Tamiya Avante

[Dangeruss]

In 1988 Tamyia launched the Avante, their most forward thinking 1/10 electric 4wd off-road racing buggy. In a world full of kamikaze airplanes, the Avante was a spaceship, designed to be by far the most advanced and adjustable racing machine available. Tamiya's newest 4wd buggy was overloaded with trick tech, its double deck black fiberglass plate chassis provided a stiff foundation to mount the triple front link and twin rear link suspension systems. Rather than rely on double a-arms as their previous 4wd buggy's did Tamiya employed a set of three intersecting Heim jointed aluminum turnbuckles up front to allow for infinitely adjustable geometry while out back the same task was accomplished with Heim jointed aluminum turnbuckles for the single lateral and trailing links used on each side. Debuting on the Avante was Tamiya's Hi-Cap aluminum bodied oil-filled coilover shocks with clip in spring spacers, heavily splayed as they attached to the front bulkhead and stretched tall to reach the black fiberglass plate rear shock tower, both ends benefitting from a snap-on reinforcement rod and chassis mounted anti-sway bars. Turnbuckle adjustable tie rods with ballcups and a direct mount servo saver completed the bellcrank steering system, electronics mounted aft on the top deck while the battery was sandwiched lengthwise between the chassis plates to power the now longitudinally mounted 540 motor. A pinion and spur primary drive engaged the transmission via a center ball diff and bevel gear to spin the planetary geared differentials that were utilized in the front and rear of the shaft driven 4wd system. Universal shafts up front and dogbones out back connected to yellow plastic single-piece wheels shod in 12.50-20 Super Gripper 4x4 Racing R spiked tires through a very innovative cam-lock center cap for quicker wheel/tire changes. The entire car was then wrapped in a fittingly futuristic looking clear lexan buggy body complete with a wing and Paranoid Perry driver figure. An angle adjustable wing mount, full length lexan undertray, front and rear bumpers, RX-540VZ motor, and full bearings finished the unassembled kit, which would be followed by the Vanquish and Egress 4wd off-road buggy's: