Best to worst engineering team

[MAGNUMB]

Was thinking what RC company has some the best and most passionate engineers

1. Boom Racing- ProBuild Wheels, the selectable transfer cases, PHAT axles, Python servos. The have a complete lineup of just incredible products
2. MST- Thier planetary transmission is sweet along with the chassis on the MTX-1 and their constant pursuit of bettering the drift scene
3. Vanquish- Just seems to be a well-rounded company who knows what they're doing and the marketplace they are going after
4. Traxxas
5. Tamiya- They engineer to just to be different it seems, but it also makes the builds fun
6. RedCat- look at the lowriders and some of newer stuff coming out. They have come a long way!
7. Element- They were looking promising for a while and now still riding that wave, but for how long
8. GMade- Very cool products and hope they continue to get better
9. Axial- I just don't know anymore...i think they gave up
10. Carisma- I think they do a lot with a little. They are not out to be the best, just put out stuff no one else is. They found a niche
11. CrossRC/RC4WD


Who puts together the best engineering and part quality/fit and finish. From my experience Boom Racing, but Vanquish and MST have to be up there as well.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

As a mechanical engineer, and I know I'm not alone in that field on this site, there's a big difference between good engineering and passionate engineering. A broad product catalog is a third factor not necessarily related to either of the first two.

Tamiya is great at producing plastic with tight tolerances. A lot of engineering goes into that. When you get a Tamiya kit, the manual is great, clear and concise, the plastic parts have little to no flashing and go together perfectly. That is all engineering.

I think Vanquish and Traxxas rank higher than Boom and MST, but the rest of your list is in a pretty good order. Redcat is a toss up. They are surely passionate and are designing outside of the typical RC box, but their finished products usually leave something to be desired at least in one area.

 

[89Industries]

I bet Tamiya owns their own factory and make much of their stuff inhouse. Older Japanese companies are often like that.

I think it was Toyota that never bought other companies for their technology, if they wanted it they just developed it inhouse (at least 10-15 year ago when I read that article).

It's also a reason that in the 1980's bicycles in the USA went from being made in Japan to being made in Taiwan, and the Japanese companies lost a lot of business. They weren't willing to offshore their production to hit a pricepoint.

 

[Gula]

*EDIT
OP=what is your profession? I am seeing a pattern.


HPI, had a noggin on it back in the good old days. Shit, they even made aftermarket parts for tamiya and all the other cool brands.
Too bad they did whatever and died off after the Venture.

Axial, from my recollection, picked up, "Head hunted/recruited" the engineering,design or some of the dude's from hpi and that's why their diffs was same as the hpi and interchangeable.

Tamiya, they've always just made the coolest things that I just can't afford! "Semi trucks, tanks, and some of their 4x4 buggies" everything else affordable is cool and fun and has been a treasure to have over the years.

 

[diezel666]

I bet Tamiya owns their own factory and make much of their stuff inhouse. Older Japanese companies are often like that.

Tamiya is an interesting case example of doing things the right way, from the start.

Yes, they own their own factory, and create their own tooling - in house.

Their history is available on Wikipedia. They started out producing high quality, high accuracy Plastic models. Tolerances are imperative when producing accurate replicas, and increasing the ease of assembly. This directly translated to allowing them to build extremely robust, accurate part fit, and amazing quality items for R/C. And their motto is no surprise "First in Quality around the World".

 

[JatoTheRipper]

*EDIT
OP=what is your profession? I am seeing a pattern.


HPI, had a noggin on it back in the good old days. Shit, they even made aftermarket parts for tamiya and all the other cool brands.
Too bad they did whatever and died off after the Venture.

Axial, from my recollection, picked up, "Head hunted/recruited" the engineering,design or some of the dude's from hpi and that's why their diffs was same as the hpi and interchangeable.

Tamiya, they've always just made the coolest things that I just can't afford! "Semi trucks, tanks, and some of their 4x4 buggies" everything else affordable is cool and fun and has been a treasure to have over the years.

Axial also made parts like nitro engines to start. Not many people remember that...

 

[Gula]

Axial also made parts like nitro engines to start. Not many people remember that...

Really? Prior to the release of the AX10 scorpion, I've never heard of the Axial brand. I've had the .18oz engines, and what came stock on a 1s gen revo, losi lst2 and a couple hpi rs4's.


However, i do remember slightly better now that you mentioned it. They were pure aftermarket engines correct?

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Really? Prior to the release of the AX10 scorpion, I've never heard of the Axial brand. I've had the .18oz engines, and what came stock on a 1s gen revo, losi lst2 and a couple hpi rs4's.


However, i do remember slightly better now that you mentioned it. They were pure aftermarket engines correct?

Yes, Axial produced nitro engines, but not vehicles at the time.

 

[Gula]

lol, i slightly recall now, with that imho ugly green colored head. Wasn't a very popular brand, iirc! When was that, really short time they made those right!? Didnt they only made big blocks. Cu.28 ?

 

[ferp420]

outside of tamiya there all pretty much the same
some are better in this way some are better in that way some arent better in anyway lol but there all fun

 

[cooper_xl]

Funny about Tamiya is that they could make a scale truck that could shatter the scale truck scene but they don't.

 

[89Industries]

All the Tamiya talk. Cool because apparently I misunderstood my wife's position so I'll go pick up a BBX next week with the hobby town coupon!

 

[89Industries]

Funny about Tamiya is that they could make a scale truck that could shatter the scale truck scene but they don't.

Japanese companies can be super conservative.

I used to do business with one that was family owned. The 85 year old father and mother still called the shots even though their own 62 year old son was the president and did all the actual work.

Super awesome people to work with though.

 

[MAGNUMB]

All the Tamiya talk. Cool because apparently I misunderstood my wife's position so I'll go pick up a BBX next week with the hobby town coupon!

Or pick up the TD2 or TD4 off Tamiya USA for $145 and free shipping. Crazy low price right now along with Dancing Rider or Comical HotShot. All cool cars for CHEAP!

 

[89Industries]

Well, I just got home from using the $30 off coupon at HobbyTown with this:

Excited to check out "the engineering".

Then I saw this:

Or pick up the TD2 or TD4 off Tamiya USA for $145 and free shipping. Crazy low price right now along with Dancing Rider or Comical HotShot. All cool cars for CHEAP!

So, why not and I ordered a TD4 Super Avante for the $159 and free shipping.

I have 2 projects to finish before I even get to the BBX. We'll see when I get to them.

 

[smog]

I am not familiar with all of the products produced by the above companies. As far as the crawler scene goes, it seems to me that VP is building the best stuff. If they cared to be bigger than they currently are I can just imagine how cool a line-up of rigs they could put to market.
I am not sure I could rank the rest. They all seem second tier by comparison.
The exception is Tamiya who is in a league of their own. I have a deep respect and appreciation for what they do. Their product introduced me to hobby grade RC. O got a lot of joy from those kits back in the 80's. My first ever toy grade RC came to from my father upon his return from a business trip to Japan.

 

[Saltrock]

I know they are still pretty new but MEUS seems to be coming out with I think some really neat products.

 

[MAGNUMB]

Well, I just got home from using the $30 off coupon at HobbyTown with this:


Excited to check out "the engineering".

Then I saw this:



So, why not and I ordered a TD4 Super Avante for the $159 and free shipping.

I have 2 projects to finish before I even get to the BBX. We'll see when I get to them.

Grab yourself an alloy t-nut for the diff before building that TD4.
The plastic one they give you is no good. It's a fun build and fun smooth buggy to run with super high-quality plastics

 

[psn]

Regarding CRAWLERS and releated products, here's my thoughts on "best engineering teams" and in the years they were dominant. Dont quote me on the exact years here...

1996-2006:
100% Tamiya. They were "it" during these years and it is unarguable that the Clod, TXT and TLT started the whole RC Crawler revolution. Sadly, all they have now is the CC-01, Hi Lift and CR-01 and they are 20+ year old designs. The "85 YO elder statesman" still calling the shots I guess.

2007-2017:
Axial: took crawlers to another level with the AX10/SCX10 and all its variants. The first time where "straight out the box" was decent.
RC4WD: they definitely deserve mention here. Lots of crawling-specific kits, tires and axles (Yota, Worminators, Blackwells - cool stuff!)
Gmade: high quality R1, GS01/GS02 offerings

2018-2022:
Vanquish and Element. These two toppled Axial's decade long reign of dominance.

2023 to present:
I'd say Vanquish, Element and Gmade. But small boutique manufacturers like DLUX and Rhino and Injora products are coming on strong. The "cheap chinese garbage" stigma is slowly fading away. Maybe if future tariffs hit it will kill it all, dont know.

Thoughts on some other manfacturers:

• Traxxas? Prior to the TRX-4 they were the laughing stock in the crawler world. They need some new stuff now!
• There were some cool non-Axial offerings around 2007-2013 with the Kyosho Rock Force, Losi Comp Crawler, MST CFX and Venom Creeper but they all stopped development soonthereafter. Crawling "wasn't their thing" and Axial was too strong back then I guess.
• Yes, Redcat is trying harder than ever but they do not get a "best" vote from me yet because of quality issues Ive experienced on the Ascent and Scout. CrossRC and Carisma are along the same lines

I wonder if Tamiya, Kyosho or Losi will take interest again and surpise us.

Just my Opinions

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Regarding CRAWLERS and releated products, here's my thoughts on "best engineering teams" and in the years they were dominant. Dont quote me on the exact years here...

1996-2006:
100% Tamiya. They were "it" during these years and it is unarguable that the Clod, TXT and TLT started the whole RC Crawler revolution. Sadly, all they have now is the CC-01, Hi Lift and CR-01 and they are 20+ year old designs. The "85 YO elder statesman" still calling the shots I guess.

Thoughts on some other manfacturers:

• Traxxas? Prior to the TRX-4 they were the laughing stock in the crawler world. They need some new stuff now!
• There were some cool non-Axial offerings around 2007-2013 with the Kyosho Rock Force, Losi Comp Crawler, MST CFX and Venom Creeper but they all stopped development soonthereafter. Crawling "wasn't their thing" and Axial was too strong back then I guess.
• Yes, Redcat is trying harder than ever but they do not get a "best" vote from me yet because of quality issues Ive experienced on the Ascent and Scout. CrossRC and Carisma are along the same lines

I wonder if Tamiya, Kyosho or Losi will take interest again and surpise us.

Just my Opinions

Tamiya has the CC-02, but from what I've read it's not great. Crawling must not be too big in the domestic market of Japan or I'm guessing they would have jumped in deeper.

RC4WD was an innovator and never moved forward. They are pretty irrelevant now unless you want super scale and low-quality kits that are basically 15-year old NOS.

The TRX-4 isn't really any older than most of the other rigs currently on the market and it is more durable and the features like 2-speed trans and remote-locking diffs just work correctly each and every time. That's something the newer SCX10 III and Capra couldn't manage.

You do bring up an interesting point about there being many more niche vehicles back in the day from Kyosho, Losi, Venom, etc. Sadly those days seem to be gone unless you look to the smaller scale stuff (FMS, Injora, Meus, etc).