A 1:10 radio-controlled off-road buggy is a 1:10 scale radio-controlled dune buggy designed for off-road racing. These cars are based on their full-scale equivalents that are commonly found in desert racing. The buggies are split into two race categories, two (2WD) and four-wheel drive (4WD). These can easily be distinguished visually by their wheel size at the front. Cars are typically electric powered, but nitro versions do exist but are less common because racing classes exist for electric cars. The class is inexpensive and similar to a number of other classes, and this makes them popular with newcomers. The cars are also known as 1/10 off-road.
The class was created by Kyosho as a miniature version of their 1:8 scale buggy and popularized by its archrival Tamiya, the latter after witnessing an off-road race at the Baja Peninsula on a business trip. It became popularized in the United States as a racing class, where they helped to lead the radio-controlled car market in the 1980s before the touring car class suddenly took over for the next decade with many manufacturers abandoning the off-road class as a result.
The Deutsche Meisterschaften (in West Germany) and ROAR Nationals (in North America) were amongst the first to host an official national championship a year before the International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR) hosted their official world championship in 1985.
1984 saw an introduction of 4WD cars that offered better traction thus 2WD car owners found themselves being forced to compete against its all-wheeled counterpart, resulting in the unlimited/modified category being split into its respective drivetrain classes. This division was first adopted by Remotely Operated Auto Racers (ROAR) and Japan Model Racing Car Association (JMRCA) in 1986 to become used in the Worlds in 1987 then became widely used.
By the turn of the millennium, the off-road buggy market regained its market space, whilst continuing to compete with the touring car market, which originally shared the same chassis as well as its 1:8 ancestors.
Dirt tracks have been the traditional choice of surfaces since the beginning but with regular maintenance and inconsistent lap times through wear and tear, the use of carpets and artificial turfs have become more widely used, the latter being the controversial choice of surface for the 2015 IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championship, ending a 30-year tradition of dirt track use.
Apart from the touring car class, the off-road buggies have branched out into other classes including stadium trucks, monster trucks and Short Course Trucks.
History
1976—1992: Golden era
In 1977, after reading an American magazine about an off-road racing convention advertised at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, Shunsaku Tamiya, the president of Tamiya at the time, was inspired after seeing images of buggies racing across deserts. He set out at a trip to the show where he also got to witness the desert races at the Baja California Peninsula. Back in Japan, Tamiya tasked designer Fumito Taki to recreate the off-road racers he witnessed that could be driven anywhere. At a hobby show in Houston, Texas; Shunsaku demonstrated his off-road buggies to a large crowd, who greeted the cars with applause.
Their first buggy, the Rough Rider based on the Funco SSII buggy of Malcolm Smith and Bud Feldkamp, was introduced in 1979, it was notable for being the first "true off-roader", the first car to come with three gear transmission and with independent suspension. It utilized a thin GRP chassis, strengthened by triangular piece of aluminium bolted directly underneath. This was followed shortly by the Sand Scorcher, Taki's more significant designs and their miniature version of the Ford F150 Ranger. The former two was cited by UK's Radio Race Car magazine, in 1990, as the cars that sparked the boom era.
Before that, Kyosho introduced the nitro powered Peanuts 09 in 1976 that was a smaller version of their 1:8 scale buggy, then the electric powered version called the Eleck Peanuts in 1978, that both used a beam axles unlike the independent suspension cars of the Tamiyas and were like its elder 1:8 counterpart, based on beach buggies although off-road cars were regarded by Peter Vieira of Radio Control Car Action as "barely suspended on-road cars with aggressive tires" that "didn't handle at all".
Enthusiasts in Japan took to racing the cars that later spread to other countries. At the time of its release, it was assumed by Lawrence H. Earl, the author of the Usborne Model Guides to Model Cars, that they were intended for drivers who are not interested in racing but however, although it was at its infancy in Europe, dirt racing took off in North America as enthusiasts made temporary tracks to race on and gather together friends to build and organize off-road races however at its infancy, they came to be disparaged by enthusiasts of the nitro-powered 1:8 pan-cars, then at its prime, as toys. The Tamiya led popularity helped the market surge that became known as the Golden Era of Off-Road Racing as it was believed that anybody in the neighborhood had seen a or a at that point the market began to take off in 1984. The Hornet was credited for popularizing the racing scene at a small price with strong after-market support, it was also robust that it can be still be driven after a novice driver drove it head-on into a curb at full speed. This popularity also led Tamiya's to become, reportedly, the best selling radio-controlled car of all time as it had been offered as a quality kit sold at an affordable price to hobbyists with limited budgets.
Bolink was one of the many who responded to Tamiya's successes with the Bigger Digger. Because the Tamiya cars lacked a differential, it utilised ball differential, pioneered by Schumacher, who also acted as a distributor for the UK market. Tamiya responded with a that utilized their Free-Floating Progressive Damping System (FFPDS), a suspension system that features rear suspension arms that was connected to a transversely mounted coilover oil filled damper, fed by an oil reservoir. This came to use during the suspension's high-compressions through off-road activities. This was considered to be the early version of the modern shock reservoirs.
In 1982, Kyosho also responded with the Akira Kogawa designed Scorpion, a car dedicated for serious competition use as it was 200/400g lighter to its competitions that went on to become the 1985 ROAR Nationals champion. The car featured an aluminum ladder frame chassis
The Tamiya Frog, introduced in 1983, was a departure from all other cars at the time as it was not based on a real car. Based on their miniature version of the Subaru BRAT; it was unique for utilizing a chassis made of a resin compound of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and fully independent suspension that features rear trailering arms paired with coil-over oil-filled shocks and inboard spring type independent front suspension. Although it shared side plates and nylon mouldings as the BRAT, the entire internals was entirely new. It featured a redesigned ballraced diffentials that enabled racers a choice of three gear ratios and a lightweight Polycarbonate body that became commonly used on all buggies. Also, it was notable for that it appealed to beginners as well as racers who proceeded to modify the car heavily in order to make it competitive. It won the inaugural Deutsche Meisterschaften Elektro Off-road 1:10, the German championship, in 1984, driven by Michael Kleinhaus.
In the periods between 1983 and 1984, three brands claimed to be the first to introduce 4WD buggies to the market on each front; Hirobo introduced the 44b, the first 4WD buggy; Yokomo, the YZ-834B "Dog Fighter", the first race specific 4WD buggy and Kyosho the Progress respectively; the first to be sold with four-wheel steering. Another car introduced by Kyosho in 1985, the Optima also by Kogawa, was the first 4WD car to offer double wishbone A-arms for both ends of the car with its own oil-filled coilover shock absorber on each corner of the car. The Dog Fighter used a Kydex flat pan chassis, monoshocks on all corners, limited-slip differential and chain drive. It became successful that, driven by with Gil Losi Jr., it won the inaugural IFMAR Off-Road Worlds.
At the time when competitions was offered to stock and modified motors and 4WD buggies was at its infancy, many clubs allowed them to race against drivers with 2WD cars, therefore drivers resorted to buying these instead, usually defeating them in the process.
Team Associated took the realm of the race buggy further when they introduced the Roger Curtis designed RC10, a car that established the layout (motors and batteries on a flat tub chassis) that became an industry standard for all off-road buggies by industry insiders. Taking inspiration from real off-road buggies, Curtis looked at how the suspension could be designed to cope with the high demands of off-road racing. The chassis was made from anodized, aircraft grade aluminum alloy, it also featured machined, oil-filled aluminium shock absorbers that can be adjusted with high-impact nylon suspension control arms, ball differentials and two-piece wheels. It primarily proved that designs based on its real life counterpart was not the way to win races, as a result, manufacturers began to break away from realism. Before this, cars sold had to be heavily modified from its stock format in order to be competitive.
In 1986, Schumacher introduced its first 1:10 off-road model, the CAT (Competition All Terrain); it featured innovations not seen before in R/C cars; universal joint, belt drive transmission system and a 'crash back' front suspension mount (designed to protect the front suspensions in a front-on collisions). It was cited by Radio Race Car magazine, in 1990, to be one of the greatest cars of all. Its success was marked the following year with a win at the EFRA Euros, ROAR Nationals and the IFMAR Worlds.
PB Racing, another British manufacturer, attempted to emulate the success of Schumacher and other brands with their Mini Mustang, also a belt drive car with twin differentials. It was available in 2WD, 4WD and 2-speed 4WD. The 2-speed option appealed to racers but was proved to be problematic, so racers resorted to the single speed version. It initially enjoyed success in racing before it rapidly lost popularity for undisclosed reasons.
Traditionally found in on-road cars, the 1980s saw the use of large rear spoilers on cars such as the RC10 and Team Losi JRX-2 in 1988. At that point, buggies began to break away from realism.
Losi Jr. had used his racing experience to develop the JRX-2 into a winner. The car featured carbon fiber flat pan chassis, low rotating mass 48dp gearbox, fully independent suspension and five-link rear trailing arm suspension which made the car popular with racers.
Enthusiasts began to experiment with custom built front-wheel drive cars and then manufacturers joined the fray, leading to a short surge of popularity as they claimed it was easier on slick surfaces and cheaper to manufacture.Track Report: Kyosho Maxxum, Dick Brinton, p86, Radio Control Car Action, August 1989 was the first to introduce FWD to production off-road buggies when they introduced the Spirit FF. in 1986. As they held great advantage over RWD cars on loose, bumpy dirt tracks, one of the main disadvantage of this drivetrain was that they have problems with traction in sandier surfaces in addition to in some championships such as the ROAR Nationals, they are forced to compete against the 4WD car and was banned by IFMAR for its advantages hence why the class never caught on.
The Kyosho Optima Mid was the first car to utilize a mid-mounted motor in 1987, it was amongst the few brands to experiment with this type of drivetrain. The car enjoyed successes with club racers.