My dad got me this in the 80's when I was 10 y.o., my very first hobby grade RC car. Boy was I proud! I had it for years of amazing fun until I wrecked it and could not buy replacements (no internet back then). Im in my 40's now and just bought the TAMIYA 58346 Grasshopper kit just like the one I had also got the 540 motor and a bunch more of accessories (gotta love the midlife crisis). This will bring back some memories! Thanks for the video!
Well at least you didn't buy a real sports car for your mid-life crisis. I'm 45 and just bought a $2000 Rc Helicopter lol. I was 10 when I bought my first rc helicopter, i mowed a lot of lawns and washed a lot of cars to buy that. 😄🇦🇺
Duuuuuude!!!! I got one of these for Christmas when I saw in in a magazine. It was the coolest thing ever and when I saw the frame and body in your video, it literally took me back to the time when I had to put it all together and paint the body that exact same pink and white. What a flashback. Thanks for this great video and props to your daughter!!!! Great job man!!!
Great Saturday morning viewing, Mikael! They both look lovely in action on the grass. The speed test results are much as I expected, with the 540 motor giving a little more than I initially thought, anything 30+ kph is going well for a stock 540 silver can (and thanks for the mph conversion). Have a lovely weekend, my friend. :-)
Thanks a lot for watching, Mark! Yeah, I remember the Hornet on 2S about the same speed. Quite high geared these old Tamiya 2WD compared to their 4WD (or maybe it’s just the 4WD that slows them down a couple of kph). Think the Monster Beetle etc is also +30 kph with the silver can (big tires). Have a great weekend, my good friend.
This is how I remember driving my Grasshopper, bouncing all over in the grass. Though I used a Technigold from my Toyota Celica I never built. Trust me, it bounced even more on accelerating away.
@@NordicRC nearly uncontrollable... until it picked up some speed. Also the variable speed controller does not provide a very fine-grained control to begin with; either off, on or ridiculous speed
Great video - as I just built the Green edition and was trying to figure out the best motor. I also loved the music - i felt like I was at my sister's wedding in 1980 ;)
Ha ha, well, there's only a limited amount of good free tracks available :-) But yeah, very 1980s. Nice you got the Grasshopper. The 380 stock motor can be a good way to start. Then upgrade to a 540 motor and an 18T mod. 0.8 steel pinion.
The 380 motor is excellent for technically difficult off-road tracks, where skill, not speed is what you need. Acelleration is similar due to the tiny 11 tooth pinion. Its only top speed that differs greatly.
great video man! compared to today's standard's , grasshopper's suck, but with that said, i absolutely love my grasshopper!! i put a Tamiya 540 27t dirt tuned motor in mine and it's PLENTY of motor for this car. Handle's terrible, suspension is terrible, bounce's all kind's of crazy like but you know what, that's what makes this car so fun to drive, really takes me back to my childhood and puts a smile on my face ear to ear;)
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. By modern standards, the whole design is faulty. But it do provide such fun. I had a Nikko Turbo Panther (one of the iconic toy-grade buggies that copied the Hopper suspension/rear axle design) back in 1986 so for me running a Grasshopper today feels like being a kid again - just with ‘the real thing’ 😁
I'm making this comment before watching the review. There's a long version that I'd be happy to share but short and sweet. I put a 2840 5900kv in a ZD Racing Thunder with the smallest pinion I had, and it runs like greased lightning and barely gets warm. P.S. I ran it for over twenty minutes on a 1800mah battery that I had from a broken Bugs drone. OK - I'm going to watch the video now.
Brings back good memories😀👍had a Gresshopper which I bought in 1984. Upgraded the motor 3 times, first from stock 380 to 540, then from 540 to a 540 Black motor. The 3rd and final motor was a Kyosho racing motor with adjustable rpm. It did went pretty fast!!😎
Nice! Love the GH1 too. Got two of them. Got a GH2 based Rising Fighter with a Sport Tuned. That's fast for these small unreliable ones. So I imagine the Kyosho motor was hard to handle. But cool!
@@NordicRC just a question since I am about to buy an RC again, after 35 years😃. Can you get faster brush motor than the regular 550 which comes stock on a Stenton 4x4?🤔😊 The brushless version is way faster but also quite a bit more expensive..
@@bikerman6907 You can always shop around. With brushed motors look for the RPM amount or the Turns (T). But be sure that your ESC are rated for that. Faster RPM motors can put too much stress on the ESC. Watch out ofr the temperature on the motor, especially in the summer and off road.
The 380 motor (although slower) gets longer runtimes than a 540. It also performs well with average NiMh batteries. I’m planning to build a second grasshopper and instal a Tamiya 380 Sport Tuned motor in it. I’m curious to see how it compares to the stock 380 on speed, acceleration and runtimes.
I'll have to try this speed run with my own Grasshopper to see how it compares. I think the increase in acceleration with these little guys on the 540 is more than enough
Ahh, yeah, especially the old 1/10 off road models (with low gear ratios) with the 380 motor, like the Grasshopper, Grasshopper II. Think the Hornet still does allright compared to a lot of other 1/12 and 1/10 entry-level models nowadays. But still, some entry levels today like the WLToys A959-B go twice the speed of the Hornet 🙃
@@NordicRC yeh I remember being frustrated by the lack of speed on my Boomerang back in the day. Chunky heavy chassis.. Brushless motors and lipos changed all that 😊
You look like you’re on Long Island I know port Jefferson very well I’ll end it there. Cool videos I love the look of the grasshopper it’s always been one of my favorites.
I saved for a year to get a grasshopper when i was 15. Had it until i was 30, ran through many sefs of tires. Painted to camo, put headlignts on it and gi joe guns to make a fast attack vehicle.
What is the top speed of the 540 with the NIMH battery? It's not really fair to have the smaller motor with a heavier battery vs a larger motor with a lighter battery.
The 540 in a Grasshopper or Hornet does around 30 kph, give or take a few kph, with any 2S LiPo or 6S NiMH. At least what I have measured mine to. Don’t think the extra weight of the NiMH matters much.
Love those cars had the Blackfoot and lunchbox which was a truck version of the hornet- grasshopper there all basically the same.awesomeblast from the past.
Nice! Good to get the 31 kph confirmed. Ahh, yeah, I took a stock Hornet out on 3S and hit +40 kph. Really uncontrollable. Think big wheels/tires are a better way to get them up to speed with.
They felt so fast when I was a kid I about cried when I tested my Hotshot it did 15 mph thats on a 7.2 nimh I bet 8.4 lipo would wake it up! My Frog is too beat up to test its not really worth restoring its probably in line with what you ran, and the Clod Buster yeah not even going to try lol even with Technigold 540vz motors it was never built for speed but it is fun. Funny how bouncy these cars are except the Hotshot is actually is decent in handling but a far cry from any of the Traxxas cars I have its amazing the technology today I remember 5-minute run times 15-minute quick chargers smoking hot and having like 6 batteries to keep these going lol. Even todays nimh are way better on run time.
Hi bro. Yeah, batteries have changed a lot since the old days. NiMH might last long, but the voltage drops so quickly that one will drive with half-power in the end.
I have the original grasshopper with a 540 brushless motor in it I had to put oil shocks and a sway bar on it I runn a 3s 2200mah lipo in it boy is it fun
My first Tamiya car was a Bear Hawk (horrible car, didn't steer at all but still loved it), then I had a Sauber C12 F1 car and after that I have had a couple of T01 road cars and raced in the Tamiya cup with a couple of TT-01R cars. Also had the Team Associated B4 and B5M which I raced a couple of years (without success by the way). I have only one victory in a 500 lap race using a Tamiya mini FWD chassis in a 4 man team. In my 50s now and still wanting the Wild Ones which I couldn't afford back when I was young. But I have different hobbies now so it will probably never come. Long story short, I would prefer the Tamiya cars any day over the professional ones by Team Associated, Losi and so on. Not because the latter are bad cars but because of memories I guess.
I can see I'm in for some fun times. I just picked up a "Limited" (cough-cough) Grasshopper in pre-painted green (2017 reissue kit# 47348). Seeing it online at my LBS, some nostalgic feelings got brought up and decided I ought to have one in my collection once again. It will mostly be a shelf queen. I do remember these are a bit of a handful with pogo stick suspension - quite fun unless one is trying to race. But I do intend to gently bash it a few times a year. Price was very reasonable and I had the spare parts so I wouldn't have to purchase anything aside from the pinion... Sort of - prob retired brushless touring car parts (17.5T 540 motor) and a 3S lipo "might" be a little over the top after seeing yours with the 540 and 2S lipo (okay, it def will be I'm sure). It was awesome to see yours hopping in the grass happily - just makes me more eager to get mine out (as soon as the paint dries then I can do the stickers and final body assembly). Cheers! :-)
Hi Reggie. Great that you got one! Yeah, terrible handling these, but at the same time great fun plus a lot of nostalgia and RC-history ... I just love the old Hoppers and Hornets. Ha ha, and yeah, ‘limited’. Seems like Tamiya just slaps on a new product number with these and calls every ‘limited’ 😅 Uhh, that motor and battery will surely awaken the Hopper. It will be all over the place - but it sounds like fun. Hope you will have fun with it ☺️
@@NordicRC speed wise - it's not my fastest RC. Acceration though, yeah, this might be slightly to hot of a setup - it was terrifying the first few times I pulled the trigger (too used to well mannered modern RC's). It is very good at extreme burn outs at any speed. Also good for wheelies the few times the tires actually hook up. Yep, this is the car I had and setup for speed the way I wished when I was 7. I'm very much enjoying it, though this time I'll look after it a lot better. :-)
The grasshopper can actually be made to go faster than that. Although, those two are in beautiful condition. I wouldnt want to make them faster either. My wife loves speed and is very competitive so we’ve built her grasshopper up to do drag racing and it is quite comfortable at 45 mph . Its got the real tamiya sport tuned motor, hornet rear suspension, aluminum front shock tower, rear suspension cross brace, 5,500 mah battery, esc upgrade and a 2.4 ghz radio upgrade
Bought it off a friend. But as far as I know all you need is a larger pinion. Anyways, that’s how all my 540 motor kits I build myself with the Hornet gear box (almost identical to the GH) came. But it’s easy to compare it in the manuals.
Great video Mikael! The hoppers were certainly hopping. Quite a big speed difference between them. The 380 gets to top speed in about half a second doesn't it? Hey I could see your wibbly wobbly protruding into the shot. Looked very impressive mate 😁 Enjoy your weekend 😀
Thanks, Pete! Ha ha, yeah, half-a-second or less and then it winds out 😅 Yes, I thought it would add a little to the atmosphere of the video with my impressive wibbly wobbly 😂😂😂
First thing I did was order the 540 motor and gear when I got my Grasshopper a few months ago. Is that the stock ESC that your running the lipo on? Wanted to try lipo's but afraid of burning ESC up..
Yeah, it’s a TBLE-02S. Yes, ESC could burn up - and warranty is gone if running it with a LiPo. Use at own risk. That being said I’ve never had any trouble with any Tamiya ESC. Just remember that they don’t have any LiPo cut off.
@@NordicRC the new ones don't have the original style 3 step forward/3 step reverse with the resistor like back in the 80's ? That was water proof as I got one in 1984 ish and went thru puddles with it after putting the receiver in a balloon and zip tying it closed.
My first rc woz a hopper 1 back in the day I bought another wen re released and lunch box and pumpkin and hornet their still in their boxes cos we ain't got rc shop (eastbourne)so I can't get any radio sets for em why they still in boxes after all these years!!!
' 380 motor is a slow and weak but little save battery... 540 motor is a fast and little strong but drink battery... both motors are better useing normal NIMH batterys... no need lipo battery
had tons of fun with mine on rough terrain in the garden on the 380 for the last 6 odd weeks, depends where your gonna run it, i find it's handling amusing and fun and a lot of times i will grab it over my new hyper vse and just graden bash as it is always charged, just got a lunchbox as well for the garden :)
First, nice video as usual. Got a question : Is it in Denmark as hot as in Germany at the moment? It's like 30°C down here in Southwest Germany... Oh, and the sound of the lawn mower somehow fitted perfectly to the grasshopper. I have to get a GH one day,since the Bullhead addicted me to vintage rc's...
Thanks a lot, RC guy! Yeah, well, it shifts a lot at the moment, the weather in Denmark. Right now it’s rainy and cloudy. He he, yeah, Grasshoppers and Lawn Mowers 😍
@@NordicRC Rain is not always a good thing,unless you have a brushless powered 4x4 monster 😉, which I don't... The Bullhead does also good at mudding...
Water proof electronics all metal gears bearings oil filled shocks aluminum shock towers an A arms lighten that chassis it would be a beast in my opinion
Hi Jared. Nah, that would weaken it too much. And oil filled shocks do not do much on this little chassis, the faulty way the suspension is set up. Gears are fine. Can take powerful motors. Some way to strengthen the front shock towers would be cool though. And waterproof electronics are good for those who like to run their Tamiyas in water. I got other brands for that though.
Mainly because I didn't have two identical batteries charged up ... but also just to try out the two different basic setups against each other (380 w heavy NiMH versus 540 w light LiPo).
I think the lack of suspension or no visible work of them is kinda disappointing, normal people do not buy Tamiya, even so, they made them brushless...
@@deltazero3796 OH yeah, I can only agree with you. Tamiya might be a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for. Good quality and good spare parts availability..
You should try it with a lipo battery. Awesome Tamiya makes friction damper grease that might also make a friction dampers work more like oilfield ones What specifically made for friction dampers.
Running it with a 2S LiPo here, Brad. Link to a 3S LiPo Hornet in the description box. Yeah, some grease could help, but there is a faulty design in the Hoppers’ gearbox/rear axle that can’t be cured with any dampers or oil or grease 🙂😂
@@NordicRC as a newbie to the hobby I think Tamiya could do a hell of a lot better in marketing their cars. Nothing wrong with a 380 but I daresay most buyers would feel ripped off if they got a technically inferior motor.
My dad got me this in the 80's when I was 10 y.o., my very first hobby grade RC car. Boy was I proud! I had it for years of amazing fun until I wrecked it and could not buy replacements (no internet back then). Im in my 40's now and just bought the TAMIYA 58346 Grasshopper kit just like the one I had also got the 540 motor and a bunch more of accessories (gotta love the midlife crisis). This will bring back some memories! Thanks for the video!
So cool you got a new one now. I’m in my 40’s too. I call it the Midlife Rejuvenation rather than crisis 😉 Going back to the roots.
That’s awesome bro I am 39 and in the same boat with my Tamiya Bull Head and Kyosho Turbo Optima
Well at least you didn't buy a real sports car for your mid-life crisis.
I'm 45 and just bought a $2000 Rc Helicopter lol.
I was 10 when I bought my first rc helicopter, i mowed a lot of lawns and washed a lot of cars to buy that. 😄🇦🇺
Ich habe ihn mir mit 73 jetzt gekauft 😅
I have wanted this buggy since it came out in the early 1980s. I ordered one last night. Only after 35 years i finally will have one
Nice! Hope it will bring back good memories and new fun 🙂
@@NordicRC i hope so. Stumbled on to it on amazon. Was surprised to see it. Been excited for a few weeks now
@@NordicRC came in yesterday. Will be a fun weekend
Me too (I'm 52; remember these as kids). I'm getting the 540 motor for $17. Will bring it to the dog park; maybe mount the gopro to it!!
Loved the slow mo of the grasshopper hopping through the grass like a grasshopper.
Thanks, man! Yeah, real Grasshoppers 🙂
I meant the green needs to be run on 2s.
Brad Kalman No. it doesn’t. Maybe yours. Not mine.
Excellent vid! This car will go down in the RC Hall of Fame as one of the most .....fun .....ever!
Hi Car Guy! Yeah, definitely! Such an icon ... and a blast to run :-)
Straight up used to get the motor out and go build a homie hopper 😂🎉 90s take us bizack😅 Jack
👍🏻☺️
Duuuuuude!!!! I got one of these for Christmas when I saw in in a magazine. It was the coolest thing ever and when I saw the frame and body in your video, it literally took me back to the time when I had to put it all together and paint the body that exact same pink and white. What a flashback. Thanks for this great video and props to your daughter!!!! Great job man!!!
He he. What pink & white and what daughter? 😅 I think you got the wrong video 😅☺️
The grasshopper is a Tamiya classic ! And sooo much fun 🤩
That's why I bought one and it's the candy green edition too.
It sure is!
Yeah, the candy green is cool. I painted my Grasshopper II and one of my DT-01's candy green too. They make up a great candy green grasshopper trio!
Great Saturday morning viewing, Mikael! They both look lovely in action on the grass. The speed test results are much as I expected, with the 540 motor giving a little more than I initially thought, anything 30+ kph is going well for a stock 540 silver can (and thanks for the mph conversion). Have a lovely weekend, my friend. :-)
Thanks a lot for watching, Mark! Yeah, I remember the Hornet on 2S about the same speed. Quite high geared these old Tamiya 2WD compared to their 4WD (or maybe it’s just the 4WD that slows them down a couple of kph). Think the Monster Beetle etc is also +30 kph with the silver can (big tires). Have a great weekend, my good friend.
Ball bearings help these significantly!
I had one back in the 80’s. They sure bounce.
Hi Chris! Yeah, more bouncing and hopping than running 😂
Same here, had so much fun with it when I was a kid!
This is how I remember driving my Grasshopper, bouncing all over in the grass. Though I used a Technigold from my Toyota Celica I never built. Trust me, it bounced even more on accelerating away.
Uhh, must have been a fast and bouncy Hopper with that motor!
@@NordicRC nearly uncontrollable... until it picked up some speed. Also the variable speed controller does not provide a very fine-grained control to begin with; either off, on or ridiculous speed
Nice testing Mikael! I really enjoyed the slo-mo shots of them bopping along in the grass!👍😊
Thanks a lot, Jeremy! Your Hopper looks excellent running too!
Great video - as I just built the Green edition and was trying to figure out the best motor. I also loved the music - i felt like I was at my sister's wedding in 1980 ;)
Ha ha, well, there's only a limited amount of good free tracks available :-) But yeah, very 1980s. Nice you got the Grasshopper. The 380 stock motor can be a good way to start. Then upgrade to a 540 motor and an 18T mod. 0.8 steel pinion.
The 380 motor is excellent for technically difficult off-road tracks, where skill, not speed is what you need. Acelleration is similar due to the tiny 11 tooth pinion. Its only top speed that differs greatly.
Yeah, the 380 Grasshoppers are definitely fun on small tracks and small back yards.
Irgendwie gehört der 380 zu dem Car😊
Comparisons like this are exactly what Im looking for. Cool music as well
I'm happy for the kind feedback! Glad it was useful.
Man, you are gonna make me to get a Tamiya one day for sure! Awesome video man. 😸
Yeah! Looking forward for a Tamiya build on your channel 🙂
Nice test! well worth throwing a extra tamiya stock 540 you have laying around in the hoppers!
Yeah, cheapest +10 kph upgrade around I think 😅 Thanks for watching, Steve.
Thanks for making this, exactly what i was looking for.
Thanks mate! Glad it could help
Thank you for sharing this insightful video!
Thank you for watching, Nicholas!
Miss my old grasshopper! Nostalgia
Such an 1980s icon :-)
their only about 84 quid for the re release ones :)
The Hopper / Hornet is my go to for just fun in the park - with a 540 its just quick enough to be fun with the kids
Definitely a fun runner! 🙂
Nice veedeo. I should be receiving my candy green edition grasshopper shortly to go with my original rough rider.
Nice, Mike. They will make up a great team!
Awesome vid ..That grasshopper is flying...i put a kyosho Lemans in mine with a mech speed control..Wheelie if u want and crazy fast
Thanks! Nice! Must be a fast Hopper indeed you got there!
great video man! compared to today's standard's , grasshopper's suck, but with that said, i absolutely love my grasshopper!! i put a Tamiya 540 27t dirt tuned motor in mine and it's PLENTY of motor for this car. Handle's terrible, suspension is terrible, bounce's all kind's of crazy like but you know what, that's what makes this car so fun to drive, really takes me back to my childhood and puts a smile on my face ear to ear;)
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. By modern standards, the whole design is faulty. But it do provide such fun. I had a Nikko Turbo Panther (one of the iconic toy-grade buggies that copied the Hopper suspension/rear axle design) back in 1986 so for me running a Grasshopper today feels like being a kid again - just with ‘the real thing’ 😁
I'm making this comment before watching the review. There's a long version that I'd be happy to share but short and sweet.
I put a 2840 5900kv in a ZD Racing Thunder with the smallest pinion I had, and it runs like greased lightning and barely gets warm. P.S. I ran it for over twenty minutes on a 1800mah battery that I had from a broken Bugs drone.
OK - I'm going to watch the video now.
Hi Larry. Sounds like a fast Hopper!
Brings back good memories😀👍had a Gresshopper which I bought in 1984. Upgraded the motor 3 times, first from stock 380 to 540, then from 540 to a 540 Black motor. The 3rd and final motor was a Kyosho racing motor with adjustable rpm. It did went pretty fast!!😎
Nice! Love the GH1 too. Got two of them. Got a GH2 based Rising Fighter with a Sport Tuned. That's fast for these small unreliable ones. So I imagine the Kyosho motor was hard to handle. But cool!
@@NordicRC just a question since I am about to buy an RC again, after 35 years😃. Can you get faster brush motor than the regular 550 which comes stock on a Stenton 4x4?🤔😊 The brushless version is way faster but also quite a bit more expensive..
@@bikerman6907 You can always shop around. With brushed motors look for the RPM amount or the Turns (T). But be sure that your ESC are rated for that. Faster RPM motors can put too much stress on the ESC. Watch out ofr the temperature on the motor, especially in the summer and off road.
@@NordicRC thanks for info Sir👍😊
I also enjoy remodeling grasshoppers in Japan.
Grasshopper green looks good too
Yeah! Well, Grasshoppers look good in any color to be honest 😅
The 380 motor (although slower) gets longer runtimes than a 540. It also performs well with average NiMh batteries. I’m planning to build a second grasshopper and instal a Tamiya 380 Sport Tuned motor in it. I’m curious to see how it compares to the stock 380 on speed, acceleration and runtimes.
Yeah, with a large NiMH and a 380 motor it will run forever 🙂 Could be cool to see a comparison of a 380 27T and a Sport Tuned 380
did you try the sport tuned? if so how was it? :D
I'll have to try this speed run with my own Grasshopper to see how it compares. I think the increase in acceleration with these little guys on the 540 is more than enough
Yeah, 540 for such a small light weighted buggy with an 1980s design is more than enough :-)
Go brushless
Cool vid dude
Thanks a lot, bro!
Nice vid.. Crikey cars were slower back in the day :)
Ahh, yeah, especially the old 1/10 off road models (with low gear ratios) with the 380 motor, like the Grasshopper, Grasshopper II. Think the Hornet still does allright compared to a lot of other 1/12 and 1/10 entry-level models nowadays. But still, some entry levels today like the WLToys A959-B go twice the speed of the Hornet 🙃
@@NordicRC yeh I remember being frustrated by the lack of speed on my Boomerang back in the day. Chunky heavy chassis.. Brushless motors and lipos changed all that 😊
You look like you’re on Long Island I know port Jefferson very well I’ll end it there. Cool videos I love the look of the grasshopper it’s always been one of my favorites.
Ahh this is Scandinavia, Denmark ☺️ Yeag, the GH is a real icon
I saved for a year to get a grasshopper when i was 15. Had it until i was 30, ran through many sefs of tires. Painted to camo, put headlignts on it and gi joe guns to make a fast attack vehicle.
Nice! Yeah, so much fun personalizing these hoppers!
They sure do hop!
True Grasshoppers 😊
Love this video Mikael. 😀👍👍
Thank you, Derek 🙂
Me too, mate! :))
Great video
Cool video awesome RCs
Thanks for all the support, mate!
What is the top speed of the 540 with the NIMH battery? It's not really fair to have the smaller motor with a heavier battery vs a larger motor with a lighter battery.
The 540 in a Grasshopper or Hornet does around 30 kph, give or take a few kph, with any 2S LiPo or 6S NiMH. At least what I have measured mine to. Don’t think the extra weight of the NiMH matters much.
A curiosity, does the candy green Grasshopper with the 380 engine have ball bearings mounted?
Yeah! Ball bearings won't have a deep effect on the top speed though (more a matter of battery time and durability)
Love those cars had the Blackfoot and lunchbox which was a truck version of the hornet- grasshopper there all basically the same.awesomeblast from the past.
Yeah, so much fun all of these! 🥰
Nice Video 😎 I recently put a 540 in my Grasshopper & exactly the same 31kph. I put a set of larger Fox wheels on and it took it to 34kph
Nice! Good to get the 31 kph confirmed. Ahh, yeah, I took a stock Hornet out on 3S and hit +40 kph. Really uncontrollable. Think big wheels/tires are a better way to get them up to speed with.
They felt so fast when I was a kid I about cried when I tested my Hotshot it did 15 mph thats on a 7.2 nimh I bet 8.4 lipo would wake it up! My Frog is too beat up to test its not really worth restoring its probably in line with what you ran, and the Clod Buster yeah not even going to try lol even with Technigold 540vz motors it was never built for speed but it is fun. Funny how bouncy these cars are except the Hotshot is actually is decent in handling but a far cry from any of the Traxxas cars I have its amazing the technology today I remember 5-minute run times 15-minute quick chargers smoking hot and having like 6 batteries to keep these going lol. Even todays nimh are way better on run time.
Hi bro. Yeah, batteries have changed a lot since the old days. NiMH might last long, but the voltage drops so quickly that one will drive with half-power in the end.
I have the original grasshopper with a 540 brushless motor in it I had to put oil shocks and a sway bar on it I runn a 3s 2200mah lipo in it boy is it fun
Uhh, sounds quick!
@@NordicRC it's fast alright maybe just a touch to fast 🤣🤣 but it's a lot of fun to drive
Rapaz a diferença de velocidade é gigantesca. Muito grande. Gostei do upgrade
My first Tamiya car was a Bear Hawk (horrible car, didn't steer at all but still loved it), then I had a Sauber C12 F1 car and after that I have had a couple of T01 road cars and raced in the Tamiya cup with a couple of TT-01R cars. Also had the Team Associated B4 and B5M which I raced a couple of years (without success by the way). I have only one victory in a 500 lap race using a Tamiya mini FWD chassis in a 4 man team. In my 50s now and still wanting the Wild Ones which I couldn't afford back when I was young. But I have different hobbies now so it will probably never come. Long story short, I would prefer the Tamiya cars any day over the professional ones by Team Associated, Losi and so on. Not because the latter are bad cars but because of memories I guess.
Did your two have the stock wheel bushings or did you install bearings?
Yeah, comes with stock bushings, both for the gear box and the wheels. Optional ball bearings installed in these two.
I can see I'm in for some fun times. I just picked up a "Limited" (cough-cough) Grasshopper in pre-painted green (2017 reissue kit# 47348). Seeing it online at my LBS, some nostalgic feelings got brought up and decided I ought to have one in my collection once again. It will mostly be a shelf queen. I do remember these are a bit of a handful with pogo stick suspension - quite fun unless one is trying to race. But I do intend to gently bash it a few times a year. Price was very reasonable and I had the spare parts so I wouldn't have to purchase anything aside from the pinion... Sort of - prob retired brushless touring car parts (17.5T 540 motor) and a 3S lipo "might" be a little over the top after seeing yours with the 540 and 2S lipo (okay, it def will be I'm sure). It was awesome to see yours hopping in the grass happily - just makes me more eager to get mine out (as soon as the paint dries then I can do the stickers and final body assembly). Cheers! :-)
Hi Reggie. Great that you got one! Yeah, terrible handling these, but at the same time great fun plus a lot of nostalgia and RC-history ... I just love the old Hoppers and Hornets. Ha ha, and yeah, ‘limited’. Seems like Tamiya just slaps on a new product number with these and calls every ‘limited’ 😅 Uhh, that motor and battery will surely awaken the Hopper. It will be all over the place - but it sounds like fun. Hope you will have fun with it ☺️
@@NordicRC speed wise - it's not my fastest RC. Acceration though, yeah, this might be slightly to hot of a setup - it was terrifying the first few times I pulled the trigger (too used to well mannered modern RC's). It is very good at extreme burn outs at any speed. Also good for wheelies the few times the tires actually hook up. Yep, this is the car I had and setup for speed the way I wished when I was 7. I'm very much enjoying it, though this time I'll look after it a lot better. :-)
Does the 540 motor fit the grasshopper or does it need to be modded?
I will always love Tamiya.
Me too 🙂
The grasshopper can actually be made to go faster than that. Although, those two are in beautiful condition. I wouldnt want to make them faster either. My wife loves speed and is very competitive so we’ve built her grasshopper up to do drag racing and it is quite comfortable at 45 mph . Its got the real tamiya sport tuned motor, hornet rear suspension, aluminum front shock tower, rear suspension cross brace, 5,500 mah battery, esc upgrade and a 2.4 ghz radio upgrade
Thanks for the info! Yeah, got some faster hoppers than these two also.
Is there anything stopping someone just spraying there own grasshopper chassis green or black?
Absolutely not. Pretty much the same result. Well, apart from the custom color decal sheet of the Black Edition (that I've seen sold separately).
Thanks. Just sprayed my grass hopper park green looks good. Cheers
did the 540 motor fit into the 380 housing ? did you have to do any mods to make it fit in?
Bought it off a friend. But as far as I know all you need is a larger pinion. Anyways, that’s how all my 540 motor kits I build myself with the Hornet gear box (almost identical to the GH) came. But it’s easy to compare it in the manuals.
That was great thanks.
Great video Mikael! The hoppers were certainly hopping. Quite a big speed difference between them. The 380 gets to top speed in about half a second doesn't it? Hey I could see your wibbly wobbly protruding into the shot. Looked very impressive mate 😁 Enjoy your weekend 😀
Thanks, Pete! Ha ha, yeah, half-a-second or less and then it winds out 😅 Yes, I thought it would add a little to the atmosphere of the video with my impressive wibbly wobbly 😂😂😂
Enjoy your weekend too, Pete
Nice backyard
Thanks, Ramon!
@@NordicRCua-cam.com/video/vXtCVNi7coc/v-deo.html
First thing I did was order the 540 motor and gear when I got my Grasshopper a few months ago.
Is that the stock ESC that your running the lipo on?
Wanted to try lipo's but afraid of burning ESC up..
Yeah, it’s a TBLE-02S. Yes, ESC could burn up - and warranty is gone if running it with a LiPo. Use at own risk. That being said I’ve never had any trouble with any Tamiya ESC. Just remember that they don’t have any LiPo cut off.
@@NordicRC the new ones don't have the original style 3 step forward/3 step reverse with the resistor like back in the 80's ? That was water proof as I got one in 1984 ish and went thru puddles with it after putting the receiver in a balloon and zip tying it closed.
@@batsonelectronics all eletronic speed controllers nowadays, only need a servo for the steering now :)
Did you need an adaptor plate to fit the 540 please?
No you only need a 540 and pinion the kit comes with everything i just put a 540 on mine
Flashbacks of my Grasshopper as a kid and jealous of my friends Hornet
Ahh, nice. Well, put a 540 in a Grasshopper and you have a Hornet 🙂
My era loved these grasshoppers I could never afford one in the 80s .
Yeah, back then I actually never even knew they existed. But I had fun with the toy-grade spin off hoppers from Taiyo and Nikko ☺️
What lipo battery are you using?
Small one that fits the standard battery compartment. Probably a 1500 mah. So not a high discharge rating.
Good compairison.
Thank you so much, my bro!
My first rc woz a hopper 1 back in the day I bought another wen re released and lunch box and pumpkin and hornet their still in their boxes cos we ain't got rc shop (eastbourne)so I can't get any radio sets for em why they still in boxes after all these years!!!
Hi where do you buy tamiya rc cars? Seems hard to find here in Italy. Thanks
Hi! I mostly get them at Tamico.de. Good prices and good service.
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380 motor is a slow and weak but little save battery...
540 motor is a fast and little strong but drink battery...
both motors are better useing normal NIMH batterys...
no need lipo battery
Yeah! The 380 will run forever 🙂 Thanks a lot for watching
@@NordicRC
hi N R C V...
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i have a kyosho blizzard EV with a pair of 380 motors with gearbox on the rear...
very good smooth running
@@NordicRC
hi N R C V...
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yeaa that right but 380 can become too hot motor if run tooo long plus higher volts than 8.4
Yeah, definitely not suitable for 3S I think
Im considering getting a grasshopper. Should i leave the 380 or go to a 540
You could try the 380 first. But I think for most people it’s too slow.
had tons of fun with mine on rough terrain in the garden on the 380 for the last 6 odd weeks, depends where your gonna run it, i find it's handling amusing and fun and a lot of times i will grab it over my new hyper vse and just graden bash as it is always charged, just got a lunchbox as well for the garden :)
First, nice video as usual.
Got a question :
Is it in Denmark as hot as in Germany at the moment?
It's like 30°C down here in Southwest Germany...
Oh, and the sound of the lawn mower somehow fitted perfectly to the grasshopper.
I have to get a GH one day,since the Bullhead addicted me to vintage rc's...
Thanks a lot, RC guy! Yeah, well, it shifts a lot at the moment, the weather in Denmark. Right now it’s rainy and cloudy. He he, yeah, Grasshoppers and Lawn Mowers 😍
@@NordicRC
Rain is not always a good thing,unless you have a brushless powered 4x4 monster 😉, which I don't...
The Bullhead does also good at mudding...
I got some Traxxas and Arrma 4WD for rainy days - saves my Tamiyas 😅
@@NordicRC yeah, you don't have to worry about that....
I have only 2 cars.... My Bullhead and my comp. Buggy...
So, what kind of run time do you get with that 3600mah nimh on the 380...???
Practically forever 😅 ...
@@NordicRC agreed i thrash mine i got about 6 weeks in a bumpy garden and it is unbreakable plus i can run for 2 hours at least on a 4000mah nimh lol
Good info but you changed batteries. You should’ve used the same for both. Then we’d see the performance gain with paired performance.
Youi are right, but this is not exact science :-) Just some precious hobby time for me and a bit of fun
Got brushless in mine,but never checked the speed on 3 s 👍🏻
Think my Hornet on 3S was more than uncontrollable enough with a 27T silver can 😅
@@NordicRC I wonder if the 380 will run on 3s?
Dang the black one was moving like it a fire lit under its a$$!!!! So much quicker then I remembe!! Nice🤘🤘🤘
Yeah, a world of difference between motors and pinion gear. The black one runs as a Hornet now ☺️
I had a grasshopper RC car but I can't find it now
Re-releases available ☺️
Now do one with a brushless motor lol. rename it the YEET BUGGY
Could be cool :-) Plenty of Brushless Grasshoppers on UA-cam already though.
Water proof electronics all metal gears bearings oil filled shocks aluminum shock towers an A arms lighten that chassis it would be a beast in my opinion
Hi Jared. Nah, that would weaken it too much. And oil filled shocks do not do much on this little chassis, the faulty way the suspension is set up. Gears are fine. Can take powerful motors. Some way to strengthen the front shock towers would be cool though. And waterproof electronics are good for those who like to run their Tamiyas in water. I got other brands for that though.
why use different batter？
Mainly because I didn't have two identical batteries charged up ... but also just to try out the two different basic setups against each other (380 w heavy NiMH versus 540 w light LiPo).
Those vintage are expensive i would love to have an kiosho optima,that was the car i wanted when i was young
These are affordable re-releases ☺️ Yeah, Optimas are legendary.
550 motor can or 15x2 14x2 modified motors are better options.
Sounds fast and strong 🙂
Like 5 nice amigo 😀👍
Thank you for the support, mate!
Tamiyas are def not performance beasts compared to what's out there these days but man they've always had so much character.
I agree perfectly with that comment!
They bring good memories thats why we like them so much
I think the lack of suspension or no visible work of them is kinda disappointing, normal people do not buy Tamiya, even so, they made them brushless...
It’s a bit of RC history 🙂 Not for everybody
@@NordicRC True, history of how plastic turned into sort of masterpiece, at least for some people :)
@@deltazero3796 OH yeah, I can only agree with you.
Tamiya might be a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for.
Good quality and good spare parts availability..
@@RC-ty5ym At this proce I would be grateful to recognize parts from each other, maybe more white, blue and red parts?
the front pogo sticks work good, the back is all rigid though, if you see the back starting to work it means a back shock has popped out lol
Still legends....
Definitely
You should try it with a lipo battery. Awesome Tamiya makes friction damper grease that might also make a friction dampers work more like oilfield ones What specifically made for friction dampers.
Running it with a 2S LiPo here, Brad. Link to a 3S LiPo Hornet in the description box. Yeah, some grease could help, but there is a faulty design in the Hoppers’ gearbox/rear axle that can’t be cured with any dampers or oil or grease 🙂😂
I use brushless in mine 5800 Kv
That must be a fast hopper indeed :-)
@@NordicRC Sorry They are 3800 Kv still crazy fast though
Whoops sorry 4500 Kv
I still have a rx540vz technigold😅 let us test that too
Im curious. Who like the black edition and who like the candy green
I like ‘em both 🙂
I love mabuchi 380 s
Great fun :-)
Tyco turbo Hopper and Radio Shack Golden Arrow would have smoked both of those and much higher quality LOL
ahh, not sure about that. But the Taiyo Jet Hopper (as it is called outside the US) would probably be just as fast as the Grasshopper, out of the box.
Yeah...nah, 3s brushless system is needed.
Ha ha, I tried my Hornet with the 540 silver can brushed and 3S. Already very uncontrollable :-)
wow that 380 motor is slow - good for kids and tight tracks though I guess!
Yeah, can always upgrade later 🙂
@@NordicRC as a newbie to the hobby I think Tamiya could do a hell of a lot better in marketing their cars. Nothing wrong with a 380 but I daresay most buyers would feel ripped off if they got a technically inferior motor.
I kick myself for not buying two of the black Grasshoppers
I regretted it too. Then I got this one second hand. Maybe you can find one too.
IM ALIVE!!!!!
Great!
Those are hornets not grasshoppers
Say what?
Ampe ngetrel gitu