HPI M-Chassis FFM
 

Here it is....

http://www.rc-japan.de/article.php?id=273&pg=1&anch=4

Wow! I wonder what the dimensions will be.

It looks more like the ABC Hobby Genetic than a Tamiya M chassis.

Its a 4wd m chassis, nothing like a fwd tamiya

I think it's 2wd. No shaft there.

It's 4WD, I can see the dog bones in the front!:nod:

Are you sure it's not just FWD? That's what it looked like to me.

It's a direct competitor for the M-Chassis Tamiyas....it's FWD.

Thats because its just FWD. ;)

awesome!

It would be cool if they did the same thing they did back in the day with the mini RS4s and make the wheelbase adjustable from 210mm-225mm by flipping the rear arms!

I see now after a better look FWD wow!:eek:

MacPherson/Chapman strut?
 

Does it look like the suspension is a single lower A-arm while the upper one is fixed?

that thing is waaay better than a tamiya m-chassis. hpi really raised the bar this time

That looks pretty dang good!

Yup Manny upper arm looks to be fixed.

Wonder how long before it's real?

also notice the springs and dampers are seperate units... quite a cunning little idea :p

I also see now that it is fwd

Everywhere I see info about this car everyone is always amazed about having the spring and damper separate. :confused:

Anyone ever see a Sand Scorcher or any of the other early Tamiya RC cars based on the same platform? Of course, those are based on 1:1 cars, and a huge proportion of 1:1 cars ever produced have the spring and damper separate. What's the big deal? It's just packaging.

That being said, I am excited about this car and will certainly own one! :smile:

It says front wheel drive, just for clarification.

Want to see more pics? Go here on the Mini Cooper thread...

OMG just re-re-release the RS4mini already!
 

I would like to see a re-release of the RS4mini....with ball bearings, but to keep the costs down include the FRP chassis, plastic (but threaded shocks), molded graphite outdrives, new wheels and a couple of cool new bodies.

Mahalo's for posting the pic Tony.

Nice to see that it's not just a CAD drawing!

Hmmm would it be worth it though? There are already a number of 4WD Mini chassis out there, and they havent exactly set the world on fire.

Even the big players (X-Ray, Yokomo, Corally) had 4WD Minis and none of them lasted too long. I think in the end people see them for what they are - just down-sized Touring Cars.

I think HPI have been smart, the attraction of the M03 IS the fact that it's FWD. Makes it quirky, makes it interesting and different. So they've gone that way with this new one.

Whats the main advantage of having the shocks/springs separate??

It's not necessarily an advantage or disadvantage -- just a different approach. On some platforms it frees you up to use a spring type other than a coil, such as a torsion bar or leaf spring. In this case it appears that they are still using a coil spring, but having it be separate from the damper allows them to package the suspension differently.

http://www.hobbymedia.it/img/2008/10/p1000668.jpg
http://www.hobbymedia.it/img/2008/10/p1000669.jpg
http://www.hobbymedia.it/img/2008/10...ni-sports1.jpg

The Atraction of the mini class is the control chassis. While this chassis looks better in many ways if it is allowed you may as well change everyone over to these. The limits of the tamiya MO3's is a part of what makes the class great and popular. No need to make it complicated.

Any one else notice the 'room for electronics', or the lack there of?.. wonder exactly how much room for 'your own' electronics will be available..

interesting..

Yeah, its tight in there. Looks like you'll have to mount the ESC on the side of the servo and enough for a small receiver in the back part of the chassis.

We won't be running these at my club, due to the fact that we're racing to spec, but I sure am looking forward to there being more availability of bodies for minis.

We're a little lacking in N. America that way. Tamiya and HPI shells are all we can get, unless we order from overseas.

Jim

Should be interesting i wonder how much if any performance advantage this will have over the M03.

I'm all for another mini chassis as long as there isen't a HUGE diffrence between the two.

With that said i think it would be cool if Tamiya came out with a new M-chassis based on a short wheelbase FF01

OK I have been watching everyones post, and I just have to ask. Whats the purpose of this car? Is it meant to be legal in the same class as the M chassis? It might succeed at that in a club level but never at TCS. Is HPI intending to have their own series? Something like HPICS which I think they have every right to do and should.

Dont get me wrong. I like the car, but if its supposed to be raced against M chassis, isnt one of the biggest rules that you have to have an M. TCS is just one race. Club Mini racing happens somewhere every weekend.

I guess we will see where this goes. Perhaps this will become the new mini.

One of our tracks plans to run these with the Tamiya M cars. I don't see anything wrong with it if the new HPI car can be handicapped with a more strict weight limit or slower motor. I have an M03 myself but I want to get the new HPI M car too.

Yeah, there is definitely a place for this. I'm sure a lot of club racers will be all over it.. I will try one. See how it compares to my other minis of present and past.

should be fun.

Im not saying theres no place for it. Im just trying to figure out what that place is. I love the design. But I think it will run all over a mini.

I wonder is the battery compartment (more-so the battery-strap) is LiPo friendly. (i.e. bullet plug friendly for Orion hard-case type LiPo's)

hope so.

Like he said. I bought my M03L over five years ago and it isn't obsolete yet; I raced it on Saturday. I bought an XRay T1R at about the same time and, well, let's just say it has been several years since I've seen one of those at the track.

This isn't gonna hurt the TAMIYA following at all, rest assured. TAMIYA fans are 'loyal' for a lack of a better term. This will just bring 'more mini fans' in general.

As far as a 'controlled chassis'. I like to think of it as the 'limited adjustability' of the M03 is what makes it so appealing. This HPI chassis looks to have that same 'limitied adjustability' aspect to it. I saw the opportunity for competition in the mini class once Tamiya released the M03R (with adjustable camber, roll-center via the new rear uprights, and new front knuckles). That platform threw the whole 'control chassis' rite out the window.


$0.02

Any word on a potential release date for this car?

I keep searching, but information seems very scarce--which it may not actually be, since it has already been circulating in magazines!

for those of you fortunate enough to receive mags published in your native language about this car: what's the info?

I read in another forum that there has already been a list of bodies planned to be released with the car, and that one of them is the new fiat 500.

I havent been excited about any particular new release in a while, but this thing looks amazing!

I was actually speaking to HPI earlier this month in regards to the discontinuation of their Mini Cooper body. I was told lack of sales were the reason. Finally the conversation steered to the release of their own FWD mini to compete with the Tamiya chassis. I asked the gentleman on the phone why would HPI discontinue their Cooper body when they plan to release their own mini chassis. I kinda stumped him on that one. The car would hopefully be out in time for the holiday shopping season.