B4.2 release
 

Its now been annonced but sadly rear motor :-(

lol what were people expecting

sadly as expected, AE sat down with a blank sheet of paper, spent hours designing, sat back a looked at what they came up with, and thought " Jezz, looks just like the last dang buggy!":lol: would have been a breath of fresh air if they had gone a bit RB6 and braved a possible mid or rear car, we must realise that most of the rest of the world still favour rear motors.

It's as I expected. Upgrades which I have already, apart from the new shock towers, which I will get when the parts filter through.

Make as much money as they can out of the b4 platform before trying anything else!

Cowards.

You need a b4.2 like you need a second arsehole!

What are "team associated" actually associated with these days ?
Its not current, whatever it is.

Can i just LOL at this on the B4.2 webpage.
"Resting on our accomplishments -- NEVER!"

The car was pretty much recognisable as an RC10 when i started looking at cars again after a 20 odd year lay off.

But saying that, its an American company, selling to Americans in an American market. The fact that Europe is extensively* (ok, quite a lot) not racing on dirt is irrelevant to those that make the decisions (and the designs) for Team Associated.

So, being a B4.2, it isn't a 'new' car, just an update. Hex's, slipper and finally got rid of the crap bellcranks, oh, and big bores..... So, what a lot of people already run if they still use a B4 or B4.1....

I'm glad actually. Their biggest market is the US and Japan and they run on clay. They probably reckon there is enough companies making mid-motor conversions for them to bother.

As expected.

Ae wont produce a mid motor for ages. They build cars for american drivers on american tracks.

I don't suppose we'll see so many of these in the UK, the Centro kit just doesn't make financial sense anymore with so many other kits having mid-motor options out of the box. I mean you can have a whole Hobao H2 for the cost of a Centro cnversion, 2.5 H2's for the cost of converting the B4.2! Only the RB6 would still be more expensive, and TBH, if i was paying that much, i'd choose the RB6 for a bit more!

Bit disappointing but not totally unexpected.

Guess our top AE guys still have the centro and will probably win nationals with that but can't see this car causing the normal flurry of paying drivers swapping to the latest model in quite the same way the losi 22, Durango 210, SV2, RB6 etc all did.

Still, just saved me £250:)

different than expected. Even with a Proline body not JC.
I really thought they would go for something bigger because it took so long.
Looks like the logical step to improve the B4 and I am sure its a great kit but on bigger carpet races there are 99% midmotor cars.
On astro its not too bad for average racers to go rear motor and probably will not make a difference in results but I bet there will not be a AE car on the podium anymore.
Buying two different cars doenst make too much sence with all those nice cars out now... yoko, losi, kyo, durango.
Maybe they really go for a single midmotor car.

If it aint broke dont fix it...

If it's not broke, then why fix it? Team Associated dominate most of the 1/10th 2wd meetings in america and european clay races. Like the B44.2 it's just an update of an winning platform with parts to make the car more consistent and user friendly!

I don't see why it's sad they kept it rear motor, the B4 has been the benchmark chassis to beat on low to medium bite from club level way up to the pro's - and I can't think of a chassis that's been copied so many times or used so many times as a donor car for prototypes. It is just that good! The only thing it has going against it (in mainland Europe) is the fact that it's not metric!

Also I recall Yokomo has a tight connection with Associated, right? :eh?: And if I understand it right, the new mid Yokomo (as run on the EOS) is to replace the rear-motor Yokomo entirely... Could it be that Yokomo in the future will be marketed as the mid-motor brand and AE as the rear-motor brand... To keep them from competing each other to death, or perhaps put in better words, to allow for space for Yokomo to gain ground in Europe?

development is the highest cost when producing a product..

obviously there making massive savings in dev as there by not really developing much and then re branding it..

all about profit IMO

I believe that AE and Yokomo are not close anymore, since AE produces 4wd cars and Yokomo 2wd, 1/12th.

Also, the BMax 2 is sold as a rear-motor car.

Like the look and comes with some nice parts. Rear motored might not flavour of the month at the min but still one of these will still be a competitive car.