So, are they running Xray diffs now? 'cos I want royalties.

They've been using the same diff successfully for some time now. Why is it the magic bullet now? Whatever it is, they got a completely new car out there. Can we still call it a 418?

Lets see some clear pics, from the small bits I've seen it looks very similar (devil in the detail though)

Let's just see how the momentum carries on to the world champion race

Anyone else find the motor bulkhead sitting there with the spur attached a little odd?

Not the way I'd disassemble the car myself - unless Jilles was changing the way the spur gear mounts? Apparently he did change to the prototype parts on the Sunday?

That is a kit part, he has just kept the spur assembly screwed on, I suppose he has removed the other sides motor mount.

Here is a close up of the rear of the car, the bulkheads look the same, (Although they may be a slightly different height.

The diff looks like it has a larger chamber than the current one.

Yeah that was my point, it looks like the stock part, but he must be removing the motor mount on the other side to bother pulling it off like that.

Can't see any other reason why you would disassemble that way - but then again, I'm not world champion and he is

Who's car is that though? It's not one of the top three TRF guys is it?, so might not be a prototype fitted car.

I thought it might have been MR at first, but the battery and pit board are both wrong.

It is exciting to see the Tamiya boys with such pace. I know they are running some new stuff...but don't get it twisted the 418 is a great car out of the box both outside and inside on the carpet. The car has great balance and feels great. I think Tamiya kinda lost their way a bit with the 417, but they got it right with the 418.

I agree, I am not in any way bothered about the upgrades, I just am interested in seeing what they have done to help it go faster for the TRF guys. These changes are to help the guys win the worlds, I would expect all teams to be trying new parts all of the time.

After a slow day at work I have managed to piece together a few things to have an idea on the new motor mount change. I will post it up later.

Marc is smiling again lol

Kinda disappointing that all you see are people and race track pics in the ETS galleries. We need some chassis pics as a consumer I think it's ok to release it now that the race is over. Or will they keep everything secret until the worlds?

Of course they will hide them...

Worlds is coming up and they just whipped Yokomo for the first time in 3 years and made XRay look like an entry level car on their home track. I think it's reasonable if they want to hold on to their secrets a while longer.

I think yokomo may have been sandbagging just a touch. They didn't need to win this ets race.

So you think Yokomo spent a bunch of money to fly the entire team to Slovakia just to get beat by the guys from Tamiya?

Marc with a good car and some new found confidence seems like a bad idea to me...I mean based on his previous three World Championship titles.

I would think that handing the world another lose would have worked a little better in Yokomo's favor. Think about how crushed the team would have been if they still lost to Ronald even with all of their new little upgrades. That would have sent a much bigger message in my opinion.