# Did Associated copy the TRF-415 or what ??



## NCFRC (Aug 4, 2005)

I'm sure I'm way behind on this statement , but did Associated copy the discontinued Tamiya TRF-415 touring car when they designed the new TC5 or what.

I hav'nt put them side by side but I'm sure some have and there was no 
clean sheet of paper when the TC5 was drawn up.

You know I really hate to even comment this as I own alot of very good 
Associated products,, it's just that they can do better.

Just my opinion , oh well


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

NCFRC, There have been alot of changes made at associated since the thundertiger buyout.Their tech. and customer service dept.s say there hasnt been changes made, but I have have seen it in the kits I have built recently compared to kits I built a year or so ago.I sure there was some design copy action done when they designed the tc-5.but dont all the companies kind of put their own spin on the Hot set-up at the time?I have ran ae products for 20 plus years, and I am more concerned about quality issues I have seen from them in the last year or so.Good example is they are no longer usine pro-line wheels in their kits.The kit wheels are now made by associated and the plastic is very thin and brittle, so you are still paying for the associated name , but not getting the same quality in a kit that you were a year ago.mark my words thundertiger is going to ruin the associated name in the race world.do you know how many people I saw buy tc5's this carpet season and sell them off within a few weeks of racing them be cause the new composite they are making the plastics out of is so flimsy the smallest impact was causing parts to break?? One of the top drivers at the track we run at who hardly ever makes contact with anything or anyone was constantly breaking stuff on it so he switched back to his tc4 and sold off the 3 week old tc5.I have gotten so dissapointed with the quality of their kits that after 20 years I have jumped ship and switched to running other brands.kyosho for dirt and x-ray and hyperform for carpet gear.


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## NCFRC (Aug 4, 2005)

I appreciate your feedback and did'nt have any idea this was happening at associated , what a shame , I personnally have bought their products for
over 20 years.

Did the sell out have anything to do with Mike Reedy ??

We , my son and I each have a TC4 , are the parts as weak ? I don't know
because we have run them very little. I did yank out the lousy composite CVD's before one of those let go.

Did the TC5 come with carbon fibre molded pieces , not like the std. composite
molded pieces on the TC3 /4 ?

Why I ask is I was thinking of upgrading the TC4 chassis's to Carbon Fibre.

I 'm in business myself and do understand making a product very close to
your competitors if it works great. Change one thing and you have a different 
patent NO.


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## rjvk (Aug 27, 2003)

NCFRC said:


> I'm sure I'm way behind on this statement , but did Associated copy the discontinued Tamiya TRF-415 touring car when they designed the new TC5 or what.


Hot bodies cyclone
Xray 007/008
Serpent S400
????

All the above cars have a very similar look. Until lipo entered the scene, that is/was the design layout that would be used in the foreseeable future. 

It works.

That being said, if you carefully watch what happens at races, especially in europe, you see that everybody borrows from others cars, literally. The Tamiyas were all using Hot Bodies/HPI pro4 arms on their cars for a while. Xray was testing either HPI or Tamiya arms on their car. Losi had Tamiya shocks on their test cars for a while. Josh Cyrul commonly uses Xray arms on his cars during testing.

Also, the HPI/Hot bodies arms are a TC3 arm translated into metric measurements.

PS the 415 is based on the Tech Racing MY02 Monster


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## convikt (Nov 2, 2005)

tc5 looks to be a copy of the fk05 more than anything


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## WarpWind (Oct 21, 2003)

It isn't so much a matter of if or what they copied. It's more the point that they didn't do a very good job of it. This is a car that Associated would have never released before the Thunder Tiger deal. I honestly, for the first time, cannot say that I would recommend an Associated kit to a newcomer, or anyone else for that matter. It truly is a sad thing.


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## swtour (Oct 8, 2001)

I think Assoc. selling had more to do w/ Gene Hustings retirement than Mike Reedy.

I also hear Reedy is in really bad health these days and not doing too good.


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

NCFRC said:


> I appreciate your feedback and did'nt have any idea this was happening at associated , what a shame , I personnally have bought their products for
> over 20 years.
> 
> Did the sell out have anything to do with Mike Reedy ??
> ...


To answer a couple of your questions, the carbon fiber peices are the weak points. stick with the standard composite peices on your tc4's. The composite plastic peices will flex alittle where the carbon composite peices will jjust snap.Guys like me who run off road in the summer have known that for a while now. the trick is to buy a FT edition b4/t4 and replace all the carbon fiber suspension components with the standard plastic peices. The tc5 was rushed onto the market to compete with the other belt drive cars everybody was running for mod classes.thats all. they just wanted a chunk of the belt drive market. all I have to say is when you see guys switching back to last years gear because they cant afford to keep feeding their new 300+ dollar car parts it's never a good sign.


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