Operation "Optima" - Part 1

Operation "Optima" - Part 1 - Introduction

Hello again and thanks for joining me on another RC car saga.

This time I am going to be testing my Kyosho Optima re-release that I bought and built a year ago. I have to say, this was my first Kyosho. I simply couldn't afford one back in the late 1980's. I was a Tamiya Super Sabre driver, with only one win against a Tamiya Lunch Box (with an unpainted inside out cornflake box as a shell with marker pen windows) and a Tamiya Grass Hopper that lost a front wheel on the last lap. This was basically, the wooden spoon race. But that was the era when we tried, and we used what we could afford to race.  I do remember, that same night I won that race. About ten minutes after that race had finished, a new lineup prepared to start. Now, how this came to pass is still a mystery to me and all the people there. Remember, this is 1988/89 and were still using the 27 Mhz system with crystals separating channels. We were also mainly using servo based speed controllers or mechanical speed controllers as they are known now.

Well as soon as the buzzer went, all the buggies took off for the race. Except another car's receiver was still switched on, with a crystal in it (only a theory). This car was the Tamiya Lunch Box, well Cornflake box on wheels. It also took off and jumped the rope racing lines and smashed it almost every car on track, it then went on to hit a brick wall, bounce off and come back over the track damaging further cars. He wasn't very popular for a couple of weeks, but they all got over it. He also didn't return for a week but I think that was due to the body shell (Cornflakes box)still having cornflakes in it. When he did return many of the other racers tried to donate to him other brand cardboard boxes, but he refused due to contractual issues. Back in the day I do remember the big brand names being banded about like Persil and Daz, but I didn't pay too much attention to the hype. The club wasn't very health and safety conscious or organised or many other things, but we loved it.

Anyway, back to Operation "Optima".
As I previously stated, I could not afford an Optima back in the day, however when they re-released it, I saved every nickel and dime to buy it. Which I eventually did. Brand new, kit form.


So here is my Kyosho Optima (see picture below).
This is the RC car I will be testing the motor, esc, wheels, tyres and suspension assemblies.

As you can see from the above picture, I have cut, shaped and sanded the body shell edges. Also notice the
protective film is still intact. We are also sporting 2.2" (inch) wheels and adjustable spring and damper assemblies.

Over the next couple of pages, I going to detail the Optima build, the parts I intend to install, upgrade parts and running results. I will also test the original parts to the hop-ups, providing weights and measurements and post my findings.

The weights and measurements of the new components can be found in Part 2.

Thank you Kindly for reading and until my next post, take care.

CatXLS