered was the optional steel brake disk and new pads.
Now that the engine is in and the proper clearance between the spur gear and the clutch bell are set, zip tie the tuned pipe to the header very securely. You'll want to do this since they have a very bad habit of working loose. Next comes the mounting of the servos and receiver battery box as well as the rest of the radio gear.
Now you're getting down to the nitty gritty, there's not much more to do before you're able to fire off that engine and get it broken in so that we can have some real fun on the track. First you have to bend and install all the linkage that goes from the servos to the steering, carb, and brakes on the car. All the linkage is supplied in the kit, the servos come with the servo horns that you will need to attach the linkage to. Follow the instructions very carefully and be prepared to do this a couple of times as it's not very hard to get these slightly off and have to adjust them to make them work correctly. After these are installed you attach the wing mount and rear chassis brace.
Take the tires and put them on the wheels using glue. Then attach them to the car with the supplied nuts and wrench. Now mount the rear wing. Paint, cut out and detail the body and you're ready to go. At last, it's time to break in the engine! Most people break in an engine with the body off for extra cooling, which is what I do with all my Nitro powered models. Follow the procedures in the instructions and after break in you can flog the little beast 'til your heart's content. I must say that the quickness, agility and traction that this car exhibits gives you the confidence to drive it much faster than you normally would with a 2 wheel drive model. In no time at all you will be shaving down your lap times and doing some high flying jumps. Since the car is 1/10 scale, it's quieter, runs longer on a tank of gas and you can have a ton of fun in a smaller space than it takes to run an 1/8 scale buggy. The carb that comes with the kit only has a needle for high speed adjustments. The lack of a low speed needle makes for a simpler model to have to tune, but it also kills a great deal of the low end power that the 2 needle carbs have. Swap in a good 2 needle carb and the engine will pick up some power on the bottom end. On the track the car was able to keep up with all but the best of the 1/10 scale racing stadium trucks (well, part car, part driver :-) ). Anyhow on the straights the stock engine got pulled away from a bit, but in the corners the 4wd more than made up for it in traction and allowed a higher speed in the turns as well as carrying more speed into each corner. After running it for a while the urge to hop up takes over and you begin looking for speed parts. Since Kyosho heavily based this buggy on one of their proven on road cars (the Super-Ten), there are many hop up parts and aftermarket hop up parts available to choose from. Over all the car is an absolute blast to drive! It's so much fun that you lose track of time and before long you find yourself having to refuel. You look down at your watch, then back at your fuel jug and just can't believe you have been running that much. There are three things I would like to see change in the kit (all three of which are easily bought aftermarket). First would be foam inserts for the tires. Second would be ball bearings instead of metal bushings. Third, but not least, a two needle carb so you can get the most out of the GS15R engine. Below are some technical specs as well as the test equipment we used to complete and run the car. SPECIFICATIONS
TEST EQUIPMENT Radio: Futaba 3PDF-FM
Here are some photos of the car being run with the body off, during the engine break in. As mentioned above, this helps to keep the engine cooler while breaking it in. For long engine life this is a very critical step. Notice all the smoke it makes, that combined with the blubbery sound of the exhaust (sounds kinda like an outboard boat motor at idle in the water) signals that the engine is plenty rich. After this are some shots of the car before the decals were applied, then shots after the decals were applied, and finally some action shots at the track.
Any questions or comments please feel free to email me.
Great Planes Model Distributors P.O. Box 9021; Champaign, IL 61826-9021
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Posted Jan 26 2009 11:24AM
