What year was the first stealth trans?

[RichieRich]

Hi Eau Rouge,

I like reading alot of your posts on this forum but in this particular case, you are wrong. Sometimes you shouldn't believe everything you read. The informative timeline you provided via link merely suggests that the 2:40:1 transmission was released in 1994, and I can say this with 100% certainty that no 1994 RC10 Worlds Cars came with a transmission with a 2:40:1 ratio.

Vin

This post comes off a little aggressive, but I'm sure you don't mean it to be. As far as I know, the 2.4 tranny started with the B2. All previous RC10s have the 2.25.

[Eau Rouge]

Hi Eau Rouge,

I like reading alot of your posts on this forum but in this particular case, you are wrong. Sometimes you shouldn't believe everything you read. The informative timeline you provided via link merely suggests that the 2:40:1 transmission was released in 1994, and I can say this with 100% certainty that no 1994 RC10 Worlds Cars came with a transmission with a 2:40:1 ratio.

Vin

Gotcha, I'll have to let Associated know that they don't know when their own products were developed.

[templeofspeed]

2.40 trans started with the B2, and was also used on the B3/T3. Glad AE knows their own history...

[SkidRowe]

I looked through some of my old RCCA magazines and the Stealth arrives in the December 1990 issue. Small article on page 23 (see pic) and on page 184 you could have bought it from tower hobbies for $79.99.

[Dual]

Hi guys,

It was not my intention to come across as aggresive... I apologise. I was replying to the comments Eau Rouge made towards my post -

My information came from Associated. Where's yours from?

Just a guess, but I'm leaning towards Associated having the most accurate timeline. But I could be wrong, too.

I only corrected the information Eau Rouge provided regarding the first Stealth Transmission equipped production car and that the 1994 Worlds Car debuted with the 2:40 ratio transmission when it wasn't and then received the above 2 comments for my efforts.

Eau Rouge, in this particular situation, you were incorrect and I fully understand that maybe you got confused when you read the timeline

To clear things up, the first RC10 that came equipped with the Stealth Transmission was the RC10 Team Car. This car was released in early 1991.

And no, the 1994 RC10 Worlds Car did not incorporate a 2:40 ratio Transmission.

Thanks

Vin

[Eau Rouge]

No harm, no foul.

While I do think the dates are a little askew on the Associated website timeline, you also need to be careful with magazine dates and release announcements. Just because they were published to be "available soon" doesn't mean that they were actually shipping in kits anywhere close to that date. When someone says, "I bought one in 199X, in an XX kit," I'll tend to trust that a bit more than magazine dates. We all know that production on kits and cars wasn't that consistent, either.

Just as Tekin how "soon" shipping should be on their current brushless ESCs—they were supposed to be ready to ship last October, and they are just making it to the market now. Maybe.


Personally, I couldn't tell you first-hand when the Stealth was shipping in kits, because I was running MIP and Team Pit Stop diffs in any RC10-based oval car, and Losi cars for everything else. At that point, Associated was already two steps behind everyone else. To me, the Stealth was a reactionary afterthought design, hijacked from the MIP tranny.

[Eau Rouge]

There is an article scan in the Scans forum here that shows the Stealth as a "Secret Out" from April 1991 as the tranny from the 1991 Area-51 "Worlds" car. I do know that they were sold only as a tranny kit for a while—and not in cars, so it is entirely possible that the first kit wasn't sold with that tranny in it until late 1991 or early 1992.


At this point, it's all speculation and educated guesses. If there is not a definitive answer from Associated that we can all agree is accurate, then there really isn't going to be anyone who knows for sure.

[shodog]

To me, the Stealth was a reactionary afterthought design, hijacked from the MIP tranny.

And just to add more fuel to the fire, the MIP gearbox design borrows heavily from the Sand Scorcher gear box and Thorp ball diff.

[DavidG75]

The Stealth tranny kit was available for public sale at the 1990 ROAR off-road nats. at Hobby Haven raceway. Livermore CA.
I believe this was the first time the Stealth was for sale.

[mrlexan]

If I remember correctly, from what I read, let's make sure we give credit where credit is due with Losi, whom with the release of the JRX2 trans, forced Associated to develop the Stealth (at least that was what I read). When you think of it that way, the X2 really was a heck of milestone in RC history (IMHO).