Ah.. YES! Months of waiting. Reading the press releases. Seeing the sneak-peek spy photos, hearing the team drivers talk about this amazing new car. This (r)evolution in 2wd 1/10th scale RC Racing. Innovation, engineering, a radical remake.
The Hype surrounding this new (model / toy) car was intense! Just read this little blurb from Team Losi Racing (TLR) about the brand new TLR22!
The Team Losi Racing 1/10-scale 22 2WD Electric Race Buggy Kit is an entirely new racing platform. Without a doubt, it will reignite 1/10-scale electric racing throughout the world. The TLR 22s innovative design takes full advantage of envelope-pushing Li-Po and brushless power. It is the only platform of its kind to offer all the hardware needed in a single kit to build a rear- or mid-motor configured chassis. The 22 is about to change all the rules.
So.. I, of course, had to order one. And on April 1st, it arrived at the local Hobby shop (along with 11 others) for a bunch of the local racers. Mine, was #7 (at our shop, 1533 worldwide, based on it’s serial number), so the body of the car carries that number.
Without further reading, here are some pictures of the new TLR22, along with the older Associated Factory Team B4 I’ve been racing for about a month now. As you will see, the 8 year old AE design is really showing it’s age.
The side view of the car exemplifies it’s sleek new design.
Compare it to the ‘current’ B4 class buggy from Associated. It’s a bit like comparing a runner, to a bowler.
Here they are with their bodies off. Both are fitted with Stock Club Racing 17.5T brushless power systems, SAVOX high-speed servos, and the new 96mm compact 60C LiPo, which was designed specifically for the TLR22 by Losi’s battery division.
AE B4 is on the left. You can see that positioning of the electronics is a lot further off the center line, increasing the tendency for the vehicle to roll over in turns. Compare that to the compact, down the middle design of the TLR22. But the differences go far beyond that. If you notice, the older B4 is a rear engine design. By contrast the new TLR22 can be built either rear motor, OR, as I have done here, mid-motor! I’m aware of only one other off-road 2wd mid-motor buggy currently available. But this is the only kit that was designed to be built either way, and comes with all the parts to do it right in the box.
In mid-motor configuration, the power controller (ESC) is located on a bracket right above the motor and transmission. Space is VERY limited so wiring must be compact and tidy. No room for sloppy just wire it up work (which I never do anyway). It was a challenge to get it even this tidy. Others have produced even cleaner looking installations by using all the same color wire. I decided to stick with the stock multi-color wiring supplied with the ESC, and power leads from the battery manufacture. You can’t hardly go wrong doing that.
Here you can see the motor, it’s wiring, transmission (to the left of the motor) and receiver antenna. Even with the smallest 2s battery in the RC off-road industry, space is at a premium!
Servo and receiver location was no picnic either. Here I’m running a 3/4 length Titanium geared .07 ms high-torque servo (yes, yes.. it’s as expensive as it sounds, and without a servo-saver in the design, it’s also in a fair degree of peril!). Just behind the SAVOX SH-1257TG servo, is the Futaba sport 3-channel 2.4GHz FHSS receiver. The control center for all that is fun and right in the buggy. One of the many advantages of the 2.4GHz system (aside from eliminating the need for crystals and frequency pins or flags) is the very show length antenna. Running an old 75 or 27 MHz antenna (about 11″ long) would just ruin the look of this car. And I’m sure you understand how important it is to look good!.
Just behind (to the right) of that is the 7.4V 3800mAh 2S2P 60C 96mm LiPo. It’s the battery that makes all of this possible.
Finally, one last photo of just the TLR22, wired and ready for racing:
