superspeed

iTrader: (5)

what's a trf415msx or msxx or marc reinhard edition going for nowadays? I doubt they cost more than $200 used. and those cars are still competitive at club level and even regional events.

Solara

iTrader: (17)

a $100 used TA05R or IFS-R are more then enough for club race and regional race......have seen that plastic toy car kick some serious behind over a $500 chassis.

For standard local club race or similar...made in China or made in NASA...is all about the driver, ESC/motor/software and setup...

superspeed

iTrader: (5)

Agreed.

lordraptor1

iTrader: (1)

his bearings must have been clones

Spencer Beck

so ive been lurking on this page for a couple days now just to read the 31 pages of post.

Long story short i bought what i thought to be a real 416 of ebay and it came to me as a 416we clone.

So super pissed and talking to ebay there is no way to get my money back i decided to just run the thing.

First off the car just looks plain cool. all the blue and the "carbon Fiber" decks just works for me.
While sitting in my pit i had loads of on-road guys come look at it. Hiyato-(2007 world champ) looked at the car at the car and said "maximum awesome car" and then told him it was a clone "maximum bullshit"!! Its a japanese thing he was very angry that there was these clones on the market. But i did fool him until i told him it was a clone.

But anywho beyond it looking nice it does have problems right off the bat...

The plastic is crap. Popping off ball cups just broke them in two. broke a shock eyelet. The diff was locked down and had to be rebuilt. screws heads where way too big for my bits and just stripped.

But was presistant and wanted to at least give the car a chance on the track. First couple laps where dialed! It turned, it stopped did everything... Hit a dusty patch on the straight and turned the car into the wall and broke a rear hub. Super plastic is junk

but honestly it wasnt a bad purchase and worked ok for the laps i did have it running.

And as far as the Chinese companies making clones i dont see a problem with it, as long as they say clone on the ad. And since Tamiya isnt stomping and raging they must not have a problem with it too. Have to buy real tamiya parts to keep a clone running.

I would love to see a comparison between the real deal and a clone. Pictures of the changes so the cosumer is informed.

The clone is fine for club racing. Keeps breaking those parts to keep the hobbystores open. As far as being competive on a national level I highly doubt it. If you are competing on a national level you have a chassis sponsor anyway.

Thats just my thoughts and experience with a clone. Just buy a real tamiya kit.

cabdoctor

iTrader: (2)

That's pretty cool. Which eBay seller.

scott.wilson

iTrader: (3)

Does this sum up the situation?

Tamiya = japanese engineering, chinese manufacturing/production contracts
Chinese business law = null

Tamiya pays for molds and production lines at a chinese manufacturer,
The manufacturer makes the production run/batch for tamiya and business is stalled until tamiya puts another order in or extends contract. Since China's laws around business contracts are few and far inbetween, the manufacturing company, with tamiya's designs and molds, can produce "tamiya" products behind their backs and leave off the "tamiya" label.

for everyone who says its cheaper materials... i'd bet its the exact same stock. infact, i have a kit on a boat coming from china right now. I will report back... when the damn thing shows up.

my viewpoint is this : for 136$ shipped, it makes more sense to buy the "clone" decked out in aluminum w/ carbon fiber and if the kit has cut some corners... so be it, if a " cheap part" breaks, i guess i will have to replace it with a name brand one. Its a better deal than buying a plastic name brand kit and then replacing ALL THOSE PARTS. Bottom line is that the china rig would look and perform just like the 600$ one for 1/3 the price (including replacing the "cheap parts")

Qatmix

TRF's are made in Japan not China.

Tamiya makes all of their parts in their Japanese factory or their one external plant in the Philippines. The chinese clones are not made in the same factory, they are a copy of the original, not using the original tooling or components.

Dont get me wrong it looks like a bargain for the price, enjoy your car and report on how it goes, just dont think that it represents the premium quality that you will get from an official Tamiya kit.

scott.wilson

iTrader: (3)

thanks for clearing that up Qatmix.

as far as the clone goes- if TRF parts fit directly then I will be very happy with the price point and making replacements as i go with genuine parts.

YR4Dude

iTrader: (44)

Its the club racer that fills the pockets of the manufacturers so that they could fund the sponsorships. Think about that the next time you pay full price for a premium kit. The money's got to come from some where and it basically comes from those of us who are self funded.

scott.wilson

iTrader: (3)

yep the manufacturers sponsor a good driver to win and promote their chassis to you, and you in turn buy the chassis. the pro is happy, the consumer is happy, the company is happy. that's they way it works in like every sport. whats your point?

YR4Dude

iTrader: (44)

Except in this sport there are more pros than there are consumers. Yourself included chose not to support that very system by getting a clone which is why you're here. You're happy, but the original manufacturer, Tamiya, is not.

Nothing wrong with getting a clone so long as you accept the troubles that come with it. As said in the other post, this kit is good enough for club races. Not everyone goes to the nationals.

scott.wilson

iTrader: (3)

nah, Tamiya sells alot more tt-01s to non-pro consumers than it does trf417s to anyone.

I chose to buy a clone of a high end chassis instead of an entry level chassis for the same amount of money. I didnt get name brand but I am *betting* that performance/tuneablity of the clone will be greater than the mainstream entry level kit i could have afforded. plus i never crash, so nothing is gonna break ever


the REAL downside is that i have to wait for the estimated delivery date between aug1-aug15. DANG boats move slow.

When/if the kit finally arrives i will do a full posting of how it goes together and drives.

Mitamiya

iTrader: (16)

I have been looking at a few 416's on ebay and RCTech. How can you quickly tell a clone from a real Tamiya 416?

Skitee

The shocks are the first thing you should notice, the shocks don't attach with balls like the Tamiya shocks and the shock caps are shallower than the original TRF caps too. The aluminum on the ball diff outdrives has a yellow/gold colouring compared to the Tamiya outdrives. It's going to be pretty difficult to spot the other slight differences in a picture though.