Micro noob says Hi and ...question about Q-steer Buggies

toader · Post by **toader** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:03 pm

Hey Pimps. Im new to this forum and hobby but not new to RC and some degree micro RC. Almost out of nowhere I have become excited about these little dudes....especially after seeing what you pimps are doing with them. I have recently bought several Items on ebay and will receive them soon. Mostly ZipZaps and Bit Charg. I have a Bit from 5 years ago that has been in the closet since I bought it. I now have a new love for it.. so I am plunging into Micro RC like there is no tomarrow. I have a bedroom entirely dedicated to N scale trains now, but it will all soon be on ebay to make room for the new micro RC town....maybe even a lake for micro boats. Prior to trains the room was a large HO slotcar track so you know where I am coming from.

I just found these little buggies on ebay and bought a couple but cant find much info on the web about them...just a few youtube vids...looks like fun...I had the 1/10th buggies in the '80s.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Takara-Tomy-Q-STEER ... dZViewItem

They are operated by IR and dont claim alot of range but maybe something can be done about that. If anyone can tell me anything about these I would appreciate it. Info like motor, gears, etc compatiblitly with ZZ or Bit. Any way I will be reading every post here on ZZ and Bits for a while and will be back with my updates and questions as they come about.

Thanks to all who support this hobby......

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:24 pm

I haven't ordered one yet, I keep thinking I will, so I can't tell you much. I do have a suggestion though. Keep a little of the N scale track and one train. You can use it when building your town. You can have a road that crosses it in a couple of places and race the train to the intersection. It would be a lot of fun (in scale, its fun but really dumb doing it for real). Anyway, I'm sure there will be someone here who can help, so, welcome, and I look forward to seeing your around.

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:46 pm

I have one. They really aren't that great. The motors that those and normal Q-Steer cars (which are GREAT btw) use are slightly shorter than ZZ and Bit motors. The steering, unlike the Q-Steer cars, which is strong and tight, is very loose and vague. The car moved better on carpet with zero ground clearance than the buggy did. The IR won't work when in direct sunlight. You have to use your body to create shade. They get caught up on pebbles and really aren't at all rally-like. I thought I would get one for speed, off road racing, and micro jumps. It does none of the above. You could upgrade it, I've seen people put lipo's in them, but I think it's hardly worth it with the poor steering off the back. In case you haven't picked it out, I'd recommend getting the cars over the buggy if you are looking for a sub-micro car. If you just want a mini replica of your old buggy, then get it, but don't expect it to be all that functional Any other questions and I'm open to them.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:30 pm

Hey Toader, great to finally see someone else from AZ. That's awesome that we've inspired you, but seeing your enthusiasm for the micros makes me feel bad that I've basically moved on to larger scales.

Which is the reason I haven't quite been able to bring myself to ordering one of them Q-Steers, as much as I'd like to, but there's a been a few post around here about them, here's what I dug up:
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=9379

http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=9741

http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=9709

Sidewinder, I think that's a great idea with the train, almost makes me want to buy a train set just for an excuse to dig out the micros.

toader · Post by **toader** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:45 pm

Wow....Thanks for those quick responses. I just found this video on Youtube and had to share in case others are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQe25_-l ... re=related

Namuna · Post by **Namuna** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:50 pm

Hi Toader,

I have the Hornet, here's my breakdown of the buggy:

Pros:
- Higher clearance vs. the Q-Steer cars...It can actually handle driving over some little moguls that my Q-Steer Hummer can't
- Swing-arm rear suspension
- 2 speed
- TINY!

Cons:
- Range sucks, you need to be LESS than 5 feet away from the thing to keep it from glitching from being out of range
- Even with using the turbo, the speed is a bit weak...A lipo would make it seriously sweet, but where the hell do you find a lipo that small??
- Not to mention the Buggies seem to have the bodies welded on, so doing mods ain't no trivial thing.

Here's a couple of my vids on it:
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJcjk7eTQlE[/YouTube][YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7-FZg1DVLM[/YouTube]

All that said, I still like mine enough that I just last night ordered the 3 newer buggies!...

Boomerang

Hotshot

Avante

Also ordered a Hover-Q while I was at it...

And here's a video of that in action:
http://video.nifty.com/cs/catalog/video ... 7815_1.htm

toader · Post by **toader** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:57 pm

Cool...thanks for the report Namuna. I ordered the red HotShot and blue Avante buggies today, so maybe in 10 days or so we will have something more to report and can compare notes. My micro RC town will have to have some dirt...or at least simulated hills and moguls and trails so the buggies will have a place to romp. Speed really is not an issue. 5 feet of range means 5 feet to the left and 5 feet to the right of my Master control chair. I think this will be well within the range of my planned off road area. Where can I find 1:64 scale dirt so I kick up a rooster tail....

I cant wait to see these little buggers.

Namuna · Post by **Namuna** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:31 am

I also see you're an N-Scale Train man...I'm a Z-Scale collector myself. With a 3yr old Son running around, I haven't had a chance to build a proper layout for these beauties but damn if I don't love the level of detail and workmanship of them (damned well better be beauties, for the money I paid for 'em!).

toader · Post by **toader** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:24 pm

Trains are cool...expecially with the advent of DCC so you can run many trains on one track simultainiously. I had a Marklin Z setup for a while...track cleaning became a hassle with the steel tracks. They are EXPENSIVE arent they. I love the BREIFCASE set. My N scale has nickle tracks so track maintenence is almost a thing of the past. It will spoil you. If I ever get back into trains....it most likely will be Z scale although my eyes are getting old. My avatar came from back when I was in Z scale. You can just see the brim of my engineers cap. HAHAH...3 levels of magnificatin..

This thread has derailed....

betty.k · Post by **betty.k** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 1:54 pm

welcome aboard toady, nice of you to join the army

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:26 pm

Oh and for a user video, here is mine:
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSJHNGqJL8k[/YouTube]

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:43 pm

That was pretty cool. I might have to get one of these, it looks like it gets over stuff better than I thought it would.

toader · Post by **toader** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:31 pm

Great Vid....I download and save each one I find. That terrain looked a little rough for the little HotShot. It looked plenty zippy though.

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:24 pm

Yeah, what it was was a garden, so there was a nice packed dirt walkway, which is where the truggy left from and then bark and rocks which is where it ended up...and also where the crawler was. The thing was that it got caught up easy, even on the packed dirt. If it went the speed it does when the turbo is pushed down, it would be alright, but as it is not it's kind of rough.

SHAUN · Post by **SHAUN** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:35 pm

Namuna wrote:Hi Toader,

I have the Hornet, here's my breakdown of the buggy:

Pros:
- Higher clearance vs. the Q-Steer cars...It can actually handle driving over some little moguls that my Q-Steer Hummer can't
- Swing-arm rear suspension
- 2 speed
- TINY!

Cons:
- Range sucks, you need to be LESS than 5 feet away from the thing to keep it from glitching from being out of range
- Even with using the turbo, the speed is a bit weak...A lipo would make it seriously sweet, but where the hell do you find a lipo that small??
- Not to mention the Buggies seem to have the bodies welded on, so doing mods ain't no trivial thing.

LIPO http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/stor ... ingle_cell__