Jeff Hoy, American » team associated

My SC18 review is up…

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:45:11 +0000

SC18 Now Available!

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:33:23 +0000

Tower Hobbies has the Team Associated SC18 in stock right now this very second.

Remember that you’ll need to buy an appropriate battery and charger (don’t forget the charger adapter) to go with it if you don’t already have them. (See update 2)

So what are you waiting for? Get to buying fool.

[Update: I ordered mine, should be here within the next week and a half, expect an unboxing on arrival and a full SC18 review to follow.]

[Update 2: Well slap me silly and call me Susan, they did include a battery and overnight wall charger... the charger sucks, so consider buying a better one if you don't already have one, but having the battery in the box is nice.]

New Product: RC18T2/B2 Team Kit

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:28:11 +0000

Here’s some awesome news from Team AE. They are putting out 2nd editions of their popular RC18B and RC18T, based on the new belt driven chassis that is used by the SC18 and RC18LM. The cool thing about this though is that it’s a kit and parts are included to build either vehicle. So you buy one box and you get two cars in it. You get to decide whether you want to build it as a truck or buggy, and switching between the two any time you want is easy. From the looks of it all you do is change the tires, body mounts, and body and you got yourself a new vehicle to race with. How cool is that?

Being a kit means that no electronics are included, so you have to provide the motor, ESC, steering servo, receiver and radio, batteries, charger, and glue for the tires. The MSRP is $199.99, street price will likely be in the $150s, and it should be available some time in March. Just a note, the news release doesn’t specify if this is a FACTORY Team kit, so all the hop-ups typically included with those may not be in this one. Here’s a link to the product page and the news release (PDF).

[Update: Tower, Stormer, and A Main all agree on a street price of $120. Your local hobby shop's prices will vary.]

Vehicle Specifications

Scale:	1:18
Power:	Electric
Length:	252mm
Width:	182mm
Weight:	500g
Wheelbase:	166mm
Internal Gear Ratio:	2.0:1
Drive:	4WD

New Product: Team Associated RC18 Late Model

Jeff Hoy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:53:01 +0000

Team Associated’s stable of 1/18th scale cars has just grown by one. Hot on the heels of their awesome looking SC18, AE has dug deep and come up with the RC18 Late Model. It’s an RTR with a 2.4 GHz radio, built on the new SC18 belt driven chassis. Just like the SC18 it seems that batteries and a charger are NOT included, you’ll have to supply those yourself. MSRP is $279, street price will likely be closer to $180, the release timeframe is March of this year. Here’s a link to Team Associated’s press release (PDF doc).

Team Losi has a 1/18th Late Model car as well, so this class will be gaining some momentum in the coming months. AE now needs to get a sprint car to market and the classes will be complete. Dirt oval as a whole, I believe, is under-represented in this hobby.

The 1/18th scale sector of the r/c hobby keeps growing despite the fact that some industry “insiders” see it as just a fad. Everything is getting smaller, cars, boats, airplanes, helicopters; simply so people can find more places to use them. The days of needing a huge empty lot are at an end, nearly everybody has a backyard, basement, or garage big enough for these small vehicles.

Is the SC18 coming sooner?

Jeff Hoy — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:54:50 +0000

Maybe, depends who you trust. Team Associated’s official announcement says that it’ll be available in March. Tower Hobbies’ product page is noting late February, which isn’t far off from the official word. But A Main Hobbies is saying they’ll have it in stock on January 17. About 2 weeks from now.

Retailers are pretty well-known for getting release dates wrong in the video game industry. But will the r/c industry be different? At this point I’m more inclined to believe the official announcement of sometime in March than I am the other two. But who knows, Associated may be ready to ship them out right this very second, but just gave the March time frame as a just in case.

I’ll definitely keep an eye on A Main’s listing, and if they get it when they say they do then I’ll be heading to my local hobby shop and inquiring.

AHA! SC18 Announcement at long last…

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:12:34 +0000

On the heels of Associated’s other new cars and trucks comes the final, official announcement of something we’ve all known about since October. Team Associated’s SC18, a 1/18th scale short course r/c truck. What has been announced isn’t what was advertised though, there have been some changes.

As I suspected they did change over to a 2.4 GHz radio system which is a cool and welcome addition. The more important change, in my opinion, is that they are NOT including a battery and charger with it (see update 2 below). Which is strange, considering all the other 1/18th scale RTRs from Associated include them. I’m kind of sad about that fact, but it’s not a great loss considering the probable price point. MSRP is $289.99, but the potential street price according to Tower and Stormer might be as low as $180, with your local hobby shop prices varying from there. That’s actually much cheaper than I was expecting, so adding the cost of a battery and cheap charger won’t add much to the cost and will still likely come in cheaper than Duratrax’s Vendetta SC. You’re looking at about $20 for a battery pack and another $30 for a cheap AC/DC peak charger, so a total of around $250 for the full setup, which is closer to the final price point that I was expecting. Look for it to be in stock just in time for Christma… er… nevermind. Some time in March it’ll be on store shelves.

So you now officially have two choices in the 1/18th scale short course market. You might want to wait for some reviews of the SC18. RC Driver has a review of the Vendetta SC in the February issue, which all subscribers should have now, newsstand buyers keep an eye out for it. But based on cost alone I think I’ll be going with the SC18.

Update: Oh, just for the heck of it, here’s the link to the official press release [PDF].

Update 2: See my unboxing video at Big Squid RC, and guess what, despite it not being in the announcement, the battery and charger ARE included.

Two (more) new RTRs from Associated, still no SC18…

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:40:51 +0000

Team Associated announced two new RTR packages today. Both are based on the highly successful RC10T4 stadium truck RC10B4 off-road buggy with some changes and dubbed the RC10T4.1 RC10B4.1. One is brushed motor powered, the other is brushless. They both come with a new 2.4 GHz radio system as well. MSRPs are $339.99 $329.99 for brushed and $399.99 $389.99 for brushless. Street price would likely be closer to $250 and $300 (update: Tower and Stormer are showing street prices at closer to $200 and $250, your local hobby shop‘s prices will vary). They’re nice looking rides and the RC10T4 RC10B4 has been a dominator in the racing scene for a long time.

RC10B4.1 Brushed RTR

RC10B4.1 Brushless RTR

Still no news on the SC18 though. I’m a bit surprised that it’s not out yet considering it’s been advertised for three months now. I’m fully expecting it to ship with a 2.4 GHz radio now though, instead of the advertised 27 MHz.

Two new RTRs from Associated, still no SC18…

Jeff Hoy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:06:01 +0000

Team Associated announced to new RTR packages today. Both are based on the highly successful RC10T4 stadium truck with some changes and dubbed the RC10T4.1. One is brushed motor powered, the other is brushless. They both come with a new 2.4 GHz radio system as well. MSRPs are $339.99 for brushed and $399.99 for brushless. Street price would likely be closer to $250 and $300 (update: Tower and Stormer are showing street prices at closer to $200 and $250, your local hobby shop‘s prices will vary). They’re nice looking rides and the RC10T4 has been a dominator in the racing scene for a long time.

RC10T4.1 Brushed RTR

RC10T4.1 Brushless RTR

Duratrax Vendetta SC in stock

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:25:09 +0000

Tower Hobbies has the Duratrax Vendetta SC in stock. So if you’re looking for some small scale short course action then whip out your credit card and get to buying. You can get it in red, white, blue, or yellow. For $219.99 you don’t get everything you need. You’ll still have to provide a battery pack for the truck, a charger for that pack (with a Tamiya-Micro plug adapter), and batteries for the transmitter. With the selections I’ve provided you’re looking at another $59.46, or $279.45 plus tax/shipping total.

I’m going to take a wait and see attitude. Team Associated’s SC18 is just around the corner and may come in at a much lower price point. All of AE’s mini RTRs include batteries and a charger in the box, and all of them are below the $200 mark. I think the SC18 is going to be at or above $200, but still much less than the $280 total for the Vendetta SC. That’s not to say that the Vendetta isn’t worth it, we’ll have to wait for some reviews. It does come with a 2.4Ghz radio, instead of a 27Mhz AM radio like the SC18, that alone might be worth the (suspected) price premium for some.

If you absolutely must be the first at your track to have a 1/18th scale short course, then this is it, go get it. If you can wait, I suggest you do to see what Associated has up their sleeve.

Be sure to check with your local hobby shop first for price and availability.

Team Associated SC18 Video

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:43:42 +0000

Here’s the first video of Team Associated’s new SC18 via the folks at RC Car Action. Looks to be a good little performer. And I love that little backyard style track they’re running it on.

This is a video that expands on the peek they gave us in the November 6th episode of The Radio Control Show