Not necessarily much new in there, but posted the official Tamiya Japan product presentation text and all the CAD pictures yesterday @

http://kentech.blogs.se/

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...h/502x-xxs.jpg

Ha, just wanted to post the link to your blog asi saw it today! :thumbsup: Nice mate, keep up the good work:thumbsup:

Inch sized balls, wow, that is a BIG diff :p

Typo I assume!

So it does look like batteries can be moved into a forward or rear position, interesting tuning aid! Hard to tell how accurate the drawings are but doesn't look too roomy for electrics!!

Any word on release date yet, is October feasible?

Looks like a Bj4we clone/ b44 to me, they have enough room for electrics!

Don't get me wrong, it probably is a clone (as discussed earlier around suspension) but can you think of any possible shaft design they could have done which you wouldn't have accused of being either a b44, a Durango, or a Bmax clone??

This is exactly what i was thinking when reading the posts from people complaining about this being a BJ4/B44 clone. If you want something totally different to what exists you could probably invent something like a Tamiya Egress but i highly doubt it would have a chance against the modern designs buggies....

I don´t think so. as mentioned earlier the Plamodel show will be around mid October, after the Hobby Show it always takes about 8 weeks to get the items to the sellers. I think we can HOPE for a TRF502X under the Christmas tree. This will be my favourite Christmas since years :)

Exactly, fact is that the top decks, cell position, steering system, upper arm mounts, front and rear bulkheads and front shock tower mounting are all obviously different to the b44. The motor mount and motor/spur position looks the same but could be different. The suspension geometry is copied from the 511 (which copied the 501, which copied the bj4). Nothing about the 502 is a clone except the suspension which understandably has carried over the copying! Admittedly imperial diffs are suspect, has to be a copy!!

Official release should be November for the 502.
Exact dates should be known next week I think...

Nope, not a typo. When Tamiya says "inch sized" they are referring to the fact that the balls used are measured in standard terms instead of metric. So, instead of the traditional style 3mm diff balls, these will be the 3/32 from the TRF201 and FF03. All Tamiya diffs seem to be going this way since the 417 will also be using this style diff.

It's ok I was having a laugh with it, big ball diff with each ball 1 inch diameter!

Although for the rest of the world (non US) metric is the standard... :wub

Looking at those Cad drawings it looks to me that the motor is further forward. Possibly the spur is in the exact middle of the car, on the BJ4/44 it's shifted more to the rear. Cells deffo look to be further forward in that drawing. Big space in front of the motor on the BJ/44 that you can fit a speedo in easily..

Big ball diff is not the same as big diff balls...;)
Would also be large diff balls? Correct grammar or?

So who cares? As long as it has TRF performance and quality.
If they had made all new design it would probably be a lot of "Why did hey do that?" "It´s not gonna work..."

If 511 is just a clone, why does it perform better?

You make small adjustments on you setups, often hard for the eye to see. Still those adjusments make big difference?

So that'll be a hot bodies D4 then?:eh?:

I really don´t understand you guys. Instead of being happy that the 4WD scene gets a bit of diversity with the 502X you keep moaning about another clone, well at least the Hotbodies D4 is a new one in the clone list :woot:

Here is a comparison between the CAD top view of the TRF502X and the first release of the MiD44'08 chassis (blue lines on the following pic): :wtf:
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6057/trfmid502x.jpg