Micro Terrain Titans / Q-Steer

[kirbenvost]

Pop the knuckles out, and check all the wear surfaces for flashing.

I did find a bit on one of the wheels, but after clearing it (and any hair) out and tapping the pins in further it's still no good. Probably got a weak steering coil, I'll just exchange it since there were plenty in stock.

Yeah, they are glued on the sides. you have to work the sides loose carefully before you can undo the rest. I took a sewing needle and worked the sides loose, but if you try it be careful not to get up into the board or wires.

I used a very small precision screwdriver, thin enough to fit in the cracks where there was no glue without stressing the plastic. I very carefully pried from either side of the side tabs until I heard a little pop when the glue came loose. Worked on 4 so far, though I felt like I was close to breaking one of them.


Come to think of it...is there only 1 A band buggy? I thought the list posted earlier was correct, but it seems all my buggies are B, C, or D... I'll have to check the Frog again when I get home, but it looks like I'll only have 3 bands to work with, because the last one I need is the Hornet. I don't want to buy the Avante just for the chassis...

[frizzen]

Did you check the steering linkage and where the knuckles ride too? Nothing metallic stuck to it either?

The Avante is A, and the other A should be *either* the Frog or Champ. I own neither yet so can't comment for sure either way. Whichever of Frog or Champ is not A, should be D. If I'm wrong, post up and I'll correct that.

[kirbenvost]

The linkage seems fine, I forgot to check for anything metallic though.

I did check the bands on my buggies, the green Frog is B and Champ/Roughrider is D. I think the reason is the green Frog in the toolbox is a special edition version in Japan, the original pink Frog would be the other A band buggy (I looked it up on various sites, including TakaraTomy's site). Obviously they're not going to release that over here because these things are marketed towards young kids, of course boys don't want a pink dune buggy.

Looks like we're stuck with only one A band buggy, unless Spin Master has something else up their sleeves.

[ibjamn]

There are now on sale for $12.99

The TRU that I went to now has the Fox, Grasshopper, Boomerang, Hotshot and Hornet.
The Frog and Rough Rider were in the kit with the upgrades and obstacles.

[kirbenvost]

Interesting. Any idea how long the sale is going to last? Maybe I should swing by TRU and see if they got new ones.

Edit: Nevermind, I forgot that you're probably in the US and I'm in Canada. The Canadian TRU site still has them for the regular price, and they only just listed the Frog.

[frizzen]

Frog has large pin knob and quad-rib tires on 5-spoke white rims like the Hornet. Remote Black with green buttons. Channel B.

Champ has low square block tires and quad rib tires on a different 5-spoke rim in grey. Remote Red with grey buttons. Channel D.

Both come with 5 cones, 2 ramps, slicks on a rear axle, slicks on front tires and knuckles, wide grey 5-spoke rims, Red motor, green gears that seem to be same ratio as stock, and a carry case.

Haven't done speed comparison yet, but the Red does seem a little faster than Green motor.

[kirbenvost]

The red motor is definitely faster than the green one. On a smooth floor I can get the buggies doing donuts/drifting and getting some air off the jumps, with the green motor...not so much.

I'd say the Champ/Rough Rider is more orange, but I suppose it's a reddish orange.

Of them all I think I like the Rough Rider the most, I really like the body stying, and the tires are great. The narrow front ones steer better than the wide ones on some of the others, and the block grip seems to have the most traction on smooth flooring. The slicks would but they pick up dust extremely easily, which causes them to lose a lot of traction.

I guess my carpet is too thick for any of the butties to really get much speed, so I can't say which tires are best for that.

[ibjamn]

If only they would do a Sand Scorcher.......

[vwmicrosizer]

yah i wish there was a sand scorcher to

[kirbenvost]

That would be sweet. I saw a custom bug on an other forum, I bet it wouldn't be too hard to do one up Sand Scorcher style.

[tyhodge07]

OK, how about these? http://hobby-wing.com/shenqiwei-2009-mi ... ellow.html

anyone get one of these? i want that green one, looks pretty neat.

[PimpFloyd]

I've been eye-balling these on the Bay lately - they do look sorta cool. 1/52 scale I think?

But no, I have'nt got one yet.

[kirbenvost]

Interesting. How big would they be in inches?

[sidewinder]

They are about 10cm which is about 4 inches, so they are a pretty decent size.
Here's a review from R7R by Oldtamiyaphile:

You know that expression, "Better than the sum of it's parts"?

Well, that sums the Shen Qi Wei Buggies perfectly.

Looking at the pics online, the TX looked a lot like those micro heli toys. So this had me thinking the little Hornet could be Lipo powered, and maybe even have propo throttle. I was definately expecting the motor to be bigger than a Bit motor.

I don't normally mention packaging, I'd much rather mfg's not waste resources and cost on something so trivial. In this instance, SQW have coppied a Carrera slot car case, it's thick, clear plastic, with a little mirrored wall. If you order online though, it's almost inevitable that your case will arrive cracked, which mine did. No biggie, I use these to keep dust off models while I'm painting.

Onto the car, it's really just a 1/32 scale Bit buggy! Bit motor, a tiny little thing powering a vehicle with a longer WB that a Micro-T! Batteries? Two Bit cells! The PCB is about bit sized so it can squeeze under that narrow body. It's I/O controls. The TX is quite a nice size with sticks rather than see-saws or sliders.

Suspension gives adequate but limited travel. Tyres are very hard. Front wheels press on, rear wheels held with a screw into the hub (might look nicer with a hex head).

Weight: 70g
Range: 10m
Speed: about 1/2 Micro-T
Power: From a standstill, climbs a 10 degree incline (tiny motor and all)
Runtime: 12min

Handing: With no diff, there's a tendancy towards high speed understeer. At low speed the motor struggles to overcome the drag of the rear axle when turning, so this buggy works best on low grip hard floors.

It will handle short carpet OK, but doesn't like turning on it. I tried it outdoors on short grass with much the same result.

But overall, I love this little thing. Makes me feel six years old

It's unquestionalby a toy, but for the basic spec, it works great, has good speed, and is fun to drive. The fact that I finally have a micro Hornet just makes it a blast.

We could add more power, propo, lipo etc, etc, but that seems like a pointless excersise. I have a Micro-T for that. Nope instead, I'm going to keep it pretty much as is. Even the silly "Super Rodeo" decals don't bother me one bit. After all, is "Any Time Baby" any less silly? It also has an 'Utmost' decal on the rear wing. Didn't Tamiya use that as one of their whimsical sponsors?

I'm not sure if I will even bother with a Tamiya 1/32 body swap. It's pretty cool as is. I would like to cut out the windows and add a driver fig, and a diff would be very handy, but that's about it.

Best audience: Tamiya lovers, Bit Tweakers, Buggy Enthusisasts. Also great for kids who aren't ready for a Micro-T yet!

[frizzen]

Ok, I'll bite who's a good distributor (USA preferred, not ebay) to work with for the Shen buggies?

I still want, and I'm getting bothered about what I want for christmas...