TamTech-Gear Hornet (mini)

JANG's Impressions

I've never been too keen on the idea of buying an XB version of a Tamiya vehicle, but the TamTech-Gear series buggies seemed like a wonderful little novelty and just perfect all boxed up & ready to go, so I happily picked one up to play with in stock form. The vehicle comes 100% assembled and the package includes an 1100mAH NiMH battery pack (6-cell side-by-side 2/3 A size) and a wall charger, so all you need to add are 8 AA's for the transmitter and a bit of patience to get running.

The GB-01 chassis is not at all designed to be a scaled-down version of the Hornet, nor the Frog that inspired the first release on this platform, nor any other previous vehicle. It's a purpose-built, all-new setup and I like it quite much. It consists of three distinct sections, front, mid, and rear. Tying it all together is a long, slender main tub with reinforcements for strength and rigidity. The front suspension, including the a-arm mount, is bolted on separately with the help of a small forward lower chassis segment. Likewise for the rear, in fact. The whole layout is very much like a fully modern 2WD 1/10th scale buggy, with the exception that the battery loads from underneath. This is a clever feature, actually, and works just like the setup on the DF-03 where a smooth undertray locks in place and practically melds in with the chassis. This allows fairly easy battery changes without removing the body, and it also allows all of the electronics to be mounted aong the centerline to keep maintain a very narrow layout.

Speaking of electronics, the TEU-402BK ESC was designed just for this car. A standard-sized receiver is included, along with a mini receiver. Standard 3-wire power/signal wires are used for all, so you can replace any one with other standard equipment without having to replace the others, so long as you keep in mind that the ESC does not have its own built-in BEC, relying on one in the receiver to power the servo, old school-style.

Adjustable camber & steering links are a welcome feature, though they're not double-threaded turnbuckles so you'll have to pop off one end to make a change. Up front you'll notice u-joint yokes on the inner side of the front axles; this is because they're the same as the rears. The stock "shocks" are pogo sticks -- spring holders that look like shocks. The front springs are too stiff to be useful for any purpose and they might as well have just used steel rods. The rears seem a decent rate, but with no damping, the ride should be interesting.

I was looking forward to some great mini-sized fun with this vehicle when I took it to the local track, but as soon as I squeezed the trigger on the controller, anticipation changed to devastation. I will not mince words here. The car is slow. Even for a low-end, RTR, silver can powered, 1/14th scale toy, it is slow. I literally was ran a $50 (with battery & charger) toy-class vehicle from a toy store right after this, and the toy was significantly faster. The poor car could barely build enough speed to get air with more than two wheels off of any jump. It was truly saddening. The front tires act like slicks, and the rears have such little contact with their hard, long, wide-spaced spikes that they probably only work well on carpet, or maybe driving on the foam that mattress pads are made of. The suspension, as expected, is useless in front and excessively bouncy in the rear, though the low speed really limited the need for any suspension action. You'll notice that the video below is very short, and that's because I saw no reason to keep going.

A wide range of hop-ups were made available for the GB-01, both from Tamiya and companies like GPM and 3Racing. For someone with a lot of money to spend on a very small vehicle, this little Hornet could probably be made to run great. Just a motor upgrade and a full set of oil-filled shocks with proper springs could help tremendously. I sure do love looking at this car and marvelling at its great design, but at a street price of $220 US and upgrades practically required, it's hard to justify the cost.

Video

Tips

If you get one, be certain to purchase the following items at the same time:

• Upgraded motor, such as the Tamiya Sport Tuned unit
• Oil-filled shocks, such as Tamiya's CVA sets
• Soft spring set

Photo gallery samples

Visit the full TamTech-Gear Hornet gallery for more photos.

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