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> Am considering purchasing a Tamiya Wild Willy jeep kit. Does anyone
> have one -- would like to hear what you think of it. I drive a
> real jeep, so would like to get one for fun it it makes sense.
> Diane
Hi Diane, I don't own Wild Willy but here is what the writeup in the
Tower Hobbies cat. says:
The 1/10 scale Wild Willy is designed for off-road fun! It can take
on the roughest terrain - from muddy roads to rocky slopes and stand-up under
the abuse. Its oversized tires really grip the surface and provide traction
for fast stunt action. The wide track and short wheel base enables it to
perform wheelies, spins and jumps. It features independent suspension with
swing arms in front and an adjustable coil suspension in the rear. The sealed
mechanism box keeps dust and moisture away from important radio equipment.
The body is injection-molded for great detail and is easy to paint and modify.
A driver figure is included complete with a face helmet and professional race
driver uniform.
The 13 1/2" Wild Willy requires a 2-channel radio, battery pack and charger.
Regards, Jim ('gotta get me a logo')
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| Yeah, I own a Wild Willy, in fact, I had it here at the office a
week or two ago (when we first had that NICE weather). It seemed
to be a pretty big hit amongst the uninitiated (to RC Cars) folks.
Personally, I enjoy the car quite a bit. The design is pretty rugged
(for instance, the roll bars are black plastic, but have piano wire
reenforcment molded in). Top speed is about 15-18 MPH with the
stock RS540 motor, a noticable improvment is to be had with the
installation of Ball Bearings all the way around the car. As the
Tower description says, this is primarily a fun stunt vehicle, the
high, rearward center of gravity makes the car useless for racing,
since it does like to fall over a lot. The car really looks fun,
though, and the "Willy" character, kind of hunched up behind the
steering wheel, one hand on the wheel, one on the shifter, with
this demonic look on his face, really does it for me. The car can
easily be rolled, flipped, or spun, I find it a challenge to do
one, or all, of those things and get it land with the "soft" side
down. Willy will run on pavement as well (if not better than) as
on grass. Pavement-wise, he will maintain his wheelie for at least
25 feet. Pavement does, however, take its toll on any part of the
car that it comes in contact with (except, maybe, the tires) and
so I expect to have to buy new wheelie stoppers and roll bars soon
(the wheelie stoppers are the wire springs that extend out the rear
of the car to prevent it from flipping over on its back when you
punch the throttle), since these parts are starting to wear through.
On the whole, I would recommend the car if you want some fun, its
fairly cheap, spar parts abound (since it is one of Tamiya's oldest
designs) and good and rugged. Feel free to send me mail if you
have any specific questions.
Randy Cohen @ LEDS::
_/o__
[O--O]
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| Diane,
I just saw a rather interesting vehicle at noon today, this
guy has been advertising what he calls a 'budfoot' which is a
custom-built truck with lawn-tractor wheels, 4 RS-550 motors with
gearmotors and chain drive for 4 wheel drive, a 12 volt car battery,
and a body from a kiddie-type truck. I've got videotape of a couple
of minutes of it, but he's asking $900 (complete with radio), so
I'm going to have to wait a while. Sure gave me some interesting
ideas for the Phase II Tyke!
Willie
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